THE FUNDAMENTALS OF PSYCHEDELICS

Psychedelics offer incredible promise for healing and improved well-being. But while the studies show many positive results, they also highlight where we need to expand and adjust our Western medical model if we hope to give people long-term, sustainable solutions to problems like depression, PTSD, and general mental wellness. Dr. Rosalind Watts, clinical psychologist, clinical lead of psilocybin studies at Imperial College, and clinical director at Synthesis, opens the conference with an inspirational look at where we’ve been, where we’re going, and how you can become part of this emerging movement that is poised to revolutionize how we think of mental health.

You will: 

→ Discover how psychedelics open the door to healing and how ongoing therapeutic support is necessary to prevent that door from shutting.

→ Learn about new additions to the psychedelic support model inspired by patient experience and indigenous wisdom.

→ Get a peek at the next generation of research beginning at Synthesis and the opportunity to be a part of it.

About Rosalind Watts

Rosalind Watts, PhD, is clinical director of the Synthesis Institute and former clinical lead of the Psilocybin for Depression Study at Imperial College London. She is creator of the psychedelic therapy model Accept, Connect, Embody, Restore (ACER) and has a particular interest in the therapeutic role of nature and community as support for psychedelic therapy.

The mystical nature of the psychedelic experience is one of the most profound and enigmatic aspects of psychedelic medicine. Dr. Alexander Belser, a psychedelic researcher and licensed psychologist at Yale University, has spent more than two decades listening to the stories of those who have journeyed. Through compelling firsthand accounts, Dr. Belser shares the fascinating variety of mystical experiences and their implications for the future of transformational medicine.

You will:

→ Learn about the religious, spiritual and mystical experiences occasioned by psychedelic medicines and learn how we can understand the various forms of mystical experience.

→ Review the challenges and controversies of trying to quantify the mystical experience for research.

→ Reflect on the awesome potential and responsibility that we all bear to represent the incredible diversity of racial, ethnic, gender, sexual identity, socio-economic, and differently abled perspectives—both in the research stage and when psychedelic medicine becomes available as treatment.

About Alex Belser

Alex Belser, PhD, is a psychedelic researcher and licensed psychologist at Yale University. He is the founding president of Nautilus Sanctuary, a non-profit center for psychedelic medicine in New York City. His research has been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Guardian, and VICE.

What does it take to skillfully help someone use psychedelics therapeutically? What expertise is required, and how can you cultivate such competencies? Dr. Malynn Utzinger, cofounder of the nonprofit Usona Institute, shares what her medical research organization has learned in training the psychedelic guides of the future for their research studies. 

You will:

→ Discover what changes and growth you need to incorporate into your own life to be a good guide.

→ Learn what it takes to be a facilitator as part of a study.

→ Explore the importance of self-care as a guide and experience it in real-time through an extended visualization and meditation exercise to access your inner awareness.

About Malynn Utzinger

Malynn Utzinger, MD, is cofounder and director of integrative medicine at Usona Institute, a non-profit psychedelic medical research organization. She is also director of integrative practices for the international biotech company Promega. She combines her experience in medicine and research with contemplative and integrative approaches to mind-body health.

The quest for healing—of moving toward wholeness and connection—is a courageous act. Listening to the inner call to be on the journey and to help others who are also on the path is a noble and serious pursuit. Buddhist teacher and former pediatrician and psychiatrist Ryushin Marchaj shares how grounding your exploration in a spiritually oriented practice can give you a scaffold upon which you can build the deep emotional and psychological work that psychedelics ask of you and your clients. 

You will: 

→ Explore three fundamental questions that will support you on your journey to wholeness.

→ Understand how a practice structure gives you support for being in the exploratory, organic, evolving, and sometimes messy process of growth, for yourself and with your clients. 

→ Examine the critical role of community in our quest for wholeness.

About Ryushin Marchaj

Ryushin Marchaj, MD, a Zen teacher and priest, has nearly four decades of experience studying and teaching the Dharma. In 2014, he began a systematic study of the relationship between Buddhist teachings and ceremonial medicine use, primarily with ayahuasca and psilocybin.

Walking with someone into the intimate realm of the deep psyche is a privilege that carries with it a profound professional responsibility. As the director of ethics and lead facilitator at the Synthesis Institute and co-founder of the Guild of Guides Netherlands, Daan Keiman has guided more than 250 individuals on psychedelic journeys and is devoted to developing ethical models for offering psychedelic care. In this workshop he will share his framework and best practices for supporting the critical component of “meaning making”. He will discuss how the art of making sense of deep psyche experiences can enhance or diminish the healing potential of engaging with the vastness of our minds.

You will:

→ Learn what Psychedelic Chaplaincy is and how its code of ethics provides a strong and safe framework for both user and guide to follow. 

→ Understand what existential or spiritual integrity is, and how to find the right language and practices to help your clients prepare, move through and integrate psychedelic experiences. 

→ Learn to find the right balance between making sense of deep psyche experiences and facilitating an openness to the mystery and not-knowing. 

→ Reflect on how holding a safe, open and non-judgmental space for the client is a gift that allows them the opportunity to grow towards wholeness.

About Daan Keiman

Daan Keiman is lead facilitator and director of ethics and advocacy at the Synthesis Institute and co-founder of Guild of Guides Netherlands. He has more than a decade of experience guiding and caring for people in altered states of consciousness and maintains a private practice as a Psychedelic Chaplain.

Breathwork is a profound practice that can promote insights and openings in everyday life as well as in the psychedelic journey of healing. In this experiential workshop led by Sven Kimenai, a facilitator at Synthesis and a Wim Hof Method Certified Instructor and Breathwork Coach, you’ll be introduced to the neurobiology of breathwork. You’ll learn about the emotional and psycho-spiritual benefits of the practice and have an opportunity to experience an introductory breathwork session firsthand.

You will: 

→ Become oriented to the physical, emotional and psycho-spiritual benefits of breathwork

→ Understand the connection between the breath and associated functions of the nervous system

→ Explore the potential impacts of breathwork as a practice to prepare for a psychedelic ceremony

About Sven Kimenai

Sven Kimenai is co-lead facilitator and breathwork coach at the Synthesis Institute. A highly intuitive, nature-centered adventurist with a background in psychobiology and supplement development, he is particularly interested in using techniques like breathwork and the Wim Hof Method as supports for psychedelic-based transformational healing.

As psychedelic assisted psychotherapy is becoming more accessible to the general public, our ability as clinicians and guides to provide a safe experience for our clients is more essential than ever—not only for the individual client, but for the safety of the modality as a whole. At The Synthesis Institute, a finely tuned screening process has become the bedrock of our approach to the safe application of transformational wellness and psychedelic assisted therapy. In this moderated panel discussion, the Synthesis Institute’s Clinical Director, Dr. Rosalind Watts, and one of its Lead Facilitators and Director of Ethics and Advocacy, Daan Keiman will outline the origin and evolution of the clinical screening process at Synthesis and discuss how we continue to refine and strengthen the process of harm reduction.

You will: 

→ Learn about the contraindications to the use of psychedelics and how the screening process catches those situations early. 

→ Understand how the screening process differs for 'wellness' and 'clinical' populations

→ Understand the evolving nature of the screening process and the essential feedback loop required to ensure safety as it reaches more people.

Psychedelics are known for their ability to temporarily suspend or dissolve the egoic structures of personality. When the curtain is pulled aside, how do we safely guide someone through this profound, often mysterious journey to an experience of true transformation? James Clifton, an integral psychotherapist and lead facilitator at Synthesis, explains how shadow work can be a useful framework for confronting and integrating what we find hidden within ourselves.  

You will:

→ Assess the benefits and drawbacks of the shadow and what to do when someone encounters shadow parts in a psychedelic experience.

→ Understand how psychedelic-based shadow work differs from more traditional clinical shadow work and the critical importance of doing your own as a therapist.

→ Review your responsibilities as a guide before, during, and after a guided psychedelic experience.

About James Clifton

James Clifton is the lead facilitator at the Synthesis Institute. With more than three decades of practice as an integral psychotherapist and counselor, he has extensive experience working with trauma, addiction, and non-ordinary states of consciousness, both in individuals and groups.

Psychedelic-based therapies hold revolutionary potential for transforming the mental health field and beyond. But how will this care be distributed and accessed? Will we deliver it using the existing pharmaceutical model that prioritizes profits over people, or will we do it in a way that recognizes the interdependence between individual and community wellness? Bennet A. Zelner shares with us his innovative Pollination Approach, which aspires to serve not just as a conventional business model, but as a source of healing itself.

You will: 

→ Explore the pollination approach and how it aims to reconnect people to community systems to produce individual and collective healing.

→ Discover how social & economic disconnection are interrelated cultural phenomena that impair individual and community well-being.

→ Get a peek into how shifting our economic system could support the emergence of a new paradigm and healing itself.

About Bennet A. Zelner

Bennet A. Zelner researches, teaches, and advises on regenerative economics, the delivery of psychedelic-assisted mental healthcare, and institutional change. He serves as Associate Professor of Business and Public Policy at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is also co-founder of an emerging organization, the Transformative Capital Institute, that funds and collaborates on projects supporting the emergence of regenerative communities and the production of well-being.

Recent studies at Imperial College London have given us insight into the power of psychedelic medicine to change the brain and help those suffering from depression. But what else did these studies reveal that might change the course of how we use psychedelics therapeutically? Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial, reviews what the studies confirmed, what surprises they revealed, and what remains yet to be explored in this emerging field.

You will: 

→ Discover the difference between neuroplasticity of the brain and psychological plasticity of the mind—and the importance of the role of the guide in navigating these malleable spaces.

→ Learn the latest best practices for set, setting, and integration, as well as the influence of community on healing.

→ Get an insider’s look at the most important factors to consider as we move forward, including merging traditional wisdom with science and the need for highly trained and skilled facilitators.

About Robin Carhart-Harris

Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD, is founding director of the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London. He has designed and implemented studies with LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, and DMT, including some of the first brain imaging studies and multiple clinical trials of psilocybin for treatment resistant depression.