Category: Event

Join us at the Athenaeum on 6/8 before the NYC psychedelic community’s mass exodus for Denver and Psychedelic Science 2023.

Psychedelics Today is presenting an engaging panel on how psychedelic experiences can evolve into collective transformation and new life callings. Learn how intentions can sometimes appear after the trip is over, not just before!

This very special event will feature Ifetayo Harvey, Juliana Mulligan, Raad Seraj and will be moderated by David Drapkin of Psychedelics Today.

Your ticket to our upcoming event includes a special serving of delicious ceremonial cacao. Cacao has been used for centuries for its health benefits and mood-enhancing properties. This plant medicine will also help you feel more focused, alert and connected throughout the event. Please arrive a little early to savor this special treat and get ready to learn, grow, and connect with other attendees.

*5 Scholarship Tickets Available, Contact Us for Inquiries*

Please email david@psychedelictoday.com with information about how a scholarship would enable you to attend this event, and how specifically this event would support your thriving in life. Please use ‘Psychedelic Assembly Scholarship Application’ in the subject line.

Ifetayo Harvey:

Ifetayo Harvey founded the People of Color Psychedelic Collective (POCPC). The POCPC educates and builds community with people of color interested in psychedelics and ending the war on drugs. In 2022, Open Society Foundations named Ifetayo a 2022 Soros Justice Fellow. Ifetayo comes from a family of seven children raised by her mother in Charleston, South Carolina. She has a Bachelor’s degree from Smith College in history and African studies, where the college awarded her Outstanding Student Leader of the Year in 2014. She currently lives in New York City.

Juliana Mulligan:

Juliana Mulligan is a formerly opioid dependent person, formerly incarcerated, and has been a working member of the ibogaine treatment community for ten years. In 2011, with the help of Ibogaine treatment, Juliana left opioids behind and set off on a path to transform the way drug users and their treatment is approached. She has a Masters in Social Work from NYU and is the Psychedelic Program Coordinator at the Center for Optimal Living in New York City. She also runs Inner Vision Ibogaine, which supports people in preparation and integration around ibogaine treatment and offers consulting services to those in the field. She has worked in multiple ibogaine clinics, presented at various psychedelic and harm reduction conferences, and is the author of the Guide to Finding a Safe Ibogaine Clinic and co-author of Fireside’s Warning Signs When Selecting a Psychedelic Facilitator. She has taught about ibogaine at Charite University in Berlin and Southwestern College in New Mexico and has written for multiple publications about ibogaine, including Double Blind Magazine and Chacruna.

Raad Seraj:

Raad Seraj is a Bangladeshi-Canadian entrepreneur and founder of Mission Club, an angel investor network and education platform supporting startups addressing mental health using psychedelics. He also runs Minority Trip Report, a podcast showcasing underrepresented perspectives in psychedelics and mental health. During the day, he leads growth at Affinity, a San Francisco-based startup providing AI tools for private capital. Raad spent over a decade in climate tech and social impact. He founded one of the world’s first technology accelerators for water and created an immersive backpacking program that taught global sustainable fashion entrepreneurs about the fashion supply chain in Bangladesh. He currently lives in Toronto.

David Drapkin:

David Drapkin is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and Psychotherapist, from Birmingham, England, now living in New Jersey. He is a seasoned mental health and addiction practitioner with over 15 yrs in front-line clinical, supervisory, and managerial positions. David’s encounters with non-ordinary states of consciousness go way back and incorporate the spiritual, transformational, and healing realms of experience. From psilocybin journeys following clinical protocols to solo fasting meditation retreats in India, Israel and New Zealand. David is most interested in how psychedelics connect with mystical and esoteric states to engender epistemological rebirth. David has a small private psychotherapy practice, and is the Director of Education & Training at Psychedelics Today.

Join us for a thought-provoking webinar on “Unraveling the Top 3 Psychedelic Neuroscience Myths.” In this hour-long session, Melanie Pincus Ph.D. and Manesh Girn Ph.D.(c) will delve into the science of psychedelic brain effects and challenge some of the most common misconceptions surrounding them. 

Did you know that the default mode network is just one of several networks that are important to psychedelic brain effects, and may not be the most critical? Or that psychedelics, ketamine, and MDMA tend to have reputations for specific effects, but they are not as different in the brain as we assume? 

We also highlight how the research on neuroplasticity and psychedelics has almost exclusively been done in rodents and not humans, how neuroplasticity and neurogenesis differ, and how increased neuroplasticity doesn’t always necessarily lead to positive changes.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to expand your knowledge and challenge your assumptions on how psychedelics affect the brain. This webinar will give you a taste of some of the topics we will be covering in our upcoming 8-week course ‘Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified: How Psychedelics Alter Consciousness and Produce Therapeutic Effects.’ Register now to unravel the mysteries of psychedelic neuroscience!

The topic of sexual wellness is often glossed over in general therapeutics and psychedelic therapy spaces. The boundary-dissolving characteristics of the psychedelic experience calls for a more in-depth conversation about how healthcare providers hold our own relationship with sexuality and the body. This webinar presentation is intended to support harm reduction, increase healthcare providers’ somatic self-awareness, and to open up the conversation on the intersection of psychedelics and sexuality.

Somatic skill development is vital to cultivating a safer and more ethical healing space. Join us to learn more about the value of the mind-body connection as an integrative force within psychedelic containers. Whether or not you intend to bring the elements of sexuality into your practice, the prevalence of sexual trauma in our population is undeniable. Consciously cultivating an embodied capacity to meet the truth of Eros in the human experience is essential for being a present and responsive practitioner.

The Presenters: Annie Boheler and Lorina Manzanita work as somatic intimacy coaches and Somatic Experiencing© Practitioners. They offer complementary perspectives on sex-positive, relational therapeutics founded on years of integral psychedelic work.

Topics to be explored:

• Defining and understanding what is sexual contact
• How power dynamics and trauma impact one’s ability to give consent
• Outline of an embodiment practice to support re-establishment of authentic boundaries
• A presentation of the phenomenon of repressed sexual trauma memories arising in psychedelic healing spaces
• Positions and approaches to greet with caution and practices and principles to cultivate generously when holding questions of repressed sexual trauma memories

What to expect:

• Demo for experiential awareness
• Time for Q&A
• NOTE: This webinar is limited to 30 participants. Please reserve your spot by registering!

Are you ready to take your professional practice to the next level and better serve your community? Join Kyle Buller, VP of Education at Psychedelics Today, for an enlightening hour as he dives into the exciting world of psychedelic education and the current opportunities it presents.

With the psychedelic resurgence in full swing, now is the time to learn about the value of psychedelic education and the impact it can have on both your career & how you serve your community. We are proud to present the Vital Certificate Program: a cutting-edge training program that is designed to give you the skills and knowledge you need to succeed in this exciting field. With a focus on evidence-based practices, ethical considerations, and a holistic model of care, this program is the perfect way to level up your professional practice and make a real difference in your community.

So if you’re ready to learn about the next step and unlock your potential, this webinar is for you. RSVP now to secure your spot and take the first step in a journey on a career in psychedelics! This session will be recorded for all registrants.

It is with heavy hearts that we share some important news with our community: after careful consideration and factors outside Psychedelics Today’s control, we’ve made the challenging decision to cancel Convergence, originally scheduled from March 30 to April 2 in Los Angeles. 

This decision comes following troubling operating issues with the venue selected for Convergence. Rather than re-imagining the event at a new venue and potentially depriving our guests of the experience they’d come to expect, we’ve decided the best way to honor our community is to step back until we are able to host a gathering in a space that aligns with our original vision.

All stakeholders, ticket holders, and supporters have been contacted directly with more information via email. If that’s you, kindly check your inbox. Should you have any more questions, please reach out to us via DM or at info@psychedelicstoday.com.

But it’s not all bad news. We’re pleased to announce we’re working with speakers and panelists to host their Convergence talks & panels on the Psychedelics Today media platform and podcast! This content will be free for all to enjoy, so stay tuned for all the details as they’re announced.

We are humbled and grateful for the support of our psychedelic community, and appreciate all those who helped us in our work to bring Convergence to life. We have plans for more events and surprises in store in 2023/2024, so stay tuned – we hope you’ll join us there ✨

Andrew Tatarsky’s Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy (IHRP) provides a
framework for effective therapy with people along the entire spectrum of risky
and addictive behavior including the use of psychedelics in recreational,
ceremonial and therapeutic contexts. The harm reduction shift starts where
people are, supports people in creating their optimal relationships to substances
and emphasizes empowerment and collaboration between the provider and
consumer. IHRP brings a harm reduction orientation to psychotherapy,
substance use treatment and psychedelic-assisted therapy.

IHRP techniques are uniquely tailored to each person. A central focus on the
therapeutic alliance and relationship creates a context in which to clarify the
meanings and functions of problematic behavior, enhance self-regulation and
support maximizing benefit and minimizing risk. IHRP addresses related
personal, relational and lifestyle issues concurrently with problematic behavior.

This introduction to IHRP will cover the clinical rationale, theoretical foundation,
basic definitions of harm reduction and an overview of IHRP and it’s Seven
Therapeutic Tasks. Special attention will be given to the relationship between
trauma, dissociation and problems with self regulation and addiction.

The class will combine lecture, discussion and clinical illustrations. Particpants
are encouraged to bring their most challenging case vignettes for discussion.

You will learn:

-The challenging realities of people who struggle with problematic drug use

-The limitations of traditional abstinence-only treatment

-The role society plays in the shaping of how we understand substance use and how treatment has developed

-The multiple meanings process model of addiction underlying IHRP

-The core harm reduction principles

 -An overview of IHRP’s Seven Therapeutic Tasks

 -Application to psychedelic preparation and integration

• Resources:

1. Bridging the Worlds of Harm Reduction and Addiction Treatment
2. The Challenge of Harm Reduction: Changing Attitudes Toward Addiction Treatment 
3. Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy: A Case of Substance Use, Multiple Trauma, and Suicidality
4. Warning Signs When Selecting a Psychedelic Facilitator
5. Guide to Finding a Safe Ibogaine Clinic
6. Ibogaine and Iboga: Traditional Use, Conservation, and Ethical Considerations

With the growing number of clinical studies showing positive results for depression, anxiety and PTSD, many people are looking forward to sitting with psilocybin for its healing benefits. The question comes up a lot, would it be more beneficial to try psilocybin on a retreat or in a clinical setting.

Join Neil Markey and Dr. Andrea Pennington of Beckley Retreats as they weigh the pros and cons of each.

About Neil Markey
As co-founder and CEO of Beckley Retreats, Neil is passionate about sharing the science-backed benefits of psychedelics in conjunction with the contemplative practices that support holistic wellbeing. At Beckley Retreats, he’s dedicated to building a business that operates with the utmost integrity, both internally and across the many communities it will touch.

A Captain in the US Army Special Operations 2nd Ranger Battalion, Neil was deployed once to Iraq, and twice to Afghanistan. After, as an MBA/MIA masters student at Columbia University, he suffered from depression and PTSD. This led him to alternative wellbeing practices and marked the start of a profound healing journey with mindfulness and psychedelics. Prior to Beckley Retreats, Neil worked as the Chief Growth Officer for a $450M private equity portfolio company where he was responsible for all strategy and growth planning. Before that he worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Co, where he also co-led the internal mindfulness program. Neil credits meditation and plant therapy with saving his life.

About Dr. Andrea Pennington
Dr. Andrea is an American integrative physician, Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Facilitator, acupuncturist and creator of The Cornerstone Process for Conscious Evolution and The Attunement Meditation. She has written or contributed to 18 books, and is the bestselling author of The Top 10 Traits of Highly Resilient People, The Real Self Love Handbook, and The Orgasm Prescription for Women. She is also an international speaker with over 4 million views of her TED talks, hosts the Conscious Evolution Podcast, and has a vast career in global media and documentary filmmaking. With over two decades of medical practice specialized in trauma recovery, addiction medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture, Dr. Andrea has provided medical services, workshops and retreats to help thousands of people build resilience, reclaim vitality after burnout, recover from Adverse Childhood Experiences and nurture real self love in order to thrive in all areas of life.

Dr. Andrea brings her background and experience to the role of Senior Advisor, Program Facilitation for Beckley Retreats.

Insurance for the nascent psychedelics industry is a four-letter word. And where available, while business insurance is often purchased as part of licensing obligations, is it often treated as an oversight and later forgotten.

This webinar shares insider tips and tricks for making insurance a profit center. We will discuss the current state of the market for insuring psychedelic businesses, including types of insurance policies, “red flag” policy terms, best practices for applications, and more.

Presented by: Jodi Green, Counsel, Feldman Legal Advisors

After protecting insurance companies from up to billion-dollar liabilities in her early career, Jodi Green now helps forward-thinking organizations mitigate risks, with a focus on startups and companies operating in highly-regulated industries, such as cannabis and psychedelics. Jodi is licensed to practice law in California and Illinois and assists clients with a wide range of legal needs, including corporate governance; complex contracts; regulatory compliance; and insurance coverage and risk management. She also provides fractional general counsel and risk management services to growth-stage entities.

Join us for a discussion about the regulatory environment in Oregon and Colorado on January 12th, 2023 at 10am PST/1pm EST.

Integration as a word is being applied to a wide range of practices and means different things in different settings. How can we understand the process of integration from a Depth Relational Process perspective which highlights depth perspectives – like the Jungian or attachment lens -, relational unfolding and depth of processing? And how can we match integration set with integration setting from a theoretically pluralistic perspective to meet the needs of people post experience at an appropriate and adequate level?

Depth Relational Process is a model we have co-developed with Dr. Tim Read in support of working with the deep psyche as well as expanded states. In this talk we will consider the main elements of working in this way alongside some clinical material to bring some of these ideas into the realm of practice.

Maria Papaspyrou is a senior accredited psychotherapist, working in private practice in Brighton, UK. Her core trainings have been in integrative relational psychotherapy, systemic family constellations and supervision. She has had a long-term interest in the healing potential of expanded states and her clinical practice focuses on psychedelic integration and working as a supervisor for individuals and organisations in this field.

She has co-edited “Psychedelic Mysteries of the Feminine” with Chiara Baldini and David Luke and “Psychedelics & Psychotherapy: The Healing Potential of Expanded States” with Dr Tim Read. With Tim they have co-founded and co-direct the Institute of Psychedelic Therapy (IPT) where they have co- developed and teach a 2-year professional training on Psychedelic Assisted Therapy through their model, Depth Relational Process.

You can find out more about her work at towardswholeness.co.uk.

Psychedelics open us to the prospect of death as part of our common humanity and consciousness. Research from NYU, Johns Hopkins and UCLA have consistently shown that psilocybin, not just reduced the anxiety and depression associated with the fear of dying in cancer patients, but it also brought feelings of unity and peace and acceptance to death and dying.

This panel will bring together the Founder of the first-of-its-kind end-of-life psilocybin retreat and training, the End-of-Life Doula who led the programs’ development, a psychedelic trained psychotherapist with 30 years’ experience as a hospice social worker and cancer survivor who participated in an MDMA study for individuals with life-threatening illnesses, and a Psychedelics Today colleague who was transformed through psychedelics after the death of her father.

Join them in an engaging panel discussion to talk about the death and dying process, the role of an End-of-Life Doula in this process, how and why psychedelics are powerful sources for healing in those with terminal diagnoses, and how you can begin to shift your thinking about death and dying. They each will share their personal stories with psychedelics and death which are moving testimonials to the potency of psychedelics for this, the most important, part of one’s life journey.

Please note that an attendee report (names, email addresses) is shared with the partner.

Panelists:

Christina Ingenito – LCSW, Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapist, Clinical Director at Diaspora Psychedelic Society

Monica Miller – Event Manager at Psychedelics Today

Catherine Durkin Robinson – Death Doula and Educator at Anitya Doula Services

Host:

Christine Caldwell – Manager, End-of-Life Programs at Diaspora Psychedelic Society

On November 1, the Oregon Health Authority published its proposed final rules for the Measure 109 psilocybin services program. OHA also has given “last call” for public comment and scheduled three public comment hearings November 15-17.

Join attorney and activist Jon Dennis in a conversation moderated by Professor Pilar Hernandez Wolf about the proposed psilocybin rules and ways to help educate OHA around issues of community concern.