In today’s episode, we are incredibly honored to have a famous philosopher and writer, Ken Wilber, on the show. Ken’s work has been monumental in the field of transpersonal psychology and has developed the integral theory.
Today, he shares his insights about the ego structures, states of consciousness, human development and a whole lot more.
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For decades, Dr. Charles Grob has been researching applications of MDMA, psilocybin, and ayahuasca for a variety of human conditions including end of life anxiety, PTSD, depression, addiction, and more. His contributions have significantly shaped what we know about psychedelics today and how much of an impact it has on our patients.
In today’s episode, we hear about the early challenges in psychedelic research, and learn about Dr. Grob’s perspectives about what elements of a psychedelic-assisted therapy session are essential. We explore the exciting new developments at the intersection between the medical and the spiritual dimensions of healing.
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Psychedelic research is gaining momentum, and Robin Carhart-Harris with his team at Imperial College, London is one of the most prolific groups pushing the science forward. In May 2021, the New England Journal of Medicine published their head to head depression study of an SSRI vs. psilocybin.
In today’s episode, we are joined by a pioneering neuroscientist, Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris. We dive into conversations around the effects of psychedelics on brain networks, the nuances of ego, self, and other, and exciting developments within the research.
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The stress response impacts every aspect of health, not only mental health. The vagus nerve is a major connector between mind and body and a big part of the parasympathetic nervous system.
In today’s episode, we are honored to welcome Dr. Stephen Porges, the author and mind behind Polyvagal Theory. Dr. Porges has committed decades of research to uncover the various aspects of how the vagus nerve is involved in trauma responses. Join us as he shares his wisdom and insights about the polyvagal theory, and ways that trauma therapy can make use of the vagus nerve.
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What is art and where does it come from? How can art provide a window into the divine nature of reality? In this episode, we take a deep dive into answering these questions along with an exploration into broader mystical experiences, transcendence and the role of psychedelics.
We are honored to host Alex and Allyson Grey, two of the most respected visionary artists in the world. They share some great stories from the early days of the psychedelic revolution, how their marriage has fostered the support they needed to produce their artwork, and the role that art plays in the healing process.
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To make it to the top of professional sports takes a lot of hard work, mental toughness, and physical discipline, and to always be one step ahead of the game. What happens to athletes when they pivot and walk away from a lifetime of commitment and immersion in their sport? What experiences, challenges and psychological difficulties do they go through, and how do they cope?
In this episode, we’re excited to explore this existential moment with a former NFL football player and the founder and CEO of the HART collective, Joe Hawley. He shares his interesting story about his time in the NFL, insights and his effort to support former athletes who have since left their sport to find deep purpose.
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Psychedelics have been used to heal people for thousands of years in traditional indigenous ceremonial contexts. Psychiatric research is showing very promising results for psychedelic therapy. But can psychiatry address the spiritual dimensions of healing with psychedelics?
In today’s episode, we are joined by Dr. Joe Tafur, author, speaker and an integrative medicine doctor at the Ocotillo Center for Integrative Medicine. Dr. Tafur discusses the role of spirituality in psychedelic healing, shamanism, and his exciting new research on epigenetic findings in people who recovered from PTSD with MDMA therapy in MAPS trials.
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Mental illness stigmatization remains one of the biggest issues in the battle against the global mental health crisis. It’s very taboo to openly and publicly discuss our mental health, and the struggles that we all face from time to time. #Same Here founder Eric Kussin is on a mission to change that by bringing together personalities from the MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA/WNBA, MLS, Pro Boxing, Pro Volleyball, international sportsmen and women, announcers, actors, performers and musicians who are willing to tell their stories about mental health struggles.
In today’s episode, #Same Here founder, Eric Kussin shares his personal story of fighting against a severe mental health crisis, how he was misdiagnosed for years, the missing part of the equation, and what led him to founding a global mental health movement.
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© 2024 Integrative Psychiatry Institute
Sara Reed, MS, LMFT
Sara Reed is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and CEO of Mind’s iHealth Solutions, a digital health company that provides evidence based and culturally responsible mental health services for underserved groups. As a mental health futurist and clinical researcher, Sara examines the ways culture informs the way we diagnose and treat mental illness. Sara’s prior research work includes participation as a study therapist in psychedelic therapy research at Yale University and the University of Connecticut’s Health Center. Sara was the first Black therapist to provide MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in a clinical trial and continues to engage in ongoing advocacy work around health equity in psychedelic medicine.
Jeffrey Guss, MD is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and researcher with specializations in psychoanalytic therapy and the treatment of substance use disorders. He was Co-Principal Investigator and Director of Psychedelic Therapy Training for the NYU School of Medicine’s study on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of cancer-related existential distress, which was published in Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2016. He currently is a study therapist in the NYU study on Psychedelic-Assisted therapy in the treatment of Alcoholism, a collaborator with Yale University’s study on psychedelic-assisted therapy for Major Depressive Disorder and a study therapist with the MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) study on treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy.
Dr. Guss is interested in the integration of psychedelic therapies with contemporary psychoanalytic theory and has published in Studies in Gender and Sexuality and Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society. He has published (with Elizabeth Nielson, PhD) a paper on “the influence of therapists’ first had experience with psychedelics on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy research and therapist training” in The Journal of Psychedelic Studies, August, 2018. He is an Instructor and Mentor with the California Institute of Integral Studies’ Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Supervisor in NYU’s Fellowship in Addiction Psychiatry.
Dr. Guss maintains a private practice in New York City.
Will Van Derveer, MD
Will Van Derveer, MD is Co-Founder of Integrative Psychiatry Institute and Integrative Psychiatry Centers. Dr. Van Derveer was co-investigator on a phase 2 MAPS study of Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for treatment-resistant PTSD, and co-authored the publication of this study in 2018. He has also provided Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in two MAPS training studies. An active provider of KAP at his clinic in Boulder, CO, he has been teaching others KAP therapy for several years. Dr. Van Derveer contributed a chapter on mescaline in the 2021 "Handbook of Medical Hallucinogens" (edited by Charles Grob and Jim Grigsby). He is co-host of the Higher Practice Podcast.
Dr. Van Derveer regards unresolved emotional trauma as the most significant under-recognized root cause of psychiatric symptoms in integrative psychiatry practice, along with gut issues, hormone imbalances, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and other functional medicine challenges. He is trained in Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, Internal Family Systems, and other psychotherapy techniques. His current clinical passion is psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, which he mentors interested doctors in providing. An avid meditator, he has been a meditation instructor since 2004.
For the past several years Dr. Van Derveer has taught psychiatrists and other psychiatric providers integrative psychiatry in a number of settings, including course directing the CU psychiatry residents’ course as well as with Scott Shannon and Janet Settle at the Psychiatry MasterClass.
Scott has been a student of consciousness since his honors thesis on that topic at the University of Arizona in the 1970s under the tutelage of Dr. Andrew Weil. Following medical school, Scott studied Jungian therapy and acupuncture while working as a primary care physician in a rural area for four years. Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy became a facet of his practice before this medicine was scheduled in 1985. He then completed a psychiatry residency at Columbia program in New York. Scott studied cross-cultural psychiatry and completed a child/adolescent psychiatry fellowship at the University of New Mexico.
In 2010 he founded Wholeness Center in Fort Collins. This innovative clinic provides cross-disciplinary evaluation and care for all mental health concerns. Scott serves as a site Principal Investigator and therapist for the Phase III trial of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD sponsored by (MAPS). He has also published numerous articles about his research on (CBD) in mental health. Currently, Scott works extensively with psychedelic-assisted-psychotherapy. He lectures all over the world to professional groups interested in a deeper look at mental health issues, safer tools, and a paradigm-shifting perspective about transformative care.
Will Van Derveer, MD is co-founder of Integrative Psychiatry Institute (IPI), along with friend and colleague Keith Kurlander, MA. He co-created IPI as an expression of what he stands for. First, that anyone can heal, and second that we medical providers must embrace our own healing journeys in order to fully command our potency as healers.
Dr. Van Derveer spent the last 20 years innovating and testing a comprehensive approach to addressing psychiatric challenges which transcends the conventional model he learned in medical school at Vanderbilt University and residency at University of Colorado, while deeply engaging his own healing path.
He founded the Integrative Psychiatric Healing Center in in 2001 in Boulder, CO, where he currently practices. Dr. Van Derveer regards unresolved emotional trauma as the most significant root cause of psychiatric symptoms in integrative psychiatry practice, along with gut issues, hormone imbalances, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and other functional medicine challenges. He is trained in Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, Internal Family Systems, and other psychotherapy techniques. His current clinical passion is psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, which he mentors interested doctors in providing. An avid meditator, he has been a meditation instructor since 2004.
For the past several years Dr. Van Derveer has taught psychiatrists and other psychiatric providers integrative psychiatry in a number of settings, including course directing the CU psychiatry residents’ course as well as with Scott Shannon and Janet Settle at the Psychiatry MasterClass. In addition to his clinical work and teaching, he was co-investigator in 2016 a Phase II randomized clinical trial, sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He continues to support this protocol, now in a Phase III clinical trial under break-through designation by FDA.
Dr. Van Derveer is a diplomate of the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine (ABoIHM) since 2013, and he was board certified in the first wave of diplomates of the new American Board of Integrative Medicine (ABIM) in 2016.
