ERIE presents: The Ghost in the Machine? Examining Change Mechanisms in Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy with Andrew Penn for ERIE's 4th Annual Entheo-Health and Wellness Forum, December 4th, 2016 in San Francisco.

Recent clinical studies into the use of psychedelics for the treatment of conditions such as PTSD, depression, substance dependencies, and anxiety at the end of life are beginning to confirm something that native cultures have known for - that these powerful compounds have the potential to heal. Traditionally, the psychedelic healing process has historically been described as a kind of hero's journey, and it is through this process that these changes take place. Contemporary neuroscience seeks to understand mechanisms of action of drugs and the changes that take place in the brain.


This brief session will pose the question: "Is the 'trip' essential to arrive at the destination of healing? Does one have to experience the change of consciousness created by a psychedelic to experience the clinical benefit? What if the improvement conferred by psychedelics could be created without the profound changes of consciousness? What implications would this have?"


I have worked in mental health for over 20 years and trained at UC San Francisco. I am a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner with Kaiser Permanente in Redwood City and work in outpatient psychiatry. I am an assistant clinical professor at UCSF, School of Nursing. I am also on the steering committee for the US Psychiatry and Mental Health Congress, a large continuing medical education conference, where I have presented on the risks and benefits of cannabis and on psychedelic assisted psychotherapy. I have been going to Burning Man since 1998, and for the last 2 years, have been honored to work with the Zendo Project on psychedelic harm reduction.


Here's a recent blog series on psychedelics: [ Ссылка ]


My Kaiser page: [ Ссылка ]


and a piece I wrote for the MAPS journal a few years ago: [ Ссылка ]

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