Psychedelics in Treatment of Mental Illness

6.0 Continuing Education Credits

This CE Event is offered in cooperation with the Nevada Psychological Association

10 A.M - 5:30 P.M. Please note the deviation from our typical times for CE workshops

Course Overview:

An empirical body of empirical research has emerged over the last couple of decades suggesting that the 5-HT2A receptor agonist classic psychedelic compound psilocybin results in positive long-term outcomes in both healthy participants and in individuals with psychiatric disorders. This research has been conducted under conditions of substantial preparation, and interpersonal support. Findings have suggested that under such conditions psilocybin leads to increased personality openness in healthy participants, decreased depression and anxiety in cancer patients, and increased biologically confirmed quit rates in treatment-resistant tobacco cigarette smokers. These findings are consistent with the notion that psychedelic therapy is best thought of as medication-assisted behavioral or psychological therapy, wherein the drug increases behavioral plasticity, providing an experience that can influence future behavior. A vision will be presented suggesting that psychedelics may be leveraged in the treatment of a variety of nominally distinct psychiatric disorders.

Course Objectives:

1. Identify two psychiatric disorders for which psilocybin is being studied as a potential therapeutic.

2. Identify two risk factors that require mitigation in clinical research with high doses of psilocybin or other classic psychedelic compounds.

3. Identify two "classic psychedelic" compounds

4. Identify two non-classic psychedelic compounds

5. Identify two environmental factors that are involved in “psychedelic therapy”

6. Identify two areas of potential future research for psychedelic therapy.

Presenter: 

Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., is The Susan Hill Ward Endowed Professor of Psychedelics and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins. Working with psychedelics for 17 years, he is one of the world’s most widely published experts on psychedelics. Matt published psychedelic safety guidelines in 2008, helping to resurrect psychedelic research. He developed the first research on psychedelic treatment of tobacco addiction and published initial result in 2014, and with colleagues he conducted the largest study of psilocybin in cancer distress (2016). His 2018 psilocybin review recommended Schedule IV upon medical approval. Matt also conducts behavioral economic research on addiction and sexual risk. He’s been Interviewed by Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC and was featured in Michael Pollan’s book How to Change Your Mind.

Fees