Join us for the October Ethics CE Event

Of Forests and Trees: An Introduction to the Current State of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Important Ethical Considerations for Safe, Equitable, and Accessible Use

This talk was previously meant to be in-person, however, congratulations are in order as Dr. Averill will be welcoming a new baby next month!
She will now be pre-recording her talk which we will play for everyone in person at the Hope and Healing Center after lunch. Dr. Averill will then join us live for the question and answer portion of her presentation.

Course Objectives: 

We find ourselves at a unique moment in history – an inflexion point in which we must seek change. As a nation and a world, we are facing a mental health crisis unlike what we have dealt with before and our currently available interventions, though critical, are not enough. Rates of stress- and trauma-related concerns including PTSD, depression, anxiety, addiction, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors continue to rise despite trillions being funneled into mental health care. Recent research conducted at premier academic institutions across the world suggest psychedelic medicine and assisted therapies may provide urgently needed intervention for many people struggling to find healing through traditionally available options. This presentation will review the current state of the literature concerning psychedelic medicine and assisted therapies and discuss some of the large and not easily answered ethical and practical considerations relating to these interventions (scalability, equitable access, cost and insurance coverage, therapist/provider training, infrastructure needs, regulatory barriers, etc.). Participants will gain perspectives into both large over-arching topics in psychedelic medicine (e.g., the forests) as well as more fine-grained considerations and ethical concerns (e.g., the trees).

A bit about our presenter:

Dr. Lynnette A. Averill is a leading expert in the psychoneurobiology of chronic stress pathology – namely posttraumatic stress, suicidality and rapid-acting interventions. Her research focuses on the fine-grained understanding of mechanisms underlying psychedelic medicines, the effects of chronic stress and trauma, and treatment response. She has done extensive work in ketamine and psychedelic medicine studies, including pharmacoimaging trials. She has received honors and funding for her work from premier organizations including the American College for Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP), Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), International Society for Clinical Trials and Methodology (ISCTM), Dept. of Veterans Affairs, Brain and Behavior Foundation (BBRF) and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).

Dr. Averill is an Associate Professor at Baylor College of Medicine’s Menninger Department of Behavioral Sciences, Clinical Research Psychologist at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, maintains a faculty appointment at Yale School of Medicine and the National Center for PTSD and is a clinician and innovation expert consultant at NPSYT, PLLC. She is a founding board member for Source Research Foundation and Reason for Hope ~ Hope for Reason, two psychedelic-focused non-profit organizations. She served as subject matter expert for TX House Bill 1802 that passed with near unanimous bipartisan support and funds a clinical trial of psilocybin for Veterans with PTSD, which Dr. Averill will lead. She has served as a subject matter expert for Connecticut’s Psilocybin Work Group as well as testifying in special briefings in other states and with members of the Biden Administration on matters relating to thoughtful legislation that support ethical, safe, equitable and accessible use of psychedelic medicine and assisted therapies.

Three (3) hours of CE credit will be given at the conclusion of the event. Only one certificate will be given per person, and you must be present the entire time to receive the certificate.