Webinar Sessions

Psychedelic Support for BIPOC Communities:

Uplifting Voices, Transforming Hearts, Shifting Perspectives

Nov 5, 2020

Featuring Yarelix Estrada & Sensei Kevon Simpson, moderated by Kaylie Tejedai, DNAP, CRNA

Psychedelic Conversations

CONTINUING EDUCATION (CE)

Information on Continuing Education Credit
for Health Professionals

Psychedelic Peer Support:

Co-Creating Communities of Compassionate Care

Featuring Zendo Project: Katrina Michelle, Ph.D., Chelsea Rose, M.A., Associate M.F.T., Ryan Jay Beauregard

October 22, 2020 | 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM Pacific Time

Chelsea graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles Honors College with a B.A. in Psychology in 2007, and received her master’s degree in Integral Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2012. She has a passion for harm reduction as a therapeutic and practical approach to drug use and abuse prevention. Chelsea also works for DanceSafe, a public health organization, as the manager for the reagent testing kit program. Additionally, she manages the Crisis Response Team in Nevada County, supporting clients who come into the emergency room during a psychiatric crisis. She lives in the Sierra foothills of California with her husband Alexandre, who is also involved in harm reduction work, their three children, and their chickens, fish, and Kisser kitty.

Ryan Jay Beauregard

Harm Reduction Programs Manager,
MAPS Zendo Project

 Zendo Project Webinar Recording

Psychedelic Decriminalization:

Pathways to Responsible Risk Management

Featuring Kevin Matthews, Melissa Lavasani, & Benjamin De Leonen, M.A., moderated by Dawn D. Davis

Oct 29, 2020 | 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM Pacific Time

After psilocybin and ayahuasca helped her reclaim her life, Melissa was motivated to change laws in the District of Columbia so that other residents would not face the same fear of investigation, arrest or prosecution for using entheogens that she did.

Born to Iranian immigrants in Washington DC, Melissa currently lives in Ward 6 with her husband and two children and is a DC government employee.

Kevin Matthews

In 2009, he founded the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research & Service (ICEERS), a charitable non-profit organisation with United Nations consultative status, where he serves as Executive Director. Benjamin is the author of several publications and films, has presented at conferences around the world, and has participated in various leadership roles, including as a member of the Board of Directors of the Global Ibogaine Therapist Alliance (2012 – 2014).

Moderator

Dawn D. Davis

Psychedelic Support for BIPOC Communities:

Uplifting Voices, Transforming Hearts, Shifting Perspectives

Featuring Yarelix Estrada and Sensei Kevon Simpson, moderated by Kaylie Tejedai, DNAP, CRNA

Nov 5, 2020 | 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM Pacific Time

Yarelix currently works as a City Research Scientist with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene conducting community-based substance use harm reduction outreach and research. Part of those research responsibilities include coalition building amongst city agencies, elected officials, and community members while using research to solve issues related to drug user health and safety. Yarelix is also on the board of SALUD, Supporting and Advancing Latino Unidos at DOHMH, the Latinx Employee Resource Group, where she is working to highlight the needs of Latinx health in New York City, as well as organizing support for Indigenous communities and their health in the city. She is currently also serving as an Engagement Coordinator under her COVID-19 emergency response role where she supports and advocates alongside Indigenous communities across NYC.

Yarelix has worked in other harm reduction spaces such as with the Baltimore Harm Reduction Coalition, DanceSafe, and other nightlife harm reduction projects. She has spoken at events on the topic of overdose prevention, psychedelic community accountability, harm reduction services for the BIPOC community, the intersections of drug and psychedelic policy, and psychedelic decriminalization. The events that she has facilitated are low cost, low barrier events that she has created with and for her community. She received her bachelor’s degree and Master of Science in Public Health in Health Policy at the Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, respectively.

Sensei Kevon Simpson

She identifies as Latinx (Dominican-American) and Queer. Kaylie serves as the moderator of the Psychedelic Social Justice Collective (PSJC) discord server and a member of the Intercollegiate Psychedelic Network’s Social Policy & Impact Spore. Her passions, while diverse, are predominately centered on social justice advocacy, with an emphasis on ethics and equity in the psychedelic field and healthcare at large, rewriting societal narratives, and developing community solutions for marginalized communities that have been plagued by systemic inequities.

Harm Reduction Psychotherapy & Psychedelics:

An Integrative Approach to Addiction Treatment

Featuring Andrew Tatarksy, Ph.D., & Juliana Mulligan, moderated by Sara Gael, M.A.

Nov 12, 2020 | 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM Pacific Time

Her work centers around guiding individuals to their own inner power and supporting them in re-framing their life experiences into sources of knowledge and inspiration. She has developed a guide for finding safe Ibogaine treatment and is also currently working to create new systems of accountability and responsibility among Ibogaine practitioners and in the greater psychedelic therapy community. Juliana hopes to orient her work to focus on the social-cultural intersections of harm reduction and psychedelics. She has been featured in Double Blind magazine, Woman’s Day magazine, and Psymposia.

Andrew Tatarksy, Ph.D.

She has presented at conferences, universities, and events around the world. She serves on the board of directors at DanceSafe and as the harm reduction advocate on the city of Denver psilocybin policy review panel. Sara believes that developing a comprehensive understanding of psychedelic medicines through research and education is essential for the health and well-being of individuals, communities, and the planet.

Psychedelics and Their Integration into Society:

Healing Trauma, Providing Hope for Better Mental Health

Featuring Rick Doblin, Ph.D., & Kwasi Adusei, DNP, PMHNP-BC, moderated by Liana Sananda Gillooly

Nov 19, 2020 | 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM Pacific Time

He also conducted a thirty-four year follow-up study to Timothy Leary’s Concord Prison Experiment. Rick studied with Dr. Stanislav Grof and was among the first to be certified as a Holotropic Breathwork practitioner. His professional goal is to help develop legal contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription medicines but also for personal growth for otherwise healthy people, and eventually to become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist. He founded MAPS in 1986, and currently resides in Boston with his wife, dog, and empty rooms from three children, one of whom is in college and two have graduated.

Kwasi Adusei, DNP, PMHNP-BC

Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, Psychedelic Harm Reduction Specialist

She has worked in event, festival, and film production, as well as artist representation, art curation, and art creation. She owned a visionary art gallery in Venice Beach, California, called Sananda Gallery. She has produced fundraisers, parties, and art happenings for special events and festivals, including High Times Cannabis Cups, MAPS conferences, Envision Festival, Serenity Festival, and Fractal Planet at Burning Man. She has been a featured speaker at numerous events, lobbied Congress, lectured MBA students, and given a TedX talk. She is an experienced meditator and trained death midwife.