October Innerbloom Newsletter
Oct 12, 2023 12:01 pm
Innerbloom Ketamine Therapy
October 2023
The month of October has been busy with the growth of our team, ongoing interest in closely monitoring psychedelic legislation, and future planning that includes training in the use of other medicines, such as MDMA.
✒ First, your signature please!
We recently learned about the TREAT California Initiative which is a citizen-led ballot initiative that will provide $5B in funding for research and affordable access to mental health treatments using psychedelic medicines. As long as you're registered to vote, please consider adding your name to make sure that we get at least one million signatures. With your support, you will be helping millions of Californians get the opportunity to vote YES to a funding agency dedicated to treating mental health and addiction, using psychedelic medicines.
UPDATES
Justin Chernow PhD, a licensed psychologist since 2011, joined our team as an independent contractor. He brings a wealth of experience, including the study of medical practices in indigenous cultures involving the use of psychedelic plants. He pursued his graduate studies at an institution co-founded by Dr. James Fadiman, a leading authority on the transformative potential of psychedelics.
Justin will provide his expertise during the integration and aftercare phases of patients' treatment at Innerbloom. Recognizing the importance of continuous integration for sustaining recovery and well-being, he will be an option for patients seeking long-term therapy after completing the Innerbloom process.
Welcome Dr. Justin Chernow to Team Innerbloom
⚖️ California will not decriminalize psychedelics... at least not yet.
Last week, Governor Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 58 which would have decriminalized possession and use of naturally-occurring psychedelics such as psilocybin, DMT, and mescaline. Governor Newsom called for more safety guard rails to be in place prior to allowing Californians access to these powerful plant medicines. Governor Newsom wrote, “California should immediately begin work to set up regulated treatment guidelines -replete with dosing information, therapeutic guidelines, rules to prevent against exploitation during guided treatments, and medical clearance of no underlying psychoses. Unfortunately, this bill would decriminalize possession prior to these guidelines going into place, and I cannot sign it.”
While it appears that we will have to wait until next year for another chance at decriminalization, Governor Newsom did sign one victory for psychedelic drug reform into law. This law allows California doctors to prescribe psilocybin, MDMA, and any other Schedule 1 plant medicine to patients if and when these substances are rescheduled to a lower tier or approved by the FDA for exemption.
🏣 Does Your Company Offer Ketamine Therapy?
When we attended the Psychedelic Science 2023 conference in Denver last June, we learned about a company which is working to improve worker productivity in a novel way. Enthea is a Boston-based, third-party administrator which offers psychedelic therapy as an employee benefit. Currently, Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy or KAP is the only option but many expect other medicines like MDMA and psilocybin to follow in the coming years as their legal status is revised. At IKT, we've been following this trend and hope to join Enthea's growing provider network within the next 6-9 months. Read about the promising results from Dr. Bronner's here.
Science Update: Phase III Trial of MDMA-Assisted Therapy Complete
In September, the MAPS Public Benefit Corporation concluded the second half of its Phase 3 study into whether MDMA combination therapy is a safe and effective treatment for moderate to severe post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. I posted my key takeaways from this landmark accomplishment here but below are the highlights:
- If approved, MDMA-assisted therapy would be the first new treatment for PTSD in over 20 years.
- The results are promising: 86.5% of those in the MDMA-assisted therapy group achieved a reduction in symptom severity and 71% improved enough that they no longer met the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis (this compared with 69% and 48% who took placebo, respectively).
- Next, the researchers plan to apply for FDA approval but significant uncertainties remain before MDMA is a legal treatment option for the 13 million Americans who suffer from PTSD each year.
Anticipating the Wave 🌊 of Psychedelic Assisted Therapy
Cindy Nelson LMFT, who offers our patients ketamine-assisted psychotherapy or KAP recently passed the first milestone towards becoming an MDMA-assisted therapist. Read more about the start of her journey here. She just completed an intensive 8-week course called "The Fundamentals of Psychedelic Assisted Therapy" with Numinus. The virtual program included lots of homework, regular small group lessons, and featured a 3-hour capstone video conference with 40 participants from around the world. Cindy has already begun the next course in her track called "Applied Psychedelic Assisted Treatment" which will allow her to register for the training that focuses specifically on MDMA-assisted therapy. We will be sure to keep you updated on Cindy's progress, especially as I follow in her footsteps later this month.
Above: Dr Rivas with Cindy Nelson LMFT standing in front of the Numinus exhibition booth at the Psychedelic Science 2023 conference in Denver this past June
MEDIA
🚀 The Future of Psychedelic Medicine. In this episode, Sam Harris discusses the TREAT Initiative in California and the potential of psychedelics in mental health care with Jeannie Fontana, MD, PhD, a healthcare leader with extensive experience in various fields, and Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD, a pioneering researcher in the field of psychedelics. The part of the conversation that intrigued me the most was the utilization of genomics to determine the most effective psychedelics therapy on an individual basis!
EVENT
📢 We have last public event scheduled for the year at the SLO Farmer's Market downtown this Thursday, October 12th from 6-9pm. We've enjoyed engaging with the public, answering questions about ketamine therapy, raising awareness, and changing perceptions!
BLOG
- Reopening Critical Periods: The Mechanism Behind Ketamine’s Healing Potential - Psychedelics, including substances like ketamine, reopen critical periods, which are the key moments in our brain's development when we're most receptive to learning and adapting. Ketamine seems to induce this youthful receptivity, making it easier to learn and change behaviors. This could potentially lead to the ability to break free from unhealthy patterns and habits, acquire new knowledge, and even foster a deeper connection with others and the living planet.
- Ketamine for the Treatment of Intrusive Negative Thoughts and Suicide - Having seen firsthand how hospitals handle suicidal ideation in the emergency department, I'm certain there are more effective tools than the current standard of care. I envision a future where easily accessible ketamine infusions can provide urgent help. I explore how ketamine therapy can nearly instantaneously help those struggling with self-destructive thoughts and overwhelming negativity.
- The Ketamine Experience: What Does Ketamine Feel Like? (Updated October 2023) - While the ketamine experience is often described as ineffable, meaning it can be challenging to put into words, I explore what it may feel like and share common themes we've observed at Innerbloom
➡️ To stay up-to-date on news, research, and blog posts related to ketamine and Innerbloom, be sure to check the BLOG tab on our website and follow us on Instagram to get a glimpse into our daily practice of safe and effective practice of ketamine therapy.
📣 What our patients say 📣
Ray Rivas, MD
Innerbloom Ketamine Therapy, PC
San Luis Obispo, CA
(805) 321-8471
