Psychedelic Professionals Meet: DENVER

Psychedelic Professionals Meetup Groups are happening!  Let's keep Colorado on the leading edge of psychedelic medicine work by coming together in community to learn, share, and grow. Each Psychedelic Professionals Meetup Group starts with an informative topic relevant to research, practice, policy, or activism around psychedelic medicines, followed by open discussion and an opportunity to connect with like-minded others. 

For our November gathering, we are excited to welcome a stellar panel of prescribers and therapists who incorporate ketamine-assisted therapy into their practices. We'll discuss what their ketamine therapy practices look like, stories of profound insights and difficult experiences witnessed with ketamine therapy, how ketamine fits (or does it?) within the psychedelic therapy tool kit, differences in routes of administration (including different perspectives on the value of IV infusion ketamine), the mis-use of ketamine, and more!

Panelists include:

Sara Markey, MD Progressive Psychiatry

German Ascani, MD Wholeness Center

Bri Bendixsen, MA, PRATI and Reflective Healing

Shoshana Aal, PsyD, Watermark Counseling

Sara Markey, MD (she/her) is a psychiatrist who has been providing ketamine treatment for over 6 years. She graduated from Georgetown University School of Medicine and has worked in a variety of clinical settings. In addition to ketamine treatment, Sara maintains a private general psychiatry practice and is also active in clinical research, currently as Principal Investigator for the MAPS expanded access protocol for MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD & other clinical trials. Sara is a member of ASKP3 and the American Psychiatric Association.

German Ascani, MD is a board certified psychiatrist and a graduate of the University of California Davis School of Medicine. He completed his general psychiatric training at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California. He has completed accredited training in the use of Ketamine in mental health and has collaborated in the latest published research regarding Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP).  He has begun his training for MDMA assisted psychotherapy for PTSD through MAPS and is excited to soon be part of the Wholeness Center’s research team in conducting FDA phase 3 clinical trials for this promising therapy. Prior to moving to Colorado, Dr. Ascani lived in California and founded Evolve Mind Wellness, a psychiatric clinic based in Sebastopol, offering ketamine-assisted therapies for refractory depression, trauma, and other psychological disorders.

Bri Bendixsen (she/her) is a psychotherapist offering ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) and psychedelic integration work in Fort Collins. She is a therapist on the MAPS Phase 3 clinical trials for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD and completed the MAPS therapist training program in 2019. Bri is a co-founder of PRATI (Psychedelic Research and Training Institute) where she serves as a lead faculty member, teaching on ethics and integration, and has helped coordinate trainings for hundreds of mental health professionals from around the country in the clinical application of KAP. She also completed her own KAP training with Dr. Phil Wolfson and the Ketamine Training Center in 2019.

Shoshana Aal, PsyD  (they/them) is a licensed psychologist practicing individual therapy and Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) in the Denver metro area and greater Colorado. Shoshana has a focus on trauma, grief/loss, BIPOC experiences, cultural diversity, and LGBTQ experiences. Shoshana currently provides KAP in conjunction with Progressive Psychiatry working with both psychedelic and psychoanalytic doses. Shoshana has a Doctorate Degree in Clinical Psychology from The University of Denver, Graduate School of Professional Psychology. Shoshana has been trained in KAP through the Ketamine Training Center in 2019. Memberships and volunteering experiences include several psychedelic organizations such as SPORE, SPORE’s equity team, and The Zendo. Shoshana currently works as a teachers assistant for the integrative psychiatry institutes’ Psychedelic therapy training program. Additionally, Shoshana currently runs the Colorado KAP Consultation group.

If you have ideas for topics or presentations for these meetup groups or would like to be more involved, please contact us! Please support the Mercury Cafe by purchasing food or drink during our event.