Mental Health Psychedelic Assisted Therapy with Dr. Alana Roy of Mind Medicine Australia
Over 2018 to 2019 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designated psilocybin (one of key ingredients in psychoactive mushrooms) and MDMA (one of the key ingredients in ecstasy) with “breakthrough status” given the huge promise they’ve both shown in the first stages of clinical trials. Psilocybin showed incredible promise for Major Depressive Disorder (something affecting up to 15% of people living in developed countries at some point in their life). MDMA showed significant promise for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. One of the most curious things about the proposed therapies are that they’re once-off or just a few dosed sessions that could cause lifelong changes unlike existing antidepressant medication.
The proposal is that the substances are to be taken under supervision of a trained mental health professional and this is where Dr. Alana Roy and Mind Medicine Australia come in.
Mind Medicine Australia believe that Australia should be taking advantage of the completed body of science and take lessons from the US to move forward to having similar therapies legally offered in Australia.
Check out and share this 2 minute animation to find out why psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy needs to be available to those who are suffering.
To better understand how these medicines offer promise in treating mental illness, please visit our website and https://mindmedicineaustralia.org/psychological-support-services/
Please also read https://mindmedicineaustralia.org/important-resources/
Mind Medicine Australia relies on tax-deductible donations to create a pathway for the regulatory approval of medicine-assisted therapies. We invite you to donate HERE.
Future research in Australia is on the way. If you would like to be kept aware of when such research is announced, and whether you may qualify for inclusion, please follow us on facebook, twitter and join our mailing list and attend our next educational events.
There are some ways to stay in touch and become involved in the meantime.
Dr Alana Roy (Ph. D Psychology, B. A Social Work (MHSW))
National Practice Manager Psychological Services
Dr Alana Roy is a psychologist, social worker and therapist and has spent the last 13 years working in mental health, suicide prevention, trauma, sexual abuse and family violence and the disability sector. Alana has worked with borderline personality and dissociative identity disorder in various roles in the community such as; Rape Crisis Centres with victims of ritual abuse, childhood and adult sexual assault, supporting women in the sex industry, survivors of human trafficking and now as a psychedelic integration specialist. Alana focuses on harm minimisation, community and connection.
She is dedicated to psychedelic assisted psychotherapy and plant medicines. She has engaged with, and provides integration therapeutic support services for communities across Australia. Alana works at several universities as a Research Fellow and supervisor of students on placement. Alana passionately advocates for public policy, community education and legislative changes so that these treatments are regulated and supported by a strong, connected and skilled sector.
Alana utilizes a range of therapies such as emotion focused therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), cognitive-behavioural therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy and mindfulness and meditation approaches. In Alana’s spare time she is kept busy by her young sons, her love of traveling the world, and connecting with the diverse and creative medicine community.