Taking a deeper look at Clinics & Retreats: How does the model work and why is it needed?
The panel was joined by a solid group of experts discussing the model and industry of psychedelic therapy clinics and retreats.
Alex Latyshev: A serial entrepreneur with experience in wellness, beauty and medical tourism. Master of European Law, co-founder of Nellymed and co-founder and CEO of HiveBio.
Alexander Lebedev: Alexander is a psychiatrist and a full-stack data scientist with over 15 years of expertise in biomedicine and big data analytics. As a part of his academic career, he published dozens of peer-reviewed articles on machine learning applied to biomedical data, brain imaging, psychopharmacology, drug use, psychedelics and coordinated several research trials.
Tatiana Santini: Registered Psychotherapist from Canada, with a Master’s degree in Adlerian Psychotherapy and Counseling, and a Postgraduate Certificate in psychedelic-assisted therapies and research from top organizations.
Sophie Adler: Sophie-Charlotte Alice Adler, MSc, is a psychologist, hypnotherapist, researcher and author. She has specialized in working with altered states of consciousness since 2017 and developed the innovative Ketamine assisted Hypnotherapy (KAH). Since 2018, she has accompanied over 500 patients from all over the world being treated with ketamine infusions in Germany and Spain.
Some highlights from the panel:
Alexander Lebedev: “Well, the healing environment is so important for the clinical outcomes of these treatments. Depending on what kind of intentions that the patient has is of course very important. So if we are talking about spiritual growth, maybe that’s where the model of retreats is more applicable. But if we are talking about trading addiction, for example, treating clinical depression, that’s when you need to be extra careful when it comes to patient selection.
“And then there’s proper screening for counter-indications, concomitant medications, some of which may actually interact with the treatment that we are proposing. Careful supervision, proper medical setting, proper screening and a team of trained clinicians is of crucial importance. At least that’s my opinion as a clinical practitioner.”
Tatiana Santini: “Definitely. I would agree with Alexander because I did work in a psilocybin retreat and the expectation is that people coming are psychologically healthy. And people will self-refer (this diagnosis). And if they do have an underlying psychiatric condition, or if they have underlying trauma, they may or may not know.”
“If they are suicidal for example and come to a retreat, psychedelics are known to be this nonspecific amplifiers. so they could amplify every state the person is in. So if somebody is suicidal, it’s possible they may become more suicidal in a retreat setting and there is nowhere to refer them and we can’t keep them there. So definitely I am more in preference of a medical setting. But a retreat or a clinic, it should be staffed with medical professionals, psychiatrists, doctors, mental health practitioners that would know what to do in these cases. Of where we can keep or follow these people so that we don’t just send them home on a plane and hope for the best.”
These were just some of the important perspectives given by this panel of specialists. With the evolution of treatments happening as we speak, it’s crucial to discuss the details in open conversation for the entire industry.
