SUMMER SYMPOSIUM
“We just need the right kind of cultural support around these treatments”
Dr Michael Winlo
In today’s podcast, I had the pleasure of sitting down with a panel of expert guests for the first of our live events. The title of the symposium was ‘non-ordinary states for ordinary Australians’. We had a wide-ranging conversation and an event of connection and live music afterward. It reminded us all that no one is going to lie on their deathbed and wish they had looked at more screens. Breaking bread and talking with other human beings is a powerful thing.
In today’s podcast We Discuss;
The professional background of the panelists
Hannah Courtauld - psychologist currently working in private practice and former triage officer at Alalaho
Stephen Bright - Ethnopharmacologist and Senior lecturer at Edith Cowan University
Michael Winlo Managing Director at Emyria
Emyria’s generous sponsorship of the event - Emyria’s ‘donorship’ of Helen Keller International’s Vitamin A Supplementation programme
The Panel’s thoughts on the optimal context for the therapeutic use of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy
Emyria’s arrangement for screening of a library of MDMA analogs with UWA
The need for a therapeutic diad
The potential for MDMA analogs as a treatment for Parkinson’s,
Hannah’s work with Alalaho Psychedelic Retreat
Hannah’s interest in Neurofeedback (especially in relation to the treatment of trauma) as a potential adjunctive modality to psychedelics
Micheal’s interest in Virtual Reality and its use for the treatment of Phantom Limb Pain, and the potential interface of VR and psychedelics and the work of Skip Rizzo
The recent Australian Federal funding of psychedelics
Prism and Emyria’s relative positions on the current scheduling of psychedelic substances in Australia,
Delineating the impacts of the therapy
The importance of ‘Real World Evidence’ and the FDA’s interest in deepening their relationship with this concept,
Stephen’s concerns around Intellectual Property issues within the corporate psychedelic space, and his concerns around Compass Pathways IP protocols as an example,
Hannah’s hope for a client-centered paradigm
Michael’s belief that the first mainstream medical iteration will likely be ‘reductionist’ and tightly controlled - with specialist physicians as the gatekeepers
Stephen’s belief that the distinction between clinical and recreational term is fairly ‘arbitrary’
Data Capture of recreational use at Emyria
The importance of the cultural container and the possibility of ‘responsible experiential usage’
Hannah’s thoughts after her first legal psilocybin experience,
The importance of integration and ‘daily practice’ …
..and much more!
Hannah Courtauld
Psychologist
Hannah is a registered psychologist with a Masters degree in clinical psychology. She is passionate about providing person-centered, trauma-informed, evidence-based psychological interventions in a warm and engaging manner. Her special interests include working with children and adults with neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism spectrum condition (including diagnosis of autism) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); trauma (developmental, simple, and complex); and addiction. Hannah works in private practice in Perth and previously served as a triage psychologist for Alaloho, the London-based organization offering legal psychedelic retreats in the Netherlands.
Michael Winlo
Managing Director, Emyria
Dr. Michael Winlo is the Managing Director of Emyria, one of Australia’s most exciting drug development start-ups. Michael holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery with Honours from the University of Western Australia as well as a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University. Prior to Emyria, Michael was CEO at Linear Clinical Research Ltd (Linear) – a company providing clinical trial services for US- and Asia-based biotech companies. Linear was the first site in Australia, and one of the first few in the world, to successfully adopt electronic data capture technology. Michael retains a Directorship at Linear. Prior to Linear, Michael was Health Lead at Palantir Technologies – a Big Data company based in Silicon Valley California.
Dr Stephen Bright
Clinical Psychologist, Ethnopharmacologist, Psyhedelic Researcher.
Dr. Stephen Bright is a Clinically trained psychologist who has worked in the field of Mental Health for the past 15 years. He is currently Senior Lecturer of Addiction at Edith Cowan University and is also an adjunct research fellow at Curtin University's National Drug Research Institute.
Dr. Bright has a longstanding professional involvement with psychedelics and is one of Australia’s foremost scientists in the field. Stephen is a founding member and vice-president of the organisation P.R.I.S.M. (Psychedelics Research In Science and Medicine). He is also due to become one of the first-ever Australians to successfully complete certification in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy - through training issued by the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).
Dr. Bright primarily identifies as an ethnopharmacologist, and the through-line that connects his various strands of work is the study of the ways in which humans interact with psychoactive substances - and how we can seek to optimize these complicated relationships.
Dr. Niall Campbell
Psychotherapist, Moderator
Dr. Niall Campbell is a former Dental Surgeon who originally qualified from Queens University Belfast with a Bachelor’s degree in Dental Surgery. After completing his General Professional Training in Oral Surgery Niall emigrated to Australia to work in Private Practice, specialising in the treatment of dentally anxious/phobic patients. Dissatisfied with the limitations of conventional pharmacological methods for the management of patient anxiety, Niall retrained in psychology and clinical hypnotherapy, prior to setting up primehypnosis.com - a psychotherapy and consulting service utilising non-ordinary states of consciousness for the treatment of addictions, phobias, and anxiety disorders.
Dr. Campbell has experience working as a psychotherapist in private residential AOD Rehab settings in Thailand, and has also served as Communications Manager for Asia Health Ltd, Content Strategist for District 34 (a Proptech company), and a Clinician at headpsace. Niall was part of the initial project management team to roll out Cambridge University’s ambitious Student Mental Health Plan during the 2019 Pandemic. Niall currently works as a behaviour support practitioner serving clients with complex behavioural needs. Dr. Campbell has also volunteered at Synthesis Psilocybin retreat and as the host of the Mind manifest podcast, has interviewed some of the thought leaders in the current psychedelic renaissance.