TITLE
Centering identity, culture, and relationship in psychedelic therapy.

ABSTRACT
Cultural and social identities shape how we navigate and experience the world. While many psychedelic training programs now include a curriculum on the importance of cultural sensitivity, very few focus on how to implement culturally sensitive practices. As the facilitator's journey can impact a participant's journey, space holders must examine personal biases and blind spots to provide quality care for those in need. How can we reimagine health equity in the psychedelic therapy space? How does the legacy of colonisation impact how facilitators show up and deliver treatment in medicalised psychedelic therapy? Join this panelist as she discusses how she centres identity, culture, and relationship as a Black therapist and researcher in psychedelic therapy.

BIOGRAPHY
Sara Reed is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and psychedelic research therapist at Imperial College London. Her prior research work includes participation as a study therapist for a Phase 2 MDMA clinical study of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). She additionally received training at Yale University for the Psilocybin-Induced Neuroplasticity in the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder study and is listed as a contributor to the therapist training manual for this treatment.

Sara has spent her early career examining ways culture informs how we diagnose and treat mental illness. As a mental health futurist, she reimagines what mental wellness can look like in this digital era. In addition to her work as a research therapist, Sara lectures on topics fusing culturally sensitive practices within mental health care and co-facilitates integrative psychedelic retreats with Kiyumi.