2013
An experiential journalist ventures into the Amazon Jungle to discover the mysteries of a powerful visionary plant medicine and the shamans who work with it.
101 min
CLEAR ALL
Like most people of color in the United States, psychotherapist and researcher Monnica Williams has experienced myriad forms of racism. Early in her career, understanding its effects on her mind and body motivated her to help clients address their own racial trauma in therapy.
We’re seeing an explosion of medical research into psychedelics. Psilocybin, or shrooms, to treat major depressive disorder. Ayahuasca, a psychotropic plant medicine from the Amazon, and ibogaine, a potent hallucinogen from Africa, to treat addiction. LSD for anxiety.
Through this treatment plan, the patient was able to “reconceptualize her trauma” and “was able to move through difficult memories and emotions rather than letting them consume her,” explained U of O associate professor, Monnica Williams.
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A recent study found that even a single positive psychedelic experience may ease mental health symptoms associated with racial trauma experienced by Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).
“Race-Based Trauma: The Challenge and Promise of MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy” Monnica Williams, Ph.D.
Dr. Monnica T. Williams discusses her work in assessing racial trauma and mental health disparities in African-American communities.
Recently, there has been much excitement in the potential of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy to address a multitude of mental health conditions, including depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, addiction, end-of-life anxiety, and others. However, not everyone has been included.
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Monnica T. Williams, Ph.D., ABPP, is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa, Canada Research Chair in Mental Health Disparities, and Director of the Laboratory for Culture and Mental Health Disparities.
It is my view that ayahuasca is not for those trauma survivors who are so fragmented that they do not have a solid sense of self to return to. Without a strong energetic and egoic foundation, this plant can take you beyond the point of no return.
Williams is the co-lead author of a recent retrospective study that found those who tried doses of psilocybin (more commonly known as magic mushrooms), LSD, or MDMA (the pure substance found in Ecstasy or Molly) reported a decrease in trauma symptoms, depression and anxiety after 30 days.