Practice You
On resilience through harrowing childhood assault, sharing pain as a service to others and the medicine of the story.
CLEAR ALL
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.
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.
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.
My guest on the show today is Dr. Monnica T. Williams, certified licensed clinical psychologist and Associate Professor at the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa. Monnica is researching how PTSD symptoms can result from racism and what racial trauma and race-based trauma look like.
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.
2