- April 6, 2021
- 7:30 pm
- Online (U.S. Pacific Time)
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This event was recorded and is available to watch on our YouTube channel and portions of the audio was released on our podcast.
The field of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has been growing rapidly in recent years with decriminalization efforts moving forward on local, state, and federal levels. A multitude of clinical research trials is showing promising results of therapies utilizing MDMA, psilocybin, and ketamine as well as other medicines in the treatment of trauma, depression, addiction, end-of-life, and other mental health conditions.
MDMA is currently in phase three of clinical trial research studies for the treatment of trauma in the United States, Canada, and Israel.
Join clinician and CIIS professor Gisele Fernandes-Osterhold for a conversation with MAPS clinician-researcher Keren Tzarfaty on the benefits and therapeutic applications of MDMA assisted psychotherapy. In this conversation, Keren and Gisele go deep into the nature of the psychedelic experience, the principles that guide the therapeutic work, and the new paradigm this study offers to treatment of PTSD and to psychotherapy in general.
This event is one in a three-part series of conversations exploring the rapidly growing field of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Learn more about the Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy Spring Series.
Keren Tzarfaty, PhD, MFT, is the co-founder of the Hakomi Institute of Israel a trainer for MAPS in Israel (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies). She is a clinical investigator in the MDMA PTSD FDA approved clinical trial, examining the impact of MDMA assisted psychotherapy on severe PTSD patients. Keren is the clinical director of the Open Access project of MAPS and the Israeli MOH, which offers MDMA assisted therapy for 50 participants in five governmental hospitals in Israel. She is also one of the founders of the new MA program in Haifa University: Integrative Psychotherapy: Body, Mind, Spirit. Keren holds a MA in Somatic Psychology and a PhD in East-West Psychology, both from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. She specializes in integrating mindfulness based psychodynamic psychotherapy with somatic psychotherapy, attachment psychotherapy, trauma psychology and transpersonal psychology. Her approach is grounded in traditional western psychologies as well as inspired by Eastern and Shamanic spiritual traditions. 
Gisele Fernandes-Osterhold is a licensed psychotherapist, clinical supervisor and graduate level psychology professor. Active in the mental health field for 20 years, she has extensive training and clinical experience in trauma-informed psychotherapy, using an integrative approach that is rooted in Somatic, Humanistic-Existential and Transpersonal psychologies. Being an immigrant to the United States and a woman of color, Gisele has developed a profound interest to multicultural issues, which has become one of the main topics of her work. Gisele’s personal approach to healing is rooted in her commitment to embodied spirituality, informed by her practices of yoga, dance and indigenous traditions of her native Brazil. Besides her psychotherapy practice, Gisele serves as core faculty member in the Integral Counseling Psychology program at CIIS, a mentor at the Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research at CIIS and a clinical supervisor at the Sage Institute.
