This week on the Eye on Veterans podcast, we hear from Dr. Will Van Derveer about the proven benefits of Psychedelic Assisted Therapy. Dr. Van Derveer shared how, after working with veterans, he became discouraged by the conventional treatments like talk therapy and endless medications, which often fail to treat the root cause of conditions like anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, and PTSD.
After two decades of developing innovative approaches to address the root causes of symptoms, in 2018, he co-founded the Integrative Psychiatry Institute. A leader on a mission to transform mental healthcare, VanDerveer set a goal to train 10,000 providers in psychedelic-assisted therapy.
We begin with a discussion about the failures in established mental health care.
Dr. Van Derveer shared updates on current VA, FDA trials for Psychedelic Assisted Therapy, including MDMA and Psilocybin and how many vets are forced to “free-lance their own care” by going to Mexico to gain access to Ibogaine therapy. Van Derveer also shared the vicious mental cycle a PTSD patient endures, what a psychedelic treatment session is like, and how psychedelics are proving to be incredibly effective at helping veterans heal.
For more on psychedelic-assisted therapy, resources and training programs for mental care providers, check out The Integrative Psychiatry Institute.
Contact Phil Briggs, the host of CBS Eye on Veterans at phil@connectingvets.com.