What you get by completing this session

  • 22 mins of CPD

    A 22 minute video lecture with presentation slide, you can stop and start anytime you want

  • Certificate of Completion

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  • Easy CPD Documentation

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What you'll learn in this expert session

Psychedelic-assisted therapy involves certain approaches to ‘talk-therapy’ alongside the ingestion of a psychedelic compound such as psilocybin or MDMA. In this presentation, Prof David Castle, Chair of Psychiatry at St Vincent’s Health and The University of Melbourne, describes two broad types of Medicine-Assisted Psychotherapies: Medical Psilocybin for Depression, and Medicinal MDMA for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), based on strong clinical evidence.

Learning Objectives:

  • Understanding of the three distinct therapy phases - preparation, the psychedelic experience, and integration
  • The importance of the non-psychedelic elements of this approach for both effectiveness and safety.
  • The benefits and potential outcomes, such as substantial increases in self-awareness, self-compassion, insight, connectedness and meaning
  • How Medicinal Psilocybin Assisted-Psychotherapy works in patients with depression.
  • How Medicinal MDMA Psychotherapy for PTSD decreases fear and defensiveness.
  • Outline of several international trials of these therapies Including Australia’s first clinical trial.

About the Expert

Prof David Castle

Prof David Castle is Professor of Psychiatry at St Vincent’s Health and The University of Melbourne. He has wide clinical and research interests, encompassing schizophrenia and related disorders, bipolar disorder, OCD spectrum disorders and disorders of body image. He has a longstanding interest in the impact of licit and illicit substances on the brain and body, and is actively engaged in programmes addressing the physical health of the mentally ill and the mental health of the physically ill. He has published widely in the scientific literature and is a frequent speaker at scientific meetings.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Video Lecture

    • Video Lecture (22 mins of CPD)

    • Test your learning!