Philadelphia Magazine Spotlights SoundMind Center Founder Dr. Hannah McLane

Philadelphia Magazine featured SoundMind and our founder Dr. Hannah McLane in a Q&A on psychedelic medicine in Philly! 

Some highlights from the interview are below. Check out the full piece here

What mental illnesses can be treated with psychedelics?
This answer is a bit more complicated than listing out a bunch of indications. I see the world primarily through the lens of trauma. And I understand trauma in a broader sense compared to the way psychiatry defines it. We all have trauma. For some people, it is “big T trauma” like a military trauma or childhood sexual trauma. But for others, it is a form that is more chronic and everyday, like, say, racism or other microaggressions. Some of us have memories from childhood we can’t shake or a nasty divorce that still haunts us. These are all real and affect the way we are in our everyday life.

Where do psychedelics come into play?
Sometimes, someone is referred to ketamine-assisted therapy because they qualify for a PTSD diagnosis, sometimes because of anxiety or depression, but regardless of the diagnosis that qualifies a person for treatment, I still see the way psychedelics work as primarily addressing traumatic experiences and memories. This holds true for ketamine, MDMA, and psilocybin. Because they are used as catalysts to enhance our abilities to process difficult experiences in therapy, at their root they are helping to address those initial traumas that led to psychological problems downstream.

Are there implications for psychedelics beyond just mental health?
Psychedelics are not only going to revolutionize mental health. They have the ability to revolutionize all of healthcare. Changing the way we think about the relationship between mind and body. And health and disease. It’s relevant to all of it — not just the things we call “mental health disorders.” People talk about psychedelics creating a mental health revolution, but the way I see it, the effects will reach far beyond mental health. I believe if we do this right — train facilitators properly, always have an eye for safety — these medicines will change the way medicine is practiced.