Wednesday, September 6th, 2023 from 12:00-1:30pm PDT

As we continue important discussions about the healing potentials of psychedelics, many perspectives and voices are still lacking from the conversation. One of these communities is the Deaf, Deaf-Blind and hard-of hearing (DDBHOH). This forum will aim to open the conversation about the Deaf people’s lack of accessibility to the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelics, from a Deaf psychologist’s perspective about the current psychedelic world and its challenges for the DDBHOH community. A short overview of current Deaf people’s challenges in Western society will be given, as well as how these challenges could present themselves in the psychedelic world. The public will learn more about the current situation surrounding psychedelic research & DDBHOH, and the numerous challenges and concerns in creating a research protocol with this population. We will also discuss how to create a culturally sensitive psychedelic-assisted therapy that fits DDBHOH needs, including how touch is perceived by DDBHOH and the ethics of touch in psychedelic-assisted therapy. We hope to offer some possible paths to explore in the future and potential solutions. Join us in this conversation with Dr. Rachel Filion, Psy.D., who is a licensed psychologist with a unique perspective on mental health, and Dr. Bia Labate, who is the Executive Director of Chacruna Institute. This forum will include deaf translation services by Meghan Shannon Elder.

Dr. Rachel Filion, Psy.D. is a licensed psychologist who resides in Quebec City, Canada. She is an accomplished individual with a unique perspective on mental health, as she is deaf herself. Her experiences have influenced her to develop a pragmatic approach to therapy that centers around somatic psychotherapy, memory reconsolidation, and trauma-informed therapies.

Dr. Beatriz Caiuby Labate (Bia Labate) is a queer Brazilian anthropologist based in San Francisco. She has a Ph.D. in social anthropology from the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil. Her main areas of interest are the study of plant medicines, drug policy, shamanism, ritual, religion, and social justice. She is Executive Director of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines and serves as Public Education and Culture Specialist at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). She is also Adjunct Faculty at the East-West Psychology Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and Advisor for the Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition and the Soltara Healing Center. Dr. Labate is a co-founder of the Interdisciplinary Group for Psychoactive Studies (NEIP) in Brazil and editor of its site. She is author, co-author, and co-editor of twenty-seven books, two special-edition journals, and several peer-reviewed articles (https://bialabate.net).

This talk will be recorded and immediately available for rewatch for all attendees.

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Bringing Deaf Voices to The Conversation About Psychedelics