Multiracial Identity and Psychedelics: Imagined Futures

A Conversation with Stephanie Michael Stewart, Joseph McCowan, Arun Saldanha and Lola Osunkoya

Join us for a panel discussion focused on the intersection of multiracial identity and psychedelics. As the multiracial population in the US continues to rapidly grow, so does our need for tools that support this unique experience. In this discussion we will imagine how psychedelic medicine might play a role in healing racialized trauma and the thriving of multiracial people. Panelists will draw from their research, clinical, and personal experiences as we explore this topic. We are excited about the contribution that this discussion will have in the fields of both psychedelic studies and multiracial studies!

📷Stephanie Michael Stewart, MD is a psychiatrist who believes in a holistic approach to healing. She began her studies as a biologist at Spelman College and studied medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine, experiences that immersed her in cultural studies as a mixed race woman transitioning from an all white world to an all black one. She then went on to complete her psychiatric residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she served as Chief Resident.

📷Joseph McCowan Psy.D, is a licensed clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, working in Los Angeles as a co-therapist in the MAPS sponsored Phase 3 clinical trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. He is an alumni of MAPS’ 2019 MDMA Therapy Training for Communities of Color. Additionally, Joseph works with the California Center for Psychedelic Therapy where he provides Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) and Psychedelic Integration Therapy. Joseph is deeply passionate about furthering education and awareness of the healing benefits of psychedelics for communities of color and in working to improve mental health outcomes for historically underserved communities. Joseph received his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his doctorate in clinical psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

📷Arun Saldanha, Ph.D is Professor in the Department of Geography, Environment, and Society at the University of Minnesota. Arun teaches on the historical geography of Europe, music geography, the ethics of tourism and mobilities, and critical race theory. He is the author of Psychedelic White: Goa Trance and the Viscosity of Race (Minnesota, 2007) and Space After Deleuze (Bloomsbury, 2017), and he coedited Geographies of Race and Food: Fields Bodies Markets (Ashbury/Routledge, 2013/2014, with Rachel Slocum), Deleuze and Race (Edinburgh, 2013, with J.M. Adams), and Sexual Difference Between Psychoanalysis and Vitalism (Routledge, 2013). Research interests include feminist theory, Marxism, and the Anthropocene. He is currently working on an edited collection Prince from Minneapolis, which is based on a symposium organized in 2018. Arun's mother is from Belgium and his father from India.

📷Lola Osunkoya, MA, LPCC is a licensed psychotherapist and owner of the counseling practice, Neither/Both LLC, where she specializes in complex trauma and dissociation with a focus on mixed race, transracial adoptees, and queer and trans Black, Indigenous and People of Color. Lola completed a Masters in Clinical Counseling in 2012, where she wrote a thesis on the identity development of mixed race people. She has created and facilitated racial identity-based content for local and national education, media, and community development platforms. Additionally, Lola uses writing and multimedia art to explore themes of identity, bringing theoretical concepts about race to mainstream art and conversations. Healing from the damaging impact of racism is a central theme of her work.

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

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