Black-Centered MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy
Tuesday, February 7th, 2023 4:30-6:00pm Pacific Time
In 2022, psychedelic therapists Picolya McCall, Psy.D. and Joseph McCowan, Psy.D. made history by becoming the first Black co-therapy pair to conduct an experimental session within a clinical trial of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). MAPS' Health Equity Program aims to expand MDMA therapist training to include, empower, and train therapists, supervisors, and trainers from communities who experience high rates of trauma and insufficient access to care, which includes Black communities. Join a panel of MDMA therapists, supervisors, and trainers in a discussion about centering Black identities in the forefront of PTSD intervention research.
Joseph McCowan, PsyD is a licensed clinical psychologist and psychotherapist who received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. He currently working in Los Angeles as a co-therapist in MAPS-sponsored clinical trials of MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD. He is an alumni of MAPS August 2019 MDMA Therapy Training for Communities of Color and is a Supervisor and Assistant Trainer for MAPS’ MDMA-Assisted Therapy Training Program. 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.
Picolya McCall, PsyD is currently an adjunct instructor at the Los Angeles Community College District, as well as the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She is currently the clinical director at PACC Mental Health services where she provides individual therapy to children, adolescents, and adults struggling with various mental health issues. Dr. McCall-Robinson also serves in the role of a Psychologist in a Long-Term Care (LTC) working to support not only the residents, but those invested in the resident’s care and quality of life, including staff and family caregivers.
Jennifer Jones, PhD, LCSW is a multiracial Black, queer, fairly able-bodied, cisgender woman in her 50’s living with citizenship in the US. Jennifer incorporates an economics human rights perspective, a harm reduction framework, and Gestalt Therapy principles in her work and engagement with others. For the past 2 years, Jennifer has collaborated with Aisha Mohammed to develop the Rising Caps Collective with the mission to heal the collective trauma caused by legacies of colonization, slavery and capitalism by using expansive healing methods including plant-based medicines. After being trained in MDMA-assisted therapy in 2019, Jennifer began working with the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) as a Justice, Equity Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) consultant and MDMA-assisted Therapy Training Assistant. Since 1998, Jennifer has worked with individuals in psychotherapy who identify as: lgbqa; transgender or gender non-binary; people of color; sex workers; substance users; struggling with class oppression; living with a positive HIV status; and/or healing from physical, sexual and/or emotional pain. In addition to supporting people in therapy, Jennifer has served as the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer of Philadelphia FIGHT Community Health Centers and a faculty member and the Executive Director of The Gestalt Therapy Training Institute of Philadelphia (GTIP). She earned her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University, her MSW from Smith College School for Social Work, and her PhD. from Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research. As a parent of a teenager and someone who believes a just world is possible, Jennifer is committed to organizing across color lines creating unity among poor and dispossessed people around the world to fight for all of our economic human rights.
Aisha Mohammed, LMFT is a cigender, queer, Pakistani-American woman who immigrated from Karachi to Los Angeles as a child. She has been working in harm reduction for a decade with Project SAFE, providing direct services and advocating for the human and labor rights of people who trade sex and use substances. Aisha trained as a family therapist at Drexel University and has worked primarily with low-income families of color, immigrants and people who use substances in community mental health and educational settings. She currently works as a private practice therapist and is co-founder of Rising Caps Collective. She has been doing healing work with people in expanded states for 2 years with her co-founder, Jennifer Jones.