Research

Study focus: Ketamine-assisted therapy embedded in a community of practice for firefighters with PTSD.

Principal Investigator: Pamela Kryskow MD; Not a Clinical Trial.

Treatment Site: Roots to Thrive Society for Psychedelic Therapy

Research method: Prospective Observational Study.
Population served: 8-16 fire fighters, dependent on available funding.
Intervention details: Includes a virtual 12-week community of practice program (2 hours each week) and 3 ketamine-assisted therapy sessions spread over the 12-week period.
Anticipated start date: Pending ethics approval and funding.

• The 12-week Community of Practice (CoP) is delivered through the Roots to Thrive program, which is based on a decades of research and seminal theory, for the purpose of resilience development and the promotion of one's own inner healing intelligence.  The curriculum centres on the development of relationships that mirror unconditional positive regard, and practices that promote awareness, nervous system regulation, compassion for self and others, and living one's calling/purpose. The RTT CoP program has been enormously successful alone and/or in combination with psychedelic therapy - addressing 'treatment resistant' (or more accurately said, those for whom standard treatments have failed) mental health conditions, and end of life distress.  All of the CoP sessions are virtual, enabling remote participation. 
• The three group administered Ketamine-assisted Therapy (KaT) Sessions are 5-hours in length, and are spread over the 12-week CoP program, further supported by additional preparation and integration sessions.   As an adjunct to the CoP, KaT is designed to help participants feel into their inherent worth and purpose, deepen into their inner healing intelligence, and reconnect with themselves, fellow humans, and the natural and spiritual world. 

Anticipated start date: Pending ethics approval and funding.

Please consider giving in support of fire fighters grappling with PTSD, and help us advance psychedelic research in the process!

For your tax deductible donation, please visit giving.viu.ca, in drop down list select "other," type in "Firefighter PTSD" 

Additional donation inquiries can be directed to the foundation@viu.ca

Study focus: Psilocybin-assisted therapy embedded in a community of practice program for people with terminal diagnoses, facing end of life distress.

Principal Investigator: Valorie Masuda MD; Sponsor: Undetermined. Treatment Site: Roots to Thrive Non Profit Society

Collaborating CRO agent: Changemark

Research method: Clinical Trial - An open label pragmatic feasibility study on a resilience-focused community of practice program with psilocybin-assisted therapy (PaT) for end-of-life patients.
Population served: People with terminal health conditions, facing end of life anxiety/distress.
Intervention details: Includes a virtual 10-week community of practice program (2 hours each week) and 1 ketamine-assisted therapy sessions spread over the 12-week period.

• The 10-week Community of Practice (CoP) Program is delivered through the Roots to Thrive program, supported by a CoP and additional preparation and integration sessions.   The curriculum centres on the development of relationships that mirror unconditional positive regard, and practices that promote awareness, nervous system regulation, compassion for self and others, and living one's calling/purpose. The CoP program has been enormously successful alone and/or in combination with psychedelic therapy - addressing 'treatment resistant' (or more accurately said, those for whom standard treatments have failed) mental health conditions, and end of life distress.  All of the CoP sessions are virtual, enabling remote participation. 
• The group administered Psilocybin-assisted Therapy (PaT) Session occurs over 8-hours, midway through the 10-week curriculum. As an adjunct to the CoP, Psilocybin-assisted Therapy is designed to help participants feel into their inherent worth and purpose, deepen into their inner healing intelligence, and reconnect with themselves, fellow humans, and the natural and spiritual world. 

Anticipated start date: Pending ethics approval and funding.

Principal Investigator's (Val) overview of the clinical trial  - https://vimeo.com/807646079 (Participant Story - https://vimeo.com/805387715)

Please consider giving in support of those with terminal health conditions who are facing end of life distress, and help us advance psychedelic research in the process!

For your tax deductible donation, please visit giving.viu.ca, in drop down list select "other," type in "Psilocybin for End of life Distress" 

Additional donation inquiries can be directed to the foundation@viu.ca

Study focus: MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of fibromyalgia.

Principal Investigator: Devon Christie MD/Pamela Kryskow MD; CRO: People Science; Sponsor: Undetermined
Research method: Clinical trial. Open label exploratory pilot study on the impact of MDMA-assisted therapy for treatment of fibromyalgia
Population served: those with chronic widespread pain related to a fibromyalgia diagnosis.
Intervention details:  The program is centred on a manualized therapy protocol delivered by a team of 2 therapists that includes 3 MDMA-assisted therapy sessions over a 3-5 month period.
Anticipated start data: Pending ethics approval and funding.

Please consider giving in support of those grappling with fibromyalgia, and help us advance psychedelic research in the process!

For your tax deductible donation, please visit giving.viu.ca, in drop down list select "other," type in "MDMA for Fibromyalgia" 

Additional donation inquiries can be directed to the foundation@viu.ca

Study focus: Multisite Study: Improving the process and quality of care of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for Canadians with life-threatening diagnoses based on patients’, caregivers’, and therapists’ perspectives

Research method: This is a qualitative study with a phenomenological approach. The study focuses on collecting qualitative data through interviews with patients, caregivers, and therapists.

Description: Health Canada granted legal exemptions for psilocybin therapy for palliative care patients. This study focusses on knowledge translation by assessing the existing barriers and determining strategies to improve the psilocybin therapy based on the patients’, caregivers’, and therapists’ input. Health Canada’s recent decision presents a unique research opportunity because there are now patients who are receiving psilocybin treatment outside of clinical trials. To better understand the experience of those receiving psilocybin-assisted therapy, and including their caregivers, and the therapists providing the therapy, a series of semi-structured interviews will be performed. Data collected will be analyzed for themes, and summarized in a peer-reviewed journal.

Principal Investigator: Lakehead University (PI: Dr. Ryan Patchett-Marble) is the primary research site. Secondary sites are contributing data, including Vancouver Island University (PI: Shannon Dames). 

Target Population: those receiving psilocybin-assisted therapy (legally), those providing psilocybin-assisted therapy (legally), and caregivers of those receiving psilocybin-assisted therapy. 

Focus: A qualitative research study to explore the students’ and Instructors’ perception of best practices for training Psychedelic Assisted Therapists

Principal Investigator: Tamara Pearl

Methodology: Qualitative

Target Population: Students enrolled in VIU's Psychedelic-assisted Graduate Certificate Program