Michael Mithoefer, Bessel van der Kolk, Richard C. Schwartz, William Richards, Daniel McQueen, James W. Hopper, Anne St. Goar, Elizabeth Call, …. – The Use of Mind-Altering Substances: MDMA, Psilocybin, and Marijuana for Treating PTSD and Other Mental Distress

Richard C. Schwartz, Ph.D. Related seminars and products: 23

Owner

The Center for Self Leadership

Richard Schwartz, Ph.D., earned his Ph.D. in marriage and family therapy from Purdue University, after which he began a long association with the Institute for Juvenile Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and more recently at The Family Institute at Northwestern University, attaining the status of associate professor at both institutions. He is co-author, with Michael Nichols, of Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods, the most widely used family therapy text in the United States.

Dr. Schwartz developed Internal Family Systems in response to clients’ descriptions of experiencing various parts – many extreme – within themselves. He noticed that when these parts felt safe and had their concerns addressed, they were less disruptive and would accede to the wise leadership of what Dr. Schwartz came to call the “Self.” In developing IFS, he recognized that, as in systemic family theory, parts take on characteristic roles that help define the inner world of the clients. The coordinating Self, which embodies qualities of confidence, openness, and compassion, acts as a center around which the various parts constellate. Because IFS locates the source of healing within the client, the therapist is freed to focus on guiding the client’s access to his or her true Self and supporting the client in harnessing its wisdom. This approach makes IFS a non-pathologizing, hopeful framework within which to practice psychotherapy. It provides an alternative understanding of psychic functioning and healing that allows for innovative techniques in relieving clients symptoms and suffering.

In 2000, Richard Schwartz founded The Center for Self Leadership in Oak Park, Illinois. Dr. Schwartz is a featured speaker for many national psychotherapy organizations and a fellow of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and he serves on the editorial boards of four professional journals. He has published four books and over 50 articles about IFS. His books include Internal Family Systems Skills Training Manual (with Frank Anderson, M.D. and Martha Sweezy, Ph.D) (PESI, 2017), Internal Family Systems Therapy (Guilford Press, 1997), Introduction to the Internal Family Systems Model (Tarcher, 2001), and The Mosaic Mind (with Regina Goulding) (Trailheads, 2003), as well as Metaframeworks (with Doug Breunlin and Betty Karrer) (Jossey-Bass, 1997). Dr. Schwartz lives and practices in Brookline, MA and is on the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard School of Medicine.

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Richard Schwartz is the Founder of The Center for Self Leadership. He receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc.

Non-financial: Richard Schwartz is a Fellow and member of the American Association for Marital and Family Therapy.

William Richards, Ph.D. Related seminars and products: 1

William Richards, Ph.D., Psychologist, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center where he is co-director of the program in psilocybin for terminally ill cancer patients. Contributor Fantastic Fungi.

Daniel McQueen, MA Related seminars and products: 1

Daniel McQueen, MA, Psychedelic therapist and executive director of Medicinal Mindfulness. Author of Cannabis-Assisted Psychedelic Therapy for Trauma Resolution.

James W. Hopper, Ph.D. Related seminars and products: 2

James W. Hopper, Ph.D., Independent consultant and instructor in psychology, Cambridge Health Alliance & Harvard Medical School. Co-editor, Mindfulness-oriented interventions for trauma: Integrating contemplative practices. The MDMA Team, Trauma Research Foundation.

Anne St. Goar, MD Related seminars and products: 1

Anne St. Goar, MD, Primary care physician at HVMA, emeritus certified psychedelic therapist; Boston MDMA Therapy team member with the Trauma Research Foundation.

Elizabeth Call, Psy.D. Related seminars and products: 1

Elizabeth Call, Psy.D., Psychologist in private practice. Therapy team member, MDMA study, the Trauma Research Foundation.

Francis Guerriero, MA, LICSW Related seminars and products: 1

Francis Guerriero, MA, LICSW, Private practice, Cambridge, MA; MDMA Therapy team member, The Trauma Research Foundation.

Michael Alpert, MD Related seminars and products: 1

Michael D. Alpert, MD, Psychiatrist, South Cove Community Health Center, Boston Harvard Medical School; MDMA Therapy team member, the Trauma Research Foundation.

Phil Wolfson, MD Related seminars and products: 1

Phil Wolfson, MD, is Principal Investigator for a Phase 2, FDA approved 18-person study of MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy for individuals with significant anxiety due to life threatening illnesses. His clinical practice with ketamine has informed his leadership role in the development of Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy. Phil’s book The Ketamine Papers has been published by MAPS and is the seminal work in the burgeoning ketamine arena. Phil is a sixties activist, psychiatrist/psychotherapist, writer, practicing Buddhist and psychonaut who has lived in the Bay Area for 38 years. He is the author of Noe – A Father/Son Song of Love, Life, Illness and Death (2011, North Atlantic Books). In the 1980s, he participated in clinical research with MDMA (Ecstasy). He has been awarded five patents for unique herbal medicines. He is a journalist and author of numerous articles on politics, transformation, psychedelics, consciousness and spirit, and was a founding member of the Heffter Research Institute. Phil has taught in the graduate psychology programs at JFK University, CIIS and the UCSF School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry.