In His Own Words
Shari Taylor, PhD, MSN, RYT, MAP
The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies is a nonprofit research organization that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the careful uses of psychedelics.
MAPS is sponsoring a study with MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. The study is being conducted at 15 sites around the world, and I am one of the therapists at the New Orleans site.
When I first witnessed a veteran during his MDMA session, it was as though he was gaining new insights from his own inner-healer.
I had worked with a lot of trauma patients and had not seen the kind of healing that I saw in the veterans in the MAPS Phase 2 research. I have seen profound healing in participants.
I questioned what I was doing when I used to prescribe a lot of medication to patients.
I felt that I was assisting people in becoming numb to their pain and not dealing with trauma. There was more focus on that and less focus on healing.
It didn’t feel nearly as good as what I am doing now.
I would like to be able to offer this type of therapy to more people. There are so many people in the world who have suffered trauma and the current treatments available are limited, at best.
When someone is healed of their trauma, it makes a difference in the world.
