Dr. Anne Wagner, C.Psych: Combining MDMA With Evidence-based CBT for Trauma

Thoughts on Record: Podcast of the Ottawa Institute of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Combining MDMA with commonly employed, evidence-based cognitive behavioural therapies for trauma is an area of increasing clinical investigation. Founder of Remedy and clinical investigator Dr. Anne Wagner, C.Psych, joins us for a discussion of psychedelic assisted psychotherapy including a MAPS funded trial of Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD + MDMA that she is currently leading. In this discussion we cover:

• the origin of Anne's interest in exploring MDMA augment psychotherapy
• a brief history of the combining of psychoactive compounds with psychotherapy to improve clinical outcomes
• the features of trauma work that make it amenable to this paradigm and potential applicability to depression, anxiety & couples work.
• a brief description of the psychopharmacology of MDMA
• consideration of the factors contributing to MDMA not being more broadly adopted as a therapeutic agent
• the typical subjective experience of someone who has taken MDMA within a clinical setting
• a brief overview of the MDMA + CBT protocol
• a brief summary of available data around the effectiveness of the combination of MDMA + CBT
• consideration of which clients are most likely to benefit from MDMA assisted psychotherapy
• discussion of the commodification of psychedelic assisted psychotherapy

Dr. Anne Wagner, C.Psych is the Founder of Remedy, a centre for mental health innovation. Anne’s work focuses on the treatment and prevention of posttraumatic stress disorder, with a particular interest in novel combination interventions such as CBCT + MDMA and CPT + MDMA, as well as understanding and delivering trauma-competent care. She has done significant work with communities affected by HIV, and is particularly interested in the needs of women and interpersonal relationships.Anne is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology and an Associate Member of the Yeates School of Graduate Studies at Ryerson, and is a trainer in CBCT and consultant for CPT.
www.remedycentre.ca