Psilocybin in End-of-Life Care: New Perspectives on Anxiety and Depression

This On-Demand Webinar is for 3 hours and talks about New Perspectives on Anxiety and Depression. Registrants will be given unlimited access to the recording for a full year.

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However much we may try to deny it, aging, illness, and death are part of life. People have used psychoactive plants and spiritual practices for millennia to embrace, rather than fight, this existential reality. More recently, clinicians and researchers are harnessing these methods to help patients find pathways through the anxiety and depression that so often arises with a terminal diagnosis—with profound implications for the rest of life’s journey.

Join Dr. Anthony Bossis, a pioneering investigator of the use of psilocybin in end-of-life care, and Dr. Ron Siegel as they explore Tony’s landmark research demonstrating significant, enduring reductions in depression and anxiety in cancer patients from even a single psilocybin-generated transpersonal experience. How might we tap this profound source of perspective in other forms of therapy? What can clinicians learn about surrendering to experience at other points in the life cycle? In this lively interactive webinar, you’ll have a chance to explore how insights from Dr. Bossis’ work can help you treat a wide variety of psychological disorders, leading you and your clients to develop a deeper sense of meaning and connection in the process.

You will learn—

  • The nature of transpersonal, or mystical experience and how it allows us to embrace impermanence
  • How psilocybin and contemplative practices can induce transpersonal awakenings
  • The roots of anxiety and depression in normative delusions of being a separate, enduring self
  • How deep connection with others, nature, and the wider world can transform the experience of loss
  • Implications of insights from end-of-life care for working with trauma, depression, and anxiety throughout the life cycle
  • Contraindications for psychedelic-assisted therapeutic interventions

Dr. Ronald D. Siegel is Assistant Professor of Psychology, part time, Harvard Medical School; serves on the Board of Directors and faculty, Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy; is author of The Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems, coauthor of Back Sense: A Revolutionary Approach to Halting the Cycle of Chronic Back Pain and Sitting Together: Essential Skills for Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy; and coeditor of Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, 2nd Edition.

Anthony P. Bossis, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine conducting FDA-approved clinical research with the psychedelic compound psilocybin. Dr. Bossis was director of palliative care research and co-principal investigator on the landmark 2016 clinical trial demonstrating a significant reduction in emotional distress from a single psilocybin-generated mystical experience in persons with cancer, specifically, a rapid decrease in depression, anxiety, hopelessness, and demoralization along with improvements in spiritual well-being and quality of life. Dr. Bossis is also study director and lead session guide on the FDA-approved clinical trial evaluating psilocybin-generated mystical experience upon religious leaders. Subjective features of a mystical experience include unity, sacredness, transcendence, and a greater connection to deeply felt emotions including that of love. Dr. Bossis is a training supervisor of psychotherapy at NYU-Bellevue Hospital Center and co-founder of the Bellevue Hospital Palliative Care Service. Dr. Bossis is a guest editor (with Charles Grob, MD) on a special series on psychedelics for the Journal of Humanistic Psychology and has authored numerous publications on the utility of psychedelics in palliative care and end-of-life existential distress.  He has a long-standing interest in the interface of psychology and spirituality and maintains a private psychotherapy and consulting practice in NYC.

TimeTopic Covered
1st hour
  • TBD
2nd hour
  • TBD
15 Minute Break
3rd hour
  • TBD

This training offers 3 hours of direct contact (not counting breaks or lunch). It is the participant’s responsibility to check with their individual state boards/regulatory body to verify CE requirements for their license to practice.

For Live Broadcast Attendees

Webinar attendance by participants is automatically tracked, documented and archived for future reference. Upon confirming you have attended 100% of the webinar and upon completion of a course evaluation, you will be issued a certificate of participation (see below).

For Attendees of On Demand/Recorded Version

If you cannot verify 100% attendance of the Live Broadcast or if you are watching the On Demand/recorded version of this webinar, you will need to complete a Post-Webinar Quiz with a pass of at least 80% in order to verify your attendance.

For US Participants

Instructions on how to obtain your Certificate of Attendance showing the hours completed will be distributed either following the Live Broadcast or with On-Demand registration (On-Demand participants must pass a post-webinar attendance quiz).  A CE package will be available which includes the full webinar description and details, the speaker’s CV and references.

For Canadian and International participants

Upon fulfillment of the above requirements, Canadian and international participants will be issued a Certificate of Participation which features:

  • Name of Participant
  • Title of Training
  • Name of Presenter plus their credentials
  • Number of hours of training
  • Date of training
  • Confirmation that you have passed a quiz with at least 80% grade to verify your attendance

Please check carefully with your regulating body/organization that this certificate is sufficient proof for you to claim CEUs.

For general information about Continuing Education for Canadians and International participants, please click here.  

This training is aimed at all mental health professionals including:

  • social workers
  • counsellors
  • psychologists
  • psychiatrists
  • medical professionals supporting mental health patients
  • psychotherapists
  • mental health counsellors
  • marriage and family therapists and counsellors
  • occupational therapists
  • vocational rehabilitation therapists
  • addiction counsellors
  • religious counsellors
  • therapists
  • case managers
  • art therapists
  • licensed professional counsellors
  • all other professionals who would like to develop, update or expand their skills and knowledge in mental health practices
Webinar Rate$139.00
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