022 | Spencer Hawkswell: The Future of Access to Psychedelic Therapy & Psilocybin for End of Life Distress with Theraspil’s CEO
“Science is nothing without philosophy. There has to be a deep philosophy in the work we are doing, we can’t just be totally reductionist. My fear is that that’s what Western medicine tries to do too often.”
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In this episode we talk about:
How Spencer got involved in this space and Therapsil
The milestones that Therapsil have accomplished in helping patients gain access to psilocybin therapy in Canada
Working with compassionate Health Minister Patty Hadju in Ottawa, Canada to grant patient access
Compassionate access through section 56 is now legal in Canada
The process of legalizing Psilocybin in Canada and working through the politics
The emotional and psychological experience of end of life distress
How Psilocybin helps people find peace with death
Preparation and Integration modalities that help patients process what they experience
How increased access may look in the future and ensuring that both patients AND health care practitioners are prepared for increased access
The Charter of Rights & Freedoms and psychedelic medicine use
Why clinical access points to psychedelics have more of a reach than the underground movement
Simple things that we and the government can enact today to make access easier for those who need it
LISTEN
“Every time they feel the pain of their [diagnosis], there is not much time for living because you’re constantly thinking about how you’re going to die soon. That anxiety and depression takes over your life, and it’s a very rational response… The problem with talk therapy is that it’s hard to get past people’s self-defense and get them to realize things that maybe they don’t want to realize. Psilocybin has an amazing ability to get people to put down their defences and guards, and to look at things through a new state of mind without that default mode network. Under the influence of an altered state of consciousness, you’re looking at your own death and you have a moment of clarity, that there is no sense in being depressed and demoralized, that you’ve got to live your life, that we’re all going to die.”
Where to find out more about Therapsil:
TheraPsil supports Canadians experiencing end-of-life distress / distress as a result of a life-threatening illness, to exercise their charter right to seek compassionate treatment using psilocybin, through application for exemption of section 56(1) of the controlled substances and drug act (CDSA).
“When you’ve got thousands of Canadians asking for inquiry access to psilocybin because there’s amazing research and it’s working for them, as a politician, you don’t just sit there and hope it goes away. It’s not going anywhere. As they continue to support patient applications, but stop supporting health care practitioner applications, they’re really putting the cart before the horse and there will be a larger number of patients with access who can’t access health care practitioners. This is dangerous.”
