Dr. Susan Abbey

Nikean Psychedelic Psychotherapy Research Centre – University Health Network

Dr. Susan Abbey, MD, FRCPC is the Program Medical Director for the UHN Mental Health Program and the Psychiatrist-in-Chief for the UHN Centre for Mental Health. She is the inaugural Director of the Nikean Psychedelic Psychotherapy Research Centre at UHN where she is delighted to be championing the path forward for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy as it potentially offers much-needed new treatment options for people with significant mental health challenges.  Dr. Abbey’s research and clinical interests relate to the linkage of physical and mental health. She has a strong commitment to psychotherapeutic treatments including mindfulness-based interventions and Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depression (IPT). 

Dr. Emma Hapke

Nikean Psychedelic Psychotherapy Research Centre - University Health Network

Dr. Emma Hapke, MD, FRCPC, is a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and psychedelic researcher at the University Health Network in Toronto. She is the co-founder and associate director of the Nikean Psychedelic Psychotherapy Research Centre at UHN. She is also a lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Dr. Hapke trained at McMaster Univeristy and the University of Toronto and started her career as an attending psychiatrist at CAMH in Toronto. Her specialty is women's mental health and the treatment of developmental trauma, sexual trauma and complex PTSD. She has extensive training in multiple modalities of psychotherapy and has worked clinically with ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. She also has a growing interest in psychosocial oncology. Dr. Hapke works with MAPS as the principal investigator for the Montreal site of the phase 3 trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD and is MAPS-trained to deliver MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.

Dr. Yarissa Herman

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)

Dr. Yarissa Herman, C.Psych is a psychologist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, where she is the head of a Harm Reduction Program for individuals with severe and persistent mental illness. She has published in the area of psychosocial interventions for substance use and psychotic spectrum disorders. Dr. Herman has expertise in the area of program development, implementation, and evaluation as well as quality improvement. She leads and evaluates large education initiatives and provides ongoing training and supervision in a number of therapeutic modalities. Dr. Herman is a co-investigator in a MAPS Canada research study, exploring the use of psychedelics among individuals with mental health disorders, including severe and persistent mental illnesses. She has received training in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, has completed the MAPS MDMA training program and is a faculty member of the Nikean Psychedelic Psychotherapy Research Centre at UHN.

Dr. Sean O'Sullivan

Private Practice

Dr. Sean O'Sullivan, MD, has practiced Family Medicine for over 50 years, with particular interests in Emergency Medicine and Psychotherapy. He has trained with, and been certified, by Dr. Stanislav Grof, one of the founders - along with Abraham Maslow, - of the International Transpersonal Association. He also trained with Dr. Ralph Metzner and has a long term practical meditation practice.

Dr. Daniel Rosenbaum

University Health Network

Dr. Daniel Rosenbaum, MD, FRCPC, is an attending psychiatrist at UHN as well as the Inner City Health Associates (ICHA) in Toronto. He is also a lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He works on an Assertive Community Treatment Team, serving people with severe and persistent mental illnesses (SPMI), as well as the Palliative Education and Care for the Homeless (PEACH) team through ICHA. Dr. Rosenbaum is interested in psychosocial oncology and palliative care, especially end-of-life issues for marginalized populations. He is a certified CALM therapist (Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully) and has received training in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and has completed the MAPS MDMA Therapy Training Program. He is also the co-founder of the Canadian Climate Psychiatry Alliance. Dr. Rosenbaum has published articles in peer-reviewed journals on psychedelic-assisted therapy in palliative and cancer care and on psychedelic microdosing. He is a co-founding faculty member of the Nikean Psychedelic Psychotherapy Research Centre at UHN.

Donna Rosenthal

Donna Rosenthal, BA, has a 50 year interest in work in non-ordinary states of consciousness for healing and personal growth. She has worked in a variety of clinical roles for 35 years on the therapeutic and psycho/spiritual applications of non-ordinary or holotropic states. Donna trained with Dr. Stanislav Grof and the late Christina Grof in Holotropic Breathwork and Transpersonal Psychology and did further training with the late Dr. Ralph Metzner in a variety of transpersonal modalities. Donna is currently offering Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy and Psilocybin Therapy for End Of Life Distress (EOLD), together with her husband, Dr. Sean O'Sullivan.

Dr. Brian Rush

Emeritus Scientist Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Dr. Brian Rush, PhD, has worked for over 45 years as a substance use/mental health services researcher with CAMH, where he is currently appointed as Scientist Emeritus. Brian is a Full Professor at the University of Toronto in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. He has led major treatment system reviews in Canada and internationally and prepared several syntheses of research evidence, including concurrent disorders, collaborative care, rapid access to mental health and addiction services and psychedelic-assisted interventions. Brian is currently the Project Leader for the multi-site study known as the Ayahusaca Treatment Outcome Project (ATOP) and the more recent Entheogen Treatment Outcome Project, integrating cross-cultural exchange of traditional medicines between Canada and Mexico. He is also active in facilitating the collaboration among Canadian researchers, students and policy makers interested in psychedelic science, including traditional plant-based medicine.

Clayton Shirt

Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health - University of Toronto

Clayton Shirt is a traditional knowledge practitioner of holistic health and wellness, lecturer, educator and historian. His worldview and understanding of life is based on living his whole life immersed in learning from his traditional Indigenous teachers, elders and family. He is currently the sitting traditional knowledge teacher/educator with Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health, University of Toronto where he is able to bring his traditional perspective and vast experience in 'walking the good path' to scholars and educators. He brings his wise counsel and support to indigenous students seeking higher learning. He was raised and currently lives in Toronto, with his wife and family of three children and his beautiful granddaughter.

Mona Strelaeff

Mona Strelaeff, born in Helsinki, Finland, was married at eighteen and had three children by the age of twenty-two. After having children, she obtained her accounting degree, and began working as an accountant for small to medium sized businesses. Today, Mona has been married for fifty years and has six wonderful grandchildren.

Mona’s interest in psychedelic therapies was awakened fifteen years ago after she borrowed books about psychedelics she had seen on her psychologist’s shelf. She then attended a psychedelic conference in San Francisco, and she has been studying them ever since. In November of 2020, Mona underwent a life-changing psychedelic therapy session under the section 56 exemption.

Mona’s experience with psychedelic therapy has led her to become an active advocate for psychedelic therapies. She argues that psychedelics are a safe and effective method for alleviating the fear of death and should therefore be available to all who seek them.