Psychedelic care in recreational settings

Amanda Guzinska (Trustee and Senior Manager of PsyCare UK), Valerie Beltrán (MA, Marriage & Family Therapist, Outreach Director for Zendo Project Inc) — Moderated by Cato de Vos
(Founder of Psycare NL)

Thursday 3 October, 8PM CET (6PM GMT, 2PM EST, 11AM PST)

Online via Zoom

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What is best practice for supporting people during a challenging psychedelic experience? What does one say? How should distress be managed?

Researchers and clinicians have been grappling with these questions and others to develop therapy protocols and risk management practices in clinical studies. Third sector organisations, run mainly by volunteers, have been answering them at festivals across Europe and North America long before the psychedelic renaissance.

As the festival season is now well and truly over (in the Northern Hemisphere that is), we are hosting a panel discussion with three harm reduction charities (Zendo Project, Psycare UK) to learn about their work and how they support thousands of festival goers who look to them for support and guidance during challenging experiences at festivals. We will be discussing the principles of psychedelic care in the community (where do they derive from, how do they differ to other settings), challenges in this space, whether the wider changes in legislation, public perception, clinical trials are impacting recreational use and much more.

This event will focus specifically on the work of charitable organisations acting as psychedelic emergency hubs in recreational settings.

The event will be moderated by Cato de Vos, founder of Psycare NL.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERs

Amanda Guzinska’s early adulthood was marked by a relentless quest for adventure and a deep-seated curiosity about the human condition. This period of exploration was driven by her desire to understand what motivates people and how their behaviours are shaped by their experiences and environments.

Her journey took a pivotal turn in 2011 when she discovered PsyCare UK, an organisation dedicated to providing compassionate support and crisis intervention. From the moment she encountered PsyCare, Amanda knew she had found her calling. She started as a volunteer, quickly proving her dedication and capability. Her passion and commitment led her to advance to roles as an administrator and trustee, and in 2024, she was appointed as the manager.

Since 2008, PsyCare UK has transformed from a small grassroots initiative into a thriving therapeutic community. The organisation now serves hundreds of individuals annually, offering support and solace to those in need, as well as fostering a robust network of volunteers who are integral to its mission.

Amanda’s long-term vision for PsyCare UK is ambitious and inspiring. She aims to extend the organisation’s reach beyond the festival environment, establishing local community hubs across the country. These hubs would provide immediate crisis support, making mental health care accessible to all, and ensuring that PsyCare’s ethos of empathy and understanding permeates communities nationwide.

Amanda Guzinska’s journey with PsyCare UK reflects her unwavering dedication to helping others and her innovative approach to mental health support. Her leadership continues to shape the future of PsyCare, driving its growth and ensuring it remains a beacon of hope and care for countless individuals.

Valerie Beltrán is the Director of Outreach for the Zendo Project, as well as an EMDR therapist and supervisor who walks a mystical path with grounded feet while integrating psychedelics, technology, and spirituality in her private practice. Having grown up with two ethnic backgrounds while living on the border between two countries, Valerie is adept at metaphorically walking between worlds, seeing from multiple perspectives, and creating bridges and integration where separation previously reigned. She strives to be a guide for those traversing the liminal spaces between dreaming & waking, psychedelic & mundane, ancient & modern, Indigenous & Western. Valerie was formerly the Chief of Staff for an eco-tech entrepreneur, Head of Operations for the conscious tech startup Consciousness Hacking, a trauma trainer and consultant with WestEd, an Academic advisor at JFKU, and Associate Organizer for the Integral Theory Conference. She completed CIIS’s Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy & Research program in 2019, and has been a supervisor at Alchemy Therapy since 2020, a sliding scale clinic that offers psychotherapy and psychedelic-assisted therapy to underserved communities in the Bay Area.

Cato holds an MSc in neurobiology from the University of Amsterdam and has experience with setting up clinical trials investigating psychedelics-assisted therapy in the Netherlands. She is currently studying psychology to become a qualified (psychedelics-assisted) therapist while also working as a sociotherapist in forensic psychiatry. Since 2021, Cato has contributed to the programming of the OPEN Foundation and the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research. She also has extensive experience in harm reduction and psychedelic care at both national and international music festivals. After volunteering for several international psycare organizations, she founded Dutch PsyCare NL in 2024. A daily practice of meditation, curiosity, and playfulness keeps her smiling.

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