Culture, Care, and Covid
How can we address the ills of people who have been, and continue to be, struggling with the emotional and physical distress in this time of Covid?
There is a shortage of mental health professionals, especially in immigrant communities and communities of color. There is also suspicion of the Covid vaccine, sometimes based on medical racism and mistrust.
Join us to hear of some of the innovative programs that are being developed with community health workers, known as Promotores. The grassroots approach to building community capacity engages Promotores, strengthening their leadership skills as they connect people to needed services, and resources.
**Listen now to the show on August 2, 2021 on KPFA.org radio, 94.1FM**
https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=361359
Guest:
Dr. Jorge Partida PsyD, is a clinical and research psychologist, specializing in addiction and trauma. He is an author, consultant, and national speaker integrating Native Ancestral Teachings with traditional Western psychotherapy. Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Dr. Partida immigrated to Chicago at nine years of age and there, obtained his Bachelors Degree in Clinical Psychology from Loyola University and his PsyD from The Illinois School of Professional’ Psychology. Dr. Jorge has been a consultant on many national and international projects designing and implementing clinical programs to address addiction, education, health, community building, diversity and spirituality. He has worked with local and national governments to coordinate services for those most impacted by poverty, war, and displacement. He has worked in Liberia, Africa in the repatriation of boy soldiers, forming “intentional communities” in war and poverty-impacted countries such as Colombia, Peru, and Mexico. Dr. Jorge has served as Director of Substance Abuse and Deputy Director of Behavioral Health for San Francisco’s Department of Public Health. He was also Director of the PsyD Program at John F. Kennedy University. Most recently Dr. Jorge served as Clinical Director and Director of Family Treatment for Alo Recovery Centers in Malibu, CA. Dr. Jorge is the author of “The Promise of The Fifth Sun” and “A Week of Awakening.” (Both titles are also written in Spanish) His writing integrates psychology with native healing traditions creating a client centered, participatory approach to health and wellness. For more than 20 years, Dr. Jorge has presented mental health segments on television and radio with networks, including Univision, Telemundo, HITN-TV in Spanish and CBS, UPN, NBC and PBS in English.
Breakthrough Treatment: Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy
**Listen now to About Health, (6/14/21) KPFA radio—94.1FM**
https://kpfa.org/episode/about-health-june-14-2021/
We discussed the research and best practices in psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. This is being explored as a promising treatment for people with depression, OCD, anxiety, addiction and other mental health challenges. “Magic Mushrooms” have been used by many cultures since ancient times for medicinal and spiritual purposes. It is believed by some that taking psilocybin in a therapeutic setting can result in neuroplastic changes that can lead to improvement in mental health.
Guest:
James Keim, LCSW, is the founder of Mimosa Therapeutics, Inc., which uses bioreactors to grow research grade, natural psilocybin and other entheogens. He is a trauma and psychedelic therapist and is co-author of the book, The Violence of Men, and a contributor of chapters to over 10 edited books on psychotherapy. He has served as a Fulbright Specialist in Southeast Asia where he provided training to clinicians that treat victims of human trafficking. James heads the Institute for the Advancement of Psychotherapy’s Oppositional and Conduct Disorder Clinic.
Novel Uses For Forbidden Medicine
Listen to today’s conversation (3/18/19) about the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics for health—https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=306781
“About Health” 94.1FM, KPFA.org
Psychedelic science is making a comeback. New research suggests that using psychedelic drugs such as LSD, MDMA, Psilocybin (magic mushrooms), ketamine, along with psychotherapy, can improve symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and addiction.
Guests:
Harry McIlroy, MD, is an integrative physician certified with the Institute for Functional Medicine. Before medical school and completion of residency at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center, he had a background in nutrition and obtained a Master’s degree in acupu
ncture and Chinese medicine. Dr. Harry McIlroy strives to provide patients with health tools that empower them to improve their well being. Some of his specialities include Medical Cannabis, Chronic Pain, Digestive Health, Regenerative Medicine and Insomnia. He serves as a clinical faculty member for the UCSF Medical School, and mentors and teaches medical residents at the Contra Costa Regional Medical Center, which provides medical care to underserved populations.
Mariavittoria Mangini, PhD, FNP, has written extensively on the impact of psychedelic experiences in shaping the lives of her contemporaries, and has worked closely with many of the most distinguished investigators in this field. She is a founder of the Women’s Visionary Council, a nonprofit organization that supports investigations into non-ordinary forms of consciousness and organizes gatherings of researchers, healers, artists, and activists whose work explores these states. She has been a Family Nurse Midwife for 35 years, and for 24 years has been in primary care practice with Dr. Frank Lucido, one of the pioneers of the medical cannabis movement. Their practice was one of the first to implement the California Compassionate Use Act of 1996, the first state medical cannabis initiative. Her current project is the development of a Thanatology program for the study of death and dying.
For information regarding the Integrative Mental Health Conference in San Francisco| April 15-17, 2019 | Hilton SF Union Square, go to: https://imhc.arizona.edu/ Speakers include 35 best-selling authors, award winning physicians, researchers, scientists and professors, including Dr. Andrew Weil, Michael Pollan, Dr. Gabor Mate, and Shauna Shapiro
Homelessness: A public health crisis
Listen now to our show from 11/27/17, on KPFA.org 94.1FM
https://kpfa.org/archives
Being unhoused makes it difficult, and in some cases impossible, to access general health services. Poor health, addiction, mental illness, and violence are some things that lead to homelessness, and homelessness can make all of these things worse.
The majority of adults that experience homelessness have more than one health issue. They range from hypertension and diabetes to HIV and viral hepatitis, but the most significant reasons people go to emergency-rooms are mental illness and addiction. The sick and vulnerable become homeless, and the homeless become sicker and more vulnerable.
Guests:
Alejandro Soto-Vigil comes from a family of activists in the Bay Area. Last year he was re-elected to his second term on the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board. After 8 years working in the City of Berkeley as a legislative aide, Alejandro now serves as the program manager for the Berkeley Drop-In Center, an organization that has served Berkeley’s homeless residents for over 25 years. Alejandro majored in political sciences at UC Berkeley.
Jeffrey Seal is the medical director and interim director of Alameda County Health Care for the Homeless, as well as an Assistant Clinical Professor in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry. He has worked at the Child Psychiatry Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health. He completed his medical degree at Boston University, a psychiatry residency at UCSF, and a chief residency at San Francisco General Hospital. He grew up on the Gulf Coast of Alabama, and currently lives in Oakland CA. He is a current California Health Care Foundation Leadership fellow and has special interests in public health systems, social determinants of health, re-entry populations, and trauma.