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College of DuPage Hosts 'A Continent of Ideas:

Psychedelics Empowering the Liberal Arts and Healing PTSD' on March 2

College of DuPage will host a free discussion, "A Continent of Ideas: Psychedelics Empowering the Liberal Arts and Healing PTSD," on Monday, March 2, from 5 to 8 p.m. in HSC 1234. This presentation is part of a continuing series of educational seminars open to the public through the COD Human Services department.

During this program, Bruce Sewick LCPC, RDDP, CADC, will discuss the use of MDMA (known on the street "Ecstasy" or "Molly") with assisted psychotherapy as a treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"As someone who works with individuals with psychological problems, treating PTSD is extremely difficult," Sewick said. "People with PTSD are not able are not able to let go of the past or engage with the present, resulting in disproportionately high suicide rates. The research with MDMA is very promising, however, and there is now great hope for PTSD patients and continued research in the medicinal use of psychedelics. Slowly the paradigm is changing and psychedelic substances (many of which had a therapeutic beginning) are now being seen for their healing potential."

This program will also include a presentation by Tom Roberts, Ph.D., who will discuss the use of psychedelics in intellectual and academic professions and as "psychoactive sacraments."

"The study of psychedelics opens exciting doors for the humanities," Dr. Roberts said. "During this session, I will focus on psychedelics as a means for understanding literature, movies, works of art, the philosophy of science, the rhetoric of war, meaningfulness, spirituality, as well as larger intellectual topics such as inventing paradigms, formulating new theories and consilience."

Bruce Sewick is the Manager of Adult Mental Health at Leyden Family Service in Franklin Park and has been an adjunct faculty member at College of DuPage since 2003. He currently teaches a Human Services electives course at COD titled, "Psychedelic Mindview," which explores the role of psychedelic substances throughout history, including recent clinical research for their use as adjuncts to psychotherapy and the influence of psychedelics in art, creativity and the political-social context of the 1960s. This course will be offered in a face to face, traditional class format during the summer term at COD, from June 10 to July 29.

Starting in 1981 at Northern Illinois University, Prof. Roberts taught the world's first catalog-listed psychedelics course. His major publications are: The Psychedelic Policy Quaqmire (in-press 2015), The Psychedelic Future of the Mind (2013), Spiritual Growth with Entheogens (2012), Psychedelic Medicine, 2 vols. (2007) and Psychedelic Horizons (2006). Additional papers, reviews and web materials are located at: niu.academia.edu/ThomasRoberts.

Please click here for recent news coverage on psychedelic research in The New Yorker and on CNN.

For more information about the COD Psychedelics course and the March 2 free presentation, please contact Bruce Sewick at sewick@cod.edu.

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