Staff, Leadership, Core Teaching Team:

HANNAH MCLANE, MD, MA, MPH | founder and executive director

Dr. Hannah McLane is a physician, psychoanalyst, and entrepreneur. She is the Founder of SoundMind, a Philadelphia and Oregon-based psychedelic facilitator training and research initiative aimed at bringing ethics, equity, and innovation to the psychedelic ecosystem. Dr. McLane identifies as queer, white, able-bodied, and neurodiverse. She grew up in rural New Hampshire and spent several years in South America and East Asia.

Dr. McLane conducts research on cognitive diversity, psychedelic science, ethics, PTSD, and emerging alternative therapies for mental health issues. She is the clinical director of the SoundMind Center, the first psychedelic therapy center in the Philadelphia region, and training director for retreat offerings in Oregon and Philadelphia, with special retreat offerings in Jamaica, Peru, and Colombia.

She attended McGill University and holds graduate degrees from Temple University (MA, Communication Sciences, Spanish Language), Brown University (MD, Doctor of Medicine, Contemplative Studies Concentration), and Harvard School of Public Health (MPH, Global health and Bioethics). She attended residencies in neurology and Occupational and Environmental medicine (University of Pennsylvania) and completed a fellowship in Patient Safety at the VA Hospital in Philadelphia. She also completed a 5-year psychoanalytic training program and considers herself a relational psychoanalyst.

Training Team Includes:

Pierre Bouchard, MA, LPC

Pierre Bouchard is a Licensed Professional Counselor with a private ketamine practice in Boulder, CO. He specializes in blending somatics, embodiment, attachment theory, and trauma therapy with ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. A graduate of Naropa University (in Contemplative Psychotherapy), he has trained in several somatic psychotherapy modalities, most recently the Hakomi Method under Melissa Grace, and currently, in Ido Portal’s movement system. He supervises therapists around ketamine work. He has maintained a meditation practice for 20 years, and in his spare time, works as a vinyl DJ.

Joseph McCowan, PsyD

Joseph McCowan, PsyD is a licensed clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, currently working in Los Angeles as a co-therapist in the MAPS sponsored phase 3 clinical trials of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. He is an alumni of MAPS August 2019 MDMA Therapy Training for Communities of Color. Joseph is deeply passionate about furthering education and awareness of the healing benefits of psychedelics for communities of color and in working to improve mental health outcomes for historically underserved communities.

Claudia Cuentas, LMFT

Claudia Cuentas is a Peruvian immigrant, a bilingual and bicultural artist, a license marriage and family therapist, a researcher, and an educator, specializing in the intersectionality of art, healing trauma, trauma recovery, cultural identity, indigenous knowledge and decolonization of healing. She has an Master’s in Counseling Psychology and is trained in Drama Therapy, Expressive Arts Therapy, Somatic Experiencing, and Trauma-Informed Care. She also has extensive studies in Indigenous healing, from her native Aymara and Quechua lineages of South America.

Claudia started her journey as an educator and advocate of art, as a tool for healing and liberation. In becoming a therapist, after her studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies, Claudia focused on serving immigrant communities, families, and children. She has worked with undocumented families, refugees, homeless population, and women survivors of violence, especially dealing with PTSD. Upon arriving to Portland, Oregon, Claudia joined the team at Conexiones, a Multicultural Center for Trauma Recovery. Claudia has completed parts A and B of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) MDMA Therapy Training Program. She continues to participate in ongoing training and education on the intersectionality of generational trauma, plant medicine science, eco-informed therapy, nervous system healing, and indigenous wisdom. 

Emma Knighton, MA, LMHC, RYT

Emma Knighton, MA, LMHC, is a white, queer, able-bodied femme. She is a somatic trauma therapist, psychedelic integration therapist, embodied organizer, and conscious leader. In their clinical work, Mx. Knighton works at the intersection of complex PTSD from childhood abuse, queer identity development, and consciousness exploration. Her clinical and leadership approach is grounded in queer, consent, feminist, and anti-oppression/pro-liberation theories. Mx. Knighton teaches courses on integrating trauma-informed consent practices into psychedelic-assisted therapy and strives to be in service to the psychedelic space with integrated mind, body, spirit, and community. Mx. Knighton holds a master's in counseling psychology from Bastyr University, a Certificate in Psychedelic Assisted Therapy and Research from CIIS, and a master’s level Certificate in Holistic Health from St. Catherine University. A lifelong learner, she is in sacred relationship with their ancestors, tree elders, plant teachers, and the collective consciousness.

Chris Stauffer, MD

Dr. Stauffer is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), Physician-Scientist with the VA Portland Health Care System, and dual board-certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. Dr. Stauffer is an OHSU medical school alum, completed Adult Psychiatry Residency at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and was an Advanced Neuroscience Research Fellow at the San Francisco VA prior to receiving a Veterans Affairs Clinical Science Career Development Award.

Dr. Stauffer serves as Supervisor for MAPS’ MDMA Therapy Training Program, mentor for the Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research certificate program at the California Institute of Integral Studies, core faculty for the Integrative Psychiatry Institute’s Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Training, course contributor for Psychedelic.Support's "Foundations in MDMA and Psilocybin Safety, Therapeutic Applications & Research", member of the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board’s research subcommittee, and is part of the training team with Polaris Insight Center.

Advisory Team:

Harvey Schwartz, PhD | Ketamine-Assisted Therapy Advisor

Harvey is a licensed psychologist who specializes in treating complex PTSD, dissociative disorders, as well as patients with spiritual and therapy-related trauma. He has undergone advanced Ketamine-Assisted Therapy training through the Ketamine Training Center and the MAPS MDMA-Assisted Therapy Training Program and is currently a Sub-Investigator and Co-therapist, a supervisor and a trainer on the MAPS MDMA-Assisted Therapy Clinical Trials. In his clinical work and consultation, he synthesizes relational psychodynamic, archetypal, existential, and mindfulness perspectives. He has worked on advancing the theory and practice of integration in psychedelic therapies. Harvey is the training director and a lead trainer in the Polaris Insight Training Program.

 

Jon Dennis, Esq. |Oregon psilocybin policy advisor

Jon Dennis is a lawyer, activist, and entrepreneur in the psychedelics ecosystem. He is the executive director of Vital Oregon, a psilocybin facilitator training program by Psychedelics Today, and the co-host of the “Eyes on Oregon” podcast from Psychedelics Today. Jon is a member of the Chacruna Institute’s Council for the Protection of Sacred Plants. He is a member of the Psychedelics Bar Association and sits on its Religious Use Committee. Jon serves on the Executive Committee of the Oregon State Bar Practice Section on Cannabis and Psychedelics and is a co-chair of its Psychedelics Subcommittee. He is a founding member of the Entheogenic Practitioners Council of Oregon.

Jon has been a lead voice in promoting equity and affordability under Oregon’s psilocybin program, known as Measure 109. He is the chief architect of the proposed regulatory framework for religious and community-based paradigms of psilocybin services under Measure 109 and has presented to multiple subcommittees of the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board, leading Business Insider to name Jon as among “the most influential people helping to shape Oregon's psilocybin industry.” He lives in Ontario, Oregon.

Harold Roth | Zen MediTation Advisor

Harold Roth is Professor of Religious Studies and the Director of the Contemplative Studies Initiative at Brown University. Roth is a specialist in Classical Chinese Religious Thought, Classical Daoism, the comparative study of contemplative practices and experiences and a pioneer of the academic field of Contemplative Studies. 

Yakub Grant | Jamaican Initiative Advisor

Yakub is one of the original founders of the SoundMind Project, and functions as Director of Operations in Jamaica. He began his studies in design in England and spent almost a decade as a professor of Digital Media Editing at University of the West Indies and Edna Manley College (Kingston, Jamaica). He is firmly rooted in musical creation with a conscious message.

Lieutenant Sarko Gergerian, Psychedelic Facilitator and Peer Support Advisor

Lieutenant Sarko Gergerian serves as a police peer support officer, community outreach officer, and health & fitness officer. In this role he manages a shift of officers, reviews policies and procedures related to mental health, and supports a multidisciplinary team response to mental health response. He began his career in 2010 as a patrol officer with Winthrop Police Department. In 2016, he received the Outstanding Service and Contribution award; in 2019, he was subsequently awarded the Department of Mental Health & Law Enforcement Award. Lt. Gergerian is a founding member of the Community and Law Enforcement Assisted Recovery Program (CLEAR), a network of community partners, the Winthrop Police Department, and the Winthrop Health Department that ensures individuals seeking support for substance use disorders or mental health are connected to community-based service providers. He is certified in adult and youth mental health first aid, recovery coaching, motivational interviewing, individual and group critical incident stress management (CISM), and critical incident training (CIT). He has also trained in and been a recipient of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy through the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He holds a BA in philosophy from Northeastern University and a MS in mental health counseling and psychological services from Salem State University.