On August 1, SoundMind opened its doors at 4623 Spruce Street, announcing its launch as the first psychedelic-assisted therapy clinic in Philadelphia, and the first on the east coast to center the needs of marginalized patients. 

To celebrate our opening, we hosted a launch party and fundraising event with guests from the local community and across the country! The hybrid remote/in-person event featured an incredible panel of speakers who joined our founder, Dr. Hannah McLane, for a discussion on the future psychedelic-assisted therapies, the importance of supporting local clinics, and power of psychedelic medicine to heal those experiencing oppression and marginalization. 

The panel featured:

• Rick Doblin, PhD, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Founder

• Marcela Ot’alora G., MA, MAPS clinician

• Joseph McCowan, PsyD, MDMA-assisted therapist 

• Tom Eckert, Co-Founder, Oregon Psilocybin Society

Video of the virtual launch event is available here, and the panel discussion is below.

This fall, SoundMind will be ramping up our clinical services, offering treatment for a range of mental health concerns, including depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), race-based trauma, and other stress-related conditions. The first psychedelic-assisted therapy offered at the center will be ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP)—currently the only legal psychedelic-assisted approach available in the U.S. Ketamine has been used off-label for the past 20 years to treat chronic pain, depression, and other mental health concerns due to its rapid onset antidepressant effects and its capacity to enhance and deepen therapeutic work. SoundMind is also laying groundwork to provide MDMA-assisted psychotherapy (MDMA-PT), if the treatment is approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). MDMA-PT for treatment-resistant PTSD is currently in Phase III clinical trials and was granted breakthrough drug designation by the FDA in 2017, which expedites its review. 

As SoundMind starts welcoming new patients, we are pursuing ongoing fundraising activities, with the goal of raising $150,000 by October 1st. These funds will support completing renovations on the building, sponsoring care for patients with financial need, and training scholarships for BIPOC and LGBTQ clinicians.