Treating Eating Disorders with Psychedelic Medicine and LOVE: Conversations with Dr. Adele Lafrance

Sep 28, 2020

Dr. Adele Lafrance is a clinical psychologist, research scientist, and certified eating disorder specialist and supervisor. She is a leader in the research and practice of psychedelic medicine in the context of eating disorders, with a focus on ayahuasca, MDMA, and psilocybin. Currently, Dr. Lafrance is the clinical investigator and strategy lead for the MAPS-sponsored MDMA-assisted psychotherapy study for eating disorders, and a collaborator on the Imperial College study for psilocybin and anorexia nervosa. She is also co-developer of Emotion-Focused Ketamine-assisted Psychotherapy and Emotion-Focused Family Therapy. Dr. Lafrance has a particular interest in mechanisms and models of healing, including love, spirituality, emotion processing, and the application of psychedelic medicine in the context of couples and family therapy. 

 

Adele is pioneering powerful healing possibilities for people in great need. In this conversation, we talk about how eating disorders develop, why we need to involve caregivers in the healing journey, and why love is necessary. 

 

What You Will Learn: 

 

• How eating disorders develop as a response to an overwhelmed nervous system when external stressors overcome a person’s internal resources and why they deserve to be celebrated for their protective skill on the way to recovery
• The importance of moving beyond blame in eating disorder treatment and including caregivers in patient treatment because eating disorders (and any other chronic mental illness) impact the entire family system
• Why we need to rehab the concept of love in therapy, and how the experience of love is as important as mystical experiences for positive outcomes with psychedelic experiences

 

Resources: 

 

Emotion Focused Family Therapy

Adele’s Book

MAPS

Gabor Mate