Our Clinical Team
We are a group of credentialed and experienced psychotherapists and medical professionals who are dedicated to making psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy available to Canadians suffering from end-of-life distress. We have all completed formal clinical training in psychedelic psychotherapy in 2016.
Program Director
Registered Clinical Counsellor (BC)
Registered Psychologist (NWT)
Dr. Tobin received his doctorate from University of Washington in 1983, specializing in philosophy of psychology. He has been in private practice psychotherapy for 35 years, specializing in the treatment of anxiety, depression and emotional trauma. He taught clinical skills for 25 years at University of Victoria, where he was Adjunct Assistant Professor and a member of the Graduate Faculty. He worked under contract with Health Canada for 20 years providing psychological services to First Nations communities in the Victoria area. He is interested in the interface between psychology and spirituality, and the role that altered states of consciousness play in enhancing clinical processes.
Medical Intake Specialist Physician
Dr. Stogryn completed her Medical Doctorate in 2005 and postgraduate training in Family Medicine with a specialized focus in Aboriginal Health in 2007, at the University of British Columbia. She has practiced as a family physician for the last 10 years, primarily in rural and remote First Nations communities on the west coast of BC. She currently practices in the Victoria area, and maintains a strong focus in the treatment of mental health issues, addictions, and chronic disease complicated by complex trauma. She holds a Clinical Instructor position at the University of British Columbia.
Psychometrics Specialist Registered Psychologist (BC # 01182)
Registered Psychologist (BC # 01182) Dr. McMillan graduated from McGill University in 1987 with a doctorate in clinical psychology. She worked as a private practitioner for 19 years, treating individuals and couples. She has experience across a broad range of issues, but developed special expertise in treating PTSD – working with military members, veterans and abuse survivors. More recently she is excited about the burgeoning scientific support for the healing potential of psychedelic substances in otherwise difficult to treat populations.
Psychological Intake Specialist
Registered Psychologist (BC # 01824)
Registered Psychologist (BC) Dr. Miners completed his doctorate in clinical psychology at Concordia University in 2007. He was trained within the scientist-practitioner model, served in multiple roles (teaching assistant, lecturer), conducted research on mindfulness, and co-authored a book chapter. He has maintained a private practice in psychotherapy and assessment since 2004, working with organizations, schools, children, families, and adults. He has trained in the treatment of complex trauma among First Nations, and worked as co-therapist and sub-investigator in a Health Canada approved, randomized controlled Phase 2 study of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for treatment-resistant Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Vancouver, BC.
Psychotherapist
Registered Clinical Counsellor
Mr. Kerr received his M.A. in Counselling Psychology from Yorkville University, and became a Registered Clinical Counsellor in 2012. With an early background in teaching, rehabilitation and employment counseling, Mr. Kerr has been in private practice in Victoria since 2012, specializing in treatment of depression, anxiety, trauma, family dynamics and family-of-origin issues, addiction, and stage-of-life changes.
Medical Director
Medical Director. Dr. Hayden Rubensohn received his MD in 2012 from the University of Calgary. He studied in psychiatry for another two years before completing a specialization in internal medicine, and he is currently completing a specialization in his area of primary interest: palliative care. Hayden’s clinical experience in palliative care extends back to 2012 and is augmented by experience in internal medicine, critical care medicine, geriatric medicine, psychiatry, and psychiatric oncology. He has received special training in issues relating to medical assistance in dying. Dr. Rubensohn completed training in psychedelic psychotherapy from the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Science (MAPS) and participated for four years as a co-therapist in the Vancouver MAPS-funded Phase II clinical trials investigating MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as a treatment for PTSD. He remains a clinical investigator for the ongoing phase 3 trials.
Our Support Team
Legal Counsel
Paul Lewin is a cannabis lawyer in Toronto who has litigated a vast array of cannabis issues. Paul has litigated the constitutionality of the doctor-as-gatekeeper requirement, patient access to cannabis by mail-order, and the prohibition on the religious use of cannabis. Paul challenged and ended the police practice of accessing hydro consumption records without warrant in order to raid cannabis gardens. Paul has been practicing in Toronto for almost 25 years. He is also a long time board member for NORML Canada.
Research & Evaluation Liaison
András Lénárt works at the British Columbia Ministry of Health on physician compensation policy, with previous roles in pharmaceutical policy and regulation. In the past, he contributed to advancing patient engagement in HIV research at the McGill University Health Centre Research Institute, and advocated for evidence-based drug policy reform as a Director of Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy. He believes integrating psychedelics into the healthcare system is one of the most impactful improvements that can be realized for enhancing mental health and well-being in Canada. He holds a B.A.&Sc. and M.Sc. from McGill University.
Operations Director
Spencer was first introduced to the idea of using therapeutic psychedelics from reading the work of authors and psychologists such as Terrence McKenna, Rick Strassman, and Carl Jung, and has dedicated himself to applying business, spirituality, and psychotherapy to help resolve the mental health issues we find ourselves in.
Scientific Advisor
William A. Richards (Bill) is a clinical psychologist in the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he and his colleagues have been pursuing research with psilocybin for the past two decades. His graduate degrees include studies in the psychology of religion, theology and comparative religion. His involvement with psychedelic research originated at the University of Göttingen in in Germany in 1963. From 1967 to 1977, he pursued research with LSD, DPT, MDA and psilocybin at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, including protocols designed to investigate the promise of psychedelics in the treatment of alcoholism, severe personality disorders, narcotic addiction and the psychological distress associated with terminal cancer, and also their use in the education of religious and mental-health professionals. His book, Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences has recently been released by Columbia University Press.
Scientific Advisor
Charles S. Grob, M.D. is Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine and the Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He has conducted approved clinical research with psychedelics since the early 1990s. From 2004-2008 he was the Principal Investigator of the first study in several decades to examine the utility of a psychedelic treatment model for patients with advanced-cancer anxiety. He has also conducted research into the range of effects of MDMA, in both normal volunteers and (with co-investigator Alicia Danforth) in a selected subject population of adult autistics with severe social anxiety. And, he has conducted a series of ayahuasca research studies, along with colleagues Dennis McKenna, J.C. Callaway and Marlene Dobkin de Rios, in Brazil. Over the last thirty years Dr. Grob has published numerous articles on psychedelics in the medical and psychiatric literatures and he is the editor of Hallucinogens: A Reader (Putnam/Tarcher, 2002), co-editor (with Roger Walsh) of Higher Wisdom: Eminent Elders Explore the Continuing Impact of Psychedelics (SUNY Press, 2005) and co-editor (with James Grigsby) of the forthcoming Handbook of Medical Hallucinogens (Guilford Press, 2020). He is a founding board member of the Heffter Research Institute.
Scientific Advisor
Anthony P. Bossis, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine conducting FDA-approved clinical research with the psychedelic compound psilocybin since 2009. Dr. Bossis was director of palliative care research and co-principal investigator on the landmark 2016 clinical trial and publication demonstrating a significant reduction in emotional distress from a single psilocybin session in persons with cancer, specifically, a rapid decrease in depression, anxiety, hopelessness, and demoralization along with improvements in spiritual well-being and quality of life (Journal of Psychopharmacology). Dr. Bossis is also the study director and lead session guide on the FDA-approved clinical trial evaluating psilocybin-generated mystical experience upon religious leaders. Psilocybin is a naturally occurring compound found in specific species of mushrooms. Dr. Bossis is a training supervisor of psychotherapy at NYU-Bellevue Hospital Center and co-founder and former co-director of the Bellevue Hospital Palliative Care Service. He is on the faculty of The Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research at the California Institute of Integral Studies and teaches at the Art of Dying Institute in NYC. Dr. Bossis is a guest editor (with Charles Grob, M.D.) on a special series on psychedelics for theJournal of Humanistic Psychology and an author on peer-reviewed publications and chapters on the utility of psychedelics in palliative care. He has a long-standing interest in comparative religion and mysticism and on the interface of psychology and spirituality. He maintains a private psychotherapy and consulting practice in NYC.