First Nations researcher exploring psychedelics as healing tool for intergenerational trauma

Researchers at Vancouver Island University say Indigenous knowledge is key to exploring how psychedelic substances can help treat a variety of disorders related to mental health.

Georgina Martin, the co-lead of the Naut sa mawt Centre for Psychedelic Research, says this work caught her attention because of the possibilities it offers for treatment of intergenerational trauma.

"I feel that this is an opportunity to explore something that may be a response to some of the health issues that Indigenous people are facing," said Martin.

Martin, who is Secwepemc, is a professor of Indigenous/Xwulmuxw Studies at Vancouver Island University. Martin said Indigenous people have been using medicines like psychedelics for millennia.

"I think in relation to the spirituality, there are many of our people that are very connected to that realm," said Martin.

"They can understand how our spirituality is very significant and it's very key to our healing."

Martin said the centre uses a "two eyed seeing" approach, combining Western-style science with Indigenous perspectives.

"There's a lot of care and concern that needs to be put in place to ensure that Indigenous people feel that they're going to be respected, not only for their knowledge, but also for the medicines that they currently harvest and use," said Martin.

Martin said the centre builds relationships with communities and ensures collaboration is mutually beneficial and has been working with the Snuneymuxw First Nation.

"We're not just going to go in there and take their information and not be able to provide some service back to the community," said Martin.

Martin is working on her psychedelic assisted therapy certificate through the research centre and studies how different types of psychedelic medicines could be used to help heal trauma.

Currently the Naut sa mawt Centre works with psilocybin — also known as magic mushrooms — to address end of life distress, depression and Alzheimer's, uses MDMA for treating fibromyalgia, and ketamine to treat PTSD in firefighters.

Psychedelics help 'drop those walls'

Monnica Williams, Canada Research Chair in Mental Health Disparity at the University of Ottawa, has been studying how psychedelics can help heal racialized trauma.

Williams said it can be hard for patients to be treated for trauma because it can be too painful to revisit those experiences through therapy.

"What psychedelics do is they kind of help people drop those walls that they've created to barricade themselves from the difficult memories," said Williams.

"Also at the same time they can raise the person's ability to tolerate anxiety and distress."

Williams works in the U.S. and Canada and co-created Canada's first ever psychedelic master's degree program at the University of Ottawa, Psychedelics and Spirituality Studies, in 2021.

Currently she is working on a ketamine-assisted therapy and looking into working with Dilico Anishinabek Family Care in Thunder Bay, Ont.

"I'm hoping that we can find and develop new ways of using psychedelics that are culturally useful and culturally meaningful for Indigenous people in Canada," said Williams.

Williams said a barrier to research with psychedelics is that some substances are illegal, such as psilocybin and MDMA, and require permits and approval from Health Canada to use, where ketamine is legal for medical use in Canada.

Williams said this is why a lot more research is being done with synthetic psychedelics like ketamine but there is still a lot that isn't known about how natural psychedelics work.

"Nature gave us these substances, I believe, for our healing, and it may be the best approach to use them in that way," said Williams.

Fears around substance use

Martin said she knows psychedelics can carry a stigma and some of the First Nations communities the centre has approached have not wanted to work with them.

"Many of our people are very fearful of the social effects of getting involved in any kind of substance use because a lot of our people are still grappling with drug and alcohol addictions," said Martin.

She said the use of psychedelics for healing will likely go through growing pains similar to what cannabis went through when it was being legalized.

Shannon Dames, chair of the Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Education and research programming at Vancouver Island University, said what heals people are connections.

"It's reconnection to themselves, reconnection to other humans or group members," said Dames.

"It's a pretty phenomenal process and these medicines facilitate it."

She said the way the Western biomedical system works does not take into account spiritual aptitude into the practice and developing a programming that incorporates both, that is respectful and responsible, is the centre's biggest challenge.