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School of Social Work researcher, clinical faculty member benefit from Usona Institute expansive immersive program 

by Chris Hilburn-Trenkle 

Assistant Professor Orrin Ware (left) and Clinical Assistant Professor Alyssa Draffin (right). Photo courtesy Alyssa Draffin

A pair of faculty members from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work recently received an opportunity to attend a unique immersive education program. 

Assistant Professor Orrin Ware and Clinical Assistant Professor Alyssa Draffin joined colleagues and peers from universities across the country at the Usona Institute immersive education program on psychedelic-assisted therapy. The four-day experience, held from May 30—June 2 just outside of Madison, Wis., included researchers from institutions such as Salisbury University, Brown University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Columbia University. 

Ware and Draffin had both previously expressed interest in learning about psychedelic treatment and psychedelic education, but they first heard about the program after being notified by Dean Ramona Denby-Brinson. She explained she thought the two would be fantastic candidates for the learning opportunity, and they quickly submitted their applications.  

Not long after, in early April, they were accepted and granted a scholarship through the Joe & Sandy Samberg Foundation that covered tuition, food and lodging. 

“Our foundation was seeking enthusiastic social work faculty members interested in incorporating psychedelic education into their school’s curriculum,” said Sandy Samberg. “We looked for candidates with prior knowledge about psychedelic-assisted therapy, a keen interest in expanding upon that knowledge, and full support from their deans. We were so impressed with Alyssa and Orrin’s applications, and after reading their stellar recommendations from Ramona Denby-Brinson, we decided to award scholarships to both of them. We’re excited for them to co-create the curriculum and collaborate with the scholarship recipients from other universities.” 

Photo courtesy Alyssa Drafin

Initial Interest 

Ware was first introduced to the topic of psychedelic-assisted therapy as a Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. During one hot day he was sitting on a porch with some friends, one of whom told him about a clinical trial she had used to help her quit smoking cigarettes. With the help of the psychedelic drug psilocybin, also referred to as “magic mushrooms,” she had gone from smoking nearly a pack of cigarettes a day to having no interest in smoking altogether.  

“I had never heard of anything like this in that you could actually do this in a clinical setting,” Ware said. 

Later, as a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University, Ware found himself in a unit that did similar studies of psychedelic-assisted therapy. Although he was working with an opioid research group at the time, he learned more about the therapy from colleagues and came to the realization that this type of treatment could have benefits for individuals with anxiety, depressive and substance use disorders. 

Draffin, meanwhile, had worked with a trauma survivor for two years as a therapist, but wasn’t seeing much progress with the client’s treatment-resistant depression. Around that time, the client also received psilocybin-assisted therapy, in conjunction with the therapy Draffin administered. Draffin noticed an immediate improvement. Years later, that client received their college degree and was hired full-time at a hospital. 

“I thought, ‘Okay, why is this happening? Why are mushrooms helping this person feel this way?’” Draffin said. “What I figured out over time is there’s a period of time where therapy is more effective because of neuroplasticity. There’s neurogenesis happening in the brain, they’re more open to therapeutic interventions.” 

After arriving at the School of Social Work in 2021, Draffin told Denby-Brinson of her interest in teaching a psychedelic-assisted therapy course. Denby-Brinson supported her efforts right away, connecting Draffin to a professor doing similar work at Ohio State University.  

“Once she connected me with that person, it started rolling downhill with a lot of momentum,” Draffin said. 

A day in the program 

Held in the heart of the Usona Institute’s campus, the program included not just attendees from various institutions, but also additional groups of social work instructors, educators and clinicians. The scholars learned about the history of psychedelic treatment and the ways of incorporating the practice in a culturally respective manner, and also the immense amount of evidence to its effectiveness.  

Photo courtesy Alyssa Drafin

They also spent multiple hours each day learning about different research and treatment areas and the numerous psychedelic drugs, including their chemistry and molecular makeup. But the attendees also learned about the seriousness of the drugs, and the caution and responsibility involved in the work. 

The attendees heard from individuals who received psychedelic-based therapy and reported profoundly positive shifts in how they viewed the world, and each day engaged in immersive experiences. 

One such activity involved a sound immersive experience, with attendees sitting in a dark room in a circle as an instrument played and colors radiated off a piece of art in the center of the room. The attendees were also exposed to hydrotherapy and qigong, a type of active meditation. 

Draffin signed up to help prep and facilitate a ketamine-assisted therapy session, working with researchers to benefit her perspective as a clinician. 

“I was able to be picked up and plopped into this clinical space,” Draffin said. “From start to finish I saw the entire process unfold. How these clients were taken care of and cared for so well both in the session and outside the session before and after.” 

As impactful as it was for Ware and Draffin to learn from hands-on experience and the history of these treatments, equally important were the connections they built with their fellow scholars throughout the program.  

“It was amazing because now we have colleagues who will be with us forever,” Ware said. “We all shared in this amazing experience and there are talks and ideas that will help us move forward with writing papers together, potentially writing grants together and sharing some course content.” 

Next steps 

The psychedelic drug psilocybin is currently still in the review process for FDA approval, and MDMA was recently declined approval in August 2024 by the FDA, who requested an additional clinical trial. But two drugs — ketamine and its derivative esketamine — have received FDA approval as an anesthetic and for treatment-resistant depression, respectively. 

Ware, who noted that he’s still learning as much as possible about psychedelic-assisted therapy, pointed out the literature and first-hand experiences of individuals using ketamine and esketamine that show the drugs provide robust treatment for those specific disorders. As the nation faces a growing behavioral health crisis, this unique treatment method could create benefits for some of the millions of adults suffering from anxiety or depressive disorders in the United States. 

“Ultimately what I would do (to someone showing skepticism to the effectiveness of using psychedelic-assisted therapy) is say, ‘Hey, there’s research that exists that shows it is effective,’” Ware said. “I understand the skepticism, but it’s worth jumping into some of the research literature and hearing first-hand experiences. No. 1, jumping into the research literature to see what’s out there and what the results are. No. 2, speaking with people who may have gone through these treatments and how there appears to be qualitatively a supreme improvement on their life, based on what they describe.” 

Ware hopes to hear about those first-hand experiences in his own research. He would like to conduct studies gathering open-ended qualitative data for individuals who have used psychedelic-based therapy. He wants to learn from their perspectives, not only after they receive the psychedelic-type intervention, but before the process as well. 

“I want to gather their first-hand experiences and learn more,” Ware said. “I find myself very fascinated that there’s something there that shifts their perspective to a more positive one and to a more connected one. I’m really interested in hearing more about the lived experiences of those folks.” 

Draffin believes that the materials she gathered from the program will benefit her greatly as she teaches future therapists at the School of Social Work. The knowledge and perspective she gained from the Usona Institute will allow her to expand the curriculum for her psychedelic-assisted therapy course. Thanks to the connections she made with fellow professors, she plans to meet monthly via Zoom with a group of scholars to discuss teaching methods and the development of their courses. 

“From start to finish I gained something that I would never have been able to gain (otherwise), here as an academic,” Draffin said. 


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