Mark Bates, Ph.D., and Elizabeth M. Nielson, Ph.D.

Dr. Nielson is a psychologist with a focus on developing psychedelic medicines as empirically supported treatments for PTSD, substance use problems, and mood disorders. Dr. Nielson is a therapist on FDA approved clinical trials of psilocybin-assisted treatment of alcohol use disorder, MDMA-assisted treatment PTSD, and psilocybin-assisted treatment of treatment resistant depression. Dr. Nielson is the co-founder of Fluence, a program that provides continuing education and training programs for therapists who wish to engage in integration of psychedelic experiences in clinical settings. Her research includes qualitative and mixed-methods projects designed to further understand the phenomenology and mechanisms of change in psychedelic-assisted therapy, including the experiences of trial participants and of the therapists themselves. She has published and presented on topics of psychedelic therapist training, therapists’ personal experience with psychedelics, and including psychedelic integration in group and individual psychotherapy.

Mark Bates, Ph.D., is a psychologist participating in the Center for Psychedelic Therapy and Research certificate program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He is a retired Air Force pilot and psychologist. His military psychology background includes being a training director for an APA accredited clinical psychology internship program, chief of a multi-disciplinary outpatient mental health clinic, and branch chief for psychological health promotion in the military’s Psychological Health Center of Excellence.Dr. Bates has a long-standing passion for understanding and supporting human potential in body, mind, spirit, and relationships (holistic) throughout his career and is now focused on the unique abilities of psychedelics in these areas. With a strong grounding in evidence-based science and practice, he is an advocate of careful research exploring and confirming how psychedelic-assisted therapies broaden and strengthen psychotherapy treatment options for alleviating suffering and supporting well-being. He is also particularly interested in the ability of these psychotherapies to support greater consciousness, meaning, caring, and connection as core parts of healing and living fully.