Here at Manitoba’s Enhanced Therapy Institute, we have been busy paving the way for MDMA-Assisted Therapy in this province. Here’s a brief overview of what we have been up to.
WHY MDMA THERAPY?`
We chose MDMA-Assisted Therapy over other psychedelic therapies because of its unprecedented therapeutic power, as well as its good safety profile, especially for healing trauma and relationships,
PAVING THE REGULATORY PATH IN MANITOBA
One of our main areas of focus has been paving the regulatory path for MDMA-Assisted Therapy in Manitoba. We have been in talks with the medical and psychological regulators, which has resulted in the creation of a medical accreditation system. This is a very positive step. Accreditation by the College of Physicians will provide clients with extra safety and protection.
We are following in the footsteps of Alberta, a province that has put a similar accreditation system in place, and which has resulted in a boom in psychedelic-assisted therapies in that province:
We are next, currently finalizing our clinic’s accreditation process, which will be the first in Manitoba, and are continuing to clear the remaining regulatory hurdles.
APPLYING FOR OUR FIRST THERAPY CLIENT VIA SPECIAL ACCESS
We are also currently applying for our first client to Health Canada’s Special Access Program to obtain access for MDMA-Assisted Therapy. Our team is trained and ready to do this important work.
Health Canada’s Special Access Program is currently the only way for clients to access MDMA-Assisted Therapy. There has been a steady increase in requests for Special Access across Canada in recent years.
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
| Psilocybin requests to the SAP | 71 | 152 | 176 |
| MDMA requests to the SAP | 16 | 35 | 53 |
PAVING THE REGULATORY PATH IN CANADA
Unfortunately, the criteria for Special Access are very stringent and some clients with PTSD do not qualify.
That’s why we are also currently a part of the non-profit PsyCan, with our main mission being to advocate for the creation of Health Canada’s Psychedelic Access Program, a special program that would allow broader and easier access to psychedelic therapies, similar to the model adopted in Australia.
The creation of a Psychedelic Access Program would be a major step towards access to this much needed therapy.
MDMA THERAPY PODCAST
We are of course still running our staple MDMA Therapy Podcast. Recently, Darek had a great conversation with Rick Doblin about why MDMA Therapy approval was recently delayed by the FDA.
PREPARATION AND INTEGRATION GROUPS
Enhanced Therapy Institute has also been collaborating with True You Therapy & Wellness Retreats (Darek & Jessica’s initiative) to create a group-based preparation and integration protocol for MDMA-Assisted Therapy.
These groups will both enhance the therapeutic process before and after the dosing sessions, and help cut down on the costs of this relatively expensive therapy.
TRUE YOU URBAN AND ISLAND RETREATS AVAILABLE NOW
In the meantime, before MDMA Therapy becomes available, Darek & Jessica are already running various True You Urban and Island Retreats, including for Mental Health Professionals, Men, Caretakers, and Business and Executive Teams.
These therapeutic wellness circles are intentionally designed to be as healing and transformative as MDMA-Assisted Therapy, but without the MDMA.
You can sign up for one of the urban retreats right now @ https://trueyou.one.
NORTH POINT RETREAT
And if this was not enough for you, Darek and Jessica just completed the construction of a spectacular small Canadian Shield retreat center, which might well be the cutest place south of the North Pole.
Take a look at the stunning videos @ https://northpointretreat.com.
And of course, join us for one of our GRAND OPENING WEEKENDS in June.
Darek Dawda, PhD, CPsych
* Note that MDMA is illegal and MDMA-Assisted Therapy is not approved for any use at this time. We do not encourage or condone the use of MDMA in any context.
