Mind Body Psychotherapy

Compassionate Alternative Paths to Healing and Growth - David J. MacDonald, LCSW

Heart of Healing: A Compassionate Unfolding

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Thank-you for your interest in my practice

Currently I’m accepting new patients/clients into my practice only for short-term Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy using Ketamine (KAP).  I also offer Trauma-Informed Case Consultation and Consultation for EMDR Clinicians.

If you are searching for a Trauma-Informed psychotherapist, I encourage you to take some time to look through the Your Treatment Options section of my site for information on current and effective models of psychotherapy.

If you are interested in help with a referral to a clinician who practices in a manner similar to me please check my Links to Resources page.  There I’ve listed professional organizations which oversee the training I’ve received.  Each has a directory of practitioners which is searchable by geographic location.

If you are a student or clinician seeking consultation or training, please use my Contact page to e-mail me or call.

Dave MacDonald MSW, LCSW
Fall – 2022

I’m Dave MacDonald with David J. MacDonald LCSW, PLLC.  I’m a Clinical Social Worker licensed to practice psychotherapy.  I’m specially trained to offer you leading-edge and research based complimentary therapies like EMDR Therapy® for PTSD or HeartMath® Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback training for lower stress and more coherent decision making.

I have advanced training in the Internal Family Systems® and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy® models of psychotherapy and offer the Alpha-Stim SCS® a non-drug treatment for anxiety, depression and insomnia.  For the treatment for grief, I can provide the Induced After-Death Communication® or IADC, a somewhat unconventional very short-term treatment method based on EMDR Therapy®.

Many of the most promising therapies today are those which are informed by recent developments in Attachment Theory, Somatic (or body) oriented models of therapy and the growing field of Interpersonal Neurobiology;  these newer therapies are frequently able to touch and heal certain types of emotional problems which conventional so called “talking” based styles of therapy have failed to resolve.  These therapies recognize and seek to activate the  natural healing tendencies existing in the body-mind of every person.

I believe that the body’s experience of feeling safe in the moment by moment unfolding of a therapeutic relationship is an essential aspect of healing;  that therapy is a collaborative process between the patient and therapist and that therapy, at its core, is about learning to live more fully and creatively.

Diving into The Fractal: My Journey into Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy

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In 2018 I began a deep dive to learn about the healing potential and promise that might be offered by the therapeutic use of MDMA, known more commonly as “Ecstasy”. For patients/clients suffering from Complex PTSD this molecule shows phenomenal possibilities to heal formerly intractable wounds and restore the minds and bodies of so many who suffer from severe Traumatic Stress. We are on the cusp of FDA approval for the therapeutic use of MDMA but at the moment it remains illegal for such purposes.

My curiosity and drive led me to be trained by MAPS and then in a complimentary (and ongoing) training to work with Ketamine, the only Psychedelic Medicine available legally throughout in the US.

That’s a lot of what I’ve been devoting my training energy to for the past few years. And so, I’m now providing Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy on a limited basis through my connection with two Asheville Ketamine providers (see below).

The word Psychedelic comes from the Greek words “Psyche”= Mind or Soul and “Deloun”= to reveal or make clear.

The molecule Ketamine is a legal pharmaceutical used daily around the world in ERs and operating rooms for anesthesia and analgesia. When administered at sub-anesthetic doses, Ketamine induces a variety of Psychedelic phenomena from relaxing dream-like states to profoundly visual hallucinatory states comparable to the classic Psychedelics, DMT, Psilocybin and LSD.

Ketamine is a rapid antidepressant for a large portion of the patients who seek it for Major Depressive Disorder. It often reduces or eliminates suicidal thinking after the first session. Ketamine does not work on the SSRI/SNRI pathways like Prozac but with the Glutamate neurotransmission system.

One important consideration about Ketamine is that unlike the classic Psychedelic molecules, Ketamine has a potential for abuse and addiction. This is typically seen in heavy recreational users and has not been seen evolving from its psychotherapeutic use. Evidence is demonstrating that Ketamine, when used within a therapeutic setting has a low potential for abuse. That being said, with any substance which has an abuse potential, clinicians and patients must keep that in mind when working with it.

Psychedelics, when administered to the right client/patient, in the appropriate setting and with proper therapeutic support, can offer tremendous opportunities for healing. Why? As a growing body of research is demonstrating, these substances (both legal and those still illegal but available for research) allow the brain to talk to itself in ways not typically available to us in our normal, day-to-day waking ordinary consciousness.

The suppression of the Default Mode Network (DMN) is one of the leading theories about how and why Psychedelic Medicines can be so helpful. They can allow us to see outside of our usual patterns, ruts, blind-spots and habits and can help us consider options we did not see or could fathom before. Psychedelics can also present us with difficult and sometimes traumatic past material while supporting a deeply mindful compassionate observing self to help metabolize previously stuck and/or calcified traumatic residue. Some of these molecules are credited with promoting the growth of Dendrites and are considered to be “neuro-protective” agents. These are just a few of a multitude of benefits being researched, stay tuned!

It is best to ignore any “HYPE!” suggesting that “One trip will heal it all!”. This is not my experience about how one works with Psychedelic Medicines. These are tools, with different qualities, best used in careful consultation and with a significant Preparation period before dosing and extended personal Integration afterward to discover meaning from the experience(s) and how to carry those into one’s life for lasting change.

This addition to my practice represents for me a further integration of the skills I’ve acquired over the past 35+ years of practice. Analytic Oriented Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, EMDR, Internal Family Systems, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, HeartMath BioFeedback and Attachment, Polyvagal and Structural Dissociation Theories and others may all figure in the process of Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy from Intake through Preparation, Medicine and Integration sessions.

For more information please contact me. I’m working with Concierge Medicine and Psychiatry (https://www.conciergemedicineandpsychiatry.com/) and with Asheville Integrative Psychiatry (https://www.ashevilleintegrativepsychiatry.com/), two models with different yet overlapping approaches. One size does not fit all and this applies to Psychedelic Medicine as well.

UPDATE: Winter-2023 The effectiveness of MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy (MDMA-AT) to treat Complex PTSD has now been demonstrated through repeated clinical research. MAPS is in the complex process of submitting a so called “New Drug Application” to the FDA for approval. If all goes well we hope to see MDMA approved for clinical use by the FDA in mid-2024. For more information about the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and the organization’s leadership in researching psychedelic medicines visit their website here: MAPS

MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD: A Psychedelic Cure?

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MDMA for PTSD

PLEASE PAY ATTENTION! TLDR: see Winter 2023 Update at bottom of this page! Over several decades I've felt a subtle, yet growing call to revisit my relationship with psychedelics. This call, similar to the one that beckons me to travel to … [Continue reading]

5 Free Mobile Apps to help with PTSD, Stress & Anxiety

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For well over 2 decades, I’ve been a big fan of the clinical guided imagery developed by Belleruth Naparstek and distributed though her company Health Journeys.  I was introduced to her guided imagery by my colleague and friend, Atlanta … [Continue reading]