Hi there – my name is Kwasi and I’m a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, community builder and Senior Prescriber with the Medical Team at Journey Clinical.
Prior to joining Journey Clinical, I founded a psychedelics society based in New York State. It involved education, support, service, and events to connect the community around the psychedelic medicines evolving at that time. Harm reduction work emerged as a big need in the community, so we developed a project called The Sanctuary Project where we held space for people having difficult psychedelic experiences. As a nurse at the time, I was working at a cancer hospital. I was able to bring much of the skill-set that I had developed in nursing into the psychedelic harm reduction space. Once I received an opportunity to advance my education and become a nurse practitioner, it felt like a natural progression to start diving into the psychedelic ecosystem from a clinical perspective.
As a KAP prescriber, I’ve seen patients experience opportunities to access grief, trauma, and to find breakthroughs. Many people who have been in therapy for years or who have tried many different kinds of medications such as SSRIs and psychotropics feel like they’ve hit a wall – whereas for many people, KAP seems to be the first intervention that has actually helped them. Many of my patients have found relief from a mind that’s been torturing them for years and impacting their ability to take care of their kids in the way that they want to, their ability to be engaged in work the way that they want to be, and impacted their sense of purpose. KAP has given people an opportunity to break through that barrier and find new ways of being.
In healthcare there are many things that exist in silos. I think of Journey Clinical, however, as having a mosaic of support and collaboration. Not only do the patients, therapists and the prescribers have the opportunity to engage in this gateway of collaboration, but the clinicians, therapists, and prescribers have access to other clinicians, therapists, and prescribers, extending the mosaic of support out even wider. Journey Clinical’s collaborative care model doesn’t feel like just the three people, it feels like a robust, supportive organization. The opportunity for prescribers to engage with KAP therapists for Q&As to discuss protocol provides support, insight, and new ways of seeing problems. This collaborative care model is essential. We, as individuals, are born into and exist in complex systems. So, when we’re working with psychedelic medicines such as through KAP, the way that we receive our care also has to be in a web and a network of support.
A concept that has been taking a hold in my heart lately is the drive to connect with our roots. We often talk about our identities, our history, and our ancestral connections, but one thing that I want to leave you with is this question: “What happens when you reconnect with your roots?”. So many of us are seeking purpose, guidance and looking to see what’s next for us as individuals. I think when we go back to our roots, our purpose and our guidance will find us. I encourage people who are exploring psychedelics to think about how they might bring into their intention an opportunity to reconnect with their roots, because I think that there’s great opportunity to find guidance and to find purpose through that process.
About Kwasi
Dr. Kwasi Adusei, DNP, PMHNP-BC, is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, co-founder of the Psychedelic Society of Western New York, and led the development of a grassroots psychedelic harm reduction organization called the Sanctuary Project. As an educator and community organizer, he is informed by his experience with the war on drugs and community mental health, both as a patient and a clinician. He is currently serving on Journey Clinical’s medical team as our Senior Prescriber.