Living Medicine Institute

05/16/2026

Dr. Sandy Newes and Gina Giorgio discuss how veteran su***de, PTSD, and traumatic brain injuries have fueled momentum for psychedelic reform.

Link to the full episode in our bio.

05/15/2026

The Living Medicine Institute was built for clinicians, by clinicians.

Dr. Sandy Newes (PhD) co-founded LMI and she and our entire faculty team actively see KAP clients.

What makes our Level One different:
✔ Instructors who practice what they teach
✔ 7 experiential medicine sessions and all 4 routes of administration
✔ Cohort of 12 max: real connection, not a crowd
✔ Trauma-informed curriculum built for immediate clinical use

Enrolling now for our next 16-week cohort. Comment below or send us a message to learn more.

05/13/2026

There’s a growing number of ketamine trainings out there. But most of them miss something critical: They don’t actually prepare you to work with clients.

You learn concepts. You hear about the medicine. But when it’s time to sit with a real client…

That’s a huge gap. At the Living Medicine Institute, everything is built to close that gap. Our training is grounded in:

•Applied clinical skills
•Direct, guided experience with the medicine
•Teaching from deeply experienced, actively practicing providers

Because in this work, intellectual understanding isn’t enough.

You need:

•A felt sense of the process
•Repetition and integration
•Real frameworks you can apply immediately

That’s exactly what this training is designed to deliver.

Details here:
https://living-medicine-institute.mykajabi.com/early-spring-2026-level-one-clinical-intensive

Practice-focused, experiential ketamine-assisted psychotherapy training for clinical therapists and medical professionals.

05/12/2026

Make sure you're signed up for our newsletter for free training, resources, and news straight to your inbox. The link to signup will be in the comments!

05/08/2026

New episode of Living Medicine is now live!

Psychedelic medicine is moving into serious conversations about research, policy, and clinical care. As access expands, how can states, clinicians, and advocates prepare responsibly while prioritizing safety, training, and equity? Gina Giorgio’s answer is to build the infrastructure before approval arrives. As a psychedelic policy and advocacy expert, she emphasizes the need for relationship-based advocacy, state-level engagement, and thoughtful implementation.

Gina recommends contacting legislators and tracking funding opportunities as policy continues to evolve. Central to her guidance, she also emphasizes preparing clinicians through better training pathways, prioritizing insurance and Medicaid coverage, and ensuring therapists and medical professionals help shape regulations rather than reacting to them later. The path forward requires both urgency and care.

In this episode of Living Medicine, Dr. Sandy Newes sits down with Gina Giorgio, Director of Strategy and Development at Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) and Founder of Carolinas for Care, to discuss psychedelic policy reform. Gina shares how veteran mental health shaped her advocacy, what the recent executive order means for psychedelic treatment access, and the importance of clinician training and state-level action.

Gina Giorgio is the Director of Strategy and Development at Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), the largest youth-led network working to end the War on...

05/07/2026

Colleagues — clients who were “treatment resistant” for years are experiencing real, lasting change through ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. And the clinicians doing this work say it’s the most meaningful of their careers.

We train licensed clinicians and medical professionals to do it well. Not just the theory, but the actual hands-on skills.

Our Level One Clinical Intensive is a 16-week online training. Cohort of 12 max. 7 experiential medicine sessions. Faculty who actively see KAP clients.

Enrollment is open now. Drop a 🌿 in the comments if you’d like details, or click the link below to book a free 20-min call with Dr. Sandy Newes.

05/02/2026

Checkout this clip from one of our favorite episodes of the podcast - "Attunement, Healing, and Learning to Feel Okay" - where Marcela Ot’alora and Dr. Sandy Newes discuss ways in which practitioners can maintain self-awareness during psychedelic therapy.

The full episode is available on the website and our YouTube channel, which will be linked in the comments!

05/01/2026

Ready to deepen your practice with Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy or to find your direct pathway to practice?

Enrollment is now open for our Level One Clinical Intensive, designed for clinical and medical professionals ready to build confidence, skills, and community in KAP. Training begins June 10th, 2026!

Here’s what you can expect:
🔸Small, supportive cohorts with expert mentoring
🔸Biweekly live virtual teaching + core video series
🔸Seven experiential ketamine sessions (all four routes of administration)
🔸An optional in-person retreat in Asheville, NC
🔸Tools, ethics, and skills to confidently launch or deepen your KAP practice

This immersive program is more than training, it’s a professional and personal growth journey.

Spots are limited. Enroll now at www.livingmedicineinstitute.com

04/30/2026

Hi everyone! We happy to introduce another member of the team who brings not only clinical expertise, but warmth and depth to the LMI offerings.

Meet Pia Arrendell:

Pia Arrendell is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Asheville, North Carolina. She is trained in EMDR and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP), and focused her work with individuals and couples seeking deeper, more lasting change.

Pia has seen first hand how trauma and relational patterns can keep people stuck despite their best efforts in therapy. Her work has reviled that ketamine, when used intentionally and supported by skilled integration, can help soften defenses, increase openness, and allow clients to access and process emotions that were previously out of reach.

With individuals, this often means moving through trauma in a more direct and embodied way. With couples, it can mean breaking through long-standing disconnection so they can truly see and respond to one another again.KAP isn’t a quick fix, but it can be a powerful catalyst—helping people get unstuck and engage more fully in the deeper work of healing and connection.

Pia is excited to be part of the LMI staff team and ie excited to support more KAP work for couples.

We are so honored to have faculty who bring this level of experience, integrity, and care to our retreat experience.

04/29/2026

Have you checked out the podcast yet?

Join host Dr. Sandra Newes for deep-dive conversations at the intersection of modern neuroscience, trauma-informed care, and psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Each episode bridges the gap between ancient healing traditions and evidence-based clinical practice, featuring interviews with industry pioneers and practical insights for the modern practitioner. Whether you are a clinician or a curious seeker, explore the future of mental health through the lens of Living Medicine.

Recent topics and episodes include:

•Why studying adverse effects improves psychedelic treatment with Roman Palitsky, PhD
•Attunement, ethics, and the inner directed approach in psychedelic therapy with Eric Sienknecht, PsyD
•Working with psychedelics and the importance of attunement with Marcela Ot’alora
•How effective KAP shifts patterns and supports lasting change with Peter Corbett, LICSW

Make sure you're subscribed to the YouTube channel to be notified first when new episodes drop!

This is Dr. Sandy Newes and I invite you to subscribe to this channel for video interviews with influential people teaching about psychedelic- assisted psychotherapy, as well as short form and longer video content relevant to professional training and advancing the practice of ketamine -assisted psy...

04/29/2026

Check out what a former participant had to say about our Level One Clinical Intensive!