Berkshire Psychedelic Community’s goal is to gather local practitioners who are interested in practicing legal Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy in the spirit of collaboration and support.
Gretchen Gnaedinger (she/her) is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker in the states of Massachusetts and New York. Gretchen earned her Masters of Social Work from New York University and has been working in community mental health in the Berkshires for the past nine years. Gretchen started Berkshire Psychedelic Community after training with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) to become a practitioner of MDMA-Assisted Therapy for treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
“The power and potential of this treatment moved and motivated me.
Too many clients continue to suffer from symptoms of PTSD despite their efforts to be treated through our current psychiatric medications and psychotherapy modalities. MDMA-Assisted Therapy offers a tremendous new hope for this population."
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Anthony Giovanone (he/him) is a board-certified psychiatrist licensed in Massachusetts. After graduating from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, he completed his residency at Berkshire Medical Center, where he currently works as a staff psychiatrist and medical director of the Clinical Stabilization Services. He is also taking on a new role as the Psychiatry Director at Center for Motivation and Change: Berkshires. Anthony has completed the MAPS training for MDMA-Assisted Therapy. He looks forward to bringing this treatment to those who suffer with PTSD, substance use disorder, and other compulsive and trauma related illnesses.
“So many people suffer from substance use and trauma related disorders that have found minimal benefit from currently available treatments. Folks then feel hopeless, and in the depths of despair they start to feel as if death is the only way out of their suffering. This treatment offers a new hope! We have seen MDMA-AT give people their lives back! With MDMA-AT, the remission rate for PTSD is astounding, but even those who don’t reach full remission come out with some benefit. Preliminary studies suggest the same could be true for the treatment of substance use disorders. Combine this with the potential psilocybin holds for the treatment of depression and substance use disorders, I feel very hopeful about the future of psychiatry and our ability to bring true healing to the people we serve.”
Eric Krawczyk (he/him) is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the state of Massachusetts and one of the first 100 Certified Forest Therapy Guides in the US. Eric has a Natural Resources degree from Cornell University and a Counseling Psychology degree from the University of Colorado. He worked as a guide, supervisor and director for youth wilderness therapy groups in Idaho, Utah and Colorado, where he witnessed the powerful healing medicine of deep wilderness experiences. Subsequently, he started treating families through wilderness therapy and developed a spiritual counseling group practice.
Eric moved his practice to the Berkshires in 2013, where he pioneered the delivery of optimal “doses” of nature to children and adults in both group and individual therapy from his mobile clinic. Eric currently integrates Internal Family Systems therapy with Ketamine-Assisted Therapy, and eventually other psychedelic medicines upon expanded legalization. From daily micro-doses that range from exposure to daylight and plant life to annual multi-day excursions into wilderness areas, Eric prescribes a personalized nature treatment plan to heal those who suffer from “Nature-Deficit Disorder”.
“Plant medicine, like psychedelics, is an intensive dose of nature’s intelligence that fosters compassionate and creative culture. I believe creating a responsible pathway for access and treatment is essential for preventing the perpetuation of trauma and healing our communities.”
Dr. Ahmed (she/her) earned her MD from George Washington University, where she stayed to complete her Psychiatry Residency Program. She went on to do a Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at The New York Presbyterian Hospital Program of Columbia and Cornell Universities. She has studied yoga and vipassana meditation in India. For years Dr. Ahmed practiced psychiatry where she lived, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Since moving to the Berkshires in 2018, she has maintained a busy online practice, and is also the psychiatrist for Simon’s Rock.
Why add psychedelic medicine to this mix? Because everyone needs a passion project! Dr. Ahmed grew up in the culture and practices of South Asia. She has an inherent understanding of the mystical, and a deep appreciation of its power. Working with substances like MDMA, ketamine, and psilocybin will give her a new and exciting way to combine her extensive western medical training with who she is, where she’s from, and what she believes. Renewed interest in psychedelics, and their expanding legality, will allow her to tap into her truest self to help people that have had a suboptimal response to traditional therapeutics.
Dr. Mona Jain (she/her) is a Cornell- and Columbia-trained adult psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who has extensive cross-cultural clinical experience in somatic presentations of trauma.
Dr. Jain currently works in private practice with Dr. Ahmed at Satya Psychedelics in Great Barrington, MA where they offer Ketamine Assisted Therapy.
Satya Psychedelics is accepting new patients who would benefit from a safe, well-supported psychedelic journey to address depression, anxiety or to move past blocks in current treatment. This offering is ideal as a supplement for someone already receiving ongoing mental health support. We will work with the person’s primary mental health provider as appropriate.
We both handle all aspects of care, from the initial evaluation and intention setting to medication administration and integration. We infuse Indian ceremonial rituals into the experience, which ends with a light vegetarian meal during which we process the person’s journey. We also obtain a tactile and aesthetic history to customize the setting, which is housed in a beautifully curated loft in the heart of Great Barrington.
Judith Pomerantz (she/her) is a licensed psychotherapist with over 28 years of experience. She sees clients in her in Great Barrington office and remotely. Judith offers Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) for individuals and specializes in combining KAP with Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) and EMDR therapy. Ketamine assisted therapy has been shown to boost therapeutic benefits for a wide range of mental health conditions including but not limited to depression, anxiety and PTSD. Judith has considerable training in this new modality. Individuals seeking more information on KAP should contact Judith at jlpomerantz@gmail.
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