HELLO!
And welcome to Psychedelication, where I am sharing my adventures in psychedelics and education (a clumsy portmanteau but it gets the job done)!
My name is Amy Bartlett (she/her), and I began my PhD adventure at the University of Ottawa in September 2020, diving into the wonderful world of psychedelics, integration, spirituality, healing and human connection. I am working with Dr. Anne Vallely and Dr. Monnica Williams at uOttawa, and also contribute to a variety of projects in Dr. Williams' Laboratory for Culture and Mental Health Disparities, as well as the graduate training programs in psychedelics at uOttawa.
I am curious about exploring the role that psychedelic integration practices and spirituality play in individual and communal healing. To that end, I am passionate about exploring how people use psychedelics to better understand themselves and the world around them, as well as building psychedelic community, harm reduction, intersectionality and inclusion in the psychedelic space, decriminalization, psychedelic ethics, end-of-life, trauma-informed care, and building pathways for safe, equitable and well-supported access to psychedelic substances and non-ordinary states of consciousness. You can find me on ResearchGate or check out my research page for more.
To complement all of the theory, I also have a regular practice of engaging in and with the psychedelic community. Locally I help coordinate the Ottawa Psychedelic Education Network (OPEN). This involves working with my co-organizers to run public events and create opportunities for people to connect with each other around the psychedelic experience, while working to destigmatize our understanding of psychedelics and the people who use them. As part of that community work, for almost 5 years I have been running bi-weekly integration circles for the Ottawa community (come check one out on Meetup if interested!), and I am passionate about supporting and witnessing people in their healing, integration, exploration and meaning-making processes.
On a personal level, like everyone, I am a work in progress-- and especially in the academic space as I leap back into university after almost 20 years out in the 'real world'. I have spent much of my adult life working as a lawyer, feminist, community mobilizer and global citizen, and trying to embrace curiosity, complexity and compassion to help create positive change in the world. This is an effort that I continue to pursue as part of my recent (re)turn to academia.
Before joining uOttawa in 2020, I had the chance to work in Canada and abroad in a variety of social justice movements and organizations, from the grassroots to global levels. This includes establishing some of my own small initiatives such as ProCo Co-operative, Global HERizons, and the Earnest Platypus newsletter; as well as taking up leadership roles at NGOs such as the Refugee Hub, RESULTS Canada, the Open Forum for CSO Development Effectiveness, and CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation amongst others. I lived for 10 of those career years in a variety of countries including Peru, Belgium, Mexico, the Netherlands and South Africa, and I have developed a passion for collaborating with people and organizations. I speak English, Spanish and French. You can find more information about my non-academic career on my LinkedIn if interested. I also love sewing, cooking, playing music and competitive scrabble in case any of that floats your boat.
Thank you for stopping by!