Health Professionals
Events
Thelma McMillen Frontiers in Addiction Lecture Series
Ketamine and the Next Wave of Psychedelic Medicine: Clinical Perspectives and Research Insights
May 19, 2026 | 9 - 10:30am
Event Registration
This presentation will provide a comprehensive, evidence-based review of ketamine treatment in psychiatry, emphasizing its role as a biological intervention for mood disorders. We will examine ketamine’s FDA-approved indications, mechanisms of action at the receptor and neuroplasticity levels, clinical efficacy data, safety considerations, and practical approaches to individualized treatment planning. The discussion will also address ketamine’s emerging role as an augmentation tool for psychotherapy, clearly differentiating the strength of evidence supporting its use as a biological medication from the comparatively more limited but evolving data for ketamine-assisted psychotherapy.
In the final portion of the lecture, participants will review the current literature on psychedelic treatments more broadly, including recent clinical trials and methodological considerations shaping the field. The presentation will conclude with an overview of the regulatory pathway toward FDA approval for psychedelic compounds, outlining key milestones, challenges, and likely next steps in clinical integration. Attendees will leave with a balanced, clinically grounded understanding of where ketamine treatment stands today and what developments may shape psychiatric practice in the years ahead.
Presenter Bio:
Mark Hrymoc, Chief Medical Officer & Co-Founder
Dr. Hrymoc has extensive expertise in the psychopharmacology of addiction and other mental health disorders. He is double Board-certified in General Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry and was previously board-certified in Addiction Medicine. Dr. Hrymoc was Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA, where he supervised training psychiatrists at their Addiction Psychiatry Clinic. He completed his subspecialist training in Addiction Psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and currently serves as a consulting physician to several prestigious drug and alcohol treatment centers in the area. Dr. Hrymoc co-authored a chapter in Principles of Addiction Medicine, the main textbook of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and has been published in several academic journals. With his wife, Ellie, also a psychiatrist, he founded the Ketamine Therapy Center as a promising solution for treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, trauma, and other mood disorders.
Learning Objectives:
- Differentiate the evidence-base for ketamine as a biological treatment and as an augmentation tool for psychotherapy.
- Explain the neuroplastic and receptor-level mechanisms of ketamine, along with its clinical benefits, risks, and side-effect profile, in order to integrate ketamine treatment into clinical practice.
- Describe the current evidence base for psychedelic treatments in psychiatry as the progress toward FDA approval, including key clinical trial phases, safety considerations, and anticipated challenges shaping future clinical integration.
EARN 1.5 CE Credit Hours
Learning Levels
Beyond the Trauma Frame: Reclaiming Suffering as a Path to Wisdom
June 16, 2026 | 9 - 10:30am
Event Registration
This presentation challenges the prevailing dominance of a trauma-only framework in contemporary clinical practice. While trauma-informed care has been essential in restoring safety and reducing shame, an exclusive reliance on this lens can inadvertently narrow our understanding of human suffering. Drawing from phase-oriented trauma treatment models, contemporary neuroscience, developmental frameworks, and contemplative psychology, this talk introduces a differentiated model of suffering that distinguishes between neurobiological trauma, developmental wounding, and universal existential suffering.
Participants will explore how trauma reflects disruptions in core brain networks governing threat detection, salience, and self-referential processing, and why these conditions require targeted stabilization and processing. At the same time, the presentation expands beyond pathology, examining how many clinical presentations reflect not only trauma, but underdeveloped capacities that require building—not just healing.
Finally, it reintroduces the often-neglected dimension of existential suffering, highlighting the clinical importance of discerning what must be treated, what must be developed, and what must ultimately be lived. This presentation offers a precise, integrative framework that supports clinicians in moving beyond reductionism while maintaining clinical rigor, opening the possibility for both healing and transformation
Presenter Bio:
Kathleen Murphy, M.A., LMFT
With more than three decades of clinical practice, Kathleen Murphy, M.A., LMFT, is a respected clinician, educator, and speaker recognized for her pioneering work at the intersection of trauma, addiction, and relational healing.
As the founding Chief Clinical Officer at Breathe Life Healing Center in Los Angeles, Kathleen helped design and lead one of the nation’s most innovative trauma and recovery programs—blending neuroscience, experiential therapy, and spiritual inquiry into a deeply human approach to healing. She continues her work in private practice in Santa Monica, California, and serves as a clinical supervisor for the Healing Trauma Workshop at Onsite Workshops in Tennessee.
Throughout her career, Kathleen has held multiple leadership and training roles, including Clinical Director at Onsite Workshops, where she guided clinicians and helped develop trauma-informed, experiential programming. Her work has been shaped by immersive training with luminaries such as Pia Mellody at The Meadows in Arizona, as well as her contributions to Breakthrough at Caron in Pennsylvania.
Earlier in her career, Kathleen spent seven years supporting survivors of sexual assault and interpersonal violence at SAFE-PLACE in Austin, Texas. She also volunteered her crisis-intervention skills with the Austin Police Department’s Victim Services Unit—experiences that ground her clinical perspective in empathy, realism, and courage.
Clinical Approach
Her therapeutic orientation integrates a wide range of modalities, including:
- Buddhist Psychotherapy
- Polyvagal Theory
- Hakomi
- Sensorimotor Psychotherapy
- Internal Family Systems (IFS)
- Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP)
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Gestalt Therapy
- Mindful Self-Compassion
- Attachment Theory
- Psychodrama
She is known for her experiential, body-based approach to therapy, helping clients move from fragmentation to wholeness—and from survival to authentic aliveness.
Education & Background
Kathleen holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Arts in Counseling from St. Edward’s University.
Her work is further informed by her study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism, Kundalini Yoga, sound healing, puppetry, and mythic storytelling—reflecting a holistic vision of human development that honors both psychological depth and spiritual truth.
Learning Objectives:
- Differentiate between trauma, developmental wounding, and universal human suffering, and apply appropriate clinical responses to each.
- Integrate phase-oriented trauma treatment with developmental and existential frameworks to enhance clinical precision.
- Apply strategies for introducing meaning-making that support transformation without bypassing or premature interpretation.
EARN 1.5 CE Credit Hours
Learning Levels
To be added to our mailing list, please contact jamie.gelbart@tmmc.com. Participants will receive an email link to register for each presentation.
2026 Lecture Schedule
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