Grithouse
PUBLICATIONS
ABSTRACT
The body of research demonstrating the psychological and physiological benefits of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) is robust and spans decades, yet its adaptation for a population at significantly higher-than-average risk of negative health outcomes, operational stress injuries, moral injury, and burnout is in its infancy. Failing to address these risks has costs not just for the well-being of public safety professionals (PSPs), but for their families, their agencies, and their communities. Public safety work requires a high standard of ethical decision-making and compassionate contact with the communities served. The public safety oversight of agency, government, and training institutes must prepare its professionals to deliver exemplary levels of service as well as establish trauma-competent training and support frameworks that are evidence-based to protect PSP well-being. Remedying historically ineffective training with evidence-based models not only addresses the complexity of operational stress injuries (OSIs) but also the needs of social justice reform.
Canada’s contribution to the body of research using evidence-based MBIs for PSP well-being is scarce. This literature review informs leaders, policymakers, change agents, and researchers not only of the need for such critical research in Canada, but of its current state and important considerations for its design. The efficacy of MBI is discussed, evaluating recent quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies towards charting a brief MBI (bMBI) logistically deliverable, attentive to the PSP cultural context needs and barriers, and which facilitates sustainable skill-building in attention, awareness, and compassion.
ABSTRACT
The setting of policing exposes its officers to a host of negative health outcomes physiologically, psychologically, and spiritually. Policing mindsets around accessing mental health are far from fixing the epidemic of its mental health crisis or being able to sustain a healthy workforce. Policing is losing the battle with a misguided and a scientifically misinformed war on drugs. Canadian legislators are shifting mindsets from decriminalizing substance use towards applying a public health lens to the mycelium underlying its root causes. So too should its peace officers—not just to restore peace in society—but also in their own minds and in their dysregulated nervous systems by synergizing psilocybin’s neural benefits with mindfulness-based psychotherapy. Western science’s exploration into the healing magic of mushrooms and mindfulness is in its infancy compared with the centuries of wisdom from both Indigenous science and eastern contemplative traditions. Not only does their fusion amplify hope for those suffering but perhaps it offers a scientific key to the neurogenesis of resilience. This is a pracademic trip driven by a retired and now reformed agent from Canada’s War on Drugs.
ABSTRACT
Increasing demand for access to psychedelic therapy within Western medicine has given rise to a concerning trend in Canada, where individuals are increasingly resorting to self-medication with psychedelic substances or turning to unregulated psychedelic-assisted therapy. Concurrently, there is growing interest in honoring Indigenous ways of knowing and healing, including the traditional use of psychoactive substances. This article highlights the challenges facing those seeking alternative treatments, particularly persons with treatment-resistant conditions. The risks associated with unregulated practices are defined, including the prevalence of tainted drug supplies and the lack of protective measures, which pose significant threats to vulnerable populations. In a landscape where regulated care remains out of reach for many, the criminalized market catering to treatment-resistant individuals continues to expand. Healthcare providers, motivated by an ethical commitment to culturally inclusive care and enhancing access to promising therapeutic solutions, increasingly find themselves navigating the underground terrain. Informed by established safe consumption sites designed to mitigate overdose risks, this article presents an adapted harm reduction approach tailored for psychedelics, with a focus on supporting safe MDMA consumption. This innovative approach offers support to persons who have self-procured psychedelic substances for mental health indications, or for those who feel these medicines might offer benefits beyond the treatment of a defined mental disorder. This model incorporates the essential safety standards for those exploring alternative mental health treatments, laying the scientific and legal groundwork for a comprehensive harm reduction and wellness strategy.