Psychedelic Conversations in Madame ZuZu’s Emporium

In the 19th century, French revolutionaries gathered in salons to discuss politics and philosophy. In 2023, a group of Chicago medical professionals meet at Billy Corgan’s whimsical tea room, Madame ZuZu’s Emporium in Highland Park, Illinois to discuss psychedelics.

Once a month at Madame ZuZu’s, over a cup of exotic tea and herbal pastries, there’s plenty of talk about ketamine therapy, psilocybin treatments, dosing, trip-sitting, legislation and more. The Chicago Med Psychedelics Group (as it calls itself) is a spirited group of practitioners whose health backgrounds zigzag across mainstream medicine and beyond: The group’s nine core members include Nurses, Psychotherapists, Internal Medicine Specialists, Medical Directors of universities and cannabis pharmacologists members.

Like any good grassroots movement, the Chicago Med Psychedelics Group was created to initiate change at the local level.

“Psychedelics have many potential benefits and pitfalls when it comes to taking healing to the next level. However, we still have a lot to learn,” says Dr. Leslie Mendoza Temple, Medical Director of the Integrative Medicine Program at NorthShore University HealthSystem and Clinical Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

“I knew there was a community of early adopters, and I felt we should put our heads together to promote a rational, balanced way of sharing knowledge about the science and logistics of this large class of compounds.”

In the summer of 2022, Mendoza Temple browsed the MAPS website and made contact with David Schwartz, also a Chicago-based licensed clinical consultant and psychotherapist specializing in psychedelic integration. They met, got along well, and began inviting others to join them.

“We started expanding the group because I just wanted to know who to relate to [with questions about psychedelic medicine or treatments]?” declared the Mendoza Temple.

“I want to know where I am sending patients. This is an essential part of all of this: who do you trust and who can be a space holder for these experiences? The psychedelic community is built from the ground up by microcosms like ours.”

Members are drawn to join the close-knit community for a number of reasons. All want to connect with other like-minded professionals. Some hope to expand their awareness of psychedelic medicine, others wish to combine first-hand psychedelic experience with their expertise to support patients.

For Katie Sullivan, a family nurse and founder of Modern Compassionate Care, a life-changing psilocybin experience crystallized her desire to become an advocate for psychedelic treatment. Sullivan was widowed when her husband, a US Marine, died at age 30 from exposure to arson pits while serving in Iraq.

“After that experience, I was a young mother to a three-year-old who was deeply traumatized and living with significant survivorship debt,” she explains.

Sullivan tried therapy, support groups, meditation, and EMDR to deal with her grief and post-traumatic stress disorder. Though they helped ease some of her pain, a deep sorrow lingered. So she turned to psilocybin.

“I spent time consciously preparing for my solo journey and then went on an inward journey to face the pain I couldn’t let go.”

Sullivan reflects that her psilocybin journey brought a catharsis and new perspective that allowed her to let go of the weight of guilt she had carried. It has now been six years since that single transformative journey. Sullivan describes it as one of the defining moments of her life that propelled her to pursue psychedelic interests. She finds the support she receives from the Chicago Med Psychedelics Group invaluable as she now offers ketamine therapy treatments at her clinic.

“I really wanted to be part of a community of providers and doctors to turn to. This is a new space and I want to be ethical and safe and give people a really good education,” she says.

For David Schwartz, joining the group was another step towards becoming a psychedelic-friendly professional.

“In my current public role, I’m open to preparing for and integrating into psychedelic therapy,” he explains. “So that’s one way I decided to step out of the psychedelic closet.”

Schwartz also enjoys talking to curious clients about his personal experiences with psychedelics.

“I think it’s an important part of this type of work and advocacy to also normalize the benefits of these drugs,” he said. “I finally came to the conclusion that because of my psychedelic experiences, I have a responsibility to be a source of information and a facilitator for people who want to speak openly with someone.”

When the group comes to Madame ZuZu for their monthly meeting, the mood is high and everyone enthusiastically talks about new research results, events, conferences and personal or professional experiences.

“There’s so much conversation and so much excitement,” Schwartz said. “Everyone just wants to talk, share, ask questions and socialize.”

Occasionally, special guests join and bring their unique area of ​​expertise or perspective. Last month, Billy Corgan emerged from behind the ZuZu tea counter and sat down with the group to discuss whether US society was ready to move on to full legalization of psychedelics.

Other meetings included guests such as Jean Lacy, Founder of the Illinois Psychedelic Society, Anne Berg of the Psychedelic Pharmacists Association and Dr. Rachel Norris, owner and operator of Imagine Healthcare, a ketamine-based clinic in Chicago. Madame ZuZu’s airy art deco emporium is the ideal space holder for this eclectic, knowledge-hungry troupe who can’t wait to mingle with like-minded people.

But beyond the thrill of networking and learning, there is also an awareness of making a contribution to Illinois’ changing legislative landscape. In January 2023, Illinois Legislature La Shawn Ford introduced the Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens Act, or the “Illinois CURE Act.” If passed, this law would regulate and license the supply of psilocybin products in Illinois. At this stage, while the bill is still under review, events to encourage debate and education about psychedelics can help raise awareness.

Some members of the Chicago Med Psychedelics Group have joined forces with sister groups like the Illinois Psychedelic Society to share educational resources and advance the cause. Leslie Mendoza Temple, Lisa Solomon, and Karolina Mikos MD will be attending and speaking at the Illinois Cannabis and Psychedelic Symposium in late September. Other group members are lining up to join the discussions at the Illinois Psychedelic Society’s upcoming Summer Networking Mixer, which will be attended by 300 people. The last mixer the group was involved with sold out in 48 hours.

While participation in these larger events makes sense, the prevailing view at this point in the Chicago Med Psychedelics Group is that their meetings at Madame ZuZu are intimate, informal, and supportive.

“I like to keep it small,” says Mendoza Temple. “I don’t know if we would even have a vision or a mission statement because that makes it very formal, then you start inviting more people in and you need an agenda… Aren’t we fed up with these big, formal groups?” already ?”

“Take care of the part of the garden that you can touch,” Schwartz muses. “Personally, I’m just excited to get involved as things evolve with legislation and things like that, but what really interests me is changing the culture from the ground up.”

Photo from far left, clockwise:

Maerry Lee MD ACEP, Joseph Friedman RPh MBA, David Schwartz LCPC, Anne Berg PharmD (guest), James T. O’Donnell PharmD MS FCP, David Schwartz LCPC, Leslie Mendoza Temple MD ABOIM, Lisa Solomon, Co-Chairs of Clinical Education Illinois Psychedelic Society Council, Karolina Mikos MD, Luba Andres RPh (guest)

Absent Chicago Med Psychedelics Group members: Katie Sullivan, APRN, FNP-C, David Kushner MD DO FASAM FACP, Rebecca Abraham RN BSN.