Our Team
Philip Wolfson, MD
Phil Wolfson MD is Principal Investigator for the MAPS sponsored Phase 2, FDA approved 18-person study of MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy for individuals with significant anxiety due to life threatening illnesses. His clinical practice with ketamine has informed his leadership role in the development of Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy. Phil’s book The Ketamine Papers has been published by MAPS and is the seminal work in the burgeoning ketamine arena. Phil is a sixties activist, psychiatrist/psychotherapist, writer, practicing Buddhist and psychonaut who has lived in the Bay Area for 38 years. He is the author of Noe – A Father/Son Song of Love, Life, Illness and Death (2011, North Atlantic Books). In the 1980s, he participated in clinical research with MDMA (Ecstasy). He has been awarded five patents for unique herbal medicines. He is a journalist and author of numerous articles on politics, transformation, psychedelics, consciousness and spirit, and was a founding member of the Heffter Research Institute. Phil has taught in the graduate psychology programs at JFK University, CIIS and the UCSF School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry.
Julane Andies, LMFT
Julane Andries LMFT Is a practicing psychotherapist in Marin County, Ca. She worked in acute care medicine before becoming a Marriage Family Therapist, graduating from Dominican University. She was the principle co-therapist for the recently completed MAPS sponsored, FDA approved, Phase 2 MDMA assisted psychotherapy study for individuals suffering from anxiety with life-threatening illness. She also will be participating as a co-therapist in the new MAPS sponsored Phase 3 study using MDMA assisted psychotherapy for severe PTSD through UCSF. In her work with Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy, she has been a pioneer in its development and application through The Center for Transformational Psychotherapy.
German Ascani, MD, MS
German Ascani MD brings with him a broad range of psychiatric expertise having worked extensively in public psychiatry and community mental health systems. He has worked in many primary care agencies and clinics providing psychiatric consultation and services to a large number of patients across the spectrum of mental health illness. He is bilingual in English and Spanish. Dr. Ascani is interested in helping individuals achieve meaningful and lasting personal growth through a process of deep exploration and self-reflection.
Dr. Ascani is a board certified psychiatrist and a graduate of the University of California Davis School of Medicine. He completed his general psychiatric training at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California. He has a Masters of Science in Physiology from Georgetown University. He has been published in the subject of psychotropic herbal and natural remedies as therapeutic modalities in Latino populations.
Virginia Bennet, PhD
Virginia Bennett, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist who has spent several decades specializing in the use of altered states, such as hypnosis, EMDR, and dreamwork, to facilitate individuals in accessing their inner awareness and strengthening their guidance system. She uses an integrative orientation, incorporating different forms of therapy, that lead to the healing of depression, anxiety, trauma, and other disorders. She uses an individualized approach appropriate to each person facilitating the re-discovery of their natural state of vitality and well-being.
Dr. Bennett is a professor of graduate psychology at universities throughout the California Bay Area. Prior to establishing a private practice, she was director of a partial hospitalization program at a community mental health center. Her doctorate in clinical psychology and parapsychology is from the Rosebridge School of Integrative Psychology and the American School of Professional Psychology.