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Mia Sarno, Psy.D.

@dr.mimi.psyd

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◦ 𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕔𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕤𝕪𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕚𝕤𝕥
◦ 𝕡𝕤𝕪𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕕𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕔 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕚𝕤𝕥
◦ 𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕝𝕦𝕚𝕕 ✿ 𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕩𝕦𝕒𝕝
𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔠𝔢𝔰 + 𝔦𝔫𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔪𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔦𝔫 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔶 𝔥𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔩𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔰

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this is the final (and in my humble opinion, most exciting) part of our interdivisional grant with american psychological association: 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔: 𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒄-𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒚.

the last part of this project is 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬!

this toolkit is something we hope the average psychologist can pick up and read for a baseline education on psychedelics + PAT.

the toolkit has a range of education that is 𝕕𝕚𝕘𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕚𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕘𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 as well as their clients.

it also ends with 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬, including major clinical trials, a drug development tracker, popular reading, education and training pathways, harm reduction resources, and sample integration prompts.

it is now up for 𝖋𝖗𝖊𝖊, 𝖚𝖓𝖑𝖎𝖒𝖎𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖆𝖈𝖈𝖊𝖘𝖘 through APA’s division 12, society of clinical psychology, one of APA’s oldest and most credible divisions.

scroll for the QR code to access the toolkit, or find it at the following URL:

https://societyofclinicalpsychology.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CODAPAR-Toolkit.pdf

this was a HUGE project and we are so proud to complete and share it! we hope you enjoy it.

**𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙧: 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙋𝘼𝙏 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜**

((𝚜𝚠𝚒𝚙𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠𝚜)) by @dr.mimi.psyd

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21 days ago

🍄 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝 🍄

((scroll for info and captions))

as a reminder, this is part of our interdivisional grant with american psychological association(APA)’s CODAPAR (committee on division/APA relations) that is geared toward educating psychologists on psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT).

division 56 (trauma psychology), 12 (clinical psychology), 29 (society for the advancement of psychotherapy), 30 (society of psychological hypnosis), 32 (society for humanistic psychology) and 36 (society for the psychology of religion and spirituality), worked together to create our project: 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔: 𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒄-𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒚.

the goal of this project was to increase education and collaboration around PAT across the field of psychology, especially given that psychology / APA are a bit behind in comparison to other fields.

we reached this goal through a survey to assess psychologists’ perspectives on PAT, 𝕒 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕨𝕖𝕓𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕦𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕕𝕦𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕥𝕤, and a basic toolkit to support psychology practitioners and their clients.

𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐬!

this series is to support general psychologists in psychedelic education.

🔸if you already know a lot about PAT, this series may not be for you.
🔸if you want to develop a baseline understanding, then this series is for you!

topics
▫️webinar 1: psychedelics: past, present and future
▫️webinar 2: research in psychedelic-assisted therapy
▫️webinar 3: foundational elements of psychedelic-assisted therapy
▫️webinar 4: cultivating the relationship in psychedelic-assisted therapy

((𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝))

topics (contd)
▫️webinar 5: ethical considerations in psychedelic-assisted therapy
▫️webinar 6: transpersonal psychology: working with non-ordinary states of consciousness
▫️webinar 7: models of care: exploring different approaches with psychedelics
▫️webinar 8 by @dr.mimi.psyd

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23 days ago

in the next few posts, i’ll share what we presented at @apa_org convention in washington dc 🧡

as a reminder, our grant involved six APA divisions coming together to educate psychologists on psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT). collaboratively, we worked to complete 3 main tasks:

🔸we created and distributed a survey regarding attitudes of APA members toward PAT
🔸we organized and held a series of eight free webinars
🔸we developed and published a toolkit

this post is about the survey first.

our survey results:

🔸481 respondents
🔸we asked about their attitudes, perceived efficacy, whether they are already offering PAT, if people wanted to offer it, familiarity with research

▫️78.5% reported having a positive attitude toward PAT

▫️69% said they would be interested in offering PAT

▫️appropriateness & effectiveness were rated at an average of 3.46/5

▫️convenience & feasibility were rated at an average of 2.83/5

🔹familiarity with the research was associated with more favorable views
🔹believing that PAT works was not enough to predict willingness to offer it

🔸one of the most interesting things we take away from these data is that the majority of psychologists are not starting from a place of skepticism toward psychedelic-assisted therapy!

in our experience, some people in our field (psychologists) still believe that this is a very small niche and only a few people are interested, but our data showed otherwise

🔸 most respondents for our survey (61%) were mid-career psychologists

that means seasoned folks are interested in this work. It’s not just a new trend or new fad, or something people get excited about before they know better or know more. people with years of wisdom and experience working as a psychologist support this!

what we saw more hesitation around were questions of fit and feasibility.

in other words, people believe this is an effective modality but how to actually offer it and what that looks like is unclear.

clinicians with formal PAT training did not necessarily see psychedelics as more effective or more appropriate than clinicians without training. there was not a significant difference there.

however, clinicians with forma by @dr.mimi.psyd

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24 days ago

for everyone at APA this weekend, our talk on the main stage this friday is 𝒏𝒐𝒕 the only opportunity for us to connect over psychedelics!

we are hosting a meet up on 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 (𝟖/𝟖) 𝐚𝐭 𝟏𝟐𝐩𝐦 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧, for all who are curious to further explore this topic - how psychologists can thoughtfully approach psychedelics in practice.

this is informal, and mostly oriented around connection, however feel free to come with any questions for us!

we can’t wait to meet with you.

✿ 🍄 🍄‍🟫 ✿ by @dr.mimi.psyd

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2 months ago

✿ ✿ ✿ 𝕔𝕒𝕥’𝕤 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕒𝕘 ✿ ✿ ✿

if you’ve been following me for a while, you know how much music means to me, and has always meant to me. music was my first therapy, my first medicine. the first thing that opened my heart and showed me life could be beautiful.

we often talk about how healing in adulthood involves returning to who you were as a child, before the world got to you. part of this can look like returning to things you used to love doing. doing such a thing can make you feel so alive, so deeply yourself again.

returning to music in a real way has awakened parts of me i didn’t realize i had lost touch with.

younger me knew that school was a promising place to focus my energy at the time, to “be successful.” i have zero regrets about that path and am truly a different person (more whole, more compassionate, and liberated) after becoming a psychologist. though the field is not without its problems, i cherish this part of my journey and it will be part of my work forever.

at the same time, i somehow forgot about all the days i’d spend on my parents computer composing random songs in garageband, finding new music, creating choreography and mixes for my cheer and dance teams in school. it’s been an immeasurable joy reconnecting with this part of me as i shift some of my focus back to music. (i literally sat on the floor and cried when i got my decks delivered to the house).

i’m so unbelievably honored to play my first gig (!) at @ysy.berlin with my loves @rntnl and @nephology.wav for @uag.bln on september 10.

send me all your good energy besties 🥹 in return, i offer anyone reading this some reminders:
✿ 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒂 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎
✿ 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕩 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕦𝕝𝕥𝕚𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕕
✿ 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 (𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎!) 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚍

💖 by @dr.mimi.psyd

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2 months ago

Pinch me. See you in Washington DC 🇺🇸❤️‍🩹

Convention Details:
🔹 APA Convention
🔹 Walter E Washington Convention Center
🔹 Virtual attendance also available

Our Presentation:
🔻 Friday, August 7
🔻 4-5pm Eastern Time
🔻 Main Stage by @dr.mimi.psyd

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3 months ago

Honored and excited to be returning to Psychedelic Culture this year, @chacruna.institute ‘s annual three-day, in-person conference on plant medicines & psychedelic science.

This gathering brings together top researchers, Indigenous leaders, healers, activists, and community members from across the globe to discuss some of the most important issues shaping the future of medicine and advocacy. I am so looking forward to contributing and connecting with this incredible community.

Join me in San Francisco, April 17-19 for another iteration of Rhythms of Resistance: Celebrating Identity through Community, Dance and Psychedelics. I’m excited to be offering this workshop for the third time, this time with another dear friend in work, life and dance, @dr.richiekoenig 💓

If you still need a ticket, DM me for a discount code!

🎟️ Tickets: @pcu.psychedelicculture www.psychedelic-culture.net

#PCU26 #ChacrunaInstitute #Chacruna

💘 Shout out to my original workshop partner @dr.brinkley because you’re going to be so missed this year 💘 by @dr.mimi.psyd

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6 months ago

How’s everyone doing? 🫠 Life has been a lot lately for all of us, and it’s been a while since I’ve had the extra energy to tend to my insta feed. I am committed to showing up more again though, and appreciate the time I took to be present with myself and properly serve the people in front of me - my clients, chosen family, and community members.

While we navigate the existential storm of our current reality, I somehow squeezed in enough time to write an article, now published in the 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘗𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺. Bridge-building is important to me. Thus, this article is written for general psychologists / mental health workers who may be new to the conversation. My hope is that this helps general practitioners meet clients in their realities while they pursue psychedelic exploration.

𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞:

🍄‍🟫 Psychologists have an ethical responsibility to develop psychedelic literacy and engage in harm reduction conversations, even when they cannot legally provide psychedelic substances, in order to support client autonomy and reduce preventable harm.

🪶 Effective psychedelic-related care requires cultural humility and attention to systemic inequities, recognizing how histories of colonization, racism, criminalization, and exclusion shape both clients’ risks and their pathways to healing.

🤎 Psychedelic experiences are best understood not as standalone interventions but as catalysts that require careful preparation, ethical containment, and ongoing integration within clients’ real-world relational, cultural, and sociopolitical contexts.

Article link: https://rdcu.be/e4NN3
OR, DM me if you’d like me to send it to you. by @dr.mimi.psyd

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8 months ago

I was just reflecting last night on how much I have been doing this year for work, and how I haven’t had enough time to pause and integrate it all. One of those big moments that I am still processing is speaking on two panels at @psychedelicscience . 💓 As an early career psychologist, it was, and continues to be, such a huge honor. One of my panels was about a topic that runs to the core of my heart, titled:

🪩 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐄𝐜𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐦: 𝐑𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 🪩

There is soooo much more to be said about this topic, but I think we achieved our goal of getting the conversation started in this academic space. Thank you to everyone who attended and who spoke to us afterward. It 𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕖𝕕 𝕞𝕪 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥 to have inspired some students and professionals to seek out more dancing and community. 🥹

Watch at the link below (which is also in @maps__org bio, and my story right now) if you’re interested.

https://virtualtrip.maps.org/video/between-ecstasy-and-escapism-raving-as-a-contemporary-ritual/

Huge shout out to @pattiegonia for introducing us to the quote from the AIDS crisis, the many original architects of the underground, and 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐒 for modeling how to hold it all - realness, community care, and joy as resistance. And just another reminder for yall - RAVING IS POLITICAL.

𝐎𝐍𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃

❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 by @dr.mimi.psyd

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a year ago

ꜱᴇʟꜰ ᴇxᴘʀᴇꜱꜱɪᴏɴ ɪꜱ ᴍᴇᴅɪᴄɪɴᴇ.

For those of us conditioned to shrink - whether by traumatic home lives, societal rules, Western academic spaces, or the general white supremacist, cisheteropatriarchy (they’re all connected) - 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. ❤️‍🔥

While having rules and standards can be important in many ways, often, imposed norms only seek to limit us.

One of the most beautiful gifts of embracing my queerness has been learning to own 𝒂𝒍𝒍 of me, and stepping unapologetically into full self-expression. This is also a gift given to me(us!) by rave and music spaces.

The healing potential of psychedelics in queer and rave spaces is not at all new to our communities. However, it is often disregarded by academic and clinical fields, and sometimes even viewed as pathological (cue judgment, an SUD diagnosis, and criminalization).

A few colleagues and I are hoping to bring this topic to @sxsw next year, to continue bridging these gaps in understanding. We will honor the roots of these spaces, discuss the very real risks of escapism and commercialization(!), promote harm reduction, and challenge the idea that healing only takes place in a clinic.

Community voting is active August 5-24. 𝕍𝕠𝕥𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕦𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖! Link here, and in my stories:

https://participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sxsw26/community-voting-sxsw/page/community-voting/session/1753674514283001U0LE

💓

📸 : photos by the incredibly talented and wonderful @helloatlasmedia ILY🥹
🩱: outfit made by me! by @dr.mimi.psyd

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a year ago

Because Pride isn’t over yet besties (San Diego Pride is this weekend, & really, pride is all year long!) 🩷

Remember that heterosexism and the gender binary are not our true nature; they are colonial constructs.

Before colonization, many cultures around the world recognized gender and sexual diversity as sacred, natural, and integrated into community life.

Colonial powers imposed binary gender roles and heterosexual norms as tools of control.

This was part of a broader effort to erase indigenous knowledge, spirituality, and sovereignty.

Queer and trans people are not new. We are ancient.

We exist across cultures, timelines, and cosmologies.

Our existence is not a trend, it’s a remembering.

Pride is about resisting systems of oppression.

And when people are increasingly threatening to kill us, Pride is living in the face of death.

❤️‍🔥

#ILoveYou by @dr.mimi.psyd

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8

a year ago

Though this topic is not new, I’ve been feeling that it’s worth a feed post:

⚠️ Be wary when the language of l!beration is used to uphold oppressi0n. ⚠️

For example: recently, the Secretary of H0meland $ecurity stated that !CE and l@w enf0rcement were being sent to “l!berate Los Angeles.”

𝑵𝒐.

It’s already violent and traumatic to target, raid, and terrorize communities. But to frame it as l!beration? Gaslighting on a massive scale - It’s giving abuser.

Learn to spot this weaponization of language. Call it out.

Res!st.
❤️‍🔥

[[[ Meme by @autisticalchemist 😄 ]]] by @dr.mimi.psyd

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a year ago