Arwen Podesta

Andrew Penn, MS, PMHNP is a Professor in the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing where his teaching has received the UCSF Academic Senate Distinction in Teaching Award, among other recognitions. Trained as a psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner, he directs clinical nursing operations for Salma Health an early stage psychiatric interventional treatment clinical company. As a researcher, he has collaborated on psychedelics studies of psilocybin and MDMA in the Translational Psychedelics Research (TrPR) and the Carhart-Harris labs at UCSF. A leading voice in nursing, he is a cofounder of the Organization of Psychedelic and Entheogenic Nurses (OPENurses.org), advocating for the perspective of nurses in psychedelic therapy, he has published on psychedelics in the American Journal of Nursing, Frontiers in Psychiatry, The Journal of Humanistic Psychotherapy, and JAMA. An internationally invited speaker, he has lectured at SXSW, Aspen Health Ideas Festival, TEDx, the Singapore Ministry of Health, and Oxford University and can be found at Andrewpennnp.com.

Boarded in Psychiatry, Addiction Medicine, Forensic Psychiatry and Holistic & Integrative Medicine, Arwen Podesta MD works in Louisiana, with an office in New Orleans. She authored a book on addiction, HOOKED (available on Amazon, see her website, www.podestawellness.com). She was recently awarded the honor of distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatry Association as well as the American Society of Addiction Medicine and is the immediate past President of the Louisiana Psychiatric Medical Association. She consults to the Louisiana governor’s HOPE committee and is a member of the Attorney General’s Opioid Abatement Taskforce. She is a national speaker, she teaches, consults and is an advocate for integrative best practices for those with addiction and psychiatric needs.

Lydia Bartholow, DNP, PMHNP, CARN-AP, FIANN is a doctorally prepared psychiatric nurse practitioner specializing in addiction medicine and trauma-informed care. She is a Fellow of the International Society of Addictions Nursing and serves as Medical Director of a psychiatric emergency department in Portland, Oregon, focused on acute psychiatric and substance-use–related crises. Lydia has held medical leadership roles in both inpatient and outpatient settings, building systems of care for people who use substances. She is the recipient of multiple state and national awards for excellence in addiction medicine, leadership, and health equity, and speaks nationally on co-occurring disorders, harm reduction, and substance-use care system improvement. She lives in Portland, OR with too many animals and just the right number of plants.

Boarded in Psychiatry, Addiction Medicine, Forensic Psychiatry and Holistic & Integrative Medicine, Arwen Podesta MD works in Louisiana, with an office in New Orleans. She authored a book on addiction, HOOKED (available on Amazon, see her website, www.podestawellness.com). She was recently awarded the honor of distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatry Association as well as the American Society of Addiction Medicine and is the immediate past President of the Louisiana Psychiatric Medical Association. She consults to the Louisiana governor’s HOPE committee and is a member of the Attorney General’s Opioid Abatement Taskforce. She is a national speaker, she teaches, consults and is an advocate for integrative best practices for those with addiction and psychiatric needs.

Dr. Ridpath is a true national leader in psychiatry, early adopter of innovative evidence-based treatments, and advocate for patient wellness. She is board certified in General Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. She graduated cum laude from University of North Carolina-Charlotte with a Bachelor of Science in psychology with minors in biology and classical studies. She obtained her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she was a National Health Service Corp scholar.
A lifelong resident of the Carolinas, Dr. Ridpath’s roots run deep for our local community. She has special interest in LGBT mental health and inclusion, improving primary care and psychiatry collaboration, and patient-centered care.
Dr. Ridpath is a leader in psychiatry education, lectures at national psychiatry conferences, and serves as a mentor to medical students and residents. She is currently the Medical Director for Sweetgrass Psychiatry- Florence site and Medical Director for Crossroads Treatment Centers, Florence and Darlington sites. She also serves as Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science at the University of South Carolina- Columbia and teaches medical students and residents in her clinic. She also collaborates and mentors residents within the McLeod Family Medicine Residency which trains family medicine physicians to support one of the highest need areas of the state.

Elizabeth Langmore-Avila, DO is board certified in Adult Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. Dr Langmore-Avila practices at Behavioral Health Network (BHN), a community mental health agency dedicated to providing services to underserved individuals in urban and rural communities throughout Massachusetts. She works in outpatient psychiatry and as an embedded psychiatrist within BHN’s SUD clinics, managing patients’ methadone, buprenorphine and other SUD medications along with psychiatric management, with a specific interest in addressing long-term management of PTSD.
Dr Langmore-Avila earned her medical degree from AT Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona, and completed her Psychiatry Residency at Baystate/UMass Chan Medical School, where she is currently an Affiliate Instructor.
Dr Langmore-Avila provides a large part of her care in Spanish to patients who do not speak English. Prior to medical school she completed a Master’s in Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling Psychology with Alternate Route Drama Therapy at Antioch New England Graduate School. As a creative arts therapist and osteopathic physician, she is committed to providing comprehensive psychiatric care to patients, with inclusion of psychodynamic and body-based interventions as essential treatment plan components.

Boarded in Psychiatry, Addiction Medicine, Forensic Psychiatry and Holistic & Integrative Medicine, Arwen Podesta MD works in Louisiana, with an office in New Orleans. She authored a book on addiction, HOOKED (available on Amazon, see her website, www.podestawellness.com). She was recently awarded the honor of distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatry Association as well as the American Society of Addiction Medicine and is the immediate past President of the Louisiana Psychiatric Medical Association. She consults to the Louisiana governor’s HOPE committee and is a member of the Attorney General’s Opioid Abatement Taskforce. She is a national speaker, she teaches, consults and is an advocate for integrative best practices for those with addiction and psychiatric needs.

Rakesh Jain, MD, MPH, attended medical school at the University of Calcutta in India. He then attended graduate school at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, where he was awarded a “National Institute/Center for Disease Control Competitive Traineeship”. His research thesis focused on impact of substance abuse. He graduated from the School of Public Health in 1987 with a Masters of Public Health (MPH) degree.

Dr. Jain served a three-year residency in Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. He followed that by obtaining further specialty training, by undergoing a two-year fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. In addition, Dr. Jain completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Research Psychiatry at the University of Texas Mental Sciences Institute, in Houston. He was awarded the “National Research Service Award” for the support of this postdoctoral fellowship.

Saundra Jain, MA, PsyD, LPC, is an Adjunct Clinical Affiliate in the School of Nursing at The University of Texas at Austin and a psychotherapist in private practice. Dr. Jain is a co-creator of WILD 5 – A Proven Path to Wellness and co-author of The Science and Practice of Wellness: Interventions for Happiness, Enthusiasm, Resilience, and Optimism (HERO). She is the co-creator of the Psychedelics and Wellness Survey (PAWS), exploring the intersection between psychedelics and wellness. She is the co-host of the newly launched podcast Happy Human 3.0, which explores how modern humans can move beyond merely surviving 21st-century stressors and begin to flourish by integrating neuroscience, positive psychiatry, and compassionate, human-centered care.

In addition, Dr. Jain serves on the Psych Congress Steering Committee, helping guide educational priorities and identify emerging needs in mental health practice. She also teaches with Fluence Training, a leading provider of psychedelic education for mental health professionals, where she serves as faculty in their certification programs in Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration (PHRI) and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP).

Boarded in Psychiatry, Addiction Medicine, Forensic Psychiatry and Holistic & Integrative Medicine, Arwen Podesta MD works in Louisiana, with an office in New Orleans. She authored a book on addiction, HOOKED (available on Amazon, see her website, www.podestawellness.com). She was recently awarded the honor of distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatry Association as well as the American Society of Addiction Medicine and is the immediate past President of the Louisiana Psychiatric Medical Association. She consults to the Louisiana governor’s HOPE committee and is a member of the Attorney General’s Opioid Abatement Taskforce. She is a national speaker, she teaches, consults and is an advocate for integrative best practices for those with addiction and psychiatric needs.

Charles Raison, MD, is a Professor of Human Ecology and Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Raison also serves as Director of Clinical and Translational Research for Usona Institute, as Director of the Vail Health Behavioral Health Innovation Center, Director of Research on Spiritual Health for Emory Healthcare and as Visiting Professor in the Center for the Study of Human Health at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Raison’s research focuses on the examination novel mechanisms involved in the development and treatment of major depression and other stress-related emotional and physical conditions, as well as for his work examining the physical and behavioral effects of compassion training. More recently, Dr. Raison has taken a leadership role in the development of psychedelic medicines as potential treatments for major depression. He was named one of the world’s most influential researchers by Web of Science for the decade of 2010-2019 and has been honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award from Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Raison received the Raymond Pearl Memorial Award from the Human Biology Association “in recognition of his contributions to our understanding of evolutionary biocultural origins of mental health and illness.” Dr. Raison has also won the 2024 Emory University Science on Spiritual Health Torch and Trumpet Award “for a career devoted to the mental and spiritual health of humanity by responding and attending to suffering with a compassionate heart and a keen scientific mind.”