Dylan Beynon - Mindbloom: The Next Chapter in Mental Health and Wellbeing

In this episode, Kyle sits down with Dylan Beynon, founder of Mindbloom, NYC based mental health and wellbeing platform. In the show they talk about how Mindbloom differs from other centers, paving the way for accessibility and affordability.

3 Key Points:

1. Mindbloom is a next-generation mental health platform, catered to accessibility and affordability.
2. They use ketamine tablets, different from lozenges and any other method. The tablets are held in the mouth and then spit out to avoid entering the liver, causing a sedation-like experience.
3. Mindbloom differentiates themselves from other psychedelic therapy options by using a patient-choice model, to keep it affordable for those who need it. They offer the 4-week therapy model and give patients the option to choose ‘add-ons’ like extra integration. 

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Navigating Psychedelics

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Show Notes

About Dylan

• Dylan is not a clinician or a doctor, he is an entrepreneur and a psychedelic medicine and therapeutic ketamine patient
  • These medicines have been transformative in his life and he wants to bring their benefits to the public
• He grew up in a family that suffered greatly from mental illness
  • He lost his mother to addiction
• He discovered positive psychology
  • When learning about the science of happiness, he realized that he wasn't happy
  • He was in business school and wanted to be a banker and make a ton of money
  • He soon realized that money doesn't buy happiness, and he thought maybe everything he was doing was a lie
• He was self medicating with psychedelics
• About 5 years ago he heard about psychedelic therapy
• About 18 months ago he started working with a clinician doing ketamine therapy
• He saw that when it's done in a therapeutic context, it can have a profound effect for people to get the most out of it
• “Recreational vs therapeutic use is a false dichotomy” - Dylan

Mindbloom

• The goal is to build the next-generation mental health platform
• Right now they are doing Ketamine therapy
• They are trying to make it accessible by making it affordable
• They are trying to bring an elevated client experience, which they do with the space and software

Software Background

• Voters Friend - a platform to help inform voters on the candidates, to increase access to democracy
• Mighty - increasing access to social justice
• Mindbloom - increase access to psychedelic medicines

Differentiation

• The protocols that Mindbloom are using are capped
• They are increasing access to the medicines, making it affordable
  • They keep it at $150-$250 a session, where at most Ketamine Therapy centers, it can range from $1000-$2000 a session
• Dylan says he makes this possible by bringing in technology and software tools to make the sessions for efficient and effective
  • They use patient choice care, where the patient can use their best judgement on how in depth they want their treatment
• They can ‘add on’ extra integration time onto the therapy session, or choose not to
  • This keeps the price down and accessible for each individual patient if need be
• Mindbloom is a 4 session program, usually 1-2 months
• They use the platform to have the client practice using the information in the weeks between each session, so they can practice integration even when not with a therapist or in session

The Program

• The clinician prescribes a 4 week Ketamine Therapy session for anxiety and depression
  • The clinician will schedule a video interview to learn their symptoms
  • Then they will meet in person and build an integration program if needed
  • Its $1000 for the 4 session program and $600 for the renewal program
• They use Ketamine tablets (similar to lozenges but faster acting)
  • They're not swallowing it, they spit it out after
  • If they swallow it, it breaks down in the liver into nor-ketaine, and that produces a sedative effect
• After they spit it out, there is about an hour of music with no vocals
• After the session, they move to an integration room where they are journaling
• The protocols at Mindbloom were based on the MAPS protocol
• They don't have a clinician in the room during the experience, only for after the experience
• Dylan is looking to expand to other locations
  • A lot of people request couples or group therapies, so they will be taking that into consideration when building new locations

Final Thoughts

• The more people who are thinking critically about this and putting their intentions into making this more accessible the better
• There needs to be more gentle conversation around psychedelics and therapy, especially around the people that are still so unaware about this field
  • We should bring sacredness, specialness, and care to the conversation with those who might still be afraid about it

Links

Website

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About Dylan Beynon

Dylan is the Founder & CEO of Mindbloom, an NYC-based mental health and wellbeing startup helping people expand their human potential with clinician-prescribed, guided psychedelic medicine experiences. There, he is partnering with clinicians, technologists, researchers, and patients to increase access to science-backed treatments, starting by reducing the cost of ketamine therapy for depression and anxiety by over 65%. Dylan is a 10-year psychedelic medicine patient and 3-time tech entrepreneur with both $100M+ in funding and an exit in his prior startups, which were focused on increasing access to justice and democracy. Dylan graduated from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania.

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