Origin story of our name Be the Change in Mental Health by our Founder, CEO and Medical Director, Marisha Chillcott, MD
Be the Change in Mental Health is a California Non-Profit 501(c)(3) Corporation formed to bring cutting-edge therapies to help people with a range of goals, from overcoming treatment-resistant mental health conditions to supercharging current well-being to achieve greater meaning, depth and thriving in life.
- Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy
- NeuroStar® Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
- Available to the public in a safe, medically-supervised, legal manner
- Licensed therapists
- Medical physicians
We deliver these services that specifically target some of the most difficult-to-treat mental health conditions of intractable depression, suicidality, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety, as well as help with adjustment to life transitions and the surrounding biopsychosocial-existential longings and needs.
Rest assured that all of our therapists are culturally sensitive. Our commitment to cultural sensitivity ensures that our clients receive the most effective and respectful therapy possible, regardless of their cultural background, making their therapeutic journey a more enriching and supportive experience.
Our mission is to deliver this form of life-saving therapy to millions of humans across the socioeconomic spectrum. Treatments are conducted according to strict scientifically proven protocols, by licensed professionals, according to the rules and regulations of the Department of Justice, the California Board of Medicine and Lykos Therapeutics, formerly known as MAPS (the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies).
The Backstory
"I first heard about the pursuits of Rick Doblin and Lykos Therapeutics, formerly known as MAPS (the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) when he appeared on Dr. Peter Attia's podcast (August 5, 2019). Shortly after, I was captivated by Trip of Compassion, a documentary that Tim Ferris referenced on his blog (March 9, 2019). The film follows patients healing from PTSD using psychedelic-assisted therapy, a practice that Dr. Doblin has dedicated his entire adult life to renew. These works inspired and called me to figure out how to deliver psychedelic therapy to the masses of people who can benefit from it.
(I vigorously recommend to anyone with interest in this topic to follow the links, above, for more information.)
Psychological illness is at the root of a huge number of the worst ills of our society (homelessness, child abuse, addiction, and more). Building an organization that can treat and potentially cure PTSD, depression, and anxiety for eventually millions feels like something I must not pursue. It is a compulsion, a feeling familiar to my psyche; it feels like the epiphany that caused me to leave my career in energy-efficiency consulting and go to medical school when I was 31 years old.
I started writing journal notes in September 2019 and went through the process of forming a California Nonprofit Corporation in January 2020. The compulsion to create a nonprofit to deliver psychedelic therapy is based in my awareness that the elite can already access similar types of therapy. Most people cannot afford to either travel to someplace exotic or pay private rates to underground practitioners. It is further motivated by a notion that in creating a well-researched system of treatment that is scalable and reproducible, we may be able to shape and change the existing system of treatment and compensation.
As the founder of Be the Change in Mental Health, my team and I are eager to engage in a conversation with you regarding our mission and objectives."
— Marisha Chilcott, MD
You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end - which you can never afford to lose - with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.
James Stockdale
To redefine/reorganize/restructure the service of mental health treatment to that of a results/outcome-driven package that is incentivized by clear progress and eventual cure of illness in lieu of ongoing pharmacologic drug use and recurrent therapy sessions . This requires changing the compensation structure from per-therapy session and per-prescription payments to lump sum prices for deliverables. The challenge is in the work that must be done by the individual patient. The patient must be willing to engage courageously, face their conditions, and commit to the process. There can be no guarantees, but full-commitment, positive intention will inevitably produce results. We do not endorse hope or blind optimism, rather the stoic faith and absolute commitment to reality that is the Stockdale paradox.