John Moos, MD
We have been gifted with the relationships of many knowledgeable and caring people through our PRATI community, and we are grateful for those who connect so deeply with the PRATI mission that they volunteer their time to support the community!
Through our alumni network, John Moos, MD, has begun hosting KAP Principles and Practice Development (PPD) meetings, which provide a space for practitioners to discuss issues around KAP ethics, protocols, nature-relatedness, group KAP work, and any other issue PRATI alumni would like to explore. The group is growing rapidly, and John has created a beautiful container for our alumni to connect, learn, improve their practice, and align with our mission.
John is a trauma healer and medical doctor. He attended PRATI KAP training in 2021 and is the founder of Moos MD, where he provides psychedelic-assisted therapy to clients in Los Angeles.
Tell us a little about your therapeutic practice and your vision for the world.
As a Western-trained, allopathic medical doctor, I was discouraged by the traditional practice of medicine. Faced with burnout, loss of autonomy, defensive medical practices, and increasing bureaucracy, I needed a change. I turned my focus from trauma surgery to trauma healing over 3 years ago. After spending years in trauma bays, overburdened emergency rooms, and operating suites, I realized it was time to heal it before it happens. From trauma surgery to trauma healing, I apply all wisdom learned and earned from my professional and personal experiences to aid in every client’s healing journey.
My vision is to uncomplicate transformative healing experiences. I’ve aspired to do this through psychedelic and somatic healing modalities. I believe we’re in need of a new healing paradigm of healing and I strongly believe that psychedelics will be at the forefront of pushing this evolution. In my experience, medicine aims to help people live longer while palliating symptoms. I aspire to help people live more fully and authentically.
I’ve observed both medication and talk-therapy models struggle to keep up with the meteoric rise in mental illness, isolation, and suffering. We need new tools, new skills, and new perspectives. My therapeutic practice focuses on a connection-based, emotionally-attuned, trauma-informed, value-driven approach to care, infusing my values of wholeheartedness and belonging into both my practice and principles.
I created Moos MD, a healing sanctuary in Los Angeles, to sit at the intersection between mysticism and medicine. I found myself becoming increasingly disenfranchised with most KAP medical models and wanted to create a more inviting, and safer, environment than is offered in many underground practices. I wanted to make personal transformation safe, comfortable and accessible.
An extension of my vision and practice is to continue developing a pragmatic healing framework centered around my philosophy, “creating the conditions for your love and light to shine.” The conditions are: integrity, nurturance, play, stillness, and connection. This is the bedrock from which you grow outward. Love is the outward expression that first starts with the connection to self, then other, and ultimately all creation. Your Light is the manifestation of your true purpose and meaning. This framework can be applied to training facilitators or wireframing transformative healing experiences.
What do you appreciate most about using KAP as a modality with your clients?
The common refrain I hear from clients is their gratitude for the transformative healing experience and the speed at which it occurred. KAP is unique in its ability to create rapid and transformative non-ordinary states of consciousness. For a client to show up, undergo injection or sublingual dosing, then leave in 2 hours — most often with substantial shifts in beliefs and/or perspectives — is incredible. People who have suffered for weeks, months, or years can often obtain immediate relief from a single session.
Medications can take up to 6 weeks to take effect and have substantial side effects. Talk therapy can take weeks alone to develop trust and rapport or find a right fit, let alone years or more to effect meaningful and substantial changes. KAP is not exclusive of these other modalities, and is often used as a complimentary and supportive offering, but to see the immediate and rapid shift in a single session is a gift. To be able to offer this service to clients, hold support as a facilitator and compassionate witness, and empower clients to become self-healers is what I appreciate most about this modality.
What is one piece of advice you would offer for a provider interested in starting to practice KAP?
Start by developing the right relationship and integrity with the medicine. Like all relationships, we may have preconceived notions, blindspots, and a lack of information. The process of developing a relationship with the medicine could include education and training, experiential opportunities, and mentorship agreements. Creating clarity about your intentions will help to support the integrity of your training and practice as you build a strong foundation of KAP skills and knowledge. Once you’ve obtained the requisite training and knowledge, seek out mentors to help you implement your practice and anticipate the logistics to get started.
As your relationship and integrity with the medicine expands, you will find the unknown variables diminish and your confidence grows with your competency; you’ll feel empowered to offer KAP. Make sure to stay within your scope of practice, don’t violate your own boundaries to meet the needs of a client, and seek opportunities to grow your practice. Staying in alignment with your integrity and scope will allow you to offer KAP from a place of grounded confidence and coregulation. Remember, a little support goes a long way, and PRATI has done an exceptional job of creating a supportive, inclusive, and connected community.
