Physician at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates
Team member with the Trauma Research Foundation
“This is a model that can easily be scaled to address the huge need for healing for substance use disorders and other mental health issues that are so prevalent in our society.”
In 2023, the United States experienced a staggering 100,000 fatal drug overdoses, equating to one avoidable death every six minutes. These overdoses represent not just an isolated problem within a particular segment of society but serve as the most visible aspects of a much larger problem of intergenerational trauma, dysfunction, and often, self-medication.
In 2022, United States military veterans were committing suicide at a rate of nearly one per hour. Active service members are committing suicide at a rate of well over one per day. These numbers are increasing each year.
Physician, Addiction Expert, Speaker, Best-Selling Author
“All the modalities, principles, and intentions that Project New Day is bringing together, I’m absolutely convinced, can help many people move forward and heal not just the behavior, but the trauma that underlies the behavior.”
In November of 2024, Project New Day completed it first cohort. 15 participants enrolled and 13 completed. During the program each participant completed three detailed assessments. Although analyses are limited by the number of participants and data points, as well as the diversity of the group, they indicate substantial and statistically significant changes in many important areas:
Dr. Lederhos Smith, who performed the data analysis stated, “To see statistically significant improvements across so many domains is amazing!”
The second cohort is underway, bringing the same program to combat veterans in a group format. Results will be available in July.
The Project New Day Program emerged from our collective recognition of the deep-rooted mental health issues reaching epidemic levels in our society. At the same time, we know that positive change is attainable. We are resolute in our conviction we can bring about substantial improvement in the well-being of countless individuals. Is this audacious? Indeed. Impossible? Far from it. We possess the knowledge, experience, resources, and unwavering community support required to effect this change. We understand how to reach the masses and know what can make a difference.
Drawing upon our personal experience, observations, review of scientific literature, and insights gleaned from respected veterans in the field, we believe the combination of knowledge-based life coaching and community support can help thousands of people on a clear path of recovery. To carry out our mission, we have:
To further clarify the Project New Day Program:
Important!
We strongly believe that, when employed appropriately, our program model can assist people in overcoming unresolved trauma, enabling them to lead lives of freedom, purpose, and fulfillment.
Our program has been meticulously designed to support the safety and well-being of those seeking a path to fulfillment and a better life. It is intended to be self-scaling, enabling us to rapidly and cost-effectively expand its reach.
Our purpose is clear: to make a positive impact on the lives of those in need. This is Project New Day.
Compassion and understanding are essential when it comes to helping individuals struggling with addiction and PTSD. According to Gabor Maté, MD, Bestselling Author, Speaker, and Addiction Specialist,
“The first question is not why the addiction; it’s why the pain? And from my perspective, it’s always rooted in childhood trauma, either overt or covert … Trauma is when there is a loss of feeling and there is reduced flexibility in responding to the world. This is a response to a wound.”
The same thinking also applies to veterans with combat PTSD. A meta-analysis of 50 studies shows that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with an increase in PTSD symptom severity among service members who have been deployed to combat zones. This increase appears to be due to both an additive effect, such that (ACEs) and traumatic deployment experiences combine to predict the severity of PTSD symptoms, as well as an interaction effect between ACEs and deployment-related traumatic events in the prediction of PTSD symptom severity.
Our anecdotal experience bears this out. We have repeatedly seen childhood trauma (acute, chronic, and complex) lead to rigid, constricted, pessimistic thought patterns and, moreover, alienation from oneself, from others, and from nature. These responses are the basis for not only PTSD and addiction but also anxiety, depression, isolation, uncontrollable behaviors, and physiological illnesses. The path to healing involves transcending these patterns of thought by fostering connections and creating possibilities. This is precisely what the Project New Day Program model seeks to achieve through life coaching, psychedelic therapy, and community support.
The following image is a graphical representation of the Project New Day Program model. The model may be thought of as comprising three categories: Healing, Supporting Elements, and Training. Each category contains a set of building blocks, which are linked to web pages with additional information.
Navigate by clicking the squares.
Navigate by clicking the squares.
Department of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
“When I learned about the Project New Day Program, I felt it was very much in alignment with what I believe and what is important to me. Central to that is how you have compassion and caring for human suffering at its core.“
The Project New Day Healing and Addiction Philosophies comprise two pillars:
Peer-reviewed science has demonstrated that each of these pillars, individually, increases the odds of healing trauma and breaking the cycle of addictive dependencies.
More specifically the power of this combination is from:
A set of knowledge-based life-coaching sessions in which Project New Day certified coaches strive to create a sense of connection by listening carefully and holding their clients in unconditional positive regard. In tandem, Project New Day coaches use a proprietary, knowledge-based coaching model to present life-improving methods that open both hearts and minds to new possibilities. The program model suggests thirteen weekly coaching sessions, followed by weekly community sessions, all on Zoom, to effectively support the integration of new perspectives into the participants’ daily lives.
Weekly Community Group Zoom sessions are led by Project New Day certified group facilitators. Virtually all well-designed recovery programs stress the need for structure and follow-on community support. This support is especially important as a core tenet of the Project New Day Program is the adoption of a continuous growth mindset for ongoing well-being.
Additional information on the Project New Day Healing Philosophy.
Additional information on the Project New Day Addiction Philosophy.
The end goal is for our program to save thousands of lives and improve many more.
Here is how Project New Day plans to make the program model available on a large scale and to increase awareness of its existence.
And finally, by giving our proven model to the world at no cost for the benefit of humankind.
Additional information on Scaling and Promotion.
The Project New Day Resources page contains diagnostic assessments, coaching worksheets, group facilitation forms, and numerous documents that pertain to addiction, recovery, and psychedelic therapy.
Additional information on Project New Day’s Resources.
Project New Day (PND) certified master coaches and community facilitators must complete an extensive suite of online training courses in which they learn a set of healing methods as a sequence. From that sequence, program participants learn how to transcend rigid, pessimistic thought patterns, create possibilities, and connect with their authentic selves, others, and their environment. This structured approach ensures the PND program is effective and repeatable.
Project New Day Coaches are to be certified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), the gold standard in coaching. In addition, to become a Project New Day Certified Master Coach, coaches must receive certifications in:
Additional information on becoming a Project New Day Master Coach.
Project New Day Certified Community Group Facilitators are not required to be ICF certified. Instead, they will be required to receive a completion certification for Project New Day’s Coaching Fundamental course.
In addition, Community Group Facilitators must receive certifications in:
Additional information on becoming a Project New Day Community Group Facilitator.
By combining our lived experience and the wisdom of our veteran leaders in this field, we have created a rapidly scalable, revolutionary healing program using:
The goal is to reduce needless suffering and prevent thousands of deaths by proving the efficacy of this model, promoting it, and making it freely available to the world.
