With an increase in psychedelic research and clinical trials, it is becoming increasingly important to train psychedelic therapists. To meet this demand, Psychedelics Today launched its Vital psychedelic therapy training course.
Psychedelics Today launched out of a passion for psychedelic education with a podcast that has to date generated over four million downloads.
In a bid to bring this education to more people, the organisation has launched its 12-month, hybrid ‘Vital’ training course that has been designed for medical professionals, psychotherapists, coaches, nurses and complementary health practitioners.
David Drapkin, Director of Education and Training at Psychedelics Today, explained that in line with its mission to facilitate access to psychedelic education, Psychedelics Today has also launched the Vital Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund to ensure accessibility to the course.
The fund, which launched in January 2022, received support from the psychedelic community and corporate donors, which resulted in scholarships for 68 students in the first cohort of Psychedelics Today’s training programme. To date, the organisation has awarded $211,000 through the fund.
“This is really important because we are seeing many students that, even though they were qualified and experienced, well-intentioned and ready to take this step, just didn’t have the money for it,” commented Drapkin.
“So, we launched the fund and we’re now accepting donations – which are tax-deductible – from partners that believe in accessibility for training.”
Psychedelics Today Vital course
The Vital course classes are delivered in collaboration with world-leading academic and clinical researchers, therapists and physicians, including, William A. Richards, PH. D. of John Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research and Devon Christie, M.D. at Numinus Wellness.
During each of the modules, there will be a weekly lecture by a guest expert and a weekly study group with facilitators, and student peer groups, along with the opportunity to join a breathwork, cannabis or psilocybin retreat where it is legal to do so.
Students that complete the course will receive a Certificate in Psychedelic Therapies and Integration.
“The retreats seem to have been one of the most powerful experiences of our students’ lives,” commented Drapkin.
“We’ve always been really passionate about maximising accessibility for psychedelic training education.
“We believe that medically trained, credentialed, licensed professionals should work with psychedelics, and so should receive psychedelic training.
“We also believe that the ecosystem that is evolving right now is already proving that many other practitioners support people that use psychedelics, such as coaches and counsellors, and some people that might be doing integrative or more somatic focussed work, for example.”
The demand for trained psychedelic therapists
In 2022, Canada added psilocybin and MDMA to its Special Access Programme that enables authorised patients to access psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies.
Additionally, in October 2022, Alberta announced it will be introducing quality standards for delivering psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies and in November 2022, Colorado voted to pass the Natural Medicine Health Act which will see the decriminalisation and regulation of the use of psychedelic medicines.
Most significantly, in February this year, Australia announced that it would be rescheduling the same substances to provide psychedelic-assisted therapies to Australian patients.
“We are seeing the whole world going through really challenging times, and the need for better healing right now, more than ever before, and we’re seeing psychedelic clinical trials rapidly moving through FDA processes,” Drapkin commented.
“We also see a lot of state-level decriminalisation combined with regulated frameworks for legal use of psychedelics developing.
“Thousands of people are going to retreat centres every week around the world to use psychedelics in safe and responsible ways, not just for mental health but also for wellness and spiritual exploration.
“We believe that is only going to increase exponentially over the next 10 years so we want to ensure that as many people understand psychedelics in this interdisciplinary, holistic way as possible. Otherwise, the needs of patients and ordinary citizens won’t be addressed through accessibility.”
Since Oregon announced that it would be regulating the delivery of psychedelic therapies, Psychedelics Today has applied to be a licensed training provider.
“There are three requirements in Oregon to become licensed as a facilitator,” said Drapkin. “It isn’t that you need to have a Master’s degree in psychology. It’s that you need to have a GED or high school diploma, and then complete 120 hours of training and 40 hours of in-person practicum.
“So, it is competence focused rather than having gone to university for three years, although those skills are very relevant,” commented Drapkin highlighting the requirement under Australia’s new scheduling that, in order to prescribe, psychiatrists must be trained in psychedelic therapy.
“The need for trained therapists is huge.”
Psychedelics Today is currently recruiting for the Vital course, with early bird applications closing on 3 March 2023, final applications closing on 19 March 2023 and the course starting on April 17.
To find out more about the course here: www.vitalpsychedelictraining.com/
Or find out more about making a donation to the Vital Diversity Fund here: www.holosfound.org/pt-donate
