Experiential, Cohort-based Psychedelic Training
for Psychedelic Therapy Practitioners and Students
A Living Classroom ...
The single most important aspect to successfully mastering the art of psychedelic therapy is the personal experience of the practitioner. A good psychedelic therapist is someone committed to their own inner work. Psychedelics, like meditation, remind us that true knowledge comes from our experiences. To know the full power of what psychedelic therapy can heal, we need to experience that healing for ourselves, learn how to work, not just with love and expansion, but with resistance, darkness and our own fears. Familiarity with our own suffering and how to transmute it gives us grounded confidence in our work with clients.
We also need to build strong connections to our community. In a world seemingly full of trauma, it’s important to recognize that we cannot hold all of this alone. Many of us have tried and gotten overwhelmed, burnt out or lost in the hopelessness that our client’s may feel while processing trauma.
To discover the true potential of psychedelics we need to share ideas and support each other. This field is just beginning to take shape and we get to shape it together.
Part One: Theoretical Framework
Saturday and Sunday 9am-5pm
Discussion of theory through the lens of mind, body, spirit and relationship
The first weekend covers the theoretical frame of the class. We will draw from somatic psychotherapy, attachment, Buddhist psychology, meditation, parts work, transpersonal phenomenon and ceremony. We will include many clinical examples drawn from our clinical work at Innate Path where we have trained and supervised clinical staff, led groups and clients primarily with a PTSD diagnosis. We will also cover the pitfalls, the necessary supports and the trajectory of treatment, growth and healing that can come from psychedelic therapy.
We will organize the class through the lens of our innate healing capacities within the body, mind, spirit and relationship. These topics will be discussed in more depth over the weeks in relation to our experiences.
Day One Topics (overview):
- Working with Mind and Consciousness
- Spirit (resourcing, transpersonal realm, ritual)
Day Two Topics (overview):
- Relationship (attachment, trance, holding unconditionally, Self and other)
- The Body as Ally and Change Agent
Part Two: Cohort Model Study Group
Weekly whole-cohort discussion groups:
8 weeks, 2 hour groups
Groups meet on Monday nights 6pm-8pm
In the new world of therapy, created by the introduction of psychedelics, it will be essential to be a part of a like-minded community. Our traditional educations have not prepared us for the deep dive into the innate healing mechanisms of the subconscious to which we now have much more access.
Community is now essential for emotional support, to gain knowledge from others in the field and to explore our own inner landscapes in the company of people who can relate and understand. The conversation is changing so much, and the trauma we are collectively holding at this time in the world is formidable.
Psychedelics offer us access to core wounds in ways talk therapy never could, and often with that access comes intensity, instability, vulnerability, novelty and fear. It will take a community of practitioners to hold this together.
Each cohort will act as a starting community. Groups will meet weekly for 2 hours to offer each other support, discuss the dyads we experienced or witnessed the week prior and deepen into the theory through the lens of our personal experience.
When the training ends you will be invited to join an on-going supervision group with other therapists if you would like and we hope to build other ways to support each other.
Part Three: Personal Experience through Therapeutic Dyads
Meet each week, alternating as participant or observer:
4 sessions as an observer
4 sessions as participant
Sessions held on Thursdays and Fridays during the day
This part of the study group is where the heart of the training lies. During the first weekend you will be given a weekly schedule of times to either witness or be an active participant in weekly therapeutic dyads. They will be scheduled on Thursdays and Fridays of each week.
The dyads are led by one of the instructors and are held at Innate Path. Each week, for two hours, one person will receive and the other observe a therapeutic psychedelic experience using either ketamine or cannabis. Both drugs create a non-ordinary state of consciousness and offer reliable access to the subconscious. You will be able to experience and observe to lend depth and expand the theoretical framework from the first weekend.
We believe the foundation of the practitioner's skill with clients relies on their own experience and practice. Psychedelic therapy goes so far beyond words that we must cultivate another type of 'vocabulary' to understand the space our clients are in. We need to experience the paths of transformation for ourselves to guide others effectively.
We encourage everyone to keep a journal to document their process.
Upcoming Trainings:
Spring: April 23rd-24th, 2022
followed by 8 weeks of dyads and groups
Fall: September 17th-18th, 2022
followed by 8 weeks of dyads and groups
8 week groups are $2,800, payment plans available, just ask.
The training fee does not cover the cost of the appointment with the prescriber for ketamine or the price of the prescription.
All practitioners working or with interest in working with psychedelics are welcome, Including:
therapists, psychiatrists, nurses, teachers, energy/body workers, etc.
Please email jen@innatepath.org with any questions.
