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Course Description In a very special intimate location located in a National Geographic Blue Zone, students will have the rare opportunity to observe the ancient ceremonial use of plant medicine, in a gentle mycelium healing journey. The sacred ceremony, led by an experienced Curandero, is accompanied by medicine songs and sacred chants, using traditional instruments that are said to activate the medicine and promote profound spiritual connection and healing. This joining of mental health professionals in an educational setting with sacred ceremony is the first of its kind, and offers a bridge between two worlds: traditional psychology and western science with ancient wisdom and the customs that have healed and connected indigenous communities for centuries.
Students will have the opportunity to ask questions, observe, role-play, and critique core competencies including screening, evaluating risk, ensuring safety, mental preparation, setting of intentions, holding space which encourages inner healing, appreciating the significance of music, recognizing the remarkable power of nature, and building psychological and emotional resilience through connection. Partaking of ceremonial plant medicine is not a requirement of this course, however attendance at the ceremony can offer unique insight into the nature of psychedelic healing. Students will learn to be present to the ways that can more deeply enhance their own personal journey, well-being, and connection with one's inner healing capacities, thereby gaining useful skills and insights that can fortify their practices and enable deeper, more productive therapeutic relationships. Attendance at the 20 CEU “Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy” course is a prerequisite for students who wish to receive credit for this course. Students who take this course will have the ability to serve clients who have used psychedelics (or other potent practices that can produce conscious-altering or mystical experiences, e.g., meditation, yoga, breathwork). Many clients are not disclosing that they have or are using psychoactive substances, and do not feel understood in discussing related experiences. While more and more clients are taking trips to healing retreats in other countries, being legally prescribed Ketamine, or seeking psychedelics on their own, therapists are ill-prepared to provide the knowledge and support for the challenging experiences that sometimes occur. This course will allow students to be skilled in addressing psychological material that can arise for clients as a result of their personal psychedelic usage; therefore clients will be more likely to disclose their use, and to ask for help in the integration of experiences. Therapists will also have the skills to serve the new population of clients who are now prescribed Ketamine and will soon be legally prescribed psychedelics such as MDMA and psilocybin. |
