Psychedelic Therapy Training to Fight the Mental Health Crisis
Psychedelic Therapy Training with Ketamine, MDMA, and Psilocybin
Training with World-Renowned Psychedelic Teachers, Researchers, and Authors
Experiential Therapist Training for Clinicians
Welcome to the second instalment in our 2-part series about psychedelic therapy, in collaboration with Integrative Psychiatry Institute (IPI), an official partner of Third Wave.
The harsh reality is that mental illness is spreading much faster than the field of psychiatry. What’s worse? Since the pandemic, Covid-19 has tripled the rate of depression in US adults. The dire situation calls for a radical disruption of the status quo; an alternative that empowers individuals to heal from within along with support from trained therapists. Thousands of Americans have already found relief from ketamine assisted psychotherapy, but the majority of healthcare professionals know nothing about it. Fortunately, a handful of renowned centers, like Integrative Psychiatry Institute, offer accredited psychedelic therapy training programs to certify the next generation of mental health providers. The psychiatric revolution starts now.
Psychedelic Therapy Training to Fight the Mental Health Crisis
The mental health crisis has grown too large and too pervasive to pretend that current methodologies are working. As a responsible healthcare provider, you can’t help but look at reality square in the face.
The mental health crisis
- Depression is now the number one cause of global disability
- By 2030, the World Health Organization predicts it will be the leading cause of the worldwide burden of disease
- 90% of people experience trauma in their lifetime
- PTSD affects about 8% of people at some point in their lives
- 20% of adults experience some form of mental illness each year
- Nearly 40% of people with depression do not find relief from traditional therapies
Psychedelic therapy training
If you’re a clinician operating under the current psychopharmacology system, these statistics likely frustrate you. You’ve devoted your life to the betterment of humans, yet your clinical toolbox consists of psychotherapy combined with SSRIs that numb symptoms rather than treating the whole person. Chances are that you’d prefer an integrative approach; one that incorporates transpersonal psychology to help you transcend this antiquated system, address mind and body, and focus on mystical experiences that can bolster healing from within. Psychedelic-assisted therapy can help support this type of radical transformation.
In the US, ketamine-assisted therapy (KAT) is legal, and emerging clinics are already helping countless patients transcend mental illness. MDMA- and psilocybin-assisted treatments are currently in Phase 3 FDA clinical trials, and several states are considering decriminalization or legalization. Oregon, for example, voted in November of 2020 to approve psilocybin-assisted therapy. California lawmakers also recently proposed a bill to decriminalize psychedelic drugs, including psilocybin mushrooms, DMT, ibogaine, LSD, and MDMA. This may be cutting-edge stuff, but the future is nearer than you think. If you’d like to prepare for that future, IPI can help you bring psychedelics into your practice after a year of in-depth training.
Psychedelic Therapy Training with Ketamine, MDMA, and Psilocybin
Ketamine may be the only FDA-approved “psychedelic drug” (it’s actually a dissociative) so far, but IPI’s year-long course for clinicians doesn’t limit training to ketamine only. IPI believes MDMA- and psilocybin-assisted therapies are up next, which is why it created a program that looks ahead to the revolution unfolding. After a year of in-depth training from the world’s leading psychedelic experts, you’ll have an entirely new framework for mental health and the knowledge to help your clients experience profound breakthroughs.
Core benefits of IPI’s program:
- (mostly) Virtual: You’ll experience 90% live virtual learning, plus have access to recorded sessions in your online library.
- Experiential learning: You’ll have the opportunity to participate in an in-person ketamine retreat.
- Psychedelic science and research: You’ll grasp the pharmacology and understand dosing protocols.
- Therapeutic process: You’ll learn how to incorporate somatic therapy techniques, understand trauma neuroscience, and get comfortable working with non-ordinary states of consciousness.
- Integrative treatment planning: You’ll discover mind-body integration practices and basic nutritional recommendations.
- Professional development: You’ll learn the essentials of harm reduction and clinical models of care that address access issues and ethics.
Intrapersonal development: You’ll explore therapist self-regulation techniques such as holotropic breathwork, meditation, and mindfulness.
Training with World-Renowned Psychedelic Teachers, Researchers, and Authors
IPI is the only program with 30+ staff members who are single-handedly advancing the field of psychedelic medicine. Throughout this 150-hour psychedelic therapies and research course, you’ll learn a new mental health modality from reputable educators at MAPS public benefit corporation, Johns Hopkins, Usona Institute, CIIS, and more.
Featured faculty
- Michael Pollan. Michael Pollan is a New York Times bestselling author who famously wrote How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence in 2018.
- Rick Doblin, PhD. Rick is the founder of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a non-profit research organization currently sponsoring a multi-site Phase 3 study of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD and a survey on ayahuasca for PTSD.
- Gabor Maté, MD. Gabor is an internationally-renowned speaker, author, and caretaker fighting to solve the mental health crisis. For his work, Gabor received the Order of Canada award, the country’s highest civilian distinction, and the Civic Merit award from Vancouver.
- Annie Mithoefer, BSN. Annie is a Registered Nurse and former co-investigator on two MAPS-sponsored Phase 2 clinical trials for people with PTSD.
Michael Mithoefer, MD. Michael is a psychiatrist in Asheville, NC. He and his wife Annie have collaborated with MAPS on two of the six Phase 2 clinical trials testing MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. They’ve also participated in MAPS research providing MDMA-assisted sessions to therapists.
Experiential Therapist Training for Clinicians
Perhaps the most life-changing part of IPI’s Online Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Training is the experiential ketamine retreat. Through this optional clinical experience, you’ll have the chance to complete the course as a certified Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Provider (PATP) and learn profound lessons about yourself in the process. Over this three-day intensive in Boulder, Colorado, you’ll practice ketamine-assisted therapy with participants. You’ll also have the opportunity to experience your own ketamine therapy session so you can genuinely understand your patients’ psychedelic experience first-hand. On top of it all, the experiential retreat offers you a unique opportunity to connect with like-minded colleagues who are collectively building this integrative community.
Psychedelic Therapists Training Program Qualifications
IPI designed its year-long training for mental health professionals like you who can immediately bring their knowledge into a clinical setting. IPI looks for providers with advanced degrees, but they also encourage less experienced psychotherapists to apply. In general, you should meet one of the following qualifications.
- Professional Clinical Counselors (LPC)
- Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFT)
- Clinical Psychologists (PhD/PsyD)
- Licensed Addictions Counselor (LAC)
- Clinical Social Workers (LCSW)
- Pre-licensed therapists (MA)
- Chaplains (M.Div.)
- Registered Nurses (BSN)
- Physicians (MD/DO)
- Nurse Practitioners (NP)
Want to see if IPI’s year-long program is a good fit for you? Book a call today with IPI’s team to find out more.
The Impact of IPI’s Training Program
From its in-depth programming to its featured faculty, IPI prepares you to expand your core competencies and act now. Following the program, you’ll have the tools and knowledge to ethically, safely, and effectively get involved with ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. You’ll also be ready to work with MDMA therapy and psilocybin in private practice upon anticipated FDA approval. And you don’t have to work in the confines of what medical school taught you. This is your chance to share the astounding benefits that have been scientifically researched, witness real-life transformation stories, and dive into a philosophy of hope for the future.
For a complete list of trusted psychedelic therapists, visit Third Wave’s Psychedelic Directory.
Disclosure: This article contains offers and affiliate links. Third Wave receives a small percentage of the product price if you purchase through affiliate links. Read our ethics and affiliates policy here.
What is the cost of this program?
Thanks,
Rae
Hi Rae,
Looks like this program starts at $7,500. Please visit > https://psychiatryinstitute.com/thirdwave/ for more information. Hope this helps!
Has there been any discussion of allowing BCBAs to participate in this PTAP program?
IPI is highly unorganized and the certification program means nothing. You will need additional certifications, for MDMA, and psilocybin. It’s a scam.
Please say more. Do you have a recommendation for better training?
I’m finishing up this program and I can’t say that I agree. It seems like you may have had some bad experiences which might inform your opinion, but you are misrepresenting the current state of affairs related to ANY credential. It will be the FDA that outlines the requirements if/when MDMA and psilocybin become legal. We simply don’t know what that will be until the FDA provides their requirements. However, IPI does provide a comprehensive didactic training that brings in a wide variety of experienced and knowledgeable voices to teach from around the world. They also do their best to promote reflection and experiential learning which are going to be core components of any training to effectively work with psychedelics. It’s not perfect, but it’s certainly not a scam.
I doubt this will be published, because I didn’t provide my actual name or email due to fear of repercussions, but here goes. I’m a current student of the IPI Psychedelic Assisted Therapy program, and I have had both good and bad experiences during the program. On the good side, the lectures are interesting and well-presented, and the writing exercises and group activities are thought-provoking. On the other hand, a lot of the lecturers have conflicts of interest that are never discussed. For instance, many lecturers are employed by, affiliated with, or have conducted research funded by, companies that stand to benefit financially (read: get filthy rich) when psychedelics become legalized for clinical use. IPI itself has made millions from this program, which might go away if psychedelics don’t become legal. Psychedelics are presented in glowing, evangelical terms, as if they are the answer not only to individuals’ personal mental health problems, but to all societal, environmental, and spiritual problems and questions. Potential negative effects of psychedelics and the therapy protocols the program promotes, potential gaps and weaknesses in the research on psychedelics (ie: small sample sizes, claiming a study is blinded when the vast majority of participants knew whether they were in intervention or control group, etc.), and ethical concerns in research (ie: some participants being sexually abused by researchers, some adverse effects-including suicidal ideation/attempts not being reported, etc.) and practice (high costs limiting patient access) are glossed over at best, and at worst, discussion of these topics is actively discouraged. Certain concepts are presented as gospel, such as the idea that the therapist should do very little during sessions other than “hold space” for the client to let the client’s “inner healing intelligence” do the therapeutic work, and the assertion that co-therapy with two therapists is the best approach, without presenting any evidence that shows this is the most effective approach. Attempts to discuss alternative therapeutic approaches are also actively discouraged. I have learned some information that will be useful if I ever start providing psychedelic assisted therapy, but there has also been a lot of questionable content that I will be ignoring until I feel there is sufficient research base to believe it. I’m turned off by the cultish feel of the program, suppression of questions or challenges to what they espouse, and silencing of people who raise concerns. If you are already a true believer, you will probably love this program, but if you want to keep an open mind, use critical thinking, or have open dialog about psychedelics and their potential to harm as well as help, you may want to look elsewhere for training.