Abstract

After decades in the wilderness, psychedelic therapies are making a comeback into clinical research, and are poised to re-enter medical care. While many basic clinical questions are under investigation, the near-term prospect of a new class of treatments is impetus to explore key questions surrounding their implementation. Among these are questions about therapist training methods and the associated competencies – arguably central to safe and effective clinical outcomes. As part of an extensive psychedelic therapist training program, we provided psilocybin with support to therapist volunteers (n=14) working within a clinical psychedelic trial.

Each participant received one preparation session, one dosing session (25 mg psilocybin), and one integration session. Findings from this world-first proof-of-concept study will be described, including reported changes to professional competencies, detrimental effects, and the rated importance of supported psilocybin within therapist training. The attitudes of clinical participants regarding their therapists receiving psilocybin will also be described. The results from this trial make an important contribution to the broader conversation surrounding methods of training therapists and the implementation of psychedelic therapies into healthcare.