Psychedelic Coalition For Health Launches To Train Healthcare Professionals On Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies – Forbes

To address the urgent need for guidance in navigating the complex world of psychedelic-assisted therapies, two psychotherapists announced the launch of the Psychedelic Coalition for Health (PCH) today, a purpose-driven company focused on integration training designed specifically for healthcare professionals.

Imagine trying to guide a client through a psychedelic experience as a psychotherapistwithout having ever experienced the compound firsthand.

PCH co-founders Lauren Taus, LCSW and Nicholas Brss, EdD, LMFT saw a persistent problem: the growing number of people who are looking for psychedelic therapies and the small number of therapists who are adequately trained to give such therapies.

The first Experiential Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Training sessions will draw leading voices from across the U.S., held in-person throughout two weekends in Los Angeles, California on October 7-10 and October 21-24, 2021open to healthcare professionals. Trainees will learn foundational therapeutic principles of psychedelic-assisted therapy through the lenses of transpersonal, Internal Family Systems and somatic therapies.

As part of the initial launch, PCH will host the Virtual Psychedelic Medicine Symposium on August 28, September 11 and September 25featuring a roster of speakers including California State Senator and Senate Bill 519 author Scott Weiner, trauma expert Gabor Mat, mycologist Paul Stamets, the pioneering founder of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Rick Doblin and best-selling author and entrepreneur Tim Ferriss, among others.

Psychedelic Coalition for Health co-founder Lauren Taus.

Taus is a psychotherapist specializing in psychedelic-assisted therapies, trained by MAPS as well as psychiatrist and psychotherapist Dr. Phil Wolfson, MD, who has been practicing psychotherapy since 1966 and fully embraces the power of psychedelics.

The core goal of the Psychedelic Coalition for Health is improve global health and wellness through psychedelic medicine education, professional healthcare training and advocacy, says Taus. Nick and I are dear friends and colleagues, with busy private practices. We have waiting lists. Were really clear on how powerful these tools can be in practice. Our dream is to really widen the net of who knows about these kind of interventions and to include more healthcare providers and in a good way, to provide this kind of service. And then ultimately, to remove stigma. Our goal is public education and clinician training. As part of thatadvocacy, advocacy, advocacy.

Theres still a long way to go before the average clinician accepts psychedelic-assisted therapy routes without passing judgment on the patients, and vice-versa.

Brss is an integrative psychotherapist and clinical researcher who specializes in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies and the modality of internal systems. He was trained and part of MAPS-sponsored clinical trial for MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Psychedelic Coalition for Health co-founder Dr. Nicholas Bruss.

Its important and its what were doingwere aiming to meet the need of a growing number of people who are looking and asking for psychedelic therapies, says Brss. And theres a small number of therapists who are adequately trained. When people hear from trusted voices, thats a powerful thing. Were bringing education [through] science over stigma. While psychedelics are not a panaceathey are a tool that can help accelerate a healing journey. There are a number of things, that a responsible trained clinician brings to the process working with psychedelics, including set and setting, safety, and thats our major aim: to train responsible stewards of psychedelic medicine.

While the FDA approved esketamine for treatment resistant-depression in 2019, few clinicians are aware of these recent changes in law, so the PCH training sessions will include ketamine-assisted therapy trainers.

Trainees will gain the exclusive opportunity to experience ketamine therapy and integration themselvesone element that is painfully absent in the world of ketamine-assisted therapy.

Integration is the name of the game, when were working with psychedelic medicine in a clinical framework, says Taus. The work must be relational. To take the human out makes no sense. We as trained clinicians must have a relationship with the client to foster and support the connection that happens often when people are working and partnering with these kind of experiences to support the changes in their lived life experience.

Clinicians often feel like they have their hands tied, or are fearful of the repercussions of incorporating psychedelics into their practices. Its not exactly easy to follow the patchwork of state laws on psychedelics that change on an almost daily basis.

As were doing our part in breaking down the stigma, elevating the science, we do in our training, offer the options for clinicians to work with ketamine themselves, Brss explains. To have their own experiences with ketamine while they work with someone else. Having this option to work with somebody in an non-ordinary state of mind, is a very valuable tool and will be part of an ethical training program as we go.

Psychedelic Coalition for Health co-founders, Lauren Taus, LCSW and Nicholas Brss EdD, LMFT.

Taus explained that she dealt with the overwhelming stigma surrounding ketamine, through the lens of a recreational drug, and she didnt understand it. In the training that I completed with Dr. Phil Wolfson, who is still a mentor of mine, to be present to the variety of experiences that presents with this medicine, changed the way that I understood it, she says. Its not the same type of work as a doctor giving medicine for hypertension. Facilitators should understand the landscape from this type of psyche.

Clinician involvement is optional in PCHs training, but highly encouraged. Im really surprised by the number of people in the space of facilitation without their own experience, Taus laughs. Its essential for people to know their own place in consciousness. That feels like a value to me.

To register for the Virtual Psychedelic Medicine Symposium, visit the website, or sign up for upcoming training sessions.

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Psychedelic Coalition For Health Launches To Train Healthcare Professionals On Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies - Forbes