Information for people seeking training in psychedelic-assisted therapy

This free full-text MAPS online information paper was published back at the end of October, but it's still full of useful information. They write: "Only a few years of additional research and regulatory review is necessary before FDA, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and other international regulatory agencies will decide whether or not to approve the prescription availability of these (psychedelic) treatments. Planning ahead in the eventuality of approval, it’s immediately apparent that training a sufficient number of therapists is the primary challenge to meet the needs of millions and millions of patients around the world with PTSD and depression. There are about 8 million people in the US suffering from PTSD and more than a million veterans currently receiving disability payments for PTSD totaling in the range of $17 Billion a year, with around 350 million people worldwide with PTSD. Even more therapists need to be trained if regulatory approval is also obtained for other clinical indications such as substance use disorders, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, social anxiety. Still more therapists will be needed if we eventually build a post-prohibition world with legal access to psychedelic therapy for the normal struggles of life such as the search for meaning and purpose, couples therapy, grief, aging, illness, and death.  The field of psychedelic therapy that is developing will ideally involve therapists becoming cross-trained in delivering MDMA, psilocybin, ketamine, and other psychedelics that may become approved over the years to come. Future psychedelic clinics are unlikely to be specialized to use just one psychedelic but will be able to offer personalized treatment plans that may involve a sequence of psychedelics over time.  The responsibility for training therapists lies in part with the pharmaceutical sponsors of the research who developed the treatment and obtained regulatory approval for prescription uses. These sponsors will train therapists in the specific methods used in the Phase 3 trials designed to try to prove safety and efficacy. Sponsors will also engage in discussions with FDA regarding minimum licensing credentials for psychedelic therapists. To scale the training, the content of the sponsors’ training programs can also be delivered by academic and medical institutions, incorporated into training programs offered by other trainers, or government agencies like the VA.  The training of new therapists is on the critical path to actually treating more people. What follows is a discussion of what credentials will likely be necessary to legally provide psychedelic therapy, and options for obtaining these credentials. This discussion is intended for students as well as practicing physicians, therapists, and chaplains. It’s also intended for a group of people to whom this new field of psychedelic-assisted therapy owes a debt of gratitude, the courageous pioneers who operate as underground therapists. Many have a great deal of experience and skill, but who may lack the necessary credentials to operate in regulated clinics … "

For more psychedelic news and research, visit the psychedelic health professional network homepage.