This Graduate Certificate in Psychedelics and Depth Psychology, offered online over 12 weeks, builds on the concepts and practices introduced in the Level 1 Certificate program.  Learners will explore essential topics in the various approaches to psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, including historical approaches and more recent evolutions in depth and depth-parts approaches to psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Taught by a fantastic cadre of skilled and seasoned faculty who are recognized thought leaders, scholars, and practitioners steeped in psychedelics, psychotherapy, and facilitation, this certificate course will cover the following:

• Orientation to psychedelic assisted therapies and the certificate program
• Models and theories of the human psyche and psychedelics
• Analytical psychology framework to psychedelic facilitation
• MDMA – psilocybin  in depth-oriented trauma psychotherapy
• Ketamine and clinical depth-psychotherapy
• A Grofian perspective and approach to psychedelics
• An internal family systems (IFS) approach to psychedelic therapy using MDMA for PTSD
• A psychedelic somatic interaction psychotherapy (PSIP) approach
• The accept, connect, embody, and restore (ACER) integration method
• A nature-based, soul-oriented approach to preparation, journeying, and integration
• Integration of psychedelic assisted therapeutic approaches

Each week, a pre-recorded learning session that can be watched at your convenience will be followed by a live, online learning session with a course faculty member and fellow students to discuss the key concepts, applications, and takeaways from the recorded presentation.

Because of the availability, power, and growing legalization of these medicines for clinical, ceremonial, and recreational uses, these ideas and conversations around psychedelics are open to everyone. This Certificate neither requires nor confers a license or degree.

The Level 1 Certificate provides a deep and broad exposure to a range of concepts, techniques, and strategies by surveying key topics in psychedelic consciousness. That introductory course is suitable for those who are interested in healing, spirituality, anthropology, and psychotherapy— prescribers, clinicians, therapists, religious leaders, ceremonialists, coaches, and curious others—looking for a more holistic, spiritual, sacred, and engaged way forward into expanded states of consciousness.

This Level 2 Certificate builds on that Certificate but also stands on its own and focuses on the perspectives, models, and practices of several approaches that show promising results in these clinical and ceremonial spaces.

This Level 2 Certificate offers a range of readings, lectures, weekly reflections, and recorded and live sessions.

(* Taking Level 1 Psychedelics Certificate is NOT a pre-requisite for this course. )

What you will receive:

• 11 Interactive live webinar sessions with world recognized practitioners
• 12 Video Learning Sessions to watch at your convenience
• A Learning Resource Guide with links to suggested books, articles, films
• A Private, on-line Discussion Forum
• Pacifica Graduate Institute Advanced Training Certificate upon successful completion of the course

This course is ideal for:

• Level 1 Certificate alumni and experienced practitioners ready to deepen their knowledge with advanced models and clinical frameworks for psychedelic preparation, journeying, and integration.
• Scholars, educators, and researchers drawn to mythopoetic, transpersonal, and ancestral perspectives on non-ordinary states of consciousness and their place in contemporary healing.
• Mental health professionals (therapists, psychologists, social workers, counselors) seeking advanced, integrative approaches to psychedelic-assisted therapy grounded in depth psychology, IFS, Grofian theory, and somatic modalities.
• Medical professionals and prescribers (MDs, RNs, NPs) interested in the ethical, therapeutic, and spiritual implications of MDMA, psilocybin, and ketamine in depth-oriented trauma treatment.
• Psychedelic facilitators, coaches, and ceremonialists looking to enhance their practice with culturally informed, soul-centered, and eco-therapeutic models of wholeness and transformation.

 

Individual Session Descriptions

Week 1: Orientation to Level 2 Psychedelics Certificate

Instructor: Brian Stafford, MD, MPH & Katie Stone

Live Zoom session September 24, 2025, 4:30 – 6:30 PM PT

Participants will be given an overview and orientation to the certificate program.  We spend time getting to know each other. Finally, we will introduce the “home” pods as well as expectations for the certificate program.

Week 2: A History & Orientation to Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy and Modules

Instructor: Brian Stafford, MD, MPH

Live Zoom session October 1, 2025, 4:30 – 6:30 PM PT

The history of psychotherapy and the research on evidenced based psychotherapies will be reviewed. The history of the evolution of psychedelic assisted therapies including theory, approach, research and how psychedelics has influenced thinking about psychotherapy will be discussed. We will also discuss models of the psyche from various perspectives. We will compare frames and approaches in non-psychedelic assisted therapy and psychedelic assisted therapy. We will discuss the challenges of getting psychedelic assisted therapy approved by the FDA and the consequences of its rejection.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the inner-directed method of psychedelic assisted therapies.
• Describe the model or theory-based methods of evidenced based therapies.
• Describe the common factors between Non- PAT and PAT.
• Describe some assumptions and biases of several PAT models.

Week 3: Psychedelic Healing through a Mythopoetic Lens: Depth Psychology and the Descent to Soul

Instructor: Simon Yugler

Live Zoom session October 8, 2025, 4:30 – 6:30 PM PT

This class offers clinicians and guides an archetypal and soul-centered framework for understanding psychedelic experiences through the lens of depth psychology and mythopoetic perception. Emphasizing the importance of initiation, shadow integration, and a mytho-cultural framework to psychedelic work, we’ll explore how psychedelic assisted therapies and healing can facilitate lasting transformation when rooted in Jungian psychology and ancestral wisdom. Participants will leave with language, insights, and tools to better support clients navigating and integrating altered states of consciousness.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key archetypal and initiatory themes that commonly arise in psychedelic experiences and understand their relevance within a depth psychological framework.
• Apply mythopoetic perspectives to support clients in integrating non-ordinary states of consciousness with greater psychological depth and cultural context.
• Evaluate the role of shadow work, ancestral heal, and cultural repair in psychedelic-assisted therapy, and integrate these insights into a clinical skillset.

 

Week 4: Pathways of Regeneration: An integrative approach to the therapeutic application of MDMA and Psilocybin in treating mental health challenges

Instructor: Mama Mycelia in South Africa

Live Zoom session October 15, 2025, 8:30 – 10:30 AM PT

Integrative Psychedelic Pathways for Transformation & Well-being

This learning module introduces Mama Mycelia’s pioneering multidisciplinary and biopsychosocial approach to psychedelic-assisted healing for mental health challenges such as depression, unmetabolized grief, anxiety, addiction, and complex PTSD. Our work combines depth psychology, somatic experiences, nervous system regulation protocols, shamanic practices and community creation to facilitate deep transformation in a grounded container of support. No pathway or experience is exactly the same as we take care to consider the uniqueness of each person’s needs, resources and ecosystems.

The module will explore two approaches at the heart of this work:

• The synergistic application of MDMA and psilocybin in low to moderate doses: a combination that balances emotional openness, cognitive insight, neuroplasticity, and spiritual connection.
• The ecosystemic approach to psychedelic-assisted therapy and how this model facilitates true and iterative healing through well-held, holistic pathways within a network of practitioners and a broader community of support. This exploration includes the ways in which we navigate themes related to individualized healing and community.

Through two key case studies, participants will gain insight into our unique framework: a customizable, trauma-informed, and relationally-focused approach that weaves together current clinical understanding, ancestral and cross-cultural practices, and innovative integration strategies. The module will also provide a brief context of the current landscape of psychedelics in South Africa and Cape Town.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain the different effects of MDMA and Psilocybin on psychology, physiology, neurology, and spirituality, when applied separately.
• Describe the synergistic effects of MDMA and Psilocybin when applied in combination.
• Discuss the benefits and challenges of working within an integrative, biopsychosocial and multidisciplinary ecosystem approach for sustainable change when working with psychedelic therapies.
• Discuss the challenges and potential risks involved in terms of amplified psychological transference and the use of therapeutic touch/bodywork in psychedelic therapies.

 

Week 5: Ketamine as Adjunct to Clinical Depth Psychology: “The Combination Method”

Instructor: Dr. Linda Carter

Live Zoom session October 22, 2025, 4:30 – 6:30 PM PT

As peer supervisors, Joe McFadden, MD and I have explored the use of ketamine as an adjunct to analytic treatment. Through the case study method, I will describe our patients’ remarkable improvement in depressive and dissociative symptoms, along with dramatic diminishment in suicidal ideation previously unrelieved by psychotherapy and/or antidepressant trials. A sense of cohesion can be experienced after the first infusion, however, reports note lack of durability as an ongoing problem. We hypothesize that ketamine, a dissociative agent paradoxically administered to patients suffering dissociative symptoms, may “anesthetize” the dominating trauma complex by calming the nervous system leading to expansion of alternative self-state experiences that shore-up ego capacities, strengthen reflective function, and restore a sense of meaning and vitality. Active imagination, not possible during an infusion, is possible within the analytic container afterward and is valuable for integration of the ketamine experience as well as integration of parts previously inaccessible for treatment. This combination method successfully lengthened durability with our patients. From a Complex Adaptive Systems view, ketamine facilitates the emergence of relationships within and without; it also shifts and reconfigures the field, itself, from constriction with little movement to increased flexibility for engagement as an open space for play and paradox, culminating in life-giving creativity and complexity over time.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe 3 basic scientific findings that may contribute to the efficacy of ketamine in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and its possible underlying impact on spiritual experience.

 

• List three ways that ketamine may influence implicit and explicit communication and knowledge between therapist and patient.

 

Week 6: Overview of a Grofian approach related to holotropic states of consciousness

Instructor: Neil Hanon 

Live Zoom session October 29, 2025, 4:30 – 6:30 PM PT

Stanislav Grof, a pioneering figure in the field of transpersonal psychology, is uniquely distinguished as the only living individual to have personally conducted over 4,000 psychedelic sessions. In addition, he has overseen more than 20,000 holotropic breathwork sessions—a modality he co-developed with his late wife, Christina Grof, in response to the criminalization of psychedelic substances.

Through assigned readings and presentations, students will be introduced to Grof’s expanded cartography of the psyche, a comprehensive model developed over six decades of research and clinical work with non-ordinary states of consciousness. These non-ordinary states of consciousness that lead toward wholeness (holotropic states) include experiences induced by psychedelic substances and holotropic breathwork alike.

Key theoretical constructs emerging from Grof’s work will also be examined, including Systems of Condensed Experience (CoEx systems), unfinished gestalts, and the concept of spiritual emergence. An understanding of these principles is essential for anyone seeking to engage meaningfully with expanded states of consciousness or to support individuals navigating complex psychological phenomena. Grof’s contributions represent a foundational framework for integrating transpersonal dimensions into contemporary psychology and psychiatry.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe Stan Grof’s three domains of the psyche.

• Discuss and explain Systems of Condensed Experiences (COEX’s).

• Understand the importance of being able to identify unfinished gestalts when working with non-ordinary states of consciousness.

• Distinguish between traumas of omission and traumas of commission, understanding the different treatment approaches.

• Explain the difference between a directive approach and a facilitating approach when working with non-ordinary states of consciousness.

 

Week 7: Overview of an Internal Family Systems Approach

Instructor: Michael Mithoefer, MD

Live Zoom session November 5, 2025, 4:30 – 6:30pm PT

The recent history and results of clinical research studying MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD will be reviewed, with an emphasis on the therapeutic method and the way parts-work often arises spontaneously in MDMA-assisted sessions when therapists take a relatively non-directive or self-directed approach.  Possible mechanisms of action will be discussed from an IFS perspective.  I will present the Results of an unpublished sub-study showing parts-work arising spontaneously in > 75% of MDMA-assisted sessions using active doses compared < 30% of sessions with inactive comparator will be presented.  Examples of parts coming up in MDMA-assisted sessions will be discussed using clinical vignettes and a video clip.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the therapeutic method used in clinical trials of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD.
• Discuss some differences between IFS therapy without drug assistance vs parts work in MDMA-assisted therapy

 

Week 8: Introduction to Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy: Pairing the psychobiological with the psychedelic

Instructor: Saj Razvi, PSIP

Live Zoom session November 12, 2025, 4:30 – 6:30pm PT

What is the role of the body in the psychedelic session? What role does human relationship play in psychedelic healing? We will outline a novel psychedelic therapy model (Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy (PSIP)) that is both psychobiolocial in nature and also highly relational.

We will discuss stages and symptoms generated by the autonomic nervous system’s (ANS) response to threat, and the unique, homeostatic, self-corrective activity the ANS displays during psychedelic states of primary consciousness.

In contrast to transpersonal or sitter model approaches, PSIP encourages the clinician or guide to be an active participant in the psychedelic consciousness of the participant during the actual medicine session. This ensures that the session will remain biographical and leverages the profound capacities inherent in human relationship to address symptoms that arise from human relational wounding. We will also discuss how relationship is encoded into traumatic memory, and the consequent therapeutic opportunity of engaging this layer of memory through engaging traumatic transference into the session.

Finally, we will review selective inhibition, one of the key interventions in PSIP used to reassociate a participant to their dissociated, implicit traumatic memory.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply a practical understanding of the biological underpinnings of trauma, and a predictive grasp of the five states autonomic nervous system map.
• Use Carhart-Harris’ classification of primary and secondary consciousness as a means of understanding psychedelic consciousness.
• Demonstrate the balanced role of solution (I.e relationship) and selective inhibition (i.e . reassociation to traumatic memory) as a necessary condition for the autonomic processing of trauma.

Week 9: Creating Islands of Connectedness: The What, Why and How of ACER Integration Instructor: Rosalind Watts, Ph.D.

Live Zoom session November 19, 2025, 8:30 – 10:30am PT

This module explores the importance of mycelial care networks- interwoven systems of mutual support- in the psychedelic field and beyond. We will examine the ACER Integration model, a nature-based, community-oriented approach rooted in four core principles: Accept, Connect, Embody, and Restore. Participants will engage critically with the model’s theoretical foundations, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Ecotherapy, Liberation Psychology, and peer-led care. We will also explore the limitations of online mutual aid communities and compare ACER to other models, including Cassie Thornton’s Hologram. Students will reflect on how to cultivate sustainable, interconnected support systems within their own communities.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the importance of mycelial care networks in the psychedelic field and beyond
• Explain some of the risks / limitations of online lived experience/mutual care communities and peer support
• Describe some of the theoretical underpinnings of the ACER model.
• Reflect critically on core elements of  the ACER model, and which seem more or less relevant for you and the communities you serve
• Summarize Cassie Thornton’s Hologram model

 

Week 10: The role of music in Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy

East Forest, Music for Mushrooms Recording

No live meeting US Thanksgiving

 

 

 

Week 11: The Nature Based Map of the Human Psyche and Wild Mind Way of Psychedelic Facilitation:  The Potential for Full Spectrum Human Development

Instructor: Brian Stafford, MD, MPH

Live Zoom session December 3, 2025, 4:30 – 6:30pm PT

I will review the eco-depth work of the Animas Valley Institute including the Set, Setting, Practices, and teleology.  I will also describe adaptations of these practices and models for supporting preparation, journeying, identification of type/s of psychedelic experience, integration and for moving more deeply into the journeys of the mature and initiated ego, the ascent to  Spirit, and the descent to Soul.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the Eco-Soulcentric developmental model
• Understand the Nature-Based Map of the Human Psyche
• Discuss some differences between IFS and Wild Mind Work
• Name and describe the appropriate use of several Wild Mind and Soulcraft practices that may further assist a psychedelic journey.

 

Week 12: Integration of the Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Models and Approaches

Instructor: Brian Stafford, MD, MPH & Katie Stone

Live Zoom session December 10, 2025, 4:30 – 6:30pm PT

Our final session will include small and large group discussions of the various approaches described during these 12 weeks.

Learning Objective:

• Reflect and integrate the various approaches

Career Competencies:

1. Advanced Theoretical Integration in Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy

Graduates can apply this integrative knowledge to tailor therapeutic approaches for diverse client needs, blending archetypal, spiritual, somatic, and neurobiological understandings of non-ordinary states of consciousness.

 

2. Competence in Preparation, Facilitation, and Integration of Psychedelic Experiences

Graduates will be able to design and conduct comprehensive client-centered protocols for therapeutic and ceremonial settings that respect safety, intention, spiritual meaning-making, and psychological growth.

 

3. Culturally Responsive and Trauma-Informed Practice

Practitioners can recognize and respond to intergenerational trauma, colonial impacts, and systemic inequities in psychedelic care while promoting inclusive, respectful, and restorative healing modalities.

 

4. Clinical Application of Psychedelic Modalities Across Pharmacological Agents

Graduates will have working knowledge of current clinical research, mechanisms of action, and safety protocols for MDMA-, psilocybin-, and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, and the ability to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration with prescribers and facilitators.

 

5. Ethical Grounding and Reflective Practitioner Development

Graduates will be equipped to responsibly navigate the ethical complexities of altered states work, maintain clear therapeutic boundaries, and engage in peer consultation and personal integration work to support their ongoing development.

 

SCHEDULE FOR LIVE ONLINE LEARNING SESSIONS

Week 1: Zoom Session – September 24, 2025 – 4:30 pm – 6:30pm PT – Brian Stafford

Week 2: Zoom Session – October 1, 2025 – 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm PT- Brian Stafford

Week 3: Zoom Session – October 8, 2025 – 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm PT – Simon Yugler

Week 4: Zoom Session – October 15, 2025 – 8:30 am – 10:30 am PT- Mama Mycelia in South Africa

Week 5: Zoom Session – October 22, 2025 – 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm PT- Linda Carter

Week 6: Zoom Session – October 29, 2025 – 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm PT – Neil Hanon

Week 7: Zoom Session – November 5, 2025 – 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm PT – Michael Mithoefer

Week 8: Zoom Session – November 12, 2025 – 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm PT- Saj Razvi

Week 9: Zoom Session – November 19, 2025 – 8:30 am – 10:30 am PT – Rosalind Watts

 

Week 10: Recording only, No live meeting. (US Thanksgiving)

Week 11: Zoom Session – December 3, 2025 – 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm PT- Brian Stafford

Week 12: Zoom Session – December 10, 2025 – 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm PT- Brian Stafford

 

 

 

Required & Recommended Readings:

 

Week 1: Required Readings- Brian Stafford:

 

Brittany L. Prioleau, Shama Panjwani Shifting Paradigms: Exploring Multicultural Approaches to Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy. The Professional Counselor. Volume 15 – Issue 1. https://tpcjournal.nbcc.org/shifting-paradigms-exploring-multicultural-approaches-to-psychedelic-assisted-therapy-in-counseling/

 

 

Week 2: Required Readings- Brian Stafford:

 

O’Donnell KC, Okano L, Alpert M, Nicholas CR, Thomas C, Poulter B, Mithoefer A, Mithoefer M and Ot’alora G M (2024) The conceptual framework for the therapeutic approach used in phase 3 trials of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. Front. Psychol. 15:1427531. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1427531

 

Castelnuovo, Gianluca & Faccio, Elena & Molinari, Enrico & Nardone, Giorgio & Salvini, Alessandro. (2004). A critical review of Empirically Supported Treatments (ESTs) and Common Factors perspective in Psychotherapy. Brief Strateg. Systemic Ther. Eur. Rev.. 1.

 

Mithoefer, MDMA-assisted Psychotherapy: How Different is it from Other Psychotherapy? MAPS Bulletin 2013

Brennan W and Belser AB (2022) Models of Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: A Contemporary Assessment and an Introduction to EMBARK, a Transdiagnostic, Trans-Drug Model. Front. Psychol. 13:866018. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.866018

 

Week 2: Recommended Readings- Brian Stafford:

 

https://awcim.arizona.edu/podcast/episode11_doblin.html

 

Draft: Alternative Perspectives on Therapies, Stafford and Plotkin

 

Horton, D, Morris, B and J Schmidt, . Am. J of Psychotherapy, Am J Psychother 2021; 74:140–149; doi: 10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.20200055

 

Jacob S. Aday,. David Horton, . Gisele Fernandes‑Osterhold, . Aoife O’Donovan, . Ellen R. Bradley, Raymond C. Rosen,. Joshua D. Woolley. Psychopharmacology

Psychedelic‑assisted psychotherapy: where is the psychotherapy research? https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-024-06620-x 

 

 

 

Week 3: Required Readings- Simon Yugler:

Yugler, S. (2024). Psychedelics and the Soul: A Mythic Guide to Psychedelic Healing, Depth Psychology and Cultural Repair.(Chapters 1 & 3.)

Week 3: Recommended Readings- Simon Yugler:

 

Yugler, S. (2024). Psychedelics and the Soul: A Mythic Guide to Psychedelic Healing, Depth Psychology and Cultural Repair.

 

 

 

Week 4: Required Readings- Mama Mycelia:

 

Article – Combining low-dose MDMA with Psilocybin or LSD may enhance the acute subjective psychedelic experience:  https://communities.springernature.com/posts/combining-low-dose-mdma-with-psilocybin-or-lsd-may-enhance-the-acute-subjective-psychedelic-experience

 

A literature review – Therapeutic role of psilocybin and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine in trauma: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10251361/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

 

Podcast – Exploring the future of psychedelics | MDMA and Psilocybin journeys: https://youtu.be/wwRaq6-_w0g?si=n8HGPsjoNl814Ypa

 

 

Week 4: Recommended Readings – Mama Mycelia:

Podcast – Psychedelic Conversations | Shari B. Kaplan – Psychedelic Assisted Therapy #110: https://open.spotify.com/episode/08yx04tTTpuibVK4xwqWDW?si=vaHpCnJdTteenY5ulTFJEg

 

 

 

Week 5: Required readings – Linda Carter:

 

Backman, I. (2023). Ketamine: Handle with care. Yale School of Medicine.

https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/ketamine-handle-with-care/

 

Carter, L. 2023. Going the full circle: Pattern resonance from microcosmic interactions to macrocosmic amplifications. In M. Stein (Ed.), Jung’s Red Book for our time (Volume V), 223-252. Chiron.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/yx47uzb3t74gtlljwqlgm/Full-Circle-Eranos-published-final-JUNG-S-RED-BOOK-vol-5-Carter-NOvember-21-2022.pdf?rlkey=k5t4dq21ucjq8hjkeqyktwe4m&dl=0

 

Kohtala S. (2021). Ketamine-50 years in use: From anesthesia to rapid antidepressant effects and neurobiological mechanisms. Pharmacological Reports, 73(2), 323-345.

file:///C:/Users/Linda.LAPTOP-2VCTS1UB/OneDrive/Downloads/Kohtala2021_Article_Ketamine50YearsInUseFromAnesth2.pdf

 

 

Week 5: Recommended Readings – Linda Carter:

Domino, E. F. (2010). Taming the ketamine tiger. Anesthesiology, 113, 678-686.

https://scholars.direct/Articles/anesthesia-and-pain-management/jcapm-1-006.php?jid=anesthesia-and-pain-management

 

Hassan I. K. and R. S. El-Mallakh. (2017). Ketamine: New Use for an Old Hat, Journal ofn Clinical Anesthesia and Pain Management, 1 (1) DOI: 10 .36959/377/320

https://scholars.direct/Articles/anesthesia-and-pain-management/jcapm-1-006.php?jid=anesthesia-and-pain-management

 

Zanos, P., Moaddel, R., Morris, P. J., Riggs, L. M., Highland, J. N., Georgiou, P., Pereira, E. F. R., Albuquerque, E. X., Thomas, C. J., Zarate, C. A. & Gould, T. D. (2018). Ketamine and ketamine metabolite pharmacology: Insights into therapeutic mechanisms. Pharmacological Reviews, 70(3), 621-660.

https://europepmc.org/article/pmc/6020109

 

 

Week 6: Required Readings – Neil Hanon:

Grof, S. (n.d.). From Freud to Cosmic Consciousness. In The Way of the Psychonaut (1st ed., Vol 1, pp. 159–226).

 

Grof, S. (n.d.-a). CHANGES IN THE DYNAMICS  OF GOVERNING SYSTEMS  (pp 283-297). In LSD Psychotherapy (4th ed., pp. 283–297).

 

Grof, S. (2008). From LSD PSYCHOTHERAPY 4^th ed. Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. Retrieved June 28, 2025, from https://maps.org/images/grof_vaclav-havel/_Grofpgs1-10.pdf

 

Grof, S. (2009). From Way of the Psychonaught Vol 1. Spiritual emergencies: Understanding and treatment of psychospiritual crises. Retrieved May, 20, 2013.

 

 

Week 7: Required Readings –  Michael Mithoefer:

O’Donnell KC, Okano L, Alpert M, Nicholas CR, Thomas C, Poulter B, Mithoefer A, Mithoefer M and Ot’alora G M (2024) The conceptual framework for the therapeutic approach used in phase 3 trials of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. Front. Psychol. 15:1427531. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1427531

 

van der Kolk BA, Wang JB, Yehuda R, Bedrosian L, Coker AR, Harrison C, et al. (2024) Effects of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD on self-experience. PLoS ONE 19(1): e0295926. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0295926

 

Mithoefer, MDMA-assisted Psychotherapy: How Different is it from Other Psychotherapy? MAPS Bulletin 2013

 

Week 7: Recommended Readings – Michael Mithoefer:

Mithoefer et al. (2016).  A Manual for MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy in the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Schwartz, R. No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model

 

Week 8: Required Reading – Saj Razvi:

Razvi, S., Elffink, S. (2020, June). The PSIP Model. The Journal of Psychedelic Psychiatry, 2(3).

Week 8: Recommended Readings – Saj Razvi:

Allan N. Schore Ph.D. (2011) The Right Brain Implicit Self Lies at the Core of Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 21:1, 75-100, doi: 10.1080/10481885.2011.545329

Carhart-Harris RL, Leech R, Hellyer PJ, et al. The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs.

Front Hum Neurosci. 2014;8:20. Published 2014 Feb 3. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00020

1. L. Carhart-Harris, K. J. Friston, The default-mode, ego-functions and free-energy: a neurobiological account of Freudian ideas, Brain,

Volume 133, Issue 4, April 2010, Pages 1265–1283, https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awq010

 

Week 9: Required Readings – Rosalind Watts:

Watts, R., Day, C., Krzanowski, J., Nutt, D., & Carhart-Harris, R. (2017). Patients’ accounts of increased “connectedness” and “acceptance” after psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 57(5), 520–564. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167817709585

 

Week 9: Recommended Readings – Rosalind Watts:

Simard, S. (2021). Finding the mother tree: Discovering the wisdom of the forest. London: Allen Lane.
Suggested excerpt: Introduction + Chapters 1-2 (approx. 45 minutes)
Introduces the forest as a relational system and metaphor for interdependence: key to ACER’s grounding in nature-based models of integration and care.

Oliveira, V. M. de. (2021). Hospicing modernity: Facing humanity’s wrongs and the implications for social activism. North Atlantic Books.
Suggested excerpt: Part I: “Diagnosing modernity” (Chapters 1-2): approx. 45 minutes. Frames the deep cultural and systemic disconnection that the ACER model seeks to respond to through community, embodiment, and reconnection with nature.

 

Week 10: No Readings this week  – Watch East Forest Recording

 

Week 11: Required Readings – Brian Stafford:

Bill Plotkin. (2019). Journey of Soul Initiation: A Field Guide for Visionaries, Evolutionaries, and Revolutionaries. New World Library. pp. 29 – 44; pp 45 – 67. New World Library.

Bill Plotkin. (2013). Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche. 2013. New World Library. Pp 1-32.

Bill Plotkin. (2004) Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche. New World Library.   Pp. 47-50.

Week 11: Recommended Readings – Brian Stafford:

Bill Plotkin: Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World. (2007) New World Library.

Bill Plotkin. Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche. 2013. New World Library.

Bill Plotkin: Journey of Soul Initiation: A Field Guide for Visionaries, Evolutionaries, and Revolutionaries.  (2021) New World Library.

 

Week 12: Required Readings – Brian Stafford:

Johannes Thrul & Albert Garcia-Romeu (2021) Whitewashing psychedelics: racial equity in the emerging field of psychedelic-assisted mental health research and treatment, Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 28:3, 211-214, DOI:

10.1080/09687637.2021.1897331

Week 12: Recommended Readings – Brian Stafford:

None