Psychedelics and Depth Psychology Series: Treatment and Transformation in an Animated Cosmos – An Introductory Certificate Course (Level 1)

This Graduate Certificate in Psychedelics and Depth Psychology offered online over 16 weeks introduces essential topics in the current medical/psychiatric model of treatment and research as well as takes a deep dive into the indigenous history of these medicines, their cultural significance, and original worldview of the cosmos that challenges current Western societal perspectives.

Taught by an amazing cadre of faculty who are recognized thought leaders, scholars and practitioners steeped in anthropology, medicine, psychiatry, neuroscience, ecopsychology and depth psychology, psychotherapy, psychospiritual development, and psychedelics, this certificate course will cover:

• Current and historical use of plant-based medicines in Western societies
• Historical and current use and challenges in indigenous cultures
• The limiting worldview out of which modern medicine, psychology and psychiatry have evolved
• History and current status of clinical research for specific psychiatric disorders and conditions
• Animistic/shamanistic worldviews of nature-based peoples
• Bio-pharmacology of these medicines
• The importance of dosing: micro, suitable, and heroic dosing
• Qualities, skills, ethics, and training to look for in a psychedelic-assisted therapist, ceremonialist, and sitter.
• The importance and evolution of set and setting
• Contraindications to use, supporting challenging journeys, and harm reduction
• How these medicines heal individuals, societies, and the separation of the modern human from earth and mystery
• What these medicines teach us about human consciousness and the Self through the discipline of modern neuroscience and neuroimaging
• Legal history and status of these medicines in the US and around the world
• How and what depth psychology adds to the psychedelic space

 

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. We have designed this Certificate as an overview that offers a range of concepts, techniques, and strategies by surveying key topics in psychedelic consciousness. This 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.

The Certificate offers a range of readings, lectures, weekly reflections, and recorded and live sessions, so participants will benefit most by creating sufficient space in their schedules to learn as much as possible over the 16 weeks.

What you will receive:

• 16 Live Interactive Discussion Groups (via Zoom) with Q&A (listed in Pacific time)
• 14 Pre-Recorded Learning Sessions
• A Learning Resource Guide with Recommended Readings and Resources
• A Private, online Discussion Forum
• A Certificate in Psychedelics and Depth Psychology: Treatment and Transformation in an Animated Cosmos (Level 1) from Pacifica Graduate Institute
• 13 CECs

 

 

Program Format:

Each week, your learning will include the following:

• A recorded presentation by leading experts in the field.
• A live, online discussion with subject matter experts (these will be recorded for those who cannot attend a given week)
• A list of required and recommended Readings/Videos/Resources
• Online Discussion forum with the other participants and instructors.
• Invitations to explore your responses to the topics and your own healing and previous non-ordinary states of consciousness will be offered.

 

Specific Topics and Experts for Each Week’s Session:

Week 1 – An Orientation to the Level 1 Certificate Program:

Coordinators: Brian Stafford, MD, MPH Dylan Martinez Francisco, Ph.D.  and Katie Stone , Pacifica Graduate Institute

 

Overview:

Live Date: Wednesday, May 7, 2025 – 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm PT

 

This presentation provides an orientation to the entire certificate program and the certificate series as well as introduces students to the curators and facilitators of the program. You will meet Dr. Stafford, Dr. Francisco, and Katie Stone, who will be the online Zoom facilitator and D2L coordinator. For this year’s certificate program, we have also added a component to foster greater participant community. We will explain and introduce you to your fellow certificate seekers and support dialogue, curiosity and a spirit of community as we head into these topics for 16 weeks.

 

Week 2 – An Orienting Introduction to Psychedelics, and Similar Consciousness-shifting Medicines: History, Terminology, Perspectives, and The Current Moment

Expert: Brian Stafford, MD, MPH, Pacifica Graduate Institute and Animas Valley Institute

Live Date: Wednesday, May 14, 2025 – 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm PDT

 

Overview:

This presentation provides a broad and a brief history of psychedelic use in Westernized societies. We will cover initial so-called “discoveries,” early psychedelic research, the counter-cultural movement, the federal backlash against psychedelics, the underground movement, and the return of psychedelics to scientific exploration and the current “so-called” psychedelic renaissance. We will also cover several concepts that will be explored much more deeply in future talks such as important definitions, concepts, and medication classes, the concept of set and setting, mechanism of action, dosing, micro-dosing, and previous pitfalls in the “so-called” psychedelic movement.  This presentation prepares us for a deep exploration of consciousness, healing, harm, culture, neurobiology, spirituality, interconnection, appropriation, colonialization, power dynamics, and interbeing.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss the curious history of psychedelics in Western societies and the current moment.
• Describe key terms and the multiple perspectives on psychedelic healing, consciousness, and the psychedelic movement.

 

 

Week 3  – Historical and Contemporary Landscapes on Psychedelic Plant Medicines Traditions in the Americas

Expert: Bia Labate, Ph.D.– Chacruna Institute

Live Date: Wednesday, May 21,  4:30 – 6:30 PM Pacific Time

Overview: 

The psychedelic renaissance has seen an increase not only in interest in scientific research around the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances but also a renewed awareness of Indigenous traditions. This course will offer a historical overview of the use of psychoactive plants, fungi, and animals in the Americas, including coca, tobacco, ayahuasca, peyote, mushrooms, and kambô. It will also address contemporary practices involving the emergence of new alliances, traditions, and practices around them. We will discover how the Indigenous uses of sacred plants cannot be reduced to one facet but instead represent a wide range of interconnected dimensions. In Western traditions, psychedelics have often been related to either the realm of the “sacred,” “recreational” or “therapeutic,” seen as separate domains. In contrast, in traditional contexts, the uses of plant medicines can often be found at the intersection of diverse areas of life, including politics, medicine, shamanism, religion, aesthetics, knowledge transmission, socialization, and celebration. The class will also discuss the potential benefits and harms of the globalization of psychedelic plant medicines and ways to mitigate them. It will further explore lessons to be learned from these traditions, such as a holistic understanding of the notion of “healing” and the need to take Indigenous concepts seriously. The course will conclude by presenting the Chacruna Institute’s programs aimed at honoring the psychedelic movement’s Indigenous roots, encouraging engagement in decolonial practices, and promoting culturally-sensitive and community-based research and reciprocity, with support for biocultural conservation, alongside the fostering of horizontal relationships with Indigenous communities to support their political struggles.

Learning objectives:

• Describe the historical and cultural significance, as well as contemporary uses, of plant medicines in the Americas by Indigenous peoples and traditional populations, focusing on a wide range of substances such as coca, tobacco, peyote, mushrooms, ayahuasca, and kambô.
• Explain the potential benefits and harms of the globalization of psychedelic plant medicines for traditional populations and Indigenous peoples and explain how Indigenous notions and practices blur well-established Western frontiers, demanding a new approach to explore the interconnectedness between culture, religion, politics, spirituality, and therapy.

 

 

Week  4 – Benefits and Challenges to Regulation, Harm Reduction, Protection of Tradition and Plants

Experts: Henrique Fernandes Antunes, Ph.D. and Bia Labate, Ph.D. – Chacruna Institute

Live Date: Wednesday, May 28, 2025 – 4:30 – 6:30 PM Pacific Time

Overview:

This presentation will focus on the potential and challenges of the regulation of psychedelic plants, especially regarding the controversies involving traditional populations. Initially, we will present the emergence of the prohibitionist paradigm and the War on Drugs and its impacts. The course then turns to the controversies on regulating the traditional use of sacred plants and the persisting challenges that Indigenous people and traditional populations face. Next, we will address the regulation of ayahuasca in Brazil as a case study of a successful model based on the principles of collective co-construction of parameters of the use of drugs between government authorities, scientists, and religious communities. Finally, the course will address the role of traditional forms of control and cultural practices in creating self-regulation initiatives and socially integrated ways to use “drugs” and their importance in harm reduction and in mitigating the potential negative effects of psychedelics. Our main goal is to provide an overview of the landscape and the pressing issues that arise when religious groups, traditional populations, government agencies, scholars, and scientists are involved in regulating the traditional use of plants and the practices around their use.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss the emergence of the regulation of psychedelic plants and its contemporary development as historical developments and the tensions that arise between a prohibitionist stance on the regulation of psychoactive substances and the religious rights and rights of traditional populations.
• Describe the benefits and challenges of the regulation of psychedelic plants for Indigenous peoples and traditional populations and discuss the role of traditional forms of control and cultural practices and their relation with harm reduction.

 

Week  5 –  The Western Medical/Psychiatric/Neurological Worldview: Symptom, Pathology, Mechanism of Action and the Psychopharmacology of Psychedelics and the Limits

Expert: Brian Stafford, MD, MPH – Pacifica Graduate Institute

Live Date: Wednesday, June 4, 2025 – 4:30 – 6:30 PM Pacific Time

 

 

Overview:  

This presentation introduces the medical/psychiatric/scientific worldview and its role in current nosology, clinical practice, and societal worldview. We will briefly cover the history, breakthroughs, and limitations of psychiatric nosology, practice, research, and worldview. We will also discuss how the cultural power of licensed professions and federal agencies interplays with indigenous use and perspectives.

We will also present what is currently known about the psychopharmacology of these substances, how they affect the body, their interaction with neurotransmitters systems and possible mechanisms of action as well as side effects, including “bad trips”, psychotic episodes, and contra-indications.

Learning Objectives

• Assess the benefits, limitations, and power dynamics of the medical psychiatric worldview.
• Explain how the molecules of these medicines interact with the body and the brain both for healing and harm.

 

Week 6 – Depth Psychology and the Western Renaissance of Psychedelics as Co-Emergent Counter movements to Western Culture

Expert:  Dylan Francisco, Ph.D.  : Pacifica Graduate Institute

Live Date: Wednesday, June 11, 2025 – 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm PT

4:30 – 5:00 pm Home Room Discussion Amongst Peers

 

Overview:

By the 20^th century when C. G. Jung embarked on what he called his “Confrontation with the Unconscious,” Western culture was dominated by materialistic science, Cartesian dualism, and rationalism which had together eclipsed the influence of religion and resulted in a world bereft of meaning and spiritual value. The purpose of this week is to explore how depth psychology—particularly as expressed in the work of C. G. Jung—and the Western renaissance of psychedelic experimentation and research both emerged as compensations for the loss of soul and the rejection of cosmological animism in Western culture. Both will be discussed as parallel counter movements to Western Culture that embody the necessity for human well-being of retrieving a sense for the soul and the sacred, and experiencing the cosmos as alive and meaningful.

Learning Objectives:

• Asses the cultural context for the emergence of depth psychology and the Western renaissance of psychedelic experimentation and research
• Analyze and explore the shared characteristics of depth psychology and psychedelic experience

 

Week 7 – C. G. Jung’s Encounter with the Psyche: The Epistemological and Ontological Foundations of Depth Psychology 

Expert: Dylan Francisco, Ph.D.  : Pacifica Graduate Institute

Live Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2025 – 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm PT

4:30 – 5:00 pm Home Room Discussion Amongst Peers

 

Overview:

The purpose of this week is to explicate and analyze the epistemological (the basis of knowledge) and ontological (the nature of reality) foundations of Jungian depth psychology. These foundations will be drawn from C. G. Jung’s personal encounters with the psyche from which he developed his unique view of phenomenological empiricism and psychological reality—and ultimately constructed his model of the psyche and synchronicity. Jung’s experiential approach to epistemology and ontology will be discussed in relationship to the nature of psychedelic experience and how the two might converge and contrast.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss C. G. Jung’s epistemology
• Assess C. G. Jung’s ontology

 

Week 8 – C. G. Jung, Depth Psychology, and Psychedelics: Individuation and Integration

Expert: Dylan Francisco, Ph.D.  : Ph.D.  Pacifica Graduate Institute

Live Date: June 25, 2025 – 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm PDT

4:30 – 5:00 pm Home Room Discussion Amongst Peers

 

Overview:

The aim of this week is threefold: first, to provide an understanding of C. G. Jung’s model of the psyche as the context for analyzing and contextualizing C. G. Jung’s cautionary stance toward the use of psychedelics; second, to offer a depth psychological and decolonialist deconstruction of     C. G. Jung’s largely negative view of psychedelic use; and third, to delineate the approaches to integration found in C. G. Jung’s work and why psychedelics experience is actually congruent with the holistic aims of depth psychology.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Assess Jung’s critique of the use of psychedelics as a valuable point of caution
• Discuss, despite Jung’s critique of the use psychedelics, how Jungian principles and perspectives can be utilized for psychedelic experience, and how they can be expanded and deepened by psychedelic experience

 

Week 9 – The Legality of Psychedelics in the US: Advances and Challenges

Expert: Allison Hoots, JD – Chacruna Institute

Live Date: Wednesday, July 2, 2025 , 4:30 – 6:30 PM Pacific Time

Overview:

This class will present the comprehensive framework of laws in the United States that involve controlled substances, including those with psychedelic or hallucinogenic effects, and consider the different treatments of the uses of these substances in religious, supported, recreational, and medical settings. Federal and state laws have both prohibited and established legal access pathways with psychedelics; initially, states mirrored federal laws and both systems perpetuated the War on Drugs, particularly starting in 1970 with the enactment of the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA); but more recent legislation by the states have conflicted with the CSA by creating legal frameworks for the use of psychedelics or decriminalizing certain activities. We will review the scheduling of substances within the CSA and the broad prohibition accomplished by its Federal Analogue Act. States have recently introduced state regulated access, such as the Oregon and Colorado frameworks of supported use, which far expand previous state decriminalization efforts. Medical uses and limits set by the CSA are influenced by drug approval by the Food and Drug Act, such as the current new drug applications for MDMA and synthetic psilocybin, as well as breakthrough therapy designations for MDMA, psilocybin, and LSD. As these substances receive more focus with DEA licensed clinical research and public acceptance, there is an emerging field of medical uses and limits, such as therapeutic applications through psychedelic-assisted therapy, raising and medical professionals’ rights and risks in connection with approved and off-label prescription, insurance, state licensing boards, DEA licensure to prescribe and the tension with state laws, and scope of practice. Certain religious uses of controlled substances have received exemptions pursuant to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as protected religious exercise.

There will be analysis of implications of the expansion of legal use of psychedelic substances in religious/communal, supported, personal/recreational, and medical contexts on the other pathways. This presentation will teach students a foundation of the variety of legal uses, liabilities, and limitations of psychedelics in the United States.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss legal frameworks for psychedelic substances established by federal and state laws, including regulation of religious/communal, supported, personal/recreational, and medical uses of psychedelics in the United States.

 

• Analyze state access models, like Oregon and Colorado, in context of medical providers and conflict with federal laws.

 

• Assess key issues of providing therapy in connection with psychedelic substances.

 

 

Week 10 – Experiential Medicine Assessment in Health Care Systems

Expert: Brian Richards, Psy.D. – Gladstone Psychiatry and Wellness

Live Date: Wednesday, July 9, 2025 – 4:30 – 6:30 PM Pacific Time

Overview:  A brief intensive on clinical interview and psychometric assessment for Experiential Medicine to help ensure safety, manage risk, and support a sustainable specialized outpatient service.

Learning Objectives: 

• Utilize focal questions on clinical interview and narrative medicine format to assess opacity and subtle aspects of Pt process.
• Use of psychometric testing to develop a comprehensive understanding of Pt process (e.g., symptoms and relative severity, self-representation, pattern recognition, and how Pt organizes their experience).

 

 

Week 11 – Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy:  The History and Evolution of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapeutic Skills

Expert: Janis Phelps, Ph.D. – California Institute of Integral Studies

Live Date: Wednesday, July 16, 2025 – 4:30 – 6:30 PM Pacific Time

Overview: 

This presentation will focus on the competencies of the psychedelic-assisted psychotherapist/facilitator and group facilitator, which are a relatively unaddressed aspect of the current psychedelic movement. The history of psychedelic research has neglected therapist variables due to the need to focus on outcome measures related to the drug and treatment duration for FDA protocols. As the field approaches both approval for medical use as well as legalization for individual and group use, the development of individual and therapist competencies is imperative. Guidelines for therapists, facilitators, and ceremonialists will help to ensure the provision of best practices for safe and life enhancing psychedelic inquiries.

Learning Objectives:

• Assess the importance of the six therapist competencies: empathetic abiding presence; trust enhancement; transpersonal intelligence; knowledge of the physical and psychological effects of psychedelics; therapist self-awareness and ethical integrity; and proficiency in complementary techniques.
• List 2-3 skills in self-reflection and awareness of ethical issues as they arise in this form of intervention.
• Identify the 12 fundamental curricular domains of study for the training and development of these therapist competencies.

Week 12 – Brain Studies and Consciousness

Expert: Robin Carhart- Harris Ph.D. – University of California San Francisco

Live Date: Wednesday, July 23, 2025- 4:30 – 6:30 PM Pacific Time

Overview:

This talk will take a multi-level view of the brain action of classic psychedelic drugs, i.e., drugs that share the property of activating the serotonin 2A receptor. Beginning at the receptor level, it moves through a developmental and evolutionary understanding of serotonergic functioning and brain plasticity, placing emphasis on the context dependency of responses to classic psychedelic compounds. It reviews the dynamic, whole-brain action of psychedelics and how this relates to knowledge of the development and evolution of global brain function and anatomy. It couches our understanding of the therapeutic action of psychedelic therapy within a predictive coding framework and reviews recent trial and imaging results from a double-blind randomized controlled trial of psilocybin therapy vs escitalopram for depression.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain the role of the serotonin 2A receptor in the action of classic psychedelics
• Describe the context dependency of responses to psychedelics

 

 

Week 13 – – ReAnimating Perception

Expert: Geneen Marie Haugen, Ph.D. – Animas Valley Institute

Live Date: Wednesday, July 30, 2025 4:30  – 6:30 PM Pacific Time

Overview:

Many of us intellectually understand that we inhabit a world of intelligent presences, but conceptual understanding is not necessarily the same as experiencing an animate world.  For some people, the world comes fully alive, perhaps for the first time, in psychedelic journeys.  For others, the cultural induction into a dead universe can be difficult to shake off without intention and practice.

This presentation will explore ways to help animate our own consciousness and perception prior to, in accompaniment with, and while integrating psychedelic experience.  Why wait for the mountains to come alive while on psylocibin when we can pass through a green gateway toward animate perception in our everyday lives?

Learning Objectives: 

• Describe the role of imagination in perception
• Identify (and perhaps revive or create) practices that can help open perception to – and a consciousness of participation with – an animate world, where every presence is intelligent, ensouled, and experiencing.

Week 14 – Psychedelics and Spirituality:  

Expert: Bill Richards, S.T.M. M.Div. Ph.D. – Johns-Hopkins University, Sunstone Therapies

Live Date: Wednesday, August 6, 2025 – 4:30 – 6:30 PM Pacific Time

Overview:  

This presentation will focus on the nature and relevance of states of consciousness often described as transcendental or spiritual which sometimes are accessed with psychedelics, but also are encountered through meditative practices and other human activities.  Resonating with William James, who called attention to the “noetic” aspects of such experiences and their potential “fruits for life”, and also Huston Smith who clearly articulated the distinction between “having religious experiences” and “living religious lives”, the reliable intuitive content of such states of awareness will be discussed as well as strategies to promote their integration into everyday existence.  Consideration will also be given to perspectives and frontiers in philosophy and comparative religion.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss Karl Jaspers’ repetitive theme that “We are more than we know or ever can know of ourselves.”
• Assess the potential impact of transcendental states of consciousness on mental health, spiritual development and appreciation for diverse world religions.

 

Week 15 – Psychedelics, Shamanism, Religion, and the Evolution of Human Consciousness

Expert: Michael Winkelman, M.P.H., Ph.D. – Arizona State University (retired)

Live Date: August 13, 2025 – 4:30 – 6:30 PM Pacific Time

 

Overview:

This presentation will focus on the nature of the phenomenal experience of psychedelics and how activation of the innate operators of the brain allows or produces their signature phenomenological features seen cross-culturally. These experiences result from the elevation and integration of ancient brain structures related to our core social and cognitive adaptations and expressed through images and their effects on emotions and cognition. The evidence from modern clinical science has demonstrated evidence for their effectiveness in treatment of PTSD, depression, and addictions and their effects on the adaptive mechanisms of the 5HT2A system, illustrating the ancient effectiveness of such therapies in shamanistic practices. This presentation reviews the shamanic set and setting for psychedelic therapies and harm-reduction strategies as biological adaptations with continued relevance for contemporary psychedelic therapy. These adaptations reflect the co-evolution of our evolved psychology in relation to the ritual use of these natural medicines. These evolved adaptations for psychedelic medicines– which I call psycho-integrators – provide a framework for enhancing individual and group therapy with practices consistent with their intrinsic effects and our evolved psychology.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the shamanistic use of psychedelics and ritual in ways that reveal, exploit and integrate the dynamics of our evolved psychology
• Discuss the impact of psychedelics and ritual on human experience and the evolution of consciousness as manifested in the neurophenomenological states that they elicit

 

Week 16 – Final Panel: This Is the Medicine: Recreation, Clinical Healing, Sacred Wholeness, and the Ceremonial Reanimation of the World

Expert: Brian Stafford, MD, MPH, Dylan Martinez Francisco, Ph.D ., and Katie Stone , Pacifica Graduate Institute

Live Date: August 20, 2025 – 4:30  – 6:30 PM Pacific Time

Overview: 

Open Forum: In this session, we will open the live certificate for a conversation about the challenges, opportunities, and future of psychedelics and the certificate series offered by Pacifica Graduate Institute, in partnership with the Animas Valley Institute, Chacruna Institute, and other organizations.

Career Competencies:

1. Cultural and Ethical Competence in Psychedelic Therapy
   Students will develop the ability to understand and navigate the ethical considerations, cultural contexts, and historical significance of psychedelic use across different societies, particularly within indigenous traditions. They will gain competence in respecting the worldview and customs of various cultures and integrate this awareness into their practice, whether in therapeutic, ceremonial, or academic settings.
2. Clinical and Research Knowledge in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy
   Students will acquire foundational knowledge in the biopharmacology of psychedelics, the role of dosing (micro, suitable, and heroic), and current clinical research on their therapeutic uses for psychiatric disorders. This competency will enable students to critically evaluate the current medical and psychiatric models of psychedelic treatment and contribute to discussions on emerging trends in psychedelic research and therapy.
3. Integration of Depth Psychology in Psychedelic Practices
   Participants will be trained in integrating depth psychology principles with psychedelic-assisted therapy. This competency emphasizes understanding the unconscious, working with transpersonal experiences, and addressing the challenges of the human psyche in expanded states of consciousness. Students will learn how to apply depth psychology approaches to support individuals through transformative psychedelic journeys.
4. Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Journey Support
   Students will develop essential skills in harm reduction practices, including recognizing contraindications, supporting individuals through challenging psychedelic experiences, and ensuring a safe and supportive environment for therapeutic or ceremonial use. This competency will be vital for ensuring the well-being of participants during psychedelic sessions, whether in clinical, ceremonial, or recreational contexts.
5. Interdisciplinary Communication and Collaborative Learning
   Through live discussions, online forums, and interdisciplinary coursework, students will cultivate strong communication and collaborative skills. They will be prepared to engage in discussions across various fields, such as psychiatry, neuroscience, anthropology, ecopsychology, and psychospiritual development, and collaborate with professionals in the psychedelic space to address complex issues surrounding consciousness, healing, and societal transformation.

These competencies prepare individuals for effective roles in psychedelic therapy, research, and ceremonial work, fostering an integrated approach to mental health, spirituality, and healing.

 

SCHEDULE FOR LIVE ONLINE LEARNING SESSIONS:

Wednesdays: May, 7  4:30 – 6:30 pm  through August 28, 4:30 – 6:30 pm

Week 1: Zoom Session       May 7         4:30  pm – 6:30 pm PDT          Brian S, Katie and Dylan

Week 2: Zoom Session       May 14       4:30  pm – 6:30 pm PDT          Brian Stafford, MD, MPH

Week 3: Zoom Session       May 21       4:30  pm – 6:30 pm PDT          Bia Labate, PhD

Week 4: Zoom Session       May 28       4:30  pm – 6:30 pm PDT          Henrique Altunes, PhD

Week 5: Zoom Session       June 4        4:30  pm – 6:30 pm PDT          Brian Stafford, MD, MPH

Week 6: Zoom Session       June 11      4:30  pm – 6:30 pm PDT          Dylan Francisco, PhD

Week 7: Zoom Session       June 18      4:30  pm – 6:30 pm PDT          Dylan Francisco, PhD

Week 8: Zoom Session       June 25       4:30  pm – 6:30 pm PDT         Dylan Francisco, PhD

Week 9: Zoom Session       July 2           4:30  pm – 6:30 pm PDT          Janis Phelps, PhD

Week 10: Zoom Session     July 9           4:30  pm – 6:30 pm PDT          Allison Hoots, JD

Week 11: Zoom Session     July 16         4:30  pm – 6:30 pm PDT          Brian Richards, PsyD

Week 12: Zoom Session     July 23         4:30  pm – 6:30 pm PDT          Bill Richards, PhD

Week 13: Zoom Session     July 30         4:30  pm – 6:30 pm PDT          Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD

Week 14: Zoom Session     August 6      4:30  pm – 6:30 pm PDT          Geneen Marie Haugen, PhD

Week 15: Zoom Session     August 13    4:30  pm – 6:30 pm PDT   Michael Winkelman, PhD,MPH

Week 16: Zoom Session     August 20    4:30  pm – 6:30 pm PDT          Brian and Dylan and Katie

 

 

Required and Recommended Readings:

Week 1: No required or recommended readings.

 

Week 2:

Required Reading:

Nutt, D. (2024). Psychedelics: The Revolutionary Drugs that Could Change Your Life – A Guide from the Expert. Hachette.

Recommended readings & other resources:

Netflix:  How to Change Your Mind

https://www.netflix.com/watch/81164525?trackId=255824129

Fadiman, J. (2011). The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide: Safe, Therapeutic and Sacred Journeys. Park Street Press.

Leary, T., Metzner, R. and Alpert, R. (1964). The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead. University Books.

https://www.pbs.org/video/can-psychedelics-cure-lxqulz/

Grob, C. S. & Grigsby, J. (Eds.). (2021). Handbook of Medical Hallucinogens. Guilford Press.

Grof, S. (2019). The Way of the Psychonaut: Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys (Vols. 1 and 2). MAPS.

Huxley, A. (1958/1999). Moksha: Classic Writings on Psychedelics and the Visionary Experience. Park Street Press.

James J.H. Rucker, Jonathan Iliff, David J. Nutt, Psychiatry & the psychedelic drugs. Past, present & future, Neuropharmacology,Volume 142, 2018, Pages 200-218.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002839081730638X

Metzner, R. (2015). Allies for Awakening: Guidelines for Productive and Safe Experiences with Entheogens. Regent Press.

Rachel Nuwer. (2023). I See Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World.

Bloomsbury Publishing.

Winkelman, M. & Sessa, B. (Eds.). (2019). Advances in Psychedelic Medicine: State-of-the-Art Therapeutic Applications. Praeger.

 

Week 3:

Required readings:

Fotiou, E. (2021). The role of Indigenous knowledges in psychedelic science. Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 4(1), 16–23. https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2054/4/1/article-p16.xml?body=contentSummary-13617

Ermakova, A. (2022, July 15). The global ayahuasca boom: What about the conservation of the ayahuasca vine?Chacruna Institute. https://chacruna.net/ayahuasca-vine-globalization-conservation/

 

Recommended readings:

Acosta López, R., García Flores, I., & Piña Alcántara, S. (2021) Mazatec perspectives on the globalization of psilocybin mushrooms. Chacruna Institute. https://chacruna.net/mazatec-perspectives-on-the-globalization-of-psilocybin-mushrooms/

Dev, L. (2018). Plant knowledges: Indigenous approaches and interspecies listening toward decolonizing ayahuasca research. In B. C. Labate & C. Cavnar (Eds.), Plant medicines, healing and psychedelic science: Cultural perspectives(pp. 23–47). Springer.

 

Week 4:

Required Readings:

Fotiou, E. (2021). The role of Indigenous knowledges in psychedelic science. Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 4(1), 16–23. https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2054/4/1/article-p16.xml?body=contentSummary-13617

Labate, B. C., Antunes, H. F., Beachy, J., Sloshower, J., & Cavnar, C. (2025). Navigating the mainstreaming of psychedelics. Journal of Psychedelic Studies (published online ahead of print 2025). https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2024.00429

 

Recommended Readings:

Ermakova, A. (2022, July 15). The global ayahuasca boom: What about the conservation of the ayahuasca vine?Chacruna Institute. https://chacruna.net/ayahuasca-vine-globalization-conservation/

 

Acosta López, R., García Flores, I., & Piña Alcántara, S. (2021) Mazatec perspectives on the globalization of psilocybin mushrooms. Chacruna Institute. https://chacruna.net/mazatec-perspectives-on-the-globalization-of-psilocybin-mushrooms/

Dev, L. (2018). Plant knowledges: Indigenous approaches and interspecies listening toward decolonizing ayahuasca research. In B. C. Labate & C. Cavnar (Eds.), Plant medicines, healing and psychedelic science: Cultural perspectives(pp. 23–47). Springer.

Psychedelics in the Global South: Relevance and Consequences of the Countercultural Movement in Mexico – A Dialogue Between Osiris García and Nidia Olvera

 

Week 5:

Required Readings:

Nichols DE. Psychedelics. Pharmacol Rev. 2016 Apr;68(2):264-355. doi: 10.1124/pr.115.011478. Erratum in: Pharmacol Rev. 2016 Apr;68(2):356. PMID: 26841800; PMCID: PMC4813425.

Plotkin. W. (2013). Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche. New World Library. Preface and Chapter 1 – up to p 30.

 

Recommended Readings:

Frances, A. 2013. Saving Normal: An Insider’s Revolt against Out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of Ordinary Life. William Morrow Paperbacks.

Hengartner MP. Evidence-biased Antidepressant Prescription: Overmedicalisation, Flawed Research, and Conflicts of Interest. Springer International Publishing; 2022.

Harrington A. (2019),Mind Fixers: Psychiatry’s Troubled Search for the Biology of Mental Illness. W.W. Norton & Company.

Kleinman A. (2008). Rethinking Psychiatry. Simon and Schuster.

Frances A. (2013). Saving Normal: An Insider’s Revolt against Out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of Ordinary Life. William Morrow Paperbacks.

Greenberg, G. The Rats of N.I.M.H. The New Yorker. May 16, 2013.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23721486/ketamine-dmt-lsd-psychedelics-magic-mushrooms-legalization-recreation-psilocybin

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

Week 6:

Required Readings:

Tarnas, R. (2011). The passion of the western mind: Understanding the ideas that have shaped our world view . Ballentine Books. Ch6: The Transformation of the Modern Era & Ch 7: Epilogue

 

Recommended Readings:

The Rupture of Time: Synchronicity and Jung’s Critique of Modern Western Culture by Roderick Main

The Discovery of the Unconscious: The History and Evolution of Dynamic Psychiatry by Henri F. Ellenberger

Jung and the Making of Modern Psychology: The Dream of a Science by Sonu Shamdasani

1. G. Jung and the Crisis in Western Civilization by John A. Cahman

The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Culture by Fritjof Capra

Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism by Daniel Pinchbeck

Birth of Psychedelic Culture: Conversations about Leary, the Harvard Experiments, Millbrook and the Sixties by Ram Dass and Ralph Metzner

Psychedelic Revival: Toward a New Paradigm of Healing by Sean Lawlor

Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge—A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution by Terence McKenna

The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley

Cleansing the Doors of Perception: The Religious Significance of Entheogenic Plants and Chemicals by Huston Smith

 

Week 7

Required Reading:

Jung, C. G. (1963). Memories, Dreams, Reflections. Ch5: Sigmund Freud. Ch6: Confrontation with the Unconscious.

 

Recommended Reading:

The Red Book: A Reader’s Edition by C. G. Jung

Spirit and Soul: Essays in Philosophical Psychology by Edward S. Casey

1. G. Jung’s Psychology of Religion and Synchronicity by Robert Aziz

Decoding Jung’s Metaphysics: Archetypal Semantics of an Experiential Universe by Bernardo Kastrup

Seeing Through the Visible World: Jung, Gnosis, and Chaos by June Singer

Jung in the 21^st Century (Volume 1): Evolution and Archetype by John Ryan Haule

Jung in the 21^st Century (Volume 2): Synchronicity and Science by John Ryan Haule

Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm: Beyond the Doors of Perception into the Dreaming of Earth by Stephen Harrod Buhner

The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience by Robert Masters and Jean Houston

Thus Spoke the Plant: A Remarkable Journey of Groundbreaking Scientific Discoveries and Personal Encounters with Plants by Monica Gagliano

The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge by Jeremy Narby

Otherworlds: Psychedelics and Exceptional Human Experience by David Luke

 

Week 8:

Required Reading:

Hill, S. J. (2013).  Confrontation with the Unconscious: Jungian Depth Psychology and Psychedelic Experience

Chapter 1: “Jung’s Confrontation with the Unconscious and Its Relation to Psychedelic Experience”

Chapter 3: “Basic Jungian Concepts and Principles”

Chapter 4: “Jung’s Explanation of Psychedelic Experience”

Chapter 9: “Psychedelic Experience and Transformation”

Chapter 11: “The Transcendent Function: Jung’s Approach to Integration”

Chapter 12: “Jungian Psychotherapy”

 

Recommended Reading:

The Symbolic Quest: Basic Concepts of Analytical Psychology by Edward C. Whitmont

Archetypal Reflections: Insights and Ideas from Jungian Psychology by Keiron Le Grice

The Journey of Soul Initiation: A Field Guide for Visionaries, Evolutionaries, and Revolutionaries by Bill Plotkin

Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman by Malidoma Patrice Some

The Falling Sky: Words of a Yanomami Shaman by Davi Kopenawa and Bruce Albert

Consciousness Medicine: Indigenous Wisdom, Entheogens, and Expanded States of Consciousness for Healing and Growth by Françoise Bourzat with Kristina Hunter

Rainforest Medicine: Preserving Indigenous Science and Biodiversity in the Upper Amazon by Jonathan Miller Weisberger

Beyond the Narrow Life: A Guide for Psychedelic Integration and Existential Exploration by Kile M. Ortigo

LSD Doorway to the Numinous: The Groundbreaking Psychedelic Research into Realms of the Human Unconscious by Stanislav Grof

Psychedelics and the Soul: A Mythic Guide to Psychedelic Healing, Depth Psychology, and Cultural Repair by Simon Yugler

 

Week 9:

Reading list

Drug War and CSA Scheduling

Required readings:

Drug Policy Alliance. (2024). Drug War history. https://drugpolicy.org/drug-war-history/

 

United States Drug Enforcement Agency. (n.d.). Drug information: Drug scheduling. https://www.dea.gov/drug-information/drug-scheduling

 

Recommended readings:

Zorn, M. (2023, May 5). Bifurcated (re)scheduling. On Drugs. https://ondrugs.substack.com/p/bifurcated-rescheduling?utm_source=%2Fsearch%2Fbifurcated%2520rescheduling%2520&utm_medium=reader2

 

Medical Uses

Required readings:

Aro HJ, Hussain A, Bobrin BD. Controlled Substances. [Updated 2023 Apr 8]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK554383/

 

 

Recommended readings:

Holoyda, B. J. (2023). Malpractice and other civil liability in psychedelic psychiatry. Psychiatric Services (Washington, D.C.), 74(1), 92–95. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.20220528

 

Pilecki, B., Luoma, J. B., Bathje, G. J., Rhea, J., & Narloch, V. F. (2021). Ethical and legal issues in psychedelic harm reduction and integration therapy. Harm. Reduct. J. 18, 1–14. 10.1186/s12954-021-00489-1. https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12954-021-00489-1

 

State Frameworks, Including Colorado and Oregon

Required readings:

Psychedelic Alpha. U.S. psychedelic legalization & decriminalization tracker (Updated March 14, 2024) https://psychedelicalpha.com/data/psychedelic-laws.

 

Marks, M. (2023). The varieties of psychedelic law. Neuropharmacology, 226, 109399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2022.109399

 

Recommended readings:

Oregon Health News Blog. (2023 April 12). Psilocybin 101: What to know about Oregon’s psilocybin services. Oregon.Gov. https://covidblog.oregon.gov/psilocybin-101-what-to-know-about-oregons-psilocybin-services/#:~:text=To%20access%20psilocybin%20services%2C%20clients,model%20is%20not%20product%20centered.

 

Goldhill, O. (2022, March 10). “It’s not medical”: Oregon wrestles with how to offer psychedelics outside the health care system. STAT News. https://www.statnews.com/2022/03/10/oregon-wrestles-with-offering-psychedelic-therapy-outside-health-care-system/

 

Vicente, L. L. P. (2024, February 27). Colorado’s draft natural medicine rules: Full breakdown & commentary. Psychedelic Alpha. https://psychedelicalpha.com/news/colorados-draft-natural-medicine-rules-full-breakdown-commentary

 

Jaeger, K. (2021, March 15). Psychedelics decriminalization initiative officially takes effect. Marijuana Moment. https://marijuanamoment.net/d-c-psychedelics-decriminalization-initiative-officially-takes-effect/

 

Religious Uses

Required readings:

Hoots, Allison. “The Legal Definition of Religion in the Context of Modern Religious Exercise with Psychedelics: Protection, Double Standards, and Potential Expansion under RFRA.” Psychedelic Intersections: 2024 Conference Anthology, edited by Jeffrey Breau and Paul Gillis-Smith. Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School, 2025. © License: CC BY-NC. https://doi.org/10.70423/0001.15

 

 

 

 

 

Recommended readings:

Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines & Hoots, A. (2021). Guide to RFRA and best practices for psychedelic plant medicine churches. Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines. https://chacruna.net/guide_rfra_best_practices_psychedelic_churches/

 

Worldwide Legal Status

Required readings:

Psychedelic Alpha. (n.d.) Worldwide psychedelic laws tracker. https://psychedelicalpha.com/data/worldwide-psychedelic-laws

 

Week 10:

Required reading, films, other resources:

Netflix:  How to Change Your Mind

https://www.netflix.com/watch/81164525?trackId=255824129

 

Recommended readings:

Shame, Guilt and Psychedelic Experience: Results from a Prospective, Longitudinal Survey of Real-World Psilocybin Use

https://blossomanalysis.com/papers/shame-guilt-and-psychedelic-experience-results-from-a-prospective-longitudinal-survey-of-real-world-psilocybin-use/?utm_source=convertkit&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The+Bloom+172+-+Surveys+Galore+-+16623404

 

Clinical Interview and Scales (please note some are copyrighted and require a separate purchase to administer)

 

Ketamine and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy for Psychiatric and Existential Distress in Patients with Serious Medical Illness: A Narrative Review

 

Suicide of a patient shortly after psilocybin-assisted psychedelic therapy: A case report

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165178125000307

 

Week 11:

Required Readings:

Phelps, J. (2017). Developing Guidelines and Competencies for the Training of Psychedelic Therapists. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 57(5),450 -487.     https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167817711304

Phelps J. & Henry J. (2018). Foundations for Training Psychedelic Therapists. Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2022;56:93-109. doi: 10.1007/7854_2021_266. PMID: 34734389.

Gasser P. Psychedelic Group Therapy. Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2022;56:23-34. doi: 10.1007/7854_2021_268. PMID: 35091980.

 

Recommended Readings:

Metzner, R. (2015). Allies for Awakening: Guidelines for Productive and Safe 

Experiences with Entheogens. Regent Press.

Johnson, M., Richards, W., & Griffiths, R. (2008). Human hallucinogen research: Guidelines for safety. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 22(6). 603-620. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881108093587

Trope A, Anderson BT, Hooker AR, Glick G, Stauffer C, & Woolley JD. Psychedelic-Assisted Group Therapy: A Systematic Review. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2019 Apr-Jun;51(2):174-188. doi: 10.1080/02791072.2019.1593559. Epub 2019 Apr 5. PMID: 30950777; PMCID: PMC6650145.

 

Week 12:

Required readings

Goodwin GM… Carhart-Harris R … Malievskaia E (2022). Single-Dose Psilocybin for a Treatment-Resistant Episode of Major Depression. N Engl J Med. 387(18):1637-1648. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2206443.

Daws RE, Timmermann C, Giribaldi B, Sexton JD, Wall MB, Erritzoe D, Roseman L, Nutt D, Carhart-Harris R (2022) Increased global integration in the brain after psilocybin therapy for depression. Nature Medicine. doi: 10.1038/s41591-022-01744-z.

Lyons T … Carhart-Harris RL (2024) Human brains change after first psilocybin use. Nature Neuroscience. In press.

 

Recommended readings

Timmermann C, Roseman L, Haridas S, Rosas FE, Luan L, Kettner H, Martell J, Erritzoe D, Tagliazucchi E, Pallavicini C, Girn M, Alamia A, Leech R, Nutt DJ, Carhart-Harris RL (2023) Human brain effects of DMT assessed via EEG-fMRI. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 120(13):e2218949120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2218949120.

 

Carhart-Harris R, Giribaldi B, Watts R, Baker-Jones M, Murphy-Beiner A, Murphy R, Martell J, Blemings A, Erritzoe D, Nutt DJ (2021) Trial of Psilocybin versus Escitalopram for Depression. N Engl J Med. 384(15):1402-1411. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2032994.

 

Week 13:

Required readings:

Animism Is Normative Consciousness:

https://podcastnotes.org/the-emerald-podcast-with-joshua-michael-schrei/animism-is-normative-consciousness-the-emerald-podcast-with-joshua-michael-schrei/

Haugen, Geneen Marie, “The Reemergence of Animate World Experiences,” in Kosmos Journal, May 2023. https://www.kosmosjournal.org/kj_article/reemergence-of-animate-world-experiences/

Haugen, Geneen Marie, “Thomas Berry and the Evocation of Participatory Consciousness,” in Thomas Berry: Dreamer of the Earth.  Laszlo and Combs, eds.  Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2011. https://participatorystudies.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/thomas-berry-and-the-evocation-of-participatory-consciousness/

 

Recommended Readings:

Harvey, Graham.  Animism: Respecting the Living World. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006.

Haugen, Geneen Marie, “Imagining Earth,” in Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, editor. Pt. Reyes, CA: Golden Sufi Center, 2016.

 

Week 14:

Recommended reading:

Richards, W.A. (2016) Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences, NY:  Columbia University Press,  (Hardback & eBook, 2016; Audiobook [Wetware Media; River Kanoff], 2017; Paperback edition, 2018).

Additional Resources:

Pahnke, W.N. & Richards, W.A. (1966), Implications of LSD and Experimental Mysticism, Journal of Religion and Health,  5:175-208.  (See Schaffer Library of Drug Policy: www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/lsd/pahnke4.htm)

Richards, W.A.,(2003),  Entheogens in the Study of Mystical and Archetypal Experiences, Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Boston: Brill, 13, 143-155. (See https://erowid.org/references/texts/show/6431docid6001)

Richards, W.A. (2014), Here and Now:  Discovering the Sacred with Entheogens, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science, 49, 3, 652-665.

Richards, W.A., (2021) Mystical/Religious Experiences with Psychedelics, Handbook of Medical Hallucinogens, eds. J. Grigsby & C. Grob, Guilford Press, 529-535.

 

Week 15:

Required Readings:

Winkelman, M. The evolved psychology of psychedelic set and setting: Inferences regarding the roles of shamanism and entheogenic ecopsychology. Frontiers in Pharmacology 12.

Winkelman, M.  Introduction: Evidence for entheogen use in prehistory and world religions. Journal of Psychedelic Studies: Psychedelics in History and World Religions 3:43–62. (2019).

Winkelman, M.  An ontology of psychedelic entity experiences in evolutionary psychology and neurophenomenology. Journal of Psychedelic Studies. 2(1): 5-23. DOI: 10.1556/2054.2018.002. (2018).

Winkelman, M.  Mechanisms of psychedelic visionary experiences: Hypotheses from evolutionary psychology. Front Neurosci. 11, article 539. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00539. (2017).

Recommended Resources:

Winkelman, M. Anthropology, Shamanism and Hallucinogens. In C.S. Grob and J. Grigsby (eds.) Handbook of Medical Hallucinogens (pp. 46-67) NY: Guilford Press. (2021).

 

Week 16:  No required or recommended readings.