Studies in Psychedelic Justice

Certificate in Ceremony, Ethics & Reciprocity

August 16, 2024

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Chacruna promotes reciprocity in the psychedelic community, and supports the protection of sacred plants and cultural traditions. We advance psychedelic justice through curating critical conversations and uplifting the voices of women, queer people, Indigenous peoples, people of color, and the Global South in the field of psychedelic science.

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March – October, 2025

More information on price, CE credits, application process, scholarships and registration coming up soon!

Course Description

The Certificate in Ceremony, Ethics & Reciprocity is a justice-informed, risk reduction initiative that actively promotes connection, support, ongoing ethics education, and safety for psychedelic plant medicine ceremonial leaders and facilitators in contexts outside of traditional indigenous communities of practice.
The Certificate in Ceremony, Ethics, and Reciprocity creates pathways for practicing facilitators and ceremonial leaders to foster basic principles of ethical practice and a justice-informed approach to ceremonial facilitation. The certificate does not teach the specifics of facilitation, but is a risk-reduction approach for those already leading or assisting in ceremonies in the community. Chacruna’s vision is to build a robust scaffolding of self-regulated accountability to reduce the risk of harm, and to promote justice, equity, and safety in ceremonial contexts. The initiative takes a justice-informed and relational approach to education, mentoring and training. The certificate includes the following elements.

– A 6 month, 80 hour educational program – April 2025 through October 2025, to include online weekly asynchronous lectures from Chacruna’s network of expert faculty, live discussions, readings from Chacruna’s carefully curated library of resources, required participation in ethics-based community forums, attendance at Chacruna’s Psychedelic Culture conference, and a required in person gathering where enrollees will engage in ethical case review and development of projects that integrate program learning objectives.
– Participation in a Community Accountability and Support Network, for current enrollees and graduates of the Certificate Program to include an ethics consultation service managed by Chacruna, with a 48-hour response rate. Requests for ethics support will be directed to volunteer ethics experts and consultants from the Sacred Plant Alliance (SPA) and Chacruna network of advisors. Consultants will promptly respond to all inquiries, providing mentoring, guidance, and support, along with recommendations for follow-up. Clear guidelines will be provided to consultants, who will undergo training to effectively handle requests, including those involving high-risk situations.
– An Experiential and Decolonial Pedagogy: Practical learning prioritizes skill based knowledge in tandem with traditional lecture-based instruction. Participants will engage in activities, projects, simulations, and real-world experiences that allow for the application of learning in a practical context. This experiential part of the course is designed to foster critical thinking, problem-solving skills, creativity, collaboration, and personal growth. A decolonial pedagogy prioritizes critical awareness, lived experience, intuition, and community engagement while also drawing from scientific insight and best practices and professional knowledge sources. Decolonized pedagogy aims to challenge and dismantle the colonial power dynamics and structures, inviting educators to reflect on their own positionality, biases, and the power dynamics in their teaching practices and relationships with students.
– Individual Mentoring facilitates a dynamic and rewarding relationship between enrollees and expert faculty and mentors from Chacruna, and SPA. Mentors will provide guidance, support, and encouragement for personal and professional growth. The mentoring will involve: building trust and rapport, promoting active listening, providing constructive feedback, articulating and working through real-world ethics dilemmas, sharing knowledge and experience, and encouraging self-reflection. This will be achieved while respecting the confidentiality of the mentee, creating a safe space where they feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues.
The certificate will address five core areas of competency, crucial for ethical plant medicine facilitation:

Safety and Risk Reduction
Ethical Principles and Guidelines
Legal Considerations
Reciprocity & Justice
Right Use of Power & Prevention of Sexual Misconduct

Tuition: Total tuition for the program is $7,000. Ample scholarships for underrepresented communities, and BIPOC enrollees will be offered to offset the tuition for those with financial need. Attendance at the Psychedelic Culture Conference (PCU 2025) is a required component of the program. The cost of the conference ticket is included in the tuition; however, enrollees will be responsible for covering their own accommodation during the eventand pre-conference workshop in San Francisco in April 2025. Total number of enrollees for year one: 40.
This certificate will create bridges between the worlds of ceremony and psychedelic therapies, bringing together traditional knowledge, psychedelic science, and best practices from psychedelic-assisted therapy. Participants will be encouraged to incorporate this knowledge into their professional or spiritual practices, and also in their personal lives. The certificate will draw on the experience and background of participants in order to promote an informed, ethical and safe environment for the ceremonial use of psychedelics not only for facilitators and ceremonial leaders, but for the general public as well. The certificate will explore a wide range of critical issues and perspectives, equipping participants with a broader and more integrated understanding of the legal, ethical and health challenges that revolve around the ceremonial use of psychedelics. The program will have a diversified format, with classes presented by scholars and leading experts from the psychedelic field, by Indigenous leaders, as well as practitioners and facilitators There will also be a focus on case study discussions, online workshops, and an in person workshop where participants can share their personal experiences.

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