San Francisco, CA — [August 21, 2026] — The Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines announces enrollment for its 2026 Certificate in Ceremony, Ethics, & Reciprocity, running October 22, 2026 – April 8, 2027. This five-month, 60-hour educational program is designed for ceremonial leaders, psychedelic facilitators, practitioners, and others already involved in plant medicine communities who seek to deepen their knowledge and cultivate safer, more ethical, accountable, and justice-informed practices.
Advancing Ethics, Safety, and Accountability in Plant Medicine Communities
As psychedelic plant medicines become increasingly visible in mainstream culture, questions of ethics, safety, power, cultural responsibility, and accountability have become more urgent. The Certificate in Ceremony, Ethics, & Reciprocity responds to these challenges by offering an interdisciplinary educational framework for people already working in or alongside ceremonial communities.
The program takes a practical, relational approach to education, bringing together perspectives from ceremonial contexts, psychedelic therapies, harm reduction, ethics, law, racial justice, and Indigenous and traditional knowledge systems. Participants will explore how to reduce risks, strengthen community accountability, navigate complex ethical situations, and foster practices grounded in respect and reciprocity.
Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all model for psychedelic facilitation, the certificate encourages ongoing critical reflection and learning. Participants will examine the responsibilities that come with holding positions of trust and power, while developing tools to recognize ethical challenges, cultivate appropriate boundaries, and support safer environments for both facilitators and participants.
In keeping with Chacruna’s mission, the program also creates dialogue between Western therapeutic approaches and Indigenous and traditional knowledge systems while centering questions of cultural responsibility, reciprocity, equity, and justice.
Certificate Overview
Dates: October 22, 2026 – April 8, 2027
Format: Hybrid, five-month, 60-hour educational program combining asynchronous lectures and readings with weekly live online discussions, integration sessions, Community Forums, and an optional in-person component
Live Virtual Sessions: Thursdays, 10:30am–12pm PT / 1:30pm–3pm ET
Tuition + In-Person Component: $2,000 USD
Tuition Without In-Person Component: $1,800 USD
Global South Tuition: $700 USD for participants residing in the Global South
CE Credits: TBD
Scholarships: Ample scholarship opportunities are available, with an emphasis on increasing access for BIPOC participants and underrepresented communities. Apply Here.
The optional in-person component brings students and faculty together in San Francisco and includes attendance at Psychedelic Culture 2027, Chacruna’s annual conference, on March 12–13, 2027. The conference ticket is included for participants selecting the tuition package with the in-person component; participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodations.
Testimonials from Former Students
“This course has helped me balance my Western titles and conditioning and take a step back and honor my culture roots as well as others and find ways to balance without judgement and love and understanding.”
Felipe Mercado, Wise Soul LLC/ Fresno State University: Founder & Professor
“The course has made me thoughtfully consider what should go into facilitation practices and being in right relationship with indigenous medicines and community. Creating a safe space for the greatest healing potential benefits both the individual and the container in Ceremony. Thinking through issues of screening, gender, sexuality, indigenous considerations and reciprocity, and medical safety before they arise carefully leads to a stronger, safer psychedelic community. I appreciate this course.”
Kyra, Registered Nurse with a separate degree in Ethnobotany
Five Core Areas of Learning
The certificate is organized around five areas Chacruna considers essential to creating safer and more accountable plant medicine practices:
Ethical Principles and Guidelines: Developing frameworks for navigating complex ethical situations and fostering responsibility and accountability.
Safety and Risk Reduction: Building knowledge and practical skills that can help reduce harm and support safer ceremonial environments.
Racial Justice & Reciprocity: Examining questions of equity, cultural responsibility, reciprocity, and relationships with the communities and traditions connected to sacred plant medicines.
Legal Considerations: Exploring the evolving legal landscape surrounding psychedelic plant medicines and ceremonial practices.
Right Use of Power & Prevention of Sexual Misconduct: Addressing power dynamics, boundaries, dual relationships, consent, and practices that can help prevent abuse and sexual misconduct.
Building Community Through Experiential Learning
A central component of the certificate is its experiential approach. Participants will engage in skill-based activities, projects, simulations, and collaborative learning designed to strengthen critical thinking, problem-solving, self-awareness, and ethical decision-making.
Dedicated integration sessions will provide spaces for participants to discuss questions and concerns, listen to different perspectives, offer constructive feedback, share knowledge, and engage in ongoing self-reflection.
The program is also intended to cultivate relationships among people confronting similar questions in their work. By connecting participants with peers and Chacruna’s network of educators and experts, the certificate seeks to strengthen a broader culture of accountability, support, and continuing education within psychedelic plant medicine communities.
Who Should Enroll?
The Certificate in Ceremony, Ethics, & Reciprocity is intended for ceremonial leaders, facilitators, guides, practitioners, and others already active in plant medicine communities who want to deepen their ethical knowledge, connect with peers and experts, and develop skills for safer and more justice-informed practices.
The certificate is particularly relevant for those interested in the intersections between ceremonial practices and psychedelic therapies and in building stronger frameworks for ethics, reciprocity, accountability, and risk reduction within their communities.
The certificate does not qualify participants as ceremonial leaders, facilitators, or shamans. Instead, it provides foundational and continuing education in connection, ethics, safety, accountability, and responsible practice for people involved in psychedelic plant medicine ceremonies, whether as leaders, facilitators, guides, or participants.
Learn More & Enroll Today
The growth of the psychedelic landscape brings new possibilities for healing and community, but also new responsibilities. Ethical practice requires more than good intentions. It requires education, reflection, accountability, and an ongoing willingness to examine how power, culture, safety, reciprocity, and justice shape psychedelic spaces.
About the Chacruna Institute
The Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization co-founded by Brazilian anthropologist Dr. Bia Labate and American psychologist Dr. Clancy Cavnar, based in Northern California and with strong ties to Brazil and Mexico. We promote reciprocity in the psychedelic community, and support 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.
Media Contact:
Lorien Chavez
Chacruna Institute
[email protected]
415-390-6157
