In this initial class, students will introduce themselves to others in the course, be introduced to the professors and their backgrounds, and gain an understanding of the curriculum and program. Students will leave with preparation for the following classes being taught and a general understanding of the topics that will be discussed throughout the course.

In this class, we will explore what it means to be a “facilitator”. We will explore the cultural, medical, epistemic, and ontological context in which facilitating happens and clarify our position in relation to the participants and providers. We will explore the role that our own personal ideology and perception can play in relation to “what ayahuasca is for?”  In doing so, we will point to the many different beliefs and ideas prevalent in a rapidly globalizing and intercultural context. We will also pinpoint our own beliefs and biases, recognizing the importance of epistemic humility and an open-ended interpretive framework that honors and includes perspectives/approaches that differ from ours. Furthermore, we will reflect about iatrogenic damage and some of the ways in which facilitators might harm participants through arrogance, ignorance, or dogmatism. It is important to highlight the need for ethnographic and cross-cultural competency when translating ontologies and a diversity of medical and spiritual systems. Lastly, we will touch on integration and dietary restrictions, the need to navigate epistemic diversity, folk knowledge, and superstition with wisdom, grace, and self-awareness. This class will help students understand the limits of our own knowledge and hold ourselves responsible for always staying within the boundaries of our own competencies.

Being out of touch with yourself and the feelings of people around you, is one of the hallmarks of traumatic stress. While psychedelics can amplify our self experience and enhance healing exploration, beginning to establish the relationship with one’s self is a crucial first step towards navigating and transforming trauma. Psychedelics have the potential to magnify our self-awareness, acting as catalysts for introspection and insight. By embarking on a journey of self-discovery facilitated by psychedelics, individuals can initiate the process of reconnecting with their authentic selves and exploring the depth of their emotions. In the realm of psychedelic experiences, users often describe a heightened sensitivity to their internal landscapes, allowing them to confront suppressed emotions, memories, and aspects of their identity. This enhanced self-awareness becomes a powerful tool for those seeking healing from traumatic stress. The establishment of a relationship with oneself during a psychedelic experience involves a compassionate and open exploration of one’s thoughts, emotions, and sensations. It invites individuals to face the roots of their trauma with courage and curiosity, fostering an environment conducive to healing and transformation. Furthermore, as the psychedelic journey unfolds, users may also experience a profound sense of interconnectedness with others and the world at large. This expanded awareness can extend beyond personal boundaries, facilitating empathy and understanding of the feelings of those around them. Through this process, individuals begin to dissolve the barriers that trauma may have erected, fostering a deeper connection not only with themselves but also with the broader human experience. This class will offer a 101 introduction to trauma and its relation to the concepts mentioned above.

There is currently a global expansion in plant medicine ceremonies, however, the knowledge on the best ways to navigate them, both as facilitators and participants, still seems limited. This class will advocate for the importance of cultivating a spiritual approach to the use of psychedelics, and openness towards different ceremonial traditions and their expansion across borders, and ever-evolving landscape. It will teach facilitators to acquire the social and anthropological sensitivity to situate themselves in the different plant medicine contexts, both in relation to the participants and the local population where ceremonies are hosted. It will reflect critically on the centrality and role of the social and cultural setting, as well as take into account important social markers of participants, such as race, ethnicity and gender. In this sense, it will help students shift the understanding from personal healing and trauma, to the collective and social dimension of the use of psychedelics. The class will also draw students’ attention to the different dimensions of the psychedelic journey, underlining the importance of music, which is often underestimated. It will also address the role of the body, silence and dance in ceremonial contexts. Finally, departing from a combined 26 years of empirical experience with local ayahuasca communities in Brazil, it will reflect on the role of community in experiencing and integrating sacred plants, as well as the challenges in belonging to them, such as ego wars and group dynamics. It will also address the potential of rituals and their different elements as powerful conductors of experience. It will conclude by dissipating some myths and dilemmas around having an “intention” before consuming psychedelics and “integration” after them.

Over the past 13 years, The Zendo Project has been offering psychedelic peer support, harm reduction services, and Zendo trainings at events. Along with thousands of volunteers and guests receiving services, Zendo staff and volunteers have developed and evolved what they consider to be best practices for reducing potential harm for those who have embarked on a psychedelic journey and who need support. Zendo’s specialized work in harm reduction and response to challenging psychedelic experiences has broad applicability to plant medicine ceremonies, and this class will engage students in an exploration of best practices to support practitioners in mitigating risk and responding to difficulties or crisis. In this class we will explore what leads to harm in psychedelic spaces, Zendo’s core principles for harm reduction, de-escalation strategies, and tools for working with adverse events. This class focuses on how to use practical skills in supporting anyone experiencing challenges in a non-ordinary state of consciousness in plant medicine work and beyond. Live discussion will provide an opportunity to learn from case studies and develop attuned and responsive care during challenging psychedelic experiences.

This class combines the teacher’s 25 years of experience with ayahuasca with her decades of work as a clinical psychologist, allowing her to offer unique insight into the dynamics of facilitating plant medicine ceremonies. It explores fundamental concepts of psychology pertinent to this work and will look at basic dynamics that arise in helping situations, such as transference and countertransference, examining the dynamics of emotional projection onto the facilitator and vice versa. Participants will gain insights into ego-inflation, looking at how altered states can magnify and distort self-perception. The class also addresses the delicate balance between spiritual bypassing and authentic spiritual emergence. Exploring suggestibility, transitional psychosis, delusions, and post-ritual mania and depression, facilitators will be equipped to recognize and navigate challenging psychological states. Through a combination of theoretical exploration, case studies, and practical scenarios, students will learn the basics of psychological processes relevant to psychedelic facilitation necessary for providing safe, supportive, and transformative guidance in the realm of plant medicine ceremonies.

In this class, we will explore in depth the concepts of preparation and integration and the practices associated with it. Why is it important for a person to prepare to participate in a ceremony with sacred plants? How can one prepare for an experience like this? Preparation is carried out using varied practices, according to each context in which the ceremony takes place. We will approach preparation from a Western perspective and also preparation in some other contexts in the Global South. We will also talk about how to include the difference in realities and values in preparation, to make the experience richer, and with less risk of following the colonial script. Regarding integration, we will briefly discuss the origin of the term and its current uses. This path will help us understand what we seek to integrate, and in what way. In addition to presenting practices that can help in the experience integration process, we will exercise different ways to help the participant make the best possible use of their experience with a teaching plant.

Recent clinical trials of psychedelic therapies have demonstrated the significant potential of these treatments for addressing a variety of mental disorders and forms of distress. However, there are significant limitations, both in terms of accessibility and effectiveness, to psychedelic treatments currently available in clinical and clinical trial settings in the United States. Drawing on his experience conducting psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in clinical trials and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy in private practice, and as a participant in a variety of plant medicine ceremonies, the instructor will introduce some of these limitations and then focus on the ethical and clinical issues posed when clients express the desire to pursue underground psychedelic therapy or plant medicine ceremonies. Specifically, we will explore the tensions involved in making recommendations or referrals and consider how to adopt a harm reduction approach. In so doing, we will explore potential benefits and risks associated with different contexts of psychedelic use among clinical populations (e.g. treatment flexibility/variability, levels of oversight and support, forms of preparation and integration). Case studies from the instructor’s real world experience will provide the opportunity to consider and work through several challenging scenarios.

Ethical practice is essential for the responsible and compassionate facilitation of psychedelic care in ceremonial and therapeutic contexts. Ethical care begins with reciprocity and healthy, just relationships. Broader than a set of rules designed to dictate behavior and prevent exploitation, sustained ethical care is rooted in moral sensitivity cultivated over time and through community accountability.  Accountability empowers practitioners and facilitators to navigate the rich landscape of psychedelic experience with respect and reverence for the well-being of individuals, communities, and plant medicine traditions. This class will consider informed consent, the use of touch, the potential for misuses of power in altered states of consciousness, the subtleties of implicit bias, dual relationships, and power differentials in psychedelic care. Participants will be encouraged to identify opportunities for building support and responsibility in their own professional and community contexts. Emerging ethical standards from credentialing organizations, insights from Indigenous scholar-practitioners, and real life case studies will provide tangible illustrations of ethical psychedelic care.

In this final class, we will strive to summarize everything taught throughout the course. In doing so, we will recap the main concepts, highlight the main moments, and give folks a chance to voice any significant takeaways about the topics discussed. We will also do a critique of the course and think of ways to improve it for future teachings.