Psychedelic therapy training grounds are now getting licensed. What’s next?

BOULDER, Colo. — Nearly two years after Colorado voters approved the use of psychedelics for personal use and therapy, the state has rolled out rules and licensing for training facilities. 

In July, Naropa University became one of the first training facilities to be state licensed as Colorado continues to move forward with regulation of its psychedelic industry. 

“These therapies have been shown to be beneficial for anxiety, depression, for expansion of the mind and creativity, for connecting to nature, for feeling more peace and acceptance in your life, all kinds of benefits,” said Dr. Diana Quinn of Naropa University. 

Quinn oversees the university’s two psychedelic training programs, one for professional mental health clinicians and the other for general facilitators. 

People who are seeking relief from conditions like anxiety and depression would undergo a psychedelic therapy session under a clinical facilitator while someone who is seeking to expand their mind would attend a session administered by a general facilitator. 

Each kind of facilitator is expected to undergo 150 hours of training and then another 40 hours of real-life psychedelic sessions while supervised, per state rules. 

Such psychedelic sessions can last hours, as opposed to one-hour sessions in traditional talk therapy. 

“It’s a lot to sit for someone for six hours and through one of these experiences. It requires a high level of presence, attentiveness, self-regulation, the ability to track the nervous system of your client and your own, and to self regulate and to really be present through that,” Quinn said. 

According to state rules, training facilities are expected to train facilitators in a multitude of areas relating to mental health, including trauma informed care and how drugs impact the mind. Ethics and indigenous aspects of natural medicines are also part of the required curriculum. 

Naropa University expects a cohort of 200 people to complete training this December. This fall the state is expected to roll out the application process so they can be credentialed on the state-level. 

Eventually, the state will roll out more rules relating to the psychedelic industry, including regulations surrounding “healing centers,” where people will go for therapy sessions. 

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