Psychedelic Education Offerings

$375 per course. Students can take one course they are interested in, without committing to all six courses in the Psychedelic Studies Certificate program.

Register for an upcoming course here.

Each course is offered over Zoom, on weekends, once quarterly.

Courses are offered on a rolling basis, therefore, students can choose to take a course at any time in any order. The courses will repeat year over year, allowing students to take courses at a pace and timing that suits their needs.

See the class schedule for 2024 below. Click the “Learn More” below to register for the next upcoming class on the Southwestern College.

Anybody in the public who is interested in learning about psychedelics. As classes are mostly over zoom, anybody in any location may take them.

The majority of class participants are practicing psychologists, counselors, social workers, nurses, doctors, pastoral counselors, and master’s level counseling students matriculating at Southwestern College.

Because Amy is a licensed clinical social worker and has a specialty in the clinical treatment of post-traumatic stress-disorder and post-traumatic growth as well as psychedelic-assisted therapy, the course has a clinical perspective and class discussions and experiential exercises are designed to challenge class participants to consider how they will practice within ethical and legal guidelines within their licensure.

Southwestern College is a master’s and doctoral level counseling college in Santa Fe, New Mexico. As an accredited institution, each class provides 16 Continuing Education Credits (CEUs) for counselors, psychologists, and social workers. Southwestern College (Santa Fe) graduate students may take these courses for elective graduate school credit.

The goal of the Psychedelic Studies Certificate Program is to increase knowledge and literacy in the psychedelic landscape for the community of people treating clients and patients through mental, behavioral, and medical healthcare and pastoral counseling services.

Because Amy is an experienced clinical psychotherapist and social worker, she provides a systemic and clinical point of view in how to approach speaking about psychedelics with clients/patients, healthcare providers, educators, parents, and other community members.

Amy provides cutting-edge research, content, theoretical and clinical frameworks, and invites world-renowned guest speakers to participate with students in an interactive and engaging way to learn about the history, practice, policy, ethical and clinical applications of psychedelics for psychedelic-assisted therapy. The information she provides through Southwestern College is a fraction of costlier programs that claim to certify you for psychedelic-assisted therapy.

As of 2024, only Oregon and Colorado have legalized psilocybin-assisted therapy, and these states have official state-run certification programs that one must undergo (in addition to any certification program you’ve already undertaken) in order to provide psychedelic-assisted therapy legally, without breaking federal or state law.

If you take the Psychedelic Studies Certificate Program at Southwestern College with me, you are engaging in studying all the facets that influence psychedelic-assisted therapy (facilitator and client) and the psychedelic landscape (historical moment, policy, novel uses, efficacy). This is not a simple modality that a practitioner learns and applies. If you undertake training in psychedelic studies, this is the orientation point for you to better understand all of the facets involved in becoming a psychedelic-assisted therapist. Consider this as the detailed, annotated map that I am providing so that you can learn about where you want to go for further practice, specialization, supervision, consultation, and study. There will be areas that resonate with your skill set and mastery; and other areas that require you to reflect on and realize that are not your expertise and mastery, and that you need to refer to other providers and services.

I reiterate, one must follow the certification guidelines defined in state and federal laws in order to legally provide psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Decriminalization laws for psychedelics such as psilocybin are not the same as legalization of psychedelics at the state and federal law levels. They do not allow you to legally practice psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Amy offers office hours for those considering (or currently seeking) the Psychedelic Studies Certification at Southwestern College, and also for clinicians and facilitators considering her peer psychedelic facilitator/therapist consultation services. Finding the right educational offering or consultation service requires finding resonance in content, approach, tone, and values for an effective and satisfying learning environment.

Amy provides this time for free so that interested parties can ask questions and see if her education offerings feel like a fit before proceeding.

Office hour timed meetings are 20 minutes each, offered for twmce monthly. Schedule your time with Amy to further your educational goals.

Click here to make an appointment.

Read Amy’s blog posts or follow Amy on TikTok or Instagram to see some more of her approach

Dr. George Greer & Requa Greer on their early pioneering work with MDMA-Assisted Therapy in the early 1980s

Dr. Rick Strassman on his early 1990s pioneering research with DMT at University of New Mexico and a panel of his original DMT participants

Joaquin Orozco spoke about on the Indigenous roots of psychedelic-assisted therapy

Kevin Franciotti spoke about the organization, Psychedelics in Recovery, and how this community provides a safe space for participants to explore how psychedelics influence and impact their recovery process

Dr. Natalie Metz on the use of Ketamine in psychedelic-assisted therapy for PTSD and depression; mechanisms of action; snapshot of how it is used psychotherapeutically; safety and consent

Are you interested in guest speaking? Is there a gem you want to share with my class? Contact me at amywhope@swc.edu or 505-216-8318.