Psychedelic Education Offerings

$375 per course. Students can take one course they are interested in without committing to the certificate, which requires you take 3 required and 3 elective 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 2026-27 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 weekend course grants 16 Continuing Education Credits (CEs) in any state for counselors, psychologists, and social workers. Southwestern College 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 20-minute sessions via 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.

Follow Amy on LinkedIn or Instagram to hear what she is reading, posting and discussing with the community.

Kate Cook, a regular in our classes speaks about the neuroscience of attachment and “Safety as the intervention” for all healing contexts. As the founder of the Attachment and Interpersonal Neurobiology Certificate Program she joins us frequently to talk about self-reflective accountability, the neuroscience of attachment and its role in psychedelic healing.

Jason Wimler spoke about cultivating psilocybin mushrooms at Xochi Laboratories and the deep honoring of these medicines, the unique tryptamines and alkaloids in them that affect the psychedelic experience.

Tricia Eastmann spoke about Ibogaine and Iboga, the sovereignty and practices of this ancient medicine and her initiatory process with the Bwiti.

Rebekah Senanayake, will soon have her doctorate in ethnology with a focus on plant medicines. She spoke about ego dissolution and how Amazonian tribal communities use plant medicines. She also researched and wrote a new measure for ego dissolution. See BekPlants to learn more.

Dr. Sabrina Hadeed, author of “How To Survive the Cultapocalypse” spoke about spiritual bypassing and the ways to develop discernment and critical thinking so that folks are not exploited within the psychedelic field.

Mario Alonso Oneiros spoke about the phenomenology Indigenous cosmology within ceremony and ritual and how this relates to psychedelic ceremonies.

Kate Cook on the importance of neurobiology of attunement, the theories of Drs. Dan Siegel & Steve Porges

Dr. Joseph Barsuglia on Ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT as novel interventions for addiction and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Dr. Beth Saltzman on how to use Ketamine for reducing pain and existential distress at the end of life; and talking about death openly as a way to reduce fear.

Dr. Melanie Velez from Portland, Oregon--spoke about being a psilocybin facilitator in a state where the service is legal and medicaid reimbursement for Ketamine.

Ingaborg Vicente (Jicarilla Apache) & Grace Nailor (Picuris Pueblo) spoke about the differences between Western approaches and Indigenous perspectives on the use of ceremony in healing processes.

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 and cosmology of psychedelic-assisted therapy in Mexico.

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.