Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies · Mind Medicine Australia
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Certificate in
Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies (CPAT)

The Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies (CPAT) by Mind Medicine Australia (MMA) has been developed primarily to meet the anticipated demand for trained therapists to provide regulatory-approved and research-backed psychedelic-assisted therapies for the treatment of mental ill-health in Australia. It is also expected that trained clinicians will be needed to work in research trials as they expand in Australia.

The training certificate follows world best practice following review of current practices including protocols developed by MAPS and the REBUS model developed at Imperial College London.

Application deadline

Goals and overall philosophy

  • To provide therapists with a working knowledge of state change and stage change theory and technique.
  • To provide a theory of mind perspective to conceptualisation and management of state change techniques.
  • To train therapists for the roll out of psychedelic-assisted therapies in Australia. MDMA and psilocybin will be rescheduled in Australia from July 1, allowing trained psychiatrists to prescribe under tight restrictions. It is of utmost importance that psychiatrists and members of their team have completed in depth training to ensure good outcomes.
  • To help with the mental health crisis. The number of people suffering is growing, and this is being accelerated by crises such as the recent bush fires in Australia and the worldwide covid-19 pandemic.
  • To contribute to change of attitude and support changes to the law.
  • Many people are already accessing these substances illegally or legally overseas, many of them in an attempt to find help with mental health difficulties. They are frequently left with inadequate support and opportunity to integrate and sustain any gains they may have experienced, or to deal with the aftermath of any difficult experiences. There is a need for more professionals available to do this work.
  • To help establish standards for safe and ethical practice in the field.
  • To bring together medical approaches, good psychotherapy standards, and transpersonal aspects (recognised as a key factor in promoting long-term benefit).
  • To further knowledge and interest in the change and healing process, and contribute to the growing body of knowledge and expertise in the field.

How the course was developed

The development of the CPAT program has relied on significant collaboration with colleagues with considerable psychotherapeutic skill and knowledge. The teaching program incorporates live face-to-face lectures and webcasts, self-study and direct teaching of skills and experiential workshops led by this team. For more details of members of the teaching team please see below.

While incorporating the best of components from courses overseas, the Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies is also offered in the spirit of respect and acknowledgement of the local context within Australia. The first program in 2021 was the very first course of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

Mind Medicine Australia has listened to feedback from people keen to participate and has developed the course length and requirements to be accessible to people who are traveling from all over Australia and beyond. We also understand the need to make the course as widely available as possible to working therapists, who have time and financial pressures shaping their capacity to meet the demands of the course.

The CPAT faculty is committed to maintaining the highest quality possible, and so the course presents academic, didactic and skills development components in a hybrid model of online, live and self-study components.

We are also aware that there is a very long history of traditional use of these substances (as well as others not as well known) and practices for various healing and spiritual growth purposes in every continent in the world. Teaching about this history is part of the course. Incorporating input from traditional practitioners from various sources is an ambition we hold with high value for the future as reality permits.

For now, our focus is to start with training therapists primarily focused on meeting the needs of the mental health crisis, working within research programs and a medically supported environment, and providing integrative and other therapeutic work with the users of these substances.

The course will provide you with skills to:

The Faculty

Dr Gita Vaid (USA)

MD

Dr Gita Vaid MD is CPAT’s International Course Director.

Dr Gita Vaid is a Board Certified Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst practicing in New York City. Dr Vaid completed her residency training at NYU Medical Center and her psychoanalytic training at the Institute for Psychoanalytic Education affiliated with NYU. Her early biological and research background includes a completed fellowship in clinical psychopharmacology and neurophysiology at New York Medical College and a research fellowship at NYU Medical Center.

Dr Vaid is currently on faculty and teaches at both IPE and the NYU department of Psychiatry. She has a special interest in teaching interview technique, psychoanalytic theory and British object relations.

Dr Vaid’s current focus and expertise are in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. She is a MAPS trained psychedelic therapist and was part of the NY site Phase 3 MDMA psychotherapy study for PTSD.

Dr Vaid is a leader in ketamine assisted psychotherapy which she practices and teaches in New York City.  She serves as a lead instructor at The Ketamine Training Center with psychedelic psychotherapy pioneer, Dr. Phil Wolfson. She is a co-founder of the Center for Natural Intelligence, a multidisciplinary laboratory dedicated to psychedelic psychotherapy innovation and research. She serves as the Director of Psychedelic Awareness and Consciousness research at The Chopra Foundation and with Dr. Deepak Chopra is currently developing protocols integrating meditation with ketamine assisted psychotherapy.

Current publications include:

Vaid G, Walker B. “Psychedelic Psychotherapy: Building Wholeness Through Connection”. Glob Adv Health Med. 2022 Feb 23;11

Gita Vaid, MD, “Psychoanalysis and Psychedelic Psychotherapy : A New Modern Synthesis?” The Wounds of Our Mother Psychoanalysis – New Models for a Psychoanalysis in Crisis.

Dr Eli Kotler (AUS)

MBBS MPM FRANZCP Cert. Old Age Psych. AFRACMA

Dr Eli Kotler is CPAT’s Australian Course Director.

Dr Eli Kotler is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Psychodynamic Psychotherapist. He is the Medical Director of Malvern Private Hospital, an addiction and trauma hospital in Melbourne. Eli completed the inaugural Mind Medicine Australia Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies (CPAT) course, and has since been on its Faculty.

As a psychiatric trainee, Eli was awarded the Royal College of Psychiatrists Trainee Prize for his Scholarly Project on Depression, as well as a Research Committee Trainee award for his work on Philosophy of Mind. As an adjunct lecturer at Monash University, he oversees medical students on their addiction medicine rotation. He has been invited as a keynote speaker to several conferences and meetings to discuss addictions, trauma and psychedelics. Eli sits on the Committee of the ANZMHA to help organise their yearly addiction conference. He also sits on the inaugural Clinical Advisory Group for the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. Eli is an Associate Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators, and is a member of the Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs. He also has extensive research experience with novel therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases.

Due to his interest in trauma, Eli has been appointed an Independent Medical Examiner by WorkSafe Victoria. He has been appointed by the Minister for Workplace Safety to sit on the Victorian Medical Panels, and is an expert witness in historical abuse cases.

Clinically, Eli works in a psychodynamic framework, and attempts to help his patients find freedom from their addictions and trauma through relational experiences, and experiential self-awareness. He is part of the AFL Player’s Association referral network for addiction issues, and his interests in depth-psychology and neuroscience led him to found the Melbourne Neuropsychoanalytic Group.  Eli is a Board Director of Mind Medicine Australia.

Dr Ben Sessa (UK)

MBBS, B.SC, MRC PSYCH

Dr Ben Sessa is one of CPAT’s Residential Facilitators.

Dr Ben Sessa is a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist who has worked with young people and adults in the field of addictions and trauma-related psychiatry for over 20 years. For the last 15 years Ben has been at the forefront of psychedelic research in the UK through his affiliations with Bristol University and Imperial College London, under the auspices of Professor David Nutt. He has taken part as a study doctor and as a healthy subject both receiving and / or administering MDMA, psilocybin, LSD, DMT and ketamine in multiple UK research  studies. He runs one of the first UK-based medical cannabis prescribing clinics. Ben is the Chief Medical Officer at AWAKN Life Sciences, a new start-up company opening Europe’s first psychedelic medical clinic, which will be providing psychedelic therapies, therapist training courses and conducting independent research. Ben is the co-founder and former president of Europe’s largest psychedelic conference, Breaking Convention.

Dr Lauren Macdonald (UK)

BMBS, BSc, PGCert

Dr Lauren Macdonald is one of CPAT’s Residential Facilitators.

Lauren is a psychiatry doctor and therapy guide at the Centre for Psychedelic Research, Imperial College London. She currently works on trials studying psilocybin-assisted therapy for anorexia nervosa and fibromyalgia, and DMT for treatment-resistant depression. Alongside her clinical work she is a retreat facilitator and co-founder at Essence Medicine, an organisation providing psycho-spiritual care to people facing life threatening illness. She has degrees in Medicine and Psychology, and has undertaken further training in Integrative Medicine, Compassionate Inquiry, Yoga, and Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies).

Francoise Bourzat (USA)

MA

Francoise Bourzat holds an MA in Somatic Psychology from New College of California (San Francisco, 1990). She was an adjunct faculty in the East West Psychology Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies from 2012 to 2016. Since 1987, Francoise has apprenticed with shamans and healers in the U.S. and Mexico. In the last 25 years, she has traveled with groups to Mexico, incorporating her counseling practice experience with her knowledge of expanded states of consciousness where she partners with Mazatec healers in Sacred Mushrooms ceremonies. She also leads workshops and contributes to conferences internationally. Her book, Consciousness Medicine is available everywhere books are sold.

Professor Arthur Christopoulos (AUS)

BPharm, PH.D, FAA, FAHMS

Arthur Christopoulos is Professor of Analytical Pharmacology, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Director of the Neuromedicines Discovery Centre, Monash University, Parkville, Australia. Prior to his appointment as Dean, he was a Senior Principal Research Fellow of the NHMRC. His work focuses on novel paradigms of drug action at G protein-coupled receptors, the largest drug-target class for current medicines, and has been applied to fundamental and translational studies encompassing neurological and psychiatric disorders, cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and chronic pain.

Professor Christopoulos has over 340 publications, including in leading journals such as Nature, Science and Cell. He has also been the recipient of multiple major national and international awards. Since 2014-present, Clarivate Analytics have named him a Highly Cited Researcher in Pharmacology and Toxicology, and in 2021 also named him a Highly Cited Researcher in Biology & Biochemistry. In 2017, he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and in 2021 was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

Dr Rick Doblin (USA)

BSc, PH.D

Rick Doblin, Ph.D., is the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He received his doctorate in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where he wrote his dissertation on the regulation of the medical uses of psychedelics and marijuana and his Master’s thesis on a survey of oncologists about smoked marijuana vs. the oral THC pill in nausea control for cancer patients. His undergraduate thesis at New College of Florida was a 25-year follow-up to the classic Good Friday Experiment, which evaluated the potential of psychedelic drugs to catalyze religious experiences. He also conducted a thirty-four year follow-up study to Timothy Leary’s Concord Prison Experiment. Rick studied with Dr Stanislav Grof and was among the first to be certified as a Holotropic Breathwork practitioner. His professional goal is to help develop legal contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription medicines but also for personal growth for otherwise healthy people, and eventually to become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist. He founded MAPS in 1986, and currently resides in Boston with his wife and empty rooms from three children who are all in college or recently graduated.

Dr James Fadiman (USA)

BA, Ph.D

Dr James Fadiman B.A. (Harvard) M.A., Ph.D. (Stanford) began his  personal psychedelic research a few weeks before starting his graduate work at Stanford where he did his dissertation on the effectiveness of LSD-assisted therapy.  During the research lull of 40 years, he has held a variety of teaching (San Francisco State, Brandeis, and Stanford) consulting, training, counseling and editorial positions. He has taught in psychology departments, design engineering, and for three decades, at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (now Sofia University) that he co-founded.

James has published textbooks, professional books, a self-help book, a novel, and a series of videos, Drugs: the children are choosing for National Public Television. His books have been published in 8 languages. He has been the subject of a one-hour documentary released by Page3 Films, featured in a National Geographic documentary and had three solo shows of his nature photography.

James had his own consulting firm and sat on two non-profit boards as well as having been the president of several small natural resource companies. He has been involved in researching psychedelic for spiritual, therapeutic and creative uses and is known for his pioneering work on microdosing .  He has published The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys, and most recently, Your Symphony of Selves: Discover and Understand More of Who You Are. The book he is writing now has the working title All About Microdosing.

Rachel Harris

PhD

Rachel Harris is the author of Swimming in the Sacred and Listening to Ayahuasca. A psychologist who has been in private practice for 40 years, she spent 10 years in an academic research department where she published more than 40 scientific studies in peer-reviewed journals and received a National Institutes of Health New Investigator’s Award.  Rachel splits her time between an island in Maine and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dr Gabor Maté CM

BA, MD, Doctor of Laws (honoris causa)

Gabor Maté (pronunciation: GAH-bor MAH-tay) is a retired physician who, after 20 years of family practice and palliative care experience, worked for over a decade in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side with patients challenged by drug addiction and mental illness. The bestselling author of four books published in twenty-five languages, Gabor is an internationally renowned speaker highly sought after for his expertise on addiction, trauma, childhood development, and the relationship of stress and illness.

Gabor’s book on addiction received the Hubert Evans Prize for literary non-fiction. For his groundbreaking medical work and writing he has been awarded the Order of Canada, his country’s highest civilian distinction, and the Civic Merit Award from his hometown, Vancouver. His books include In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction; When the Body Says No; The Cost of Hidden Stress; Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder; and (with Gordon Neufeld) Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers. To learn more, join his enews list at www.drgabormate.com.

Dr David E. Nichols (USA)

BSc, PH.D

Dr David E. Nichols, PhD is an Adjunct Professor of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  Previously he held the Robert C. and Charlotte P. Anderson Distinguished Chair in Pharmacology and was a Distinguished Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at the Purdue University College of Pharmacy.  He received his B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Cincinnati in 1969, and the PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Iowa in 1973, following which he did postdoctoral work in pharmacology at the University of Iowa, College of Medicine.  In 2004 he was named the Irwin H. Page Lecturer by the International Society for Serotonin Research and in 2006 he received the first Provost’s Outstanding Graduate Mentor award from Purdue University.  He has published more than 300 scientific articles, most of which deal with the relationship between molecular structure and biological action.

Professor David Nutt (UK)

BA, MB BChir, MRCP, MA, DM, MRC Psych, FRCPsych, FMedSci, FRCP, FSB

Professor David Nutt is a renowned researcher, policy advisor and author, who is currently Head of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London.

Under the leadership of Professor Nutt, the Psychedelic Research Group at Imperial College is one of the world’s foremost psychedelic research laboratories, publishing landmark research on psychedelic therapies and neuroimaging studies of the psychedelic state.

Professor Nutt has also held many leadership positions in both UK and European academic, scientific and clinical organisations, including presidencies of: the European Brain Council, the British Neuroscience Association, the British Association of Psychopharmacology, the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

He was previously Chair of the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.

Sara Reed (USA)

MS LMFT

Sara Reed is a mental health futurist and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She has spent her early career examining ways culture informs how we diagnose and treat mental illnesses. Sara has participated as a study therapist and participant in psychedelic therapy research and is currently the lead study therapist at Imperial College London for their psilocybin for OCD trial. She lectures on topics fusing culturally sensitive practices within psychedelic-assisted therapy and advises organizations on anti-oppressive and inclusive practices.

Dr William (Bill) Richards (USA)

PH.D

Dr William A. Richards (Bill), author of Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences,  is Director of Therapy at Sunstone Therapies in Rockville, Maryland (USA), currently focused on the implementation of psychedelic-assisted therapy in palliative care.

Bill also is a psychologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research in Baltimore,  where he and his colleagues have been pursuing research with psilocybin since 1999, and teaches at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Bill’s graduate degrees encompass the psychology of religion, theology,  comparative religion and clinical psychology.

Bill’s involvement with psychedelic research originated in Germany at the University of Göttingen in 1963.  From 1967 to 1977, he pursued research with LSD, DPT, MDA and psilocybin at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center.

Licia Sky

Licia Sky is co-founder and CEO of the Trauma Research Foundation. She is also a somatic educator, bodyworker, artist, and musician. She guides transformational experiences incorporating dynamic observational exercises, music, movement, and touch to foster safe, transformative inner and interpersonal connection. Her methods are informed by over 30 years as an artist, musician, bodywork therapist, yoga practitioner, and dancer, integrating poly-vagal theory, parts work, and the latest research on trauma and the body.

Dr Bessel van der Kolk (USA)

MD

Dr Bessel van der Kolk MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine and President, Trauma Research Foundation, has spent his career studying how children and adults adapt to traumatic experiences, and have tried to translate emerging findings from pharmacology, neuroscience and attachment research to develop and study potentially effective treatments for traumatic stress in children and adults.

In 1984, Dr van der Kolk set up one of the first clinical/research centers in the US dedicated to study and treatment of traumatic stress in civilian populations, which has trained numerous researchers and clinicians specializing in the study and treatment of traumatic stress, and which has been continually funded to research the impact of traumatic stress and effective treatment interventions. He conducted the first studies on the effects of SSRIs on PTSD; he was a member of the first neuroimaging team to investigate how trauma changes brain processes, and he did the first research linking BPD and deliberate self-injury to trauma and neglect in early childhood.

Currently, Dr van der Kolk is Principal Investigator of the Boston arm of the MAPS 1 and 2 studies on the effects of MDMA on people with chronic PTSD. His seminal book The Body keeps the Score , has been on the New York Times best seller list for over 230 weeks, and has been translated into 42 different languages.

Barry Walker

M.Ed., LMHC

Barry Walker is a state licensed psychotherapist in New York with over thirty years of experience. His primary focus – anxiety as the motherboard of ‘disorders’. He has a career-long interest in states of consciousness in different personality structures. He also researches the role of psychedelic substances used adjunct to psychotherapy, especially in trauma treatment.

Dr Philip Wolfson (USA)

MD

Dr Philip Wolfson MD is Principal Investigator for the MAPS sponsored Phase 2, FDA approved 18-person study of MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy for individuals with significant anxiety due to life threatening illnesses. His clinical practice with ketamine has informed his leadership role in the development of Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy. Phil’s book The Ketamine Papers has been published by MAPS and is the seminal work in the burgeoning ketamine arena. Phil is a sixties activist, psychiatrist/psychotherapist, writer, practicing Buddhist and psychonaut who has lived in the Bay Area for 38 years. He is the author of Noe – A Father/Son Song of Love, Life, Illness and Death (2011, North Atlantic Books).

In the 1980s, he participated in clinical research with MDMA (Ecstasy). He has been awarded five patents for unique herbal medicines. He is a journalist and author of numerous articles on politics, transformation, psychedelics, consciousness and spirit, and was a founding member of the Heffter Research Institute. Phil has taught in the graduate psychology programs at JFK University, CIIS and the UCSF School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry.

MORE TEACHERS TO BE ANNOUNCED... please watch this space

Course structure and contents

The course will take place over a period of 4 months with:

  • Over 90 hours of live or webinar-based tuition, and practical instruction
  • Additional reading, reflection and self-study expected of participants
  • Pre-course reading schedule
  • 12 online 2-3 hour sessions: delivered on Sundays, containing lectures with our world class faculty and practical skill development.
  • One 6-day Intensive Retreat: with primary focus on practical learning and consolidating of therapeutic skills, working with videos of real sessions, role play, feedback on skills learning and further development guidance. The intensive uses Holotropic Breathwork to allow participants to experience altered state based therapy and to apply  the clinical skills they have developed during the course.
  • Final evaluations – a written task, plus evaluation of performance throughout the course

Contents:

  • Psychedelic research: overview of history and current status
  • Psychedelic medicines: neuropharmacology and actions
  • The application of psychedelic substances in the treatment of mental illness
  • Conducting psychedelic therapy sessions: Set, setting, preparation, dosing, integration
  • Therapeutic relationship dynamics, including boundaries, ethics and navigating touch in psychedelic-assisted therapy
  • The law, ethics and regulations
    The role of music in psychedelic-assisted therapy
  • Navigating challenging experiences
  • Observation of psychedelic sessions, video and live role-play exercises
  • Therapeutic models and their applications in psychedelic-assisted therapies as well as ongoing supportive integration work
  • Complementary therapeutic techniques
  • Working within different team settings and configurations
  • Working with spiritual/mystical/transpersonal experiences
  • The Wounded Healer and the importance of self-care

Testimonials

As a psychotherapist I have undertaken many varied courses and trainings and am happy to say that the CPAT training has for me, been absolutely up there with the best. Nigel and Traill’s experience, presence, skill, and teachings stretched me both professionally and personally, and I am already seeing the results in my ‘everyday’ clinical practice and life. I am so grateful for this amazing training. Thank you.

Pamela Pannifex, Psychotherapist, NSW

“Mind Medicine Australia continues to impress. I have completed various higher education qualifications, as well as the less formal experiential retreats and personal development courses, from the quirky, to the evidence based. The CPAT provides a holistic framework that encapsulates a strong academic approach and faculty with a truly authentic therapeutic model. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the CPAT is life changing.”

Kelly Rae, Psychotherapist, NSW

“The CPAT has exceeded all expectations I had when I applied. I highly recommend this course to anyone in the field. The expertise and networking are second to none. I feel part of something that will change the future of mental health in Australia.”

something that will change the future of mental health in Australia.” Vasileios Tsaikalis, Psychotherapist, NSW

“This weekend was the most rounded professional development I can remember doing – I felt nourished in mind, soul and body. Not usually a networker, I surprised myself by connecting with many people that I am sincerely looking forward to meeting again and hopefully working with in the future. Even though the programme was intense, I feel inspired not exhausted; I think this is because there was such a supportive and empathic group of facilitators and participants. My gratitude to Mind Medicine Australia – I’m wearing our T-shirt as I sit at the airport & type, just hoping for when someone asks me what this is all about!”

Dr Ria Leonard, Psychiatrist, NSW

“The most engaging, interesting and enjoyable course I have attended.”

Dr Eoin Wilson, Psychiatrist, NSW

The course to date has been priceless and an invaluable opportunity to be a part of the medicine work moving into the future. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

Jon Hart, Psychologist, QLD

In my 30 years of work as a psychologist, I have never attended such an engaging and informative course of this calibre. The lecturers are world class experts in the field providing not just theories but also practical teachings along with experiential training. This course broadens my mind and also my heart.

Maurizio Romano, Psychotherapist

The CPAT course is amazing. Never ever ever have I been so engrossed and hungry for knowledge. The calibre of the educators is exceptional. If you are thinking about doing this course do it without hesitation. It is the bomb.

Gareth Wild, Coaching/Couselling Psychologist

The CPAT course totally surpassed all my expectations. The lecturers and guest speakers were outstanding and world class. I went into this course with a bit of hesitance due to the fact that this therapy isn’t legal yet outside of clinical trials. I am so glad that I followed my intuition and went ahead regardless. I have made lifelong connections and friendships with extraordinary like minded people. This course has not only changed the way I currently work with my psychotherapy clients but I would go as far as to say that it has changed the trajectory of my career and life. I am forever grateful.

Nikki Lucas, Psychotherapist, SA

Download the testimonials from our previous intakes: Download pdf (389.0 KB) Last updated: Dec 15, 2022

Course accreditation

Mind Medicine Australia’s Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies is endorsed as professional development training by the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM), Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine, College of Mental Health Nurses, and is recognised as professional development and training for qualified members of the Australian Association of Psychologists Inc, Psychotherapy and Counselling Institute of Australia (PACFA) and the Australian & New Zealand College of Cannabinoid Practitioners. It may also form the basis of individual professional development and training plans. All our training courses and events can also be used to claim ongoing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points in Australia through professional colleges (e.g. through the Australian Psychological Society, RANZCP, RACGP…).

Please check with your professional membership body for the appropriate category and number of points.

Eligibility requirements

The Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies course aims to build on skills already acquired and used by professionals working in various therapeutic contexts.

Psychedelic-assisted therapies are being administered in trials around the world by multidisciplinary teams.

The model involves initial prescription, preparatory sessions, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy sessions, and integrative follow-up sessions.

The three main roles in administering these therapies are the Prescriber, Lead Therapist and Support Facilitator. Psychedelic-assisted therapists can be both prescribers and therapists if they hold both relevant medical and therapeutic qualifications.

On this basis, people with the following qualifications may apply:

Acceptance into the course will rest on three main factors:

The focus of MMA’s CPAT is on the clinical application of medicinal psilocybin and medicinal MDMA for certain classes of mental illness in a regulatory approved manner. At the current time, these treatments are only legally available in Australia in particular circumstances (which can differ from State to State), and then only after specific regulatory approvals have first been obtained.  Given the current legal position we cannot accept any person into the course if we believe, on reasonable grounds, that that person is using or intends to use, these treatments in breach of the law.  We also cannot condone in any way the illegal use of these substances.

CPD Points:

Psychologist

Social Worker

Psychiatrist

General Practitioners

Student Code of Conduct

Fees and payment

Application fee: $250 (non-refundable)

plus

Course fee: $9000 (or $8000 upfront payment in full)

Payment Structure:

  • $250 application fee collected at time of application plus upfront payment in full

Then

  • One upfront payment of $8000 or 3 payments of $3000 will be issued (to be paid in full before course completion) upon acceptance into the course
  • Please note that the first payment (of either $8000 or $3000 is required to secure your place in the course)

Payment Method:

  1. The $250 application fee will be processed by PayPal. You will be taken to the PayPal site upon completion of the application form.
  2. MMA will issue your invoice(s) for remaining course fees upon acceptance into the course.

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Cost of the course includes:

  • World-class program, developed in conjunction with leading international program
  • First in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region
  • Taught by international leaders and top Australian experts
  • 90 hours of live face-to-face and webinar teaching
  • Additional reading and teaching material supporting tuition
  • One weeklong residential intensive. Accommodation and meals included.
  • Residential week provides direct, personalised skill development and practical exercises, assessment and risk management skills.
  • Supervised practice/mentoring as required by the course
  • Monitoring of skill development through on-going evaluation and coursework
  • Therapists learn skills for working in different settings: research programs, individual psychedelic therapeutic interventions within medical settings for a range of mental illness conditions, and the provision of psychological therapy and integration work outside of these settings.

Financial assistance

Financial assistance is available for our Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies (CPAT)!

Funding is available for outstanding practitioners in financial need and those from rural, regional areas and/or those from indigenous or other diverse groups to support part of the tuition fees for the course. Some financial assistance is available on a competitive basis.

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Mind Medicine Australia group photo

Course dates

Course 7,8 and 9: Sunday 16 July – Sunday 29 October 2023

Pre-reading: Will be emailed on 03 July 2023

Weekly online webinars on Sunday mornings and evenings.
First meeting: 16 July 2023
Final meeting: 29 October 2023
Week-long Intensive: Course 7 (NSW): Mon Oct 23 – Sat Oct 28^

 

Course 8 (VIC): Mon Oct 30 – Sat Nov 4^

 

Course 9 (VIC) Mon Nov 6 – Sat Nov 11
Final submission of coursework 13 November 2023
^Reached capacity

How to apply

Applications open:
Are open for intakes 7/8 (Applicants will be considered in order of receipt. We expect the program to be over-subscribed so please register early to avoid disappointment.)

Screening and interview/finalise applicants:
Your application is processed as received and contact is made directly to assess further and arrange an interview

Application process

Step 1: Complete the Application Form, including payment of your $250 application processing fee.

Step 2: Applications will be screened, and if successful invited to an interview. Interviews will begin in March.

Step 3: If successful in your interview, you will be invited to join the course. You’ll be issued a student agreement and  invoice for either $8000 upfront payment or 3 x $3000. Your place in the course will be secured upon receipt of your signed student agreement and your first payment.

Apply Now

Application Form

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Terms and Conditions

By submitting an enrolment application for the Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies (CPAT), you acknowledge that you have read and accepted these Terms and Conditions.

1. Enrolment

  1. A non-refundable processing fee of $250 is required for your application to proceed further.
  2. You will be required to sign a Student Code of Conduct. This is required for your application to proceed.
  3. All information contained in your application and interview process is assumed to be correct and true to the best of your knowledge. In the event that any information is discovered to be false, your right to attend the course may be forfeited.

2 Fees

  1. Prices are inclusive of GST
  2. There is an Application fee of $250 (non-refundable)
  3. The Course fee is $9000 (or $8000 upfront payment in full)
    Payment Structure:
  4. $8000 upfront payment in full
    Or
  5. $9000 paid in instalments
    1. $3000 initial payment – due with the submission of your application
    2. $3000 second instalment payment – will be invoiced separately
    3. $3000 third and final instalment payment – will be invoiced separately
  6. If your application does not progress further than the interview stage, then your course fee will be refunded.
  7. On acceptance to the course, you will be required to pay the remainder of the full course fee as per the dates on the invoice sent to you. If you require a payment plan this can be ​arranged by contacting Mind Medicine Australia prior to the invoice being sent, or within 10 business days of the invoice date.
    Where a student withdraws from study 28 days prior to commencement of a course they will receive a refund of their tuition fees paid less an administration fee of $50. There will be no refund of the application fee.
  8. Failure to make payment/s by agreed dates or failing to enter a payment plan may result in the cancellation of your enrolment without a refund, Certificates ​cannot be issued until course fees are paid in full.
  9. The course fee is derived from the following factors:
    • 90 hours of live face-to-face and webinar teaching
    • Additional reading and teaching material supporting tuition
    • Three intensives
      • one non-residential weekend in Melbourne
      • one residential weekend, accommodation and meals included
      • one-week residential, accommodation and meals included
    • Holotropic Breathwork workshop (during residential weekend): cost of Grof- trained therapist included
    • Residential week provides direct, personalised skill development and practical exercises, assessment and risk management skills.
    • Supervised practice/mentoring as required by the course*
    • Monitoring of skill development through ongoing evaluation and coursework

3. Changes to the program

  1. Mind Medicine Australia reserves the right to make changes to the program with regard to teachers, content, dates and venues should unforeseen circumstances make this necessary. Mind Medicine Australia agrees to make every effort to maintain the overall standard and integrity of the program.
  2. Mind Medicine Australia is not liable to refund the costs of the program or make any compensation in the event of force majeure, excluding travel restrictions or limitations due to the COVID-19 crisis.

4. Student Code of Conduct

  1. You are required to sign and submit the Student Code of Conduct and agree to these Terms & Conditions.

5. Attendance

  1. You agree that you will make every effort to attend all lectures/webinars, to carry out any required set tasks and/or projects.
  2. You agree that attendance of the three intensives is essential to this program and not negotiable. Failure to attend will result in non-compliance with essential program elements being recorded.
  3. You agree that attendance at these events will be at your own risk, and that Mind Medicine Australia or any staff or teachers will not be liable in the event of accident or injury.
  4. If you fail to attend and complete required tasks and/or projects you will be asked to leave the program without compensation or reimbursement.

6. Confidentiality

  1. You agree that you will keep confidential any patient or client-sensitive material which may be part of discussions, demonstrations or teaching materials presented by anyone attending the program as well as program leaders and teachers.
  2. You agree that any personal information of fellow participants arising during the program will similarly be treated as confidential.

7. Ownership and intellectual property rights

  1. All CPAT materials, whether provided online or during face-to-face intensives, are owned by Mind Medicine Australia. All intellectual property rights in all materials available from Mind Medicine Australia, including the design, graphics and text of all printed materials and the audio of all webinars and podcasts, are owned by Mind Medicine Australia. The exception is any printed or audio material not created by Mind Medicine Australia or not produced specifically as part of the program.
  2. When you are given access to the CPAT, you are granted a non-exclusive, non- transferable and revocable licence to use the materials. No CPAT content may be copied, reproduced, uploaded, posted, displayed or linked to in any way, in whole or in part, without the Mind Medicine Australia’s prior permission. Any such use is strictly prohibited and will constitute an infringement of Mind Medicine Australia’s intellectual property rights.
  3. You agree that attending any webinars will be only for yourself, and that you will not permit any person not registered to sit in on the sessions.
  4. You agree that no part of any live or web-based event in the program will be recorded or transmitted by you in any way.

8. Breaches

  1. In the event of violations of any of the terms above, an evaluation of the severity of the breach will be made by the program leaders, following which:
  2. An attempt at remediation may be discussed with you, if this is unsuccessful, a formal warning will be issued.
  3. If the breach is deemed to be serious, you will be asked to leave the program without compensation or reimbursement.

*Subject to regulatory requirements

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Student Code of Conduct

Mind Medicine Australia is seeking to establish safe and effective psychedelic-assisted therapies for the treatment of mental illness in Australia. MMA is focused specifically on the clinical application of medicinal psilocybin and medicinal MDMA for the treatment of certain mental illnesses.

We do not advocate for recreational use of psychedelics, MDMA, or any other prohibited substances*, nor do we advocate for any changes to the law with respect to recreational use. Our focus is wholly clinical.

Mind Medicine Australia requires allied health professionals, psychotherapists and general participants wishing to participate in the Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies to agree to the following Code of Conduct during the professional development program.

Participants will not:

Attendance Requirements:

Failure to follow these guidelines could result in losing a place in the CPAT program.

Thank you for working with us to ensure that we deliver a high quality, safe and reputable CPAT program.

* Psychedelics or psychedelic substances are described as ‘psychoactive substances’ by the Victoria State Government.

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