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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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
The course will take place over a period of 4 months with:
Download the testimonials from our previous intakes: Download pdf (389.0 KB) Last updated: Dec 15, 2022
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.
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.
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:
Application fee: $250 (non-refundable)
plus
Course fee: $9000 (or $8000 upfront payment in full)
Then
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.
Course 7,8 and 9: Sunday 16 July – Sunday 29 October 2023Pre-reading: Will be emailed on 03 July 2023 Weekly online webinars on Sunday mornings and evenings. |
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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 |
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
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.
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.
*Subject to regulatory requirements
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:
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.