GUIDING PSYCHEDELIC PSYCHOTHERAPY:
Transforming Yourself and Your Clients with Psychedelic Therapy
A FOUR-MONTH CERTIFICATION COURSE IN THE SPIRITUAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF CONDUCTING SAFE AND EFFECTIVE MEDICINE JOURNEYS
A course for those who are called to do deeper transformational psychotherapy work.
You will learn the tools that are necessary for healing yourself and others with psychedelic medicines.
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I’m Dr. Candida Maurer. I have a PhD in psychology with over 45 years of psychotherapy experience. As I look back, I realize that my psychedelic journey began in my early 20’s when I was using psychedelic medicine with friends. I was “lost” back then and had no idea what I was supposed to do or become. I was floundering and depressed and anxious, and I had not developed a moral center. I can truthfully say that psychedelics changed, and maybe saved, my life!
Over time, I became the person that several of my friends turned to for support when they were having a “bad trip.” I didn’t know it at the time, but I was already showing a natural aptitude for helping others who were scared when they found themselves in an altered state of awareness.
After several years of not taking myself seriously, I stopped taking all psychedelics, and I went to graduate school and received a master’s degree in counseling. Soon after, I got married, had children, got divorced, and went back to school as a single parent to get a PhD in Counseling Psychology. I was fortunate to meet a really good man, Dr. Michael Santangelo, who was also a psychologist. We had an immediate sympatico that resulted in a 35-year marriage.
During our time together, Michael and I created Eastwind Healing Center, the first, and largest, integrative medicine center in the state of Iowa. Along the way, we taught many classes in alternative medicine. These included Chinese medicine, shiatsu, energy medicine, Reiki, hypnosis, dreamwork, ethics, quantum healing, and other esoteric subjects. We combined these teachings with psychology and integrated these methods into our healing practices. I also taught hypnosis, dream analysis, and psychological theory and practice at the graduate school level. And we were really busy!
After a long illness, Michael passed away in 2018. Needless to say, I was filled with grief and at loose ends. Then, just as psychedelic research was coming into focus in the public arena, I found Michael Pollan’s book called How to Change Your Mind. In it, Pollan explores psychedelic therapies and research in a manner that opened the minds of many who were looking for better alternative methods of healing. It is a book full of hope, and it inspired me to pursue training in psychedelic therapy.
I applied to the Certification in Psychedelic Therapy and Research program at CIIS in San Francisco. There, I Iearned from the best researchers in the country how psychedelic research was being used to bring these medicines into legality in the United States. I also learned that there is literally no other psychiatric medication that brings the level of healing that psychedelics are demonstrating.
I attained certification and returned to Iowa City, and then Covid came. It was clear that I wouldn’t be doing psychedelic therapy anytime soon, and like many therapists, I moved my therapy practice to zoom. After a year of Covid, I still knew that I was supposed to work with psychedelics, and I contacted a psychiatrist who I had heard was interested in psychedelic therapy. He connected me with the Head of the Department of Psychiatry at the University Hospital and a plan was born in the minds of the three of us.
The plan took off and I am the lead therapist at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics doing research to compare psychedelic medications for alleviation of alcoholism.
As far as I’m concerned, psychedelic medicine is the future of psychology!
A Picture that IS worth a thousand words!
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Legality: There is a question about the legality of this work, and at this time, psychedelics are still not approved by the FDA, though that may be changing soon. That being said, there is a huge underground of psychedelic therapy being done in our country and all over the world. Unfortunately, much of it is not being done ethically or effectively. You will learn ways to avoid the pitfalls of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, and how to turn challenging trips into transformational trips.
The National Institutes of Health estimates that over 30 million people have used psychedelic medicine, and most of this has been underground. So, if you do not work in a legal research setting as a therapist, there are still ways that you can help! You will learn how to prepare people for psychedelic journeys, and you can learn how to help them integrate past journeys they have taken. All of this can be done without ever guiding an actual trip. Good preparation and deep integration of the psychedelic experience are the biggest shortfalls in most journeys, and helping others navigate these medicine experiences is just as important as the trip itself.
I know several therapists who report that their clients are asking them about guiding a psychedelic journey. There is also an Iowa state senator who is promoting a bill to decriminalize plant medicines, similar to what has already happened in Colorado, Oregon, and many cities across the United States. Additionally, several states have current legislative bills for decriminalizing these medicines. Things are changing!
Because of the great results in research for alleviation of PTSD, there is also pressure from veteran’s groups trying to get psychedelics legalized. At this point, it appears that MDMA may become legalized in the next year or two. Psilocybin is now in Phase III trials (the final phase), and should be legalized once these data are reported.
Psychedelics have been linked to deep emotional processing, which allows people to explore trauma, fear, and anxiety in ways that they haven’t been able to before. The science is showing us that approximately 70% of people are healed by psychedelic therapy. And yes, I said healed! Sometimes this happens in just one psychedelic experience.
In research, 61% of people report that psychedelic therapy is the most important event of their lifetime, while 83% of people describe their journey as one of the top five events in their lifetime. They compare it to events such as marriage, the birth of a child, and the death of a loved one.
If you feel called to help people in a deeper and more lasting manner, this is the way to do it. And it is a calling! It’s a call to your personal desire to move into higher awareness. It’s a call to help the people you haven’t been able to help before. And it’s a call toward the future.
If you take this work seriously, you will experience a higher sense of consciousness in your own life. For when we engage in the higher realms of our human journey, we are changed. Truly, for yourself and for others, this is the future of healing.
Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Class — Begins on February 7, 2025
Schedule: We will meet in person on Fridays, from 9-noon in the Heartland Yoga Studio. We will also have a one-hour coaching, consultation, and Q & A once a week on zoom on Thursdays at 10am.
There will be a homework assignment every week that will help you deepen your knowledge of our next discussion. Additionally, each class member will be required to sign a confidentiality statement in order to assure privacy and open discussion.
February 7: What are psychedelics?
*Introductions
*Confidentiality
*Psychedelic philosophy – understanding what it means to trip
*Emphasis on psilocybin and MDMA
February 14: Neurobiology of MDMA and Psilocybin
& Set and Setting
*Understanding the neurobiology of psilocybin
*Understanding the neurobiology of MDMA
*Basic effects of psilocybin and MDMA
Setting:
*Understanding that YOU are the setting.
*Why do you want to be a psychedelic therapist?
*How do you prepare yourself to be a psychedelic therapist?
Set:
*Understanding the set
*Setting intentions
*Giving clients the tools they need
February 21: Introduction to the Medicines
*Understanding the use of various psychedelic medicines
— LSD, psilocybin, DMT, Iboga, Ayahuasca
*Choosing the medicine
*Choosing the dosage
*Getting it tested
February 28: Preparation
*Taking a good history
*Emphasis on childhood conditioning
*Exploring history
*Constructing audios for clients to use
March 7: Preparation (continued)
*Introducing and working with the inner child
*Somatic sensing
*Combining somatic work with the inner child
*Applied Kinesiology(?)
March 14: The Trip
*Preparing the space
*Preparing yourself
*Rituals/Meditation/Grounding
*Preparing the medicine
*Timing of interventions
*Music
March 21: No class – Spring Break
March 28: After the Trip – Integration
*What is integration?
*Go over your notes with your client and learning to listen
*Feeling into the stuck places
April 4: Integration (continued)
*Re-visit any discussion from previous session
*Re-assess symptoms, feelings, behavior
*Follow-up on homework progress
*Construct new homework
April 11: Psychedelic Research
*Up to date protocols on MDMA and psilocybin
*Understanding dosing protocols
*Understanding regulatory compliance
April 18: Psychedelic Research & Learning How to Use It
*Depression and anxiety
*PTSD
*Conscious dying
*Other research
April 25: Therapeutic Process
*Using techniques specific to psychedelic therapy
*How to work with the Inner Healing Intelligence
*Implementing somatic therapy techniques and inner child work
May 2: Therapeutic Process (Continued)
*Hypnotic techniques
*Energy medicine
May 9: Mind-Body Practices to Support Integration
*Yoga, t’ai chi, qigong, dancing, singing, drawing, art
*Meditation (sitting, walking, chanting)
*Energy medicine
*Referral for ongoing psychotherapy
May 16: Integrative Treatment Planning
*Microdosing
*How to achieve values-based behavior change
*Addressing and expanding spectrum of root causes
May 23: Professional Development
*Ethics in psychedelic-assisted therapy
*Self-regulation, transference & countertransference
*Providing culturally competent care
*Diversity, equity, and inclusion in psychedelic medicine
*Understanding cultural appropriation
May 30: The World of the Shaman
*What is a shaman?
*What does it mean to do shamanic work?
*How is shamanism different from guiding a journey?
*Using energy medicine from a shamanic perspective?
June 6: Intrapersonal Development
*Protecting boundaries in psychedelic sessions
*Embracing on-going personal growth work
*Putting It All Together
Assignments:
1. Homework assignment every week – usually 1-2 hours
2. Demonstration of the ability to create an effective relaxation and/or meditation audio.
3. A presentation to the class about one research article. (5 minutes each)
4: A presentation on personal issues with transference and/or countertransference with a client or friend you have worked with OR a presentation on what sort of meditation/ritual you might use for your psychedelic sessions. (approximately 5 minutes each)
5. Readings – we will discuss various assigned readings in order to assure a deepening of your understanding of the material.
What you receive: You will be given a certificate of completion after all the classes and assignments are completed. This will include the readings, class attendance, and any assignments that are given.
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Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Class (begins on February 7, 2025)
Schedule: We will meet in person on Fridays, from 9-noon in the Heartland Yoga Studio.
We will also have a one-hour coaching, consultation, and Q & A once a week on zoom on Thursdays at 10am.
Cost: The total cost for certification in psychedelic therapy and research is $3500.
This can be paid over time, and you may use your credit card. Monthly payment: $950
Class size is strictly limited to 20 participants! This will give us time to get to know each other and to become thoroughly immersed in this level of education.
Interviews for submission: The Heartland team and I will send you a survey regarding the admission to this training. If elected, our team will reach out to schedule a 15 minute zoom interview with you in January, beginning January 8th, to see if this training is the right fit for you.
To be waitlisted for this training, please email info@heartlandyoga.com.
