“The lead trainers were incredibly knowledgeable…”
This training was comprehensive and well thought-out. There are aspects of the training that I don’t think any other programs contain because of the depth of real experience that the faculty have. The lead trainers were incredibly knowledgeable, with years of practice that showed with every topic they presented on. This training was essential to me becoming a successful psilocybin facilitator.
— Drew Snyder, LPC, NCC, Head of Psilocybin Practicums, Integrative Psychiatry Institute
Program Overview
At Bodhi Academy, you’ll gain extraordinary knowledge and skills for providing psilocybin services in the best traditional, legal, and clinically proven methods for supporting non-ordinary states and psychedelic experiences.
This training is offered by an unparallelled team of specialists with decades of experience in providing high quality support for psychedelic sessions. You will learn high-level coaching skills that you can use in preparation and integration sessions to ensure a client-centered, non-directive approach. You will learn how to guide individual and group psilocybin sessions using hands-on, proven techniques drawn from evidence-based harm reduction models and the real-world experience with hundreds of clients our faculty holds.
The program is presented in a highly organized and thoughtfully designed series of pre-recorded and live synchronous training sessions that are presented sequentially to effectively support you to build a solid foundation and integrate a wealth of information and skills. The in-depth didactic training culminates in our comprehensive practicum training that includes an in-person administration practicum retreat.
You’ll have opportunities to learn from faculty members in live synchronous sessions, ask questions, engage in lively discussions, and deeply integrate your learning experiences. You’ll participate in analyzing case studies to determine best practices, live role play sessions with fellow students, and witness demonstrations of the many effective techniques and strategies for professional facilitation that you are learning.
All required training hours — other than the in-person administration practicum retreat —take place online in Zoom meetings and through pre-recorded content.
The faculty of Bodhi Academy, along with our program management team have created one of the most immersive and highly organized learning experiences in the psychedelic facilitation education sector. Our program is renowned for rigorous academic standards, depth and experience of the faculty, and our hallmark 100-hour practicum experience.
What you’ll learn:
In this intensive program, you’ll receive in-depth teachings and experiential guidance on:
Effective Dose Ranges: Explore in-depth guidance on micro-, midi-, and macro-dosing protocols and strategies and how to formulate effective dose advice for each client, based on their unique intentions and needs
The Neuroscience of Psilocybin: Receive academic level training in the neurochemistry and neurobiology of psilocybin, gaining an understanding of its impact on the serotonin system, brain, and overall physiology
Depth Coaching: Facilitate meaningful intentions and deep integration with strategies and tools that will support your clients dive deep, get the most from their psilocybin sessions and integrate their experiences in ways that lead to lasting change
Empowering Client Communication: Develop skills in non-directive, client-centered communication, support client autonomy, and facilitate with empathy, understanding, and unconditional positive regard
Cultural and Historical Contexts: Gain a deeper appreciation of the cultural, historical, and spiritual roots of psilocybin use around the world, with special focus on indigenous cultures and traditions
Dynamic Group Facilitation Skills: Learn hands-on skills for guiding group administration sessions, creating safe space for challenges, and navigating the other-worldly phenomenon of interpsychic transmission that impacts clients and facilitators
Integration Measures and Techniques: Learn evidence-based scale, measures, and strategies for helping clients integrate their psychedelic experiences into their identify and their lives
Ethical, Harm Reduction, and Legal Considerations: Understand the ethical implications and legal frameworks for psychedelic facilitation and master clinically proven psychedelic harm reduction skills that enhance therapeutic benefit
Facilitator Wellbeing and Self-Care: Take time for self-reflection and learn facilitator self-care practices that are essential for maintaining and increasing your effectiveness as a guide
Graduating from Bodhi Academy signifies that you have:
Worked with and integrated an interdisciplinary approach to psilocybin services
Developed expertise in client preparation, including legal intake procedures, setting meaningful intentions, discussing risks and benefits, and managing expectations
Become proficient in guiding individuals and groups through knowledge-based lectures and hands-on supervised experience
Understood the critical role of integration and how to use depth coaching techniques to provide superior client care and enhance lasting change
Developed an understanding of how to work with clients who have trauma, addiction, and other challenges, using trauma-informed techniques
Engaged in a comprehensive in-person practicum, gaining practical experience in a relaxing retreat setting with the support of experienced faculty guides and expert faculty supervisors
Gained an understanding of the powerful potentials of natural medicines to support healing, mystical exploration, and lasting personal growth
CURRICULUM HIGHLIGHTS
UNIT OVERVIEW
Unit 1: Contemporary & Historical Uses of Psilocybin
Unit 2: Core Knowledge & Skills for Professional Guides
Unit 3: Preparing Your Client for the Psilocybin Experience
Unit 4: Guiding the Journey
Unit 5: Understanding the Scope of Integration Practices
Unit 6: Guiding the Group Experience
Unit 7: Special Topics on Psilocybin Services
Unit 8: Online Practicum Orientation
Unit 9: Online Preparation Practicum, Supervised In-Person Administration Practicum & Online Integration Practicum
In-Person and Online Practicum (100 Hours)
You’ll complete your online preparation practicum prior to traveling to the retreat center for the in-person portion of your practicum and you’ll complete your online integration practicum after the retreat ends. The breakdown of practicum hours are as follows:
26 Hours: Screening, Intake, Individual and Group Preparation Planning & Education (on Zoom)
52 Hours: In-Person Administration Practicum Retreat
10 Hours: In-Person Retreat-Based Integration Sessions
12 Hours: Post-Retreat Integration Sessions (on Zoom)
50 Hours: Debriefing, Consultation, and Mentoring Groups with Practicum Supervisors (on Zoom and in-person)
PLEASE NOTE: Travel, lodging and meal fees for the in-person practicum retreat are not included in the tuition.
Synchronous Training: Case Studies, Role Playing, and Demonstrations
Throughout the program, you’ll attend online synchronous sessions where you will review case studies and work with your fellow students to determine best practices and options for care. You’ll participate in live role-playing exercises where you will work with a variety of scenarios in screening, preparation, assessments and evaluations, administration sessions, and integration practices and tools. You will demonstrate and observe the application of the knowledge and skills you have learned in the classroom including coaching techniques, non-directive communication, and managing challenging events and crisis situations.
These synchronous sessions are designed to support your learning journey, enhance your personal and professional growth, and accelerate your mastery of the key skills needed to be a high-quality natural medicine facilitator. The faculty supervisors facilitate these important sessions and provide you with feedback and advice to improve your skills. The sessions also provide time to get to know other members of your cohort before you begin your practicum experience.
Quizzes and Final Exam
At the end of each unit, you will complete a quiz to help you and the faculty assess your progress. The final comprehensive exam at the end of the didactic training program gives you the opportunity to bring together everything you have learned.
Post-Training Community
Bodhi Academy offers our graduates the opportunity to be a part of our private community of facilitators and guides that is the perfect place to continue to grow within a network of peers after you complete your training. In monthly meetings, you can continue to review the program content, get support to launch your practice, and interact with others who are involved in this special and intensive work. When you receive your training completion certificate you will be invited to become a member of Bodhi Academy’s network - The Guides Collective - for ongoing debriefing, mentoring, and continuing education.
What People Are Saying
“I particularly benefited from the [live online] training opportunities…”
For anyone considering this line of work, I highly recommend Bodhi Academy’s psilocybin guide and facilitator training program. The collective skill sets, extensive lived-experiences, and individual unique perspectives of the faculty members contribute to a program which is very comprehensive and inspiring. I particularly benefited from the synchronous training opportunities, where we were able to apply the skills we were learning in a live, simulated scenario with other students in the cohort. Rose consistently offered useful and insightful feedback on how to improve. I have no doubts that I am prepared to move forward in this work after completing this amazing program.
— Evelyn Waite, RN
“I feel very fortunate to be a part of this program!”
Bodhi Academy is the second psilocybin education program that I’ve attended and is, by far, a more rewarding experience. The curriculum is taught by a highly experienced professional staff and provides in-depth exploration of numerous aspects of facilitation, including very enriching synchronous training with role-playing exercises. The review quizzes at the end of each unit greatly helped to make sure key points and concepts are understood and retained as I progressed through the coursework. My cohort was great, and I feel very fortunate to have been a part of this program!
— Sam Greene
“... a well-rounded training that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed.”
The training content is rich and presented by those experienced in the field. There is a great mix of historical background and current research. All of this, combined with practical hands-on facilitation skills and a note to protect the sacred and mystical aspects, makes this a well-rounded training that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed.
— Josie Sanchez, life coach and sound healer
“These are lessons you can take away and apply in your personal growth…”
I have enjoyed and benefited from my training at Bodhi Academy. I especially enjoyed the synchronous learning sessions. Studying and practicing with the other cohort students provided a collective synergy for spontaneous moments of genius to arise for both individuals and the group. The students always seemed surprised that so much real insight into our role-play scenarios was harvested. These are lessons you can take away and apply in your personal growth with real emotion, informing deep insights. Tears, laughter, and awe were not uncommon in our synchronous classes. The deepening connection between students that occurred during our sessions has affirmed and inspired me to continue to grow and to be of service to my fellow human companions on this epic journey of life as a psilocybin services provider.
— Barbara Farr
CURRICULUM HIGHLIGHTS
Unit 1: Contemporary and Historical Uses of Psilocybin
During Unit 1, you’ll explore:
Psilocybin's historical and current use in various cultural and spiritual contexts
Insights into the medicinal and therapeutic benefits of psilocybin, particularly in treating mental health issues
The significant impact of the Controlled Substances Act on psilocybin research and broader drug policies
Historic clinical trials, offering a real-world perspective on psilocybin’s therapeutic potential
The cultural and racial dynamics influencing the legal and research landscape of psychedelics
Unit 2: Core Facilitation: Science, Knowledge, and Skills
During Unit 2, you’ll learn:
How psilocybin affects the body and mind, a critical understanding needed for assessing client suitability
Insights into the neuroscience and pharmacology of psilocybin, including dose effects and contraindications
Skills in non-directive communication and client-centered techniques for ensuring client safety and empowerment during sessions
Providing trauma-informed care and supporting clients with addiction or substance abuse issues
How to identify and respond effectively to psychological, behavioral, and medical emergencies during psilocybin administration
Unit 3: Screening, Intake, and Preparation for Psilocybin Services
During Unit 3, you’ll explore:
Assessment methods and how to conduct client safety screenings and intakes, including a deep dive into harm reduction strategies, legal, and ethical considerations in psilocybin services, informed consent, and building a psychedelic-informed referral network
Coaching skills for client-directed planning and preparation, using non-directive techniques, self-evaluation measures, unconditional positive regard, and client education
How to cultivate cultural sensitivity, incorporate trauma-informed methods into client interactions, and maintain appropriate boundaries as a facilitator – and the consequences for clients, facilitators, and the field of psychedelic services when boundaries are breeched
The importance of client mindset, how to assess and address fear, resistance, concerns, and preconceptions, managing expectations, and creating safety plans
Traditional and indigenous methods of preparation, benefits of intention setting, risks around lack of preparation, and creating a client-led preparation plan
Knowledge of the classic phases psychedelic experience, effective client and facilitator skills for navigating each phase, and how client education reduces harm
Protocols, programs, coaching models, and tools for supporting clients exploring the benefits of microdosing and midi-dosing
Determining readiness for psychedelic experience and the need for additional preparation sessions, teaching techniques that support safety and relaxation in administration sessions
Unit 4: Skills for Psilocybin Administration
During Unit 4, you’ll learn:
Dosing strategies, psilocybin strains and products, the effects of various dose levels of psilocybin, and how to determine advice for initial and additional doses based on individual client needs and intentions
How to manage psychological distress, challenges, and adverse reactions, effective techniques for facilitation of the psychedelic journey, de-escalation techniques, the role and use of backup guides, facilitator debriefing and self-care
How to assess and create safe, effective, and personalized settings for psilocybin administration, and evaluating trauma-informed settings
The essential importance of context in psilocybin, how psychedelics increase suggestibility, awareness of transference and countertransference, facilitator bias, and the benefits of co-facilitation
The neuroscience of sound and music, clinically researched psychedelic playlists, and how sound and music can be safely and beneficially incorporated into preparation, administration, and integration sessions
How to build your professional practice, including inspiration and details for program planning and working with a co-facilitator and/or facilitation team
How to create and manage psychedelic support programs and psilocybin retreats, managing doses and multiple administration sessions, and providing beneficial integration support in retreat settings
Unit 5: Core Integration Skills
During Unit 5, you’ll explore:
A variety of models for psychedelic integration, mastering the balance of verbal and non-verbal integration methods, and recognizing the pillars of effective integration support
Client-centered integration techniques, the facilitator’s scope of practice in integration, and the use of self-evaluations for integration
Assessment measures for integration progress and mystical experiences, and the benefits of transcendental integration theory
How to support clients’ safety in integration, recognizing and responding to suicidality and emotional distress, creating client safety plans, and identifying and addressing a holistic range of challenges during integration
A deep dive into key coaching disciplines that are highly effective in supporting the integration process, mastering facilitator tools and techniques that lead to enduring change and meaningful personal growth, and creating compelling programs for integration as a part of your facilitation practice
Facilitating integration sessions, circles, and coaching programs for individuals and groups
Unit 6: Group Facilitation
During Unit 6, you’ll learn:
How to assess and qualify individuals for group participation, facilitation team planning, and managing group dynamics
Establishing and managing group agreements and guidelines, assigning clients to facilitators, determining safe ratios and doses for group sessions, and guide roles in group sessions
Creating safe and effective settings for groups, space requirements, group purposes and themes, and group membership limits
How to create communication and safety plans for groups, the impact of interpsychic transmission on clients and facilitators, and the use of safe space for individuals within a group
How to manage client challenges, maintain boundaries, and address adverse reactions in a group setting
How to create and conduct group retreats, integration programs, and post-retreat services
Unit 7: Special Topics in Psilocybin Services
During Unit 7, you’ll explore:
How to support clients using psilocybin for recovery from trauma, OCD, ADHD, and depression using effective models of care, and facilitator skills for working with these clients
Specialized skills for working with veterans, first responders, and emergency medical professionals, their unique emotional needs and confidentiality concerns, the use of peer support models, and ensuring facilitator expertise and scope of practice
Models of care and facilitator skills for psilocybin-assisted addiction recovery, clinical research related to the addicted brain and the benefits of psilocybin in recovery, and supporting clients with an appropriate container to address emotional and physiological concerns common in addiction recovery
How to cultivate and enhance mystical experiences with psilocybin, preparation for navigating peak states during natural medicine administration sessions, integrating the mystical experience into daily life, and clinical research analysis of the many benefits of peak experiences for the resolution of entrenched cycles and challenges
Unit 8: Synchronous Online 4-Hour Practicum Orientation
During Unit 8, you’ll:
Ensuring you have completed all of the prerequisites for admission to practicum training
Learn the key performance markers for demonstrating competence in practicum work
Review the schedule for online synchronous practicum sessions, participant responsibilities, supervisory sessions schedule, and confidentiality requirements
Explore the schedule, expectations, debriefing and supervision requirements, and logistics for the in-person practicum retreat
Learn how to prepare for the in-person retreat and what to bring to the retreat
Unit 9: Synchronous Online Preparation Practicum, Supervised In-Person Administration Practicum & Synchronous Online Integration Practicum
During Unit 9, you’ll:
Gain hand-on, practical experience as you conduct intake, screening, preparation, and integration sessions under the guidance of faculty practicum supervisors
Facilitate individual and group psilocybin administration sessions under observation by faculty practicum supervisors and with the support of faculty facilitators, and provide retreat-based integration sessions during an in-person retreat with your training cohort
Have the option to experience psilocybin in a legal setting — or alternative non-ordinary state inductions