Here Is What Leaders In the Psychedelic Space Say About Synthesis Institute:
Bennet Zelner, Ph.D.
Regenerative Economist
“Psychedelics, when used appropriately, have the potential to revolutionize mental healthcare, and the professional training offered by Synthesis promises to help realize this potential. In contrast to mainstream approaches, Synthesis’ approach recognizes the critical role that connection plays in the production of well-being. The program also includes sessions on novel economic approaches to the delivery of care, which are critical to supporting the novel clinical approaches that Synthesis is helping to pioneer.”
Robin Cahart-Harris, Ph.D.
Founder of the Centre for Psychedelic Research atImperial College London
“Legal, professionally-organized retreats and trainings like (the ones) Synthesis offers can be a safe way for people to experience the transformational potential of psychedelics, and they can also be a great source of data for research centers like our own, helping to further advance the field. I'm excited to continue working alongside Synthesis to provide high-quality services and meaningful scientific research for the psychedelic community.”
The Psychedelic Practitioner Core Training Honors Many Ways of Knowing With Our Four Lens Approach
The Synthesis approach recognizes that there are many ways of knowing. Our understanding of psychedelics and the psychedelic journey considers and honors these different viewpoints. While our philosophy as a whole rests at the center of a myriad of different perspectives, our training is organized so that each month we look at a particular topic through each of four (4) primary lenses that capture the breadth and depth of the psychedelic field.
EMBODIED WISDOM
We each have a wellspring of wisdom inside us that we can access by committing to a path of personal growth and development. Not only is this fundamental to living a meaningful and intentional life, the capacity to access your own embodied wisdom is a prerequisite for being able to create and hold space for others. Through this lens, you will establish and/or enhance ongoing somatic, spiritual, and self-reflection practices; examine your personal ethics; articulate your personal values; and integrate your learnings from the other lenses.
COGNITIVE WISDOM
This lens looks at the contributions of history, philosophy, and science to our modern-day understanding of psychedelics. From neuroscience to psychopharmacology to harm reduction to best practices for psychedelic facilitation, we explore what is knowable through study, observation, and thought.
SACRED WISDOM
This lens explores the variety of ways that people make meaning in their life, including spiritual, philosophical, nature-based, and wisdom-based approaches that cultures developed long before, and in parallel with, modern scientific thinking. It acknowledges the wisdom keepers who have helped people navigate liminal spaces for thousands of years as well as contemporary practices that help people connect to themselves, others, and the more-than-human world.
RELATIONAL WISDOM
Life happens in relationships. We are always relating to the people, organizations, or the environment around us. This lens asks us to develop a deeper awareness of our role in the greater ecosystem of our life. We look at ways to build relational skills; examine the role we wish to play with clients and in the psychedelic community; and explore how to be deliberate and intentional as we bring this important work into the world.
PSYCHEDELIC PRACTITIONER
CORE TRAINING
Coursework Overview
PREPARING THE SOIL: Welcome and Orientation
We begin our journey together where all transformative journeys start—by orienting ourselves to where we are now and aligning ourselves as a community in the direction we are going. Over the course of two (2) weeks, you will be introduced to the key themes of the training, meet your pod group, review shared agreements, and begin a deep dive into self-exploration that will be a primary focus throughout the training.
MODULE ONE: Meet The Mushroom
In this module, we are introduced to the mushroom and truffles containing psilocybin, which is the foundation of our work at Synthesis. We explore the simplicity of the mushroom’s form and the complexity of its impact. We look at what we know about the mushroom through our four lenses (embodied, cognitive, sacred, and relational wisdom), and we begin to explore how we interact with this dynamic organism and how we understand its role in our personal lives and our professional practice.
MODULE TWO: The Ecology of Ethics and the Role of the Shadow
To do this work with integrity, we must be aware of the ethical questions that we face as individuals and as a larger community. In this module, we explore an ecology of ethics that will support you in addressing different ethical challenges and systemic dynamics that cause harm. We also meet the Shadow and take some time to examine our own internalized biases, as well as how to work with the Shadow when engaging with our clients and with the larger psychedelic community.
MODULE THREE: Many Ways of Knowing
The Synthesis model is built around honoring the many ways of knowing and ethical meaning-making. We recognize that no one perspective sees the whole picture, so we will practice looking at the human experience through many different lenses. In this module, we will pay particular attention to different ways of understanding health and wholeness, the nuances of cultural context, and our ways of relating to ourselves, others, and the more-than-human world.
MODULE FOUR: Healing, Trauma, and the Body
On our journey to wholeness, we are bound to encounter various forms of trauma. Understanding how trauma works and how to create the conditions in which someone can surface, process, and resolve it is critical to psychedelic work, as psychedelics can both help and hinder the healing of trauma. In this module, we explore what it means to be a trauma-informed practitioner, including how to develop the relational, emotional, and somatic skills we need to be able to hold a healing space in ourselves and for others.
MODULE FIVE: Key Elements of Preparation
In this module, we explore various ways of preparing ourselves and our clients for a psychedelic experience, including useful somatic and cognitive practices as well as the importance of intentionality and building the therapeutic alliance.
MODULE SIX: Screening for Readiness and Safety
How we gauge readiness is both an art and a science, involving both intuition and facts. In this module, we will discuss how to screen for your own competence as well as for a client’s readiness and safety. We will also explore various strategies to minimize risk before, during, and after a session or ceremony, in order to maximize our efforts at harm reduction.
MODULE SEVEN: Navigating Uncharted Territory
There are many ways to approach a psychedelic session or ceremony, and in this module we look at various approaches and discuss the importance of working in alignment with your capacity and a client’s needs. We explore the topography of non-ordinary states of consciousness and deepen your work with practices that will help you become a compassionate, safe, abiding presence for those who wish to walk in uncharted territories.
MODULE EIGHT: Key Elements of Integration
Whether a psychedelic experience was delightful or difficult, harnessing insights and working with what emerged during the journey depends on intentional and ongoing integration. In this module, we explore different approaches to working with a variety of experiences and how to utilize an experience for lasting transformation.
MODULE NINE: A Life of Service
In this final module, you will reflect on your journey and synthesize what you have learned. You will also orient yourself to what is next, both as you prepare for your own psychedelic experience with Synthesis and as you think about how you wish to be of service to yourself, your community, the more-than-human world, and the emerging field of psychedelic care.
INTEGRATION: Assessment, Closing, and Completion
After the conclusion of the nine (9) coursework modules, you will participate in an assessment period during which your peers and your learning facilitator will review your portfolio of assignments and supervise a final oral examination. To honor your learning journey, we end with a closing ceremony and final celebration where you will receive your certificate of completion.
One-of-a-Kind, Facilitated, Small Group Study With Weekly Live Sessions
A unique component of the Psychedelic Practitioner Core Training is the small group learning experience. You will move through the program in groups of no larger than 12 participants that we affectionately refer to as pods. Your pod will be guided by one of our experienced learning facilitators who will offer mentorship, leadership, and guidance for your journey. You will be with your pod for the orientation, nine (9) coursework modules and the integration period.
Current students report this is one of the most meaningful components of the program. Not only do they feel held and supported throughout the education process, but they are creating lasting connections that will continue to support their personal and professional growth beyond the training.
The weekly live small group pod session dates and times will be released once the next training cohort start date is determined.
All weekly small group pod sessions are 2.5 hours in length. You will be assigned a small group pod training day/time as part of the on-boarding process once you are enrolled in the training.
Note: Seasonal time changes may affect the time by one (1) hour during certain parts of the year. Additional pod times may be made available pending enrollment.
Meet Some of the Psychedelic Practitioner Core Training Learning Facilitators
The learning facilitators are highly skilled practitioners who guide the small group pods for the duration of the training. They come from a variety of backgrounds and may be therapists, psychedelic therapists, executive leadership coaches, medical professionals, or transformational coaches. They undergo extensive training and ongoing supervision by our program team to ensure they can hold the container for transformational learning—witnessing and mirroring back your strengths and supporting you as you encounter your growth edges. They are invested in your learning and well-being and are a key advocate and accountability partner on your journey.
Ladybird Morgan RN, MSW, RCST practitioner, has helped guide medical practitioners, families, caregivers, programs and institutions around the world (including with Doctors Without Borders and in California Prisons) on how to be present to difficult experiences by remembering, embodying and responding from the deepest place of truth. Her work is informed by a lifetime commitment to meditation, sacred practices and personal inquiry. Currently a private palliative care consultant with Mettlehealth and a co-facilitator for Commonweal’s Cancer Care Help Program and Healing Circles, she is also a co-investigator/study therapist with a University of Washington study of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy and the Co-Founder/Program Director of The Humane Prison Hospice Project.
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Simone Weit, LPCC/LPC is a licensed psychotherapist specializing in both somatic and psychedelic assisted therapy. Having received a master’s degree in counseling psychology with a specialization in somatic psychotherapy, Simone has served clients a variety of settings including residential treatment, juvenile detention, high school student assistance programs, community behavioral health, crisis stabilization in a hospital setting, and private practice including running a Ketamine therapy practice.
Simone has also developed and taught a trauma-informed yoga program for incarcerated girls and women, provided somatic therapies to clients at the Iboga Therapy House in British Columbia, and worked as a supervisor for the Zendo project. In addition to her professional work, Simone has also completed the MDMA Assisted Therapy training through MAPS andreceived training in Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy through the Polaris Insight Center. Additional experience includes 20 years of working with and learning from Maestros in Peruvian plant medicine traditions. Simone is also a recognized visionary artist and a member of the Tribe 13 artist’s collective.
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Dr. L. (Lela) Mosemghvdlishvili is a transformative educator working on the intersections of academia, wisdom traditions, and embodied practices. Lela has served as a board member of the Amsterdam Psychedelic Research Association (APRA) since 2017. At the University of Amsterdam, they designed and have been teaching an interdisciplinary elective project Critical Issues in Psychedelic Renessainsefor the past five years. A notable part of Lela's life is devoted to the ongoing study and practice of Maha and Ati Yoga, experiential dancing, and regular silent retreats for introspection. These modalities are vital sources of insight and understanding to them. Lela is also an authorized Feeding Your Demons® facilitator, and meditation teacher.
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Juan is a life coach and psychedelic practitioner with more than twelve years of experience in the field of self-development, wellness and holistic healing & living, including: Plant medicine & psychedelics, Shamanic work, Tantra, Yoga, Relationships & intimacy, Sexuality, Trauma-healing, Medicine Music, Biodanza, Social Permaculture, Community building & Entrepreneurship.
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Meet the Psychedelic Practitioner
Core Training Faculty
Faculty in the Embodied Wisdom Lens Includes:
Valeria McCarroll, Ph.D., LMFT, is a teacher of somatic and transpersonal psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and a licensed psychotherapist. A graduate of CIIS’s Certificate in Psychedelic Therapies and Research, she has been immersed in the field of psychedelic work for over a decade. Valeria serves as the Embodied Wisdom Content Advisor for the Synthesis Institute and formerly worked with the Center for Consciousness Medicine. She stewards a body of work called "Somadelics", a contemporary path of practice that uses expanded states to transform the traumas of embodied systemic oppression. Valeria lives in Northern California with her family and enjoys innovating liberative systems to deconstruct patriarchy.
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Staci Haines is a national leader in the field of somatics and creator of generative somatics, a resilience-based somatic approach integrating a social justice analysis. She is cofounder of two nonprofits: generative somatics, and generationFIVE, a community-based organization whose mission is to end the sexual abuse of children within five generations. She is also author of The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing, and Social Justice and Healing Sex: A Mind Body Approach to Healing Sexual Trauma.
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Anja Loizaga-Velder is a German-Mexican clinical psychologist and psychotherapist with a humanistic and transpersonal orientation. Parallel to her psychotherapeutic practice, Anja has been collaborating with indigenous healers and investigating the therapeutic potential of the ritual use of psychedelic plants for over 25 years.
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Faculty in the Cognitive Wisdom Lens Includes:
Dr. Malynn Utzinger, is cofounder and director of integrative medicine at Usona Institute, a non-profit psychedelic medical research organization. She is also director of integrative practices for the international biotech company Promega. She combines her experience in medicine and research with contemplative and integrative approaches to mind-body health.
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Allison Feduccia, Ph.D., is a neuropharmacologist who has authored 28 publications on psychedelics and mental health in peer-reviewed journals. She began researching MDMA in 2004, accumulating 17 years of experience in mental health research at UT Austin, UCSF, NIH, and MAPS.
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Jasper Degenaars is the chief education officer at Fungi Academy in Guatemala. He has taught over 2,000 people how to successfully grow all kinds of mushrooms. Born and raised in the Netherlands, he believes that sacred mushrooms have the potential to deepen our connection with nature, ourselves, and our communities.
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Faculty in the Sacred Wisdom Lens Includes:
Maestro Jose Lopez Sanchez is a Shipibo Traditional doctor from Peru. From a young age, José was tapped by his grandfather to be a plant medicine healer. He specializes in protection, unblocking and releasing negative energies and finding the root of a situation, aligning and harmonizing the individual, whether in body, energy, or spirit. José directs his ceremonies and dietas with extreme tenderness, kindness, compassion, humility, and firmness. In addition to working in the Amazon, José travels the world sharing his wisdom.
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Julian Vayne is a British independent scholar and author with over three decades of experience within esoteric culture: from Druidry to Chaos Magic, from indigenous Shamanism through to Freemasonry and Witchcraft. In 2001, he published one of the first books of the modern psychedelic renaissance, Pharmakon: Drugs and the Imagination. He is also author of Getting Higher: The Manual of Psychedelic Ceremony. Julian is a co-organizer of the psychedelic conference Breaking Convention, and a Trustee of The Psychedelic Museum Project. A founding member of the post-prohibition think-tank Transform, Julian also sits on the academic board of The Journal of Psychedelic Studies.
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Norma Nakai Burton, M.Div., is a bridge builder between the practical worlds of social justice work and the mind expanding realms of evolutionary consciousness. A shadow integration expert, she is the creator of the Journey to Completion® model, a somatic-oriented process for healing deep-seated trauma. She has extensive training in depth psychology and Jungian analysis, and more than three decades of experience as a healer.
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Faculty in the Relational Wisdom Lens Includes:
Kylea Taylor is a Marriage and Family Therapist, consultant, and author of The Ethics of Caring, which won the 2018 Nautilus Book Award. She has been thinking, writing, and teaching about ethics for almost three decades. Kylea developed and teaches InnerEthics®, a self-reflective, self-compassionate approach to relational ethics which she now offers in psychedelic psychotherapy trainings.
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Meghan Kennedy, LCSW, is a 25-year veteran psychotherapist and international consultant specializing in complex trauma and transcultural treatment issues. She is certified in psychedelic-assisted therapies & research, conflict mediation, and EMDR, with additional training in cross-cultural communication and community organizing. Meghan approaches her work with individuals, families and communities, from a strengths perspective with a humanist/holistic set of lenses. Understanding and appreciating the resilience of the human spirit, Meghan believes in an integrative approach that recognizes our bio-psycho-social-spiritual nature and its profound healing intelligence.
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Al Jeffery is a meditation teacher, integrative psychotherapist, and group facilitator, Al has supported thousands of people around the world in restoring connection in their lives, leadership, and communities. Al was listed in the Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30 in Australia twice in a row and has since become a trusted guide to for-purpose teams and leaders. As a queer man, haiku poet, leadership virtuoso, and martial artist, Al’s love for integrating the diverse and transgressive are alive in all he touches.
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Rachel Aidan, M.Arts, is a serial entrepreneur, conscious business and leadership coach, speaker, and conscious social change facilitator with nearly 20 years of experience working with clients across the U.S., Europe, and East Africa. She is currently working on a doctoral degree in integral/transpersonal psychology.
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Frederica is a designer and facilitator of transformational learning experiences -- in classrooms, workplaces, community groups, and in the backcountry. Fascinated by the ways that consciousness, worldviews and discourses change and expand, she has spent the past twenty years exploring the tools available to respond to civilizational crises, especially the modern west's loss of the sacred.
Frederica holds masters degrees from Yale Divinity School and the Yale School of the Environment, and a BA from Dartmouth College in Religion & Environmental studies. She has served as a Peace Corps volunteer, taught 22 distinct university level courses at the University of Washington and Seattle University, and worked as a global interfaith peacebuilder at the United Religions Initiative. Prior to Synthesis Frederica served as Director of Education at Spiritual Directors International, designing online learning experiences for advanced spiritual professionals. An avid backpacker, triathlete and mountain enthusiast, she lives in Seattle with her husband and two daughters.
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Rachel Lovie, Ph.D., is an experienced teacher and guide. Her work explores the centrality of many ways of knowing in transformational experience and learning. She is a member of the Wilderness Guides Council and is cofounder of Obsidian: Paths with Heart, an organization offering psyche and nature workshops and retreats.
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Timothy Crespi is the admissions, assessments, and credentialing lead at The Synthesis Institute. He is a somatic therapist, community organizer, and educator working in the areas of psychedelic harm reduction, psychedelic therapy, and psychedelic training programs. Timothy oversees a collective of private practitioners called Somatic Center Portland in Portland, Oregon. He holds degrees in Contemplative Psychology, Environmental studies, and Transpersonal Counseling Psychology from Naropa University and is a founding member of OPTA, the Oregon Psilocybin Training Alliance.
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Daan Keiman is lead facilitator and director of ethics and advocacy at the Synthesis Institute and co-founder of Guild of Guides Netherlands. He has more than a decade of experience guiding and caring for people in altered states of consciousness and maintains a private practice as a Psychedelic Chaplain.
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James Clifton is the lead facilitator at the Synthesis Institute. With more than three decades of practice as an integral psychotherapist and counselor, he has extensive experience working with trauma, addiction, and non-ordinary states of consciousness, both in individuals and groups.
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Lesley Quilty is a creative consultant, facilitator, coach, and trainer based in the Findhorn Community in Scotland. She has more than 20 years of experience in professional theater and is a senior program director at Olivier Mythodrama, a leadership consultancy that fuses arts and theater-based tools with archetypes. As a professional clown, she works with children with life-threatening illnesses and creates customized clown pieces for educational and environmental events.
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