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The Augmented Psychotherapy Training (APT) is a 15-month program that provides you with the knowledge and skills you need to practice Psychedelic-Augmented Psychotherapy and Integration-Focused Psychotherapy in a legal, safe, and evidence-based framework.
In Psychedelic-Augmented Psychotherapy (PAP), altered states of consciousness are purposefully induced to promote and augment psychotherapeutic processes. This approach includes pharmacological (psilocybin, ketamine etc.) as well as non-pharmacological methods for inducing altered states (immersive breathwork etc.). Integration-Focused Psychotherapy (IFP) helps patients/clients draw therapeutic benefits from psychedelic experiences that have taken place, or will take place, outside of the therapy setting. A related goal is to prevent and mitigate psychedelic-occasioned harm.
The APT program follows a hybrid learning model: Over the course of 15 months, three intensive on-site trainings take place in Berlin, Germany. Furthermore, weekly online training sessions in a variety of formats are held over the entire duration of the program. Learn more about the training contents below.
The MIND Foundation offers APT courses in English and German. The next English-language APT course will start on November 16, 2024. The next German-language APT course will start on March 08, 2025.
The APT program is a professional training for medical doctors, psychotherapists, and other mental health professionals. Learn more about the admission criteria.
After successful completion of the training, a certificate in Psychedelic Therapy – Integration-Focused Psychotherapy (IFP) and Psychedelic-Augmented Psychotherapy (PAP) is awarded. Learn more about the certification requirements.
The APT program was built by the MIND Foundation together with leading experts from the field of psychedelic research and therapy. The training is being continuously developed and improved. The faculty includes the core teams of the MIND Foundation and the OVID Clinic as well as other experienced clinicians and renowned researchers at European and international institutions.
The next English-language APT course will start on November 16, 2024.
The next German-language APT course will start on March 08, 2025.
We are constantly screening applications and are already admitting applicants for the upcoming courses.
A limited number of spots is available in each course, and the spots are being filled continuously. We therefore recommend applying as early as possible. You are welcome to apply now for the next course or even for a later course.
MIND offers monthly info events for APT. A member of the Program Committee moderates the events. You have the opportunity to ask your questions about the training. Click the button below to register.
21 August 2024
The APT program follows a hybrid learning model: Over the course of 15 months, three intensive on-site trainings take place in Berlin, Germany. The on-site curriculum includes a varied program of theory units, practical exercises, and self-experience in altered states of consciousness. Furthermore, weekly online training sessions are held over the entire duration of the program. The online sessions include various formats: Lectures with leading international experts, a journal club (i.e. reading group presentations), mentoring sessions with experienced therapists, and meditation training.
In addition to these formats, which follow a fixed schedule, participants complete the MIND Foundation’s educational online program Molecules as well as the integration workshop Beyond Experience at their own pace.
The APT Program has been developed following the principles of outcome-based education. The specific learning objectives that are pursued through different learning formats are aligned with the following set of 13 APT Outcomes:
The next German-language APT course will start on March 08, 2025. Learn more about the German-language course.
Please get in touch! You can reach us via phone or email. Please make sure to read through the admission criteria and FAQs first.
Augmented Psychotherapy Training (APT)
A growing number of clinical studies indicates that the therapeutic use of altered states of consciousness can be a promising addition to existing treatment options in mental health care. In Psychedelic-Augmented Psychotherapy, altered states of consciousness are purposefully induced to promote psychotherapeutic processes. Augmented Psychotherapy includes the following components:
Integration-Focused Psychoherapy helps patients draw therapeutic benefits from psychedelic experiences that have taken place (or will take place) outside of the therapy setting while also minimizing potential harms.
The APT program takes a transtheoretical approach that aims to understand and conceptualize psychotherapeutic processes from an integrative perspective. No specific psychotherapeutic orientation or school is emphasized over others.
Empirical psychotherapy research has identified a number of common factors (also referred to as general change mechanisms) that are thought to underlie the effectiveness of all psychotherapies. Following this view, the distinct methods used in different schools of psychotherapy are thought to ultimately make use of the same therapeutic mechanisms. One particularly useful conceptualization of common factors was proposed by the psychotherapy researcher Klaus Grawe:
In our experience, the common factors perspective allows for productive discussions across different psychotherapeutic schools and traditions. It is also immensely helpful for understanding and making optimal use of the therapeutic potential of altered states of consciousness. The common factors perspective is therefore strongly emphasized in the APT program.
We teach a broad scope of methods to induce altered states of consciousness: Pharmacological methods include classical psychedelics (psilocybin, LSD, etc.) and atypical psychedelics (ketamine). Non-pharmacological methods include breathwork, guided imagery, trance & music journeys, and stroboscopic light. The self-experience curriculum in APT includes the described non-pharmacological methods as well as ketamine. We are currently in the application process to be allowed to offer legal psilocybin self-experience sessions within APT.
The APT program covers all essential aspects of Psychedelic-Augmented Psychotherapy and Integration-Focused Psychotherapy. Participants are qualified to offer these therapies upon graduation. Hands-on practice, role-play, and case work are central elements of the program. Self-experience with altered states is also an integral part. The theoretical frameworks provided are discussed in connection with their clinical relevance and interlinked with experiential exercises.
Small-group mentoring sessions (4-6 participants each) are an integral part of the APT program. This learning format is intended to create fruitful discussions of therapeutic processes in a group of peers with the support of an experienced psychotherapist. Mentoring sessions focus on case discussions and include elements of clinical supervision. Participants are encouraged to use mentoring sessions to discuss their current treatment cases, if applicable. The mentoring groups meet online regularly.
The APT program includes of a total of 3 intensive training weeks in Berlin, Germany (see dates for the next English APT course here) and continuous online training sessions (lectures, journal club, mentoring sessions, and meditation training). Online sessions take place weekly on Thursdays (19:30 CET/CEST). No classes are held during the Christmas holiday season.
The program also includes the on-demand course Molecules that participants can attend in their own time. Participants are also required to participate in the MIND Foundation’s integration workshop Beyond Experience. If you have completed Molecules and/or Beyond Experience before enrolling in APT, you will be granted a corresponding discount on the tuition. Learn more about teaching contents and formats in APT here.
The three intensive training weeks take place on-site in Berlin, Germany. Since the intensive trainings include many experiential contents such as role-play, exercises, and self-experience with altered states (ketamine, breathwork, etc.), it is not possible to attend these trainings remotely.
If you miss an on-site training for reasons such as illness or travel restrictions, you will be allowed to attend it a year later with the next APT course.
If you miss an on-site training for reasons such as illness or COVID-related travel restrictions, you will be allowed to attend it a year later with the next APT course.
To become certified, participants are required to attend a minimum of 80% of the program.
No, you will not be required to complete these programs again. The price you have already paid for them will be discounted from your tuition fee for APT.
Each APT course consists of a maximum of 32 participants. During the training, the group will often split up into subgroups for self-experience, mentoring sessions, role-play, groups discussions etc.
Information about the tuition fee is provided here.
No. Participants are required to take care of their own accommodation and meals.
CME/CE application is currently pending. We expect to be awarded 100+ CME/CE credits for the complete training.
After successfully completing the APT Program, participants are awarded a certificate in Psychedelic Therapy – Integration-Focused Psychotherapy (IFP) and Psychedelic-Augmented Psychotherapy (PAP). Depending on their professional background, certified professionals are qualified to work independently and lead multiprofessional teams providing psychedelic therapy, or to work in such multiprofessional teams under the supervision of a medical doctor with training in psychotherapy or licensed psychotherapist. The certificate covers breathwork-, ketamine-, and psychedelic-augmented psychotherapy. However, the certificate does not legally entitle you to work with medications or other pharmacological substances. This authorization is acquired through country- and region-specific approbations and subject to corresponding legal regulations. We strictly require all APT participants to comply with the legal regulations applicable at their respective place of work.
The APT program teaches therapists to purposefully induce altered states of consciousness to promote psychotherapeutic processes. We teach different methods for inducing altered states of consciousness. Some of these methods are completely free to be used, and others are legally regulated. While non-pharmacological methods are at your disposal wherever you practice, ketamine-augmented psychotherapy should be available to you in most jurisdictions if you team up with a medical doctor or hold a medical license yourself. In most countries, the use of classical psychedelics such as psilocybin is still restricted to clinical studies and (in some counties) so-called “compassionate use” licenses. However, with the imminent approval of several psychedelic substances, the legal situation in many countries is likely to change substantially in the next few years. We explicitly do not train underground therapists, but professionals who adhere to the given legal frameworks.
Members of the OVID Clinic or EPIsoDE study teams are involved in the APT program as faculty. If you are currently a patient of either of these treatment teams, you cannot (yet) participate in APT since this will most likely lead to problematic role conflicts. If you have been a patient of the OVID clinic or the EPIsoDE study in the past, you may be able to participate in the APT program. However, you must inform the APT Program Committee during the admission process that you have been a patient of one of these teams in the past. This is the only way to examine whether problematic role conflicts may still arise and, if so, how they can be avoided. If you have any questions or doubts in this regard, please contact the APT Office ([email protected]).