The University of Ottawa will offer a new master’s program this fall devoted to psychedelic substances, with the aim of allowing different practitioners to become familiar with these products, but also in the hope of debunking several of the myths that still surround them. .
The West, explained program co-director Monnica Williams, is rediscovering the mental health benefits of psychedelics, and many professionals are eager to offer psychedelics to people suffering from conditions such as depression, trauma and anxiety.
“We know that the pharmacological approach has failed to cure these people,” she added. This is why psychedelics are so interesting, because they really have the potential to alleviate and cure these problems. »
The new Master of Arts in Psychedelics and Consciousness Studies will be offered online starting in September 2024. It will be a one-year full-time or two-year part-time program.
The program will explore “in depth” the therapeutic, spiritual, ritual and naturalistic uses of psychedelics across cultures and history. It will also include a specialized component aimed at professionals who provide mental health and spiritual care.
“To our knowledge, this is the first master’s program dedicated to psychedelics,” explained Ms. Williams, who is also a full professor in the School of Psychology. Psychedelics are truly an interdisciplinary subject. »
The program will therefore be aimed at four main categories of people, including authorized medical personnel and members of the research community whose work focuses on the study of psychedelics.
Among other things, it will offer these authorized medical personnel “practical training […] in the facilitation and integration of psychedelic-assisted treatment sessions.”
“We are targeting, among others, licensed medical or mental health practitioners who want to specialize in psychedelic products, and who only need training in addition to the training they already have,” said Ms. Williams.
Students enrolled in the program will, for example, have the opportunity to participate in research to advance scientific knowledge about psychedelics, she said.
The program may also be of interest to ordained or mandated clergy and professionals in spiritual care, or even shamanic, ritual and traditional healers who use psychoactive substances for religious or mystical purposes, it was explained in a press release.
Psychedelics have long been associated with the 1960s, hippies, and “flower power.” However, their therapeutic potential – including that of psilocybin which is found in dozens of mushrooms – is increasingly arousing the curiosity of the scientific and medical community.
It is thought that they could one day have a role to play in the treatment of conditions as varied as depression, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, cancer and drug addiction.
Psychedelics are like any other substance, Williams said: They can be used to do good things, or they can be abused.
“A big part of our mission will be to demonstrate how psychedelics can be used therapeutically, that it’s not just for partying,” Williams concluded. I think there’s been a lot of misinformation about psychedelics over the decades, that if you take them you’re going to jump off the roof and try to fly… That just doesn’t happen. »
