Training program
MAPS Training Program
Investigational MDMA-Assisted Therapy for PTSD
MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD is an investigational treatment not yet approved for use outside of research. However, several countries (e.g. Australia, Switzerland) allow MDMA-assisted therapy under special regulations. MAPS (the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) has led the most advanced psychedelic-assisted therapy research in the world and continues to support psychedelic research with a focus on the people and places most impacted by trauma.
One Phase 3 trial has been completed, demonstrating that 67% of participants in the MDMA group no longer qualified for a PTSD diagnosis two months post-treatment, compared to 32% of participants in the placebo group. A second Phase 3 trial has been completed with similar results.
MAPS Training Program
Program Context
Participants will join a community of MAPS-trained therapists, supporting each other in expanding MDMA-assisted therapy opportunities in the coming years.
Program Aims
By the end of this course, attendees will be able to:
1
Understand the fundamental processes and concepts underlying investigational MDMA-assisted therapy.
2
Consider the role of identity and culture in therapeutic alliance and trauma processing.
3
Translate the concepts of inner healing intelligence and inner-directed therapeutic approach to their work with clients.
4
Strengthen the therapeutic alliance with clients.
5
Engage in personal growth practices that enable grounding, self-care, and sustainability.
Legal status in Switzerland
In Switzerland, psychedelic-assisted therapy is legally permissible under specific conditions. The Federal Act on Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (NarcA) regulates the use of narcotics and psychotropic substances, including psychedelics like MDMA, LSD, and psilocybin. While these substances are generally prohibited, the NarcA allows for their restricted medical use, provided certain criteria are met.
To administer psychedelics in a therapeutic setting, therapists must obtain an exemption permit from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). This permit is granted on a case-by-case basis and requires that existing treatments are ineffective and that preliminary scientific evidence suggests the efficacy of the scheduled drug for the particular condition.
Meet the team
Training staff
Lead Trainers
Marcela O’talora
Lead educator
Marcela has an MA in Transpersonal Psychology from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and an MFA in Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is an Installation artist, researcher, teacher, and supervisor. For 25 years she has been in private practice working primarily with trauma and specifically with PTSD. Her interest and focus on trauma led her to understand the healing journey as an intimate re-connection with one’s innate essence through love, integrity, compassion, and honoring of the human spirit. In addition to private practice, she has dedicated her professional life to training and research. Beginning in 1999, she has worked on various studies sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) as a Principal Investigator and investogator using MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD. Additionally, she is a lead educator and supervisor for MAPS’ MDMA-assisted therapy training program.
Bruce Pulter
Lead educator
Bruce has worked much of his career with people in altered states. He was initiated into health care as an ICU nurse at UC San Francisco Moffitt Hospital when the AIDS pandemic first emerged and began devastating communities. Later he received a MPH from UC Berkeley in Health Planning and Policy. He went on to develop public health programs including one of the first certified nurse-midwife based perinatal programs serving low income women, and a program that identified and provided care for families at risk for abuse and neglect of their children. He has worked extensively somatically with people in chronic pain and was an intimate observer of the first government approved MDMA for PTSD MAPS study in Madrid, Spain in 1999. He has offered harm reduction services thru Zendo and other organizations, was an investigator in the MAPS Boulder MDMA for PTSD Phase 1, 2 and 3 trials, is currently a Lead Educator and Supervisor for therapists working on studies for MDMA-Assisted Therapy.
Training assistants
Christopher Boehlke
Palliative Care Physician
Christopher is a board-certified internist and palliative care physician with specialized training and research in psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT). He completed his certification through the California Institute of Integral Studies CPTR program and is a trained MAPS therapist. He integrates PAT into palliative care, operating under a Swiss exemption permit.
Aneta Dorazilová
Clinical Psychologist
Aneta is a Prague-based clinical psychologist and PhD holder in Clinical Psychology. She leads a team supporting individuals with psychotic experiences and runs a private practice. Trained in Gestalt therapy and MDMA-assisted therapy with MAPS, she explores altered states of mind and psychoanalytic theory.
Ivar Goksøyr
Clinical Psychologist
Founder of (the mental health clinic) Psykologvikrke, an online introductory training in MDMA-assisted therapy and co-founder of Norwegian Psychedelic Science. MAPS-certified MDMA therapist, MAPS training assistant and psychedelic researcher and therapist involved in trials on MDMA-AT for depression, PTSD and therapist professional development.
Robert Hirsch
Psychiatrist
Rob trained as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist in Germany and the UK. He holds certificates in DBT, ACT and Psychedelic Therapy from CIIS and MAPS. He is also a certified Grof®Breathwork facilitator and trainer and for over a decade practiced mindfulness meditation at the London Buddhist Centre and in Plum Village.
Bianca King
Psychological Counsellor & Meditation Teacher
Bianca is a qualified MAPS therapist and graduate of the CIIS CPTR training. She is part of Mind Medicine Australia teaching faculty and practices as a Psychedelic Assisted Therapist. She is a qualified MBSR teacher and has been prominent for running mindfulness courses for the public, International organizations and in the field of cancer support.
Julia King Olivier
Psychiatrist & Psychotherapist
Julia obtained a Certificate in Psychedelic Assisted Therapy from CIIS and and completed the MAPS PBC Consultation Training. She founded the Compassionate Care Center in Geneva, offering legal psychedelic therapy. Julia assisted MAPS programs in Iceland and Melbourne and joined the faculty at Mind Medicine Australia.
Jamie Mills
Oncologist
Jamie is an Oncologist working in the UK, with a particular interest in death and dying. He has completed training in Transpersonal Psychology and is an experienced Holotropic Breathwork, and trained bodywork Facilitator. He has undergone training with CIIS in their Certificate in Psychedelic Therapy, and Research program and is also trained in Systemic and Family Constellation work.
Mippi Vuorikoski
Psychotherapist
Mippi is an individual and couples therapist with her own private practice in Helsinki, Finland. She specializes in the science of connection, attachment issues, C-PTSD, and supporting survivors of sexual assault. With 10 years of experience in the field of psychedelic therapy, she has also worked as a clinical therapist in a Finnish-Canadian study on psilocybin-assisted therapy for alcohol use disorder.
MAPS Educational training program
Education Format
The training program consists of approximately 65 hours of education, including:
- Online content (15 hours)
- Asynchronous, self-paced coursework to be completed by the assigned deadline
- In person retreat (40 hours)
- Experential of altered states of conciousness through holotropic Grof®Breathwork (10 hours)
The online program consists of eLearning modules that will include a variety of activities to support learning.
The curriculum includes video case presentations from real MAPS MDMA-assisted therapy sessions, role play activities, self-reflection activities, group and dyad activities, and other coursework.
Group activities will be supervised by MAPS-trained teaching assistents (TAs).
Every trainee will facilitate and experience one breathwork session supported by the TAs.
Participants will receive proof of participation and completion of this training course. However, please note this is not a certification course to deliver MDMA-assisted therapy. There are currently no certification standards for any psychedelic-assisted therapy given the investigational status of this modality, which has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or any regulatory authority.
Grof®Breathwork
Grof®Breathwork was developed by Stan and Christina Grof at the Esalen Institute in the 1970s to explore altered states of consciousness induced by purely physiological means. The Grofs discovered that deep, accelerated breaths could deepen awareness and facilitate access to unconscious layers of the psyche in support of a healing process. It has since been used worldwide as a therapeutic modality for depression, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychosis, anxiety, stress, and psychosomatic disorders. Grof®Breathwork can serve as a model for experiencing and supporting altered states of consciousness and thus has an important place in psychedelic-assisted therapy training.