Psychedelic Therapy Arrives in the PNW

Among tall Douglas fir and oak trees, surrounded by a winding creek that feeds into the Clackamas River, a new kind of therapist is being minted in Oregon.

The aptly named InnerTrek is one of many companies that take local mental health professionals, health care workers, and alternative healers through a six-month course that will allow them to seek certification from the Oregon Health Authority to become some of the first guides to administer psilocybin to people in the United States. On Friday at a retreat center in Damascus, east of Portland, about 30 people gathered to learn how to counsel people through a psychedelic experience.

While psychedelic drugs remain federally illegal, Oregon’s Measure 109 was passed by voters in 2020 and will allow for the authorized administration of psilocybin at approved service centers in the state by licensed guides starting next year.

 

The industry’s launch in Oregon gives a glimpse at what a potential rollout could look like in other states, including Washington. While a legalization bill during Washington’s past legislative session failed to gain traction, the efforts are likely to resurface.

Most recently, voters in Colorado followed in Oregon’s steps, and already local municipalities across the country, including Seattle, are decriminalizing the use of psychedelics, while dozens of ketamine and MDMA-assisted therapy courses are enlisting mental health professionals to jump headfirst into a psychedelic renaissance.

But with certification courses costing thousands of dollars, and thousands of people seeking care among a national mental health crisis with shortage of workers, how will this first wave of treatment play out?

 
Mushrooms’ “magic”

There are over 200 varieties of psychedelic fungi across the globe. If ingested, psilocybin — the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms” — creates a mind-altering experience, often described as intense, euphoric or mystical. It sometimes includes visual hallucinations or in rare cases synesthesia, a neurological condition where senses are experienced differently and a person can taste colors, for example.

Compared with drugs like alcohol, psychedelic mushrooms are generally considered safe with low potential for abuse and no known lethal dose. Though they’re not advised for people with severe mental illnesses like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, for people with depression, PTSD or trauma, there’s a growing body of research that’s found significant therapeutic benefits.

Researchers at the John Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research, for example, found that two doses of psilocybin provided relief for people with major depressive disorder for up to a year in some cases. The study, though small, was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology in early 2022. Other researchers are investigating the value of psychedelics in helping people quit smoking, those with chronic illness or anorexia, and even health care workers experiencing burnout. (...)

 
Facilitators must complete at least 120 hours of training and an additional 40 hours of practicum or hands-on experience by an approved training program. Their training ranges from the ethics and responsibility of being a guide, to topics of consent when touching clients, how to deal with people undergoing a difficult trip, and general facilitation skills before, during and after a psychedelic experience, as well as self-care for the guide.

During the class Friday at InnerTrek (owned by Tom Eckert, architect of Measure 109), future facilitators discussed how varied the psychedelic experience can be for each person. Educators likened it to a flight: After ingesting psilocybin, the drug can take up to 75 minutes before takeoff — that’s where people can expect some “turbulence” with feelings of breathlessness or anxiety. The peak of the drug hits at around three to four hours, with the descent coming in at hour five or six, often coming in waves of clarity. (...)

The training programs currently cost about $8,000 to $10,000; facilitators must then pass a state exam before being licensed. (...)

While the Oregon Health Authority will start accepting applications for facilitators, service centers, labs and manufacturers on Jan. 2, it’s unlikely many will be ready soon. Starting this new supply chain will take time — educators think things will be up and running fully by summer or fall 2023.

Psychedelic aficionados also bring up concerns that plague the mental health field in general — how the workforce is largely white, despite psilocybin’s use among Native and Indigenous people, and barriers to accessing care. This form of treatment is not reimbursable by insurance and the high cost means some people that would most benefit from the care, are the least likely to be able to afford it.

by Esmy Jimenez, Seattle Times | Read more:
Image: Esmy Jimenez/The Seattle Times