Our therapist training programme has been designed by experts from the fields of psychology, psychiatry and psychedelic therapy research. It is currently being used to train therapists taking part in our phase 2b clinical trial of COMP360 psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), as approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as part of our Investigational New Drug Application (IND).
Psilocybin therapy requires specially trained, compassionate therapists. We have trained more than 65 therapists and assisting therapists to work in our phase 2b clinical trial. Our training programme incorporates five days of face-to-face training, clinical training while supporting participants in at least four psilocybin research sessions under the guidance of experienced therapists, and more than 10 hours of online training. We review and refresh training with regular contact and sharing of experiences and best practice, and enhance ongoing professional development through 1:1 mentoring and clinical supervision by mentors.
No psychedelic experience is ever the same. That’s why when we recruit therapists, we look for mental health care professionals who have expertise and skill in working with patients; we focus on qualities like openness, empathy and compassion. We don’t recruit therapists based on their willingness or desire to take a psychedelic substance themselves, or any previous personal psychedelic experience. We believe that emotional maturity, coupled with compassion and clinical experience of supporting patients, are the best predictors of safety and improved clinical outcomes. We want patients to feel thoroughly supported by their therapists before, during, and after their psilocybin session, and we reflect this in our therapist recruitment and training.