What is psilocybin-assisted therapy?
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring compound found in certain mushrooms. In psilocybin-assisted therapy, a carefully screened adult takes psilocybin in a safe, supervised setting with trained professionals who support them before, during, and after the experience. This care has three parts: preparation, the session itself, and integration, where the person makes sense of the experience and carries its insights into daily life. Research has explored its promise for conditions such as treatment-resistant depression, post-traumatic stress, substance use disorders, and distress at the end of life.

Is this legal?
Yes, in a growing number of states that have created regulated programs. Oregon and Colorado already license facilitators to provide psilocybin services in approved settings. In 2025, New Mexico passed the Medical Psilocybin Act, which creates a state program for qualified patients with conditions such as treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, substance use disorders, and end-of-life care. The New Mexico Department of Health is now finalizing its rules, including the standards facilitators and their training programs must meet. Outside these regulated programs, psilocybin is still illegal, so well-trained, properly certified professionals are essential.

Why do facilitators need specialized training?
Supporting someone through a psilocybin experience calls for real skill. Facilitators need to understand safety and screening, the science of psilocybin, ethics and informed consent, trauma-informed care, cultural humility, and how to respond calmly when an experience becomes difficult. States that regulate this work require facilitators to finish an approved education program before they can be certified. New Mexico's proposed standards call for classroom learning, in-person instruction, simulated practice, and supervised hands-on experience. Strong training protects patients, and it also protects the credibility of this emerging field.

What will the Academy of Therapeutic Sciences offer?
The Academy of Therapeutic Sciences is a new school that will prepare facilitators to meet New Mexico's standards for psilocybin-assisted therapy. Our founding team brings years of experience designing and teaching facilitator training, plus deep backgrounds in higher education, curriculum design, and program operations. We're proud to be the exclusive training partner of the New Mexico Counseling Association, which gives counselors a trusted path into this work. We'll apply for state approval as soon as the Department of Health opens applications, and we'll announce program dates once that process begins.

How will my contribution be used?
Your gift helps us cover the real costs of starting a new school the right way. That includes building our curriculum to state standards, paying state application and independent evaluation fees, securing space for in-person instruction, and setting up the systems students need to learn and succeed. Every contribution, whatever its size, brings us closer to training the skilled, ethical facilitators this field depends on. Thank you for believing in us as we begin again.

Which states is ATS targeting to offer accredited certificate programs?

Colorado and New Mexico in 2027

We will expand to other states such as NY, MA, MI, TX, CT as they roll out their psychedelic assisted therapy programs in the near future. We are only fundraising for NM and CO with this campaign.