Facilitator Training Curriculum
Review the full curriculum for AAA Learning Institute’s Oregon facilitator training program, including orientation, required OPF modules, live online and self-paced hours, and the supervised practicum experience completed at a licensed Oregon psilocybin service center.
Curriculum Overview
This curriculum is designed to meet Oregon facilitator training requirements through a structured sequence of didactic instruction, applied facilitation content, ethics and safety training, preparation and administration coursework, integration learning, and supervised practicum experience.
The curriculum below includes total hours, live online hours, self-paced online hours, and detailed module subjects for Orientation and OPF101 through OPF110.
Orientation for Students
Total Hours: 2 | Live Online: 2 | Self-Paced Online: N/A
Student orientation introduces learners to program expectations, instructional structure, learning format, and progression through curriculum and practicum requirements.
OPF101 Historical, Traditional, and Contemporary Practices and Applications
Total Hours: 12 | Live Online: 6 | Self-Paced Online: 6
- Current and historical use of plant and fungal medicines in indigenous and western cultures
- The Controlled Substances Act and its effect on psilocybin research and drug policy
- Overview of historical and recent academic research
OPF102 Psilocybin Pharmacology, Neuroscience, and Clinical Research
Total Hours: 4 | Live Online: 2 | Self-Paced Online: 2
- Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of psilocybin
- Drug and supplement interaction
- The metabolism of psilocybin and psilocybin products, including concentration of psilocybin and psilocin in available psilocybin products
- The primary effects and mechanisms of action of psilocybin on the brain, including connectivity in the brain and activation of serotonin receptors
- Key areas of psilocybin research
- Models of substance use, addiction, and recovery
OPF103 Core Facilitation Skills
Total Hours: 16 | Live Online: 8 | Self-Paced Online: 8
This module includes the following subjects and their application during preparation, administration, and integration sessions:
- Client communication, empathy and rapport, including a nondirective facilitation approach, cultural attunement, and a nonjudgmental disposition
- Response to psychological distress and creating a safe space for difficult emotional experiences
- Physical reactions and side effects of psilocybin
- Trauma informed care, including physiology of trauma, vicarious trauma, empathic stress, and compassion fatigue
- Active monitoring of client-facilitator boundaries, specifically boundaries related to consent and touch
- Identification and facilitation of a variety of subjective psilocybin experiences, including experiences relating to physiological sensations, cognitive, emotional and mystical states, and traumatic memories
- Appropriate modes of intervention, understanding when intervention is necessary, and when a client may need a higher level of care
- Recognizing and addressing adverse behavioral reactions and adverse medical reaction
- Identification of the unique health, psychological, and sociocultural issues presented by persons with terminal illness, and awareness of the appropriate knowledge, skills, and approach needed to provide safe facilitation to such persons in a manner consistent with client goals, values, heritage, and spiritual practices
OPF104 Group Facilitation
Total Hours: 16 | Live Online: 8 | Self-Paced Online: 8
- Skills required to facilitate psilocybin group sessions, including:
- Assessing client’s compatibility with group format
- Set and setting for group facilitation
- Facilitating group communications and dynamics, including strategies for working with multiple facilitators
- Group agreements, including confidentiality and safety
- Identifying when a client within a group requires individual support, removal from a group, or additional intervention
- Group preparation sessions
- Group integration sessions
- Regulatory requirements for group facilitation
OPF105 Cultural Equity in Relation to Psilocybin Services
Total Hours: 12 | Live Online: 6 | Self-Paced Online: 6
- Cultural equity, its relationship to health equity and social determinants of health
- Racial justice, including the impact of race and privilege on health outcomes and the impact of systemic racism on individuals and communities
- The impact of drug policy on individuals and communities
- History of systemic inequity, including systemic inequity in delivery of healthcare, mental health, and behavioral health services
- Intergenerational trauma
- Responsible referral and support
OPF106 Safety, Ethics and Responsibilities
Total Hours: 12 | Live Online: 6 | Self-Paced Online: 6
- Awareness of facilitator’s personal bias, including examination of facilitator’s motives
- Training on the Oregon Psilocybin Services Act and related laws, regulations, and professional standards for facilitators, including facilitator scope of practice and expectation of referral when scope of practice is exceeded
- Training in ethical issues related to psilocybin facilitation, including:
- Oregon’s Facilitator Code of Ethics
- Ethical considerations relating to equity, privilege, bias, and power
- Awareness of increased vulnerability associated with altered states of consciousness
- Appropriate use of touch and client consent to physical contact
- Appropriate emotional and sexual boundaries between facilitators and clients both during provision of psilocybin services and at other times, potential harm to clients, and consequences for facilitators of breaching those boundaries
- Historical and contemporary abuse of power associated with psychedelics, including sexual boundaries between facilitators and clients both during provision of psilocybin services and at other times, potential harm to clients, and consequences for facilitators of breaching those boundaries
- Financial conflicts of interest and duties to clients
- Reasonable expectations regarding client outcomes
- Accurate record keeping and client confidentiality
- Awareness of new research related to safety and ethics of providing psilocybin services and resources for professional development following program completion
- Appropriate measures to mitigate risks associated with psilocybin services, including harm reduction, de-escalation, and conflict resolution
OPF107 Preparation and Orientation
Total Hours: 16 | Live Online: 8 | Self-Paced Online: 8
- Informed consent
- Client information form and intake interview, including discussion of client’s reasons for seeking psilocybin services
- Using the client information form to assist clients in identifying benefits of referral to specialized treatment services
- Facilitator role and the limits of facilitator’s scope of practice
- Trauma informed communication skills
- Identification of client safety concerns, including medical history, contraindicated medication, and psychological instability
- Appropriate strategies to discuss client safety concerns, including but not limited to identification of client’s support system
- Determination of whether a client should participate in an administration session
- Client-directed safety planning to address identified safety concerns
- Boundaries between the facilitator and the client, including use of touch
- Understanding of how racial and cultural dynamics affect interactions between client and facilitator
- Historical and indigenous modalities of preparation
OPF108 Administration
Total Hours: 20 | Live Online: 10 | Self-Paced Online: 10
- Dosing strategies and considerations, including:
- Experiential differences relating to differing dosages
- Physiological considerations in relation to dosage
- Delivery mechanisms of psilocybin
- Use of secondary doses
- Effectively working with challenging behaviors during an administration session, including:
- Unexpected client disclosures
- Substance-induced psychosis
- Suicidality
- Traumatic stress and its manifestation during a psilocybin experience and appropriate facilitator response, including:
- Trauma’s relationship to the body
- Repressed trauma emerging during a psilocybin experience
- Trauma and traumatic stress resulting from systemic oppression
- Safety for trauma resolution and risks associated with retraumatization
- Protocols for ensuring facilitator safety and responding to emergencies
- Set and setting, including environmental considerations for administration session such as lighting, sound, and temperature
- Completion of administration session
OPF109 Integration
Total Hours: 12 | Live Online: 6 | Self-Paced Online: 6
- Identification of appropriate resources that may assist client with integration, including resources for:
- Interpreting feelings and emotions experienced during administration session
- Facilitation of positive internal and external changes
- Enhancement of existing supportive relationship
- Identification of client safety concerns
- Facilitator scope of practice
- Discussion of appropriate intervals between administration sessions and related safety concerns
OPF110 Practicum Experience
Total Hours: 40
Students complete a structured practicum experience consisting of 40 hours of supervised practicum training at a licensed Oregon psilocybin service center.
Prior to scheduling practicum, students are required to apply for and obtain an Oregon Psilocybin Services worker permit. Students may apply for the required $25 worker permit through the Oregon Health Authority at this link.
After receiving the required permit, students are responsible for coordinating practicum scheduling directly with The Shrooms Cafe in Ashland, Oregon, subject to approval and availability through both Shrooms Cafe and AAA Learning Institute.
Practicum dates are arranged individually and may be completed at approved times throughout the year based on service center operations, instructor availability, and program approval.
Students are responsible for all practicum-related food, lodging, and transportation expenses.
Students are encouraged to begin the worker permit and practicum scheduling process early to support timely completion of the program.
Practicum instruction is designed to support applied learning, observation, professional conduct, client safety, and real-world integration of facilitator competencies developed throughout the didactic curriculum.
Note: Curriculum hours, module sequence, practicum scheduling, and program requirements may be updated as needed to maintain alignment with Oregon psilocybin services requirements, instructor delivery, service center coordination, and program operations.
Training Structure & Curriculum
The training structure at AAA Learning Institute introduces students to psychedelic education in a clear and progressive format. First, foundational concepts help students understand ethical facilitation, professional responsibility, and client safety. As interest in psychedelic therapy continues to grow, structured learning becomes increasingly important for developing competence and credibility.
Foundations of Psychedelic Education
Initially, the curriculum focuses on orientation and conceptual learning. Students explore how neuroplasticity relates to preparation, reflection, and long-term integration. In addition, core topics include boundaries, scope of practice, and the psychological dynamics that may arise during altered-state experiences.
Because psychedelic facilitation involves working with individuals in vulnerable states, the training emphasizes responsibility and measured communication. Therefore, students begin developing awareness before moving into more applied learning stages.
Developing Professional Facilitation Skills
As the program progresses, students study preparation frameworks, session support approaches, and integration-informed communication. Moreover, modules introduce neuroscience perspectives that help explain how psychedelic experiences may influence perception, emotion, and behavior. Consequently, students gain a more balanced understanding of both opportunity and limitation.
At the same time, the curriculum reinforces trauma-informed facilitation principles. This helps students recognize when to provide support, when to pause, and when referral may be appropriate. In this way, professional judgment becomes a central learning outcome.
Connecting Neuroplasticity and Integration
Another important component of the training structure is the relationship between neuroplasticity and integration. For example, students learn how reflective practices, journaling, and supportive dialogue can help individuals make meaning from significant experiences. As a result, integration is framed as an ongoing process rather than a single conversation.
Furthermore, this perspective helps future facilitators understand the importance of pacing and realistic expectations. Instead of focusing on dramatic outcomes, the curriculum encourages consistent learning and responsible follow-through.
Practicum Preparation and Experiential Learning
After completing foundational coursework, students prepare for supervised practicum participation. During this stage, they apply theoretical knowledge within structured service-center environments. In addition, practicum experience helps students observe professional facilitation standards in real time.
Because experiential learning often brings new insights, the program encourages reflection and continued study. Therefore, students strengthen both confidence and humility as they progress through training requirements.
Why Structured Curriculum Matters in Psychedelic Therapy Training
In an emerging field, clear training pathways support both student readiness and public trust. For this reason, AAA Learning Institute organizes its curriculum to balance scientific awareness, ethical responsibility, and integration-focused communication. Consequently, graduates are better prepared to navigate evolving professional environments.
Finally, a structured approach helps students understand that facilitator development takes time. Through consistent study, practicum participation, and reflective integration, individuals can build a more sustainable and realistic path forward.
Review additional pages to understand how curriculum, practicum experience, and facilitator career development connect within the broader psychedelic education framework.
Practicum Experience Tuition & Schedule Apply