A certification test provides a clear and coherent career path for practitioners. It will assess the skills and knowledge tailored to therapeutic work with psychedelic medicines, in particular MDMA and psilocybin. Practitioners who pass will be credentialed as a Board-Certified Psychedelic Practitioner (BCPP). This credential will identify those healthcare providers who are qualified to treat mental disorders using approved psychedelic medicines and therapy practices. The BCPP designation confirms that certified practitioners have met the requirements for certification through initial assessment and periodic recertification. This credential then can be applied to reimbursement requests, job applications, professional advancement and client confidence.

The actual work of the psychedelic therapist remains to be well defined in a coherent fashion. This critical step in the emergence of psychedelic medicine will be accomplished by a process called job analysis. The BPMT will elaborate, analyze, and refine the specific tasks and competencies involved in this new profession. This job analysis framework will be a detailed and formal study that defines and validates the knowledge, skills, and tasks required in the work of a psychedelic therapist. It will thus define the core competencies necessary for safe and effective practice with psychedelic medicines. These specific knowledge, skills, and abilities endorsed by the BPMT will establish the clinical guidelines for the practice of psychedelic therapies that apply across various professions and disciplines from social work, psychiatry, marriage and family therapy to psychology. By creating a core set of practice guidelines, the BPMT seeks to address practitioner liability issues, protect public safety, and find an appropriate balance between medical and psychotherapeutic practices. The test will closely reflect the skills and knowledge needed to effectively and safely practice psychedelic-assisted therapy.

The qualified professional will be required to possess both adequate clinical skills and a sufficient knowledge base in the realm of psychedelic medicine. The knowledge base required will include the history, cultural origins, clinical characteristics, applications, risk factors, time course, and other common features of each medicine. Beyond this, the certified practitioner will be required to possess sound clinical skills to appropriately screen in and out candidates based on mental health background and characteristics. Each certified practitioner must understand, embrace, and adhere to the code of ethics for psychedelic medicine. They will also need to possess the expertise needed to sit for and facilitate for a range of journey styles and complications. This includes comfort in managing extreme states, ability to respond effectively to adverse events, and the facilitation of a therapeutic set and setting. The board will post the content outline for the exam and weighting of each section later this year, well ahead of the test application process.

Once the job analysis framework is completed, the BPMT will define the basic eligibility requirements for the BCPP certification. It is critical that these eligibility guidelines reflect the emerging profession and the systemic demands for both safety and credibility. The first tier assessed will be health care providers licensed in the US. While the exact eligibility requirements have not been formally established by the BPMT, we expect candidates will be experienced healthcare professionals, licensed in the United States with demonstrated proficiency using psychedelic medicines in a therapeutic setting to plan and provide treatment for a range of mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and other traditionally difficult to treat conditions. As certified and licensed mental health care professionals, BCPPs are expected to practice in independent offices, hospital-based clinics, retreat centers, and multidisciplinary clinics among other settings. They come from a range of existing medical and mental health professions such as social work, psychology, psychiatry, professional counselors, and marriage and family therapists to name a few. The eligibility requirements will be posted later this year, once the job analysis is completed.

The striking lack of diversity in the psychedelic arena concerns us deeply. We have addressed this issue in a number of ways. The practitioner work group held a laser sharp focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion as they contributed to the electoral process. As a result, a number of electors were directly allocated to minority representatives. Once the fourteen electors were identified (they include Stan Grof, Andy Weil, Mary Cosimano, Sylver Quevado and 10 others), they were instructed to hold DEI concerns prominently in the nomination process. The Ad Hoc group also hired a DEI consultant to advise about the electoral process and governance issues. The bylaws of the Board of Psychedelic Medicine and Therapies include a direct statement about the central importance of DEI for this project as we move towards certification. This intention will be held each step of the way as we develop metrics for knowledge, assessment of skills and tools for discernment. Finally, we believe that the diversity represented in our current Board of BPMT reflects our commitment to this grave responsibility.

Members of the Board of Directors convened their inaugural meeting in December 2021, to adopt bylaws, elect officers of the organization, and begin its various organizational tasks. We expect to identify Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from the field to create the certification test in the first half of 2022. SMEs will begin crafting test items through the summer and fall of 2022. We will post the content outline for the exam in the Fall of 2022. We hope to have a test piloted in late 2022 and open applications for the first formal certification test in the first half of 2023. We will post all of these steps as they occur and provide regular updates in our newsletter.