Beckley Psytech has announced that the first cohort of psychotherapists have begun training in advance of the expected Phase II clinical trial examining 5-MeO-DMT-assisted psychotherapy in treatment resistant depression (TRD).
The training
The training is being conducted in collaboration with Fluence, an educational platform that provides professional training in psychedelic therapy for psychiatrists, psychotherapists, social workers, and other healthcare practitioners.
The initial elements of the training programme feature online, interactive, self-taught modules, after which participating psychotherapists will be hosted by the Kadima Neuropsychiatry Institute in San Diego where the trainers will provide live, in-person training sessions.
This training programme aims to empower psychotherapists to deliver meaningful change to people suffering from severe mental health disorders and provide patients a best-in-class psychotherapy framework inside and outside of the clinic. Over the course of the next year, Beckley Psytech aims to train 80 psychotherapists.
Official comments
Cosmo Feilding Mellen, CEO of Beckley Psytech, said: “The initiation of this training programme is a vital step towards developing an ecosystem to support the emerging paradigm shift in how we treat neurological and psychiatric conditions. We are delighted to be partnered with Fluence, a world-class leader in psychotherapy training and education, and we are confident that this programme will deliver a differentiated solution to optimise patient outcomes in difficult-to-treat medical conditions.”
Dr. Elizabeth Nielson, Fluence co-founder, said: “Due to the unique demands of creating and testing a psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy with 5-MeO-DMT, our focus on psychotherapy and psychotherapist training at Fluence is a natural fit for Beckley Psytech’s innovative research program. It’s been a delight to see clinicians get involved and learn Beckley Psytech’s therapeutic approach and protocol so they’re ready to provide this therapy to study participants.”
Background
Beckley Psytech is currently conducting a double-blind, randomised, single ascending dose Phase I study to evaluate the safety and tolerability of a single intranasal dose of Beckley Psytech’s novel formulation of intranasal 5-MeO-DMT healthy subjects.
