From Pioneers to Popularity: My Journey in the Field of Psychedelic Science and Therapy

By: Dr. Denise Renye

Psychedelics are talked about seemingly everywhere these days. Microdosing with LSD is joked about in TV shows. The news reports on people using psilocybin to treat anxiety, PTSD, and more. It all seems to have happened overnight but it didn’t. I should know because I have been in the field training, mentoring, and practicing integration for the last seven years. After my own training, I continue to mentor those newly coming into the field.

The renewed interest in psychedelics, at a therapeutic and academic level, can perhaps be traced back to 2016 when the California Institute for Integral Studies (CIIS) created a Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research (CPTR) certification program. More specifically, it was developed and launched by Dr. Janis Phelps. The program certifies people as they learn all about psychedelics in multiple ways: intellectual/didactic, personal/experiential, and applied. I was in the first cohort.

We were 42 people strong and Dr. Phelps created a space that allowed for the likes of the president of Dr. Bronner’s soap, Michael Bronner, to come and sit in on classes. The space also included observations by author Michael Pollan who was gathering notes to write about his experience in How to Change Your Mind.

In the book, he describes himself as a neophyte seeking out and finding psychedelic experiences to have and then write about. (As an aside, it blows my mind that Black and brown people are in prison and jail for cannabis crimes and Michael Pollan wrote a book about how he sought out medicinal experiences that are Schedule 1, published a book on it, and gives keynote speaking engagements). Pollan’s book helped to further popularize psychedelics with people who potentially would never have engaged with them. I’ve seen the ramifications of this firsthand because after I finished the CPTR program I’ve been on the admissions committee interviewing potential new cohort members, many of whom reference Pollan’s book!

These days, instead of 40 people, the cohorts are around 400 people. Nor are they only in San Francisco – there’s also a Boston cohort and a hybrid in-person/online cohort. That’s just CIIS! Multiple certification programs exist around the world now because of the model of the CPTR program. And more licensed professionals are recognizing the tremendous potential benefit of working with psychedelics. 

I care deeply about the topic and integrity of the field of psychedelic science, therapy, and research and continue to work as a teaching assistant and mentor groups. I provide didactic material around the clinical application of the academic material learned in class as well as how to network and collaborate with other professionals that may be beneficial to their career and the field of psychedelic science overall. It’s important to acknowledge, deeply, that there is a crucial role of psychedelic integration in maximizing the transformative potential of these experiences and fostering long-term positive outcomes.

I feel privileged to be able to pass on what I’ve learned as others have done for me. Not only have I read numerous books in classes through CPTR, in small learning groups since, and on my own but I’ve personally met and connected with some of the original pioneers of psychedelics.  Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, and Richard Alpert (aka, Ram Dass) all participated in psychedelic research at Harvard University in the early 1960s and were key players at that stage in the clinical application of these medicines. That’s when LSD first came on the scientific scene in a big way. The psychedelic druglysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was first synthesized on November 16, 1938 by the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann in the Sandoz (now Novartis) laboratories in Basel, Switzerland. But the 1960s research by Leary, Metzner, and Alpert popularized it in the U.S.

Ralph Metzner was the dean of students at CIIS for numerous years and while I had taken classes with him in the past, I was honored to learn from him directly through the CPTR program yet again.

Another prominent figure and pioneer in the field that had been a teacher at CIIS for many years is Stanislav Grof. I initially worked with him, his ex-wife, Christina, and Tav Sparks, through a Holotropic Breathwork intensive in the Philadelphia/New York area in the early 2000s.  Christina and Stan developed Holotropic Breathwork, which can transport a person into an altered state of consciousness without the use of a substance, in Mill Valley in 1975. In other words, the effects are similar to psychedelics but self-induced through breathing and music.

I’m fortunate in that Grof and his ex-wife Christina were also teachers of mine. Along with the folx aforementioned are other renowned figures in the field of psychedelic science: teachers Charles Grob, Alicia Danforth, Bill Richards, Janis Phelps, and Dave Nichols. All of these clinicians, researchers, and pioneer salso shaped my psychedelic education.

Because the field of psychedelic science and therapeutic application cannot be extricated from the field of trauma psychology and clinical work, learning about trauma through the lens of psychedelic work was also a part of my training. And, because I have been extensively trained to become a trauma-informed psychologist, this has been an integral part for me in being certified as a psychedelic-assisted therapist and integrationist. My other training has been as a psychologist, sexologist, yoga therapist, and yoga teacher.  

A famous speaker who  overlaps in the realms of trauma and psychedelics  is Dr. Gabor Maté. He also taught my cohort through the CPTR program and works in Vancouver with folx who have struggled with substance abuse, use, and dependence. He shares about his own addictive tendencies that span from an uncontrollable need to purchase classical music CDs to how he has treated his own children prior to doing the inner work necessary to heal and be an honorable father and professional in this world. While his approach can be jarring to some, he has a direct style that gets to the center of someone’s suffering.

I feel as if I’m a humble bridge between those who have come before me in prior generations and the next because I’m connected with these titans of application and research but also supporting younger folx now entering the field. There’s a saying that we stand on the shoulders of giants and that’s exactly how I feel when I contemplate my place in the world of psychedelics. I’m learning ancient wisdom tracing back centuries from indigenous people gracious enough to share, and also new wisdom gleaned from research happening in the present day. It’s an exciting time and I look forward to seeing what’s next.

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*The phrase psychedelic renaissance can be problematic for numerous reasons.