Firstly, because we made it a business priority to keep our course competitively priced. Psilocbyin is a remarkable tool that more people should be trained how to safely and effectively facilitate. This essential human endeavor shouldn't be limited by expensive training programs that put the ability to learn about mushrooms and to work in this field outside the reach of many people.

Secondly, our program is cheaper because APL is a small but elite group of instructors many of whom are also facilitators. This faculty composition allows us to keep our costs low because we have fewer people to pay to deliver the high quality education you receive in our course.

Take a look at our testimonials to see what folks have had to say about our course or email us if you have some specific questions.

Sadly, CO regulators did not take the input or advice from APL and many other stakeholders during their public hearings to keep the minimum program hours in line with Oregon at 120 hours and instead insisted on increasing the hours by 25% to 150 without making any real changes to the curricular content requirements. More hours means more costs and so our pricing for CO reflects that 25% increase implemented by the CO regulators.

Additionally CO regulators added a formal consultation hours requirement for full licensure which added yet another 50 hours of work for students and thus even more cost. APL has worked to make sure we can deliver a quality program at a good price but CO has increased the costs of legal facilitiation compared to Oregon through its license stucture.

Psilocybin mushrooms remain a schedule 1 controlled substance according to Federal law. The possession or consumption of schedule 1 substances is federally illegal. In Colorado, voters passed Prop 122 in 2022 that changed the legal status of psilocybin and other plant-based psychedelics in the state.

Currently in CO, it is not illegal to grow, use, or share psilocybin mushrooms for personal use in non-public settings. That is, you can grow your own shrooms and take them or give to your friends to take. You are prohibited from selling mushrooms or other psychedelics, and being under the influence of psychedelics in public spaces is also still illegal.

Additionally, the state is in the process of creating a state licensed growing, distribution, and facilitation structure similar to what was created in Oregon in 2023. This new program will create licensed psilocybin facilitators who can help potential journeyers better understand their journey process and can also provide support to clients during a journey experience. Also, this licensed framework will create growing, testing, and non-retail distribution for psilocybin mushrooms. As of Fall 2024, the rules are still be finalized and we expect things to come together more clearly by January 2025.

So, simply, psilocybin is decriminalized in Colorado for personal growing or use and a network of state regulated growing and facilitation is coming online right now.

Around $12,000**

You will need to pass an approved course like this one: $6900

Materials for your course: $150

Post-course Consultation Hours: $2000

State License Application and Licensing Fees: $2000-$3000 (we're waiting for the final numbers)

**If you are working with an Oregon service center partner for Practicum or using APL in-person practicum, there may be more fees related to completing that practicum. See the Practicum Info tab for the most current information regarding practicum options.

1.) Must be 21 years of age or older
2.) Must have a high school diploma or equivalent
3.) Must pass a criminal background check
4.) Must complete a psilocybin facilitator training program
5.) Must pass the state examination

Usually they are on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 5:30pm to 8:30pm. Some cohorts may have a different schedule, so check the specific cohort info at the top of this page for your target cohort’s specifics.

Colorado has a lot of hours to get through, and we know you want to get out their helping people, so we've created a dense schedule for synchronous class material (Tues, Wed, Thurs) and a more leisurely schedule for asynchronous work.

No, this program is fully online. You will need a computer and a stable internet connection to be able to participate fully in instruction.

However, all practicum components of the course are conducted in-person at an affiliated service center or during a weekend “intensive” session in Portland, OR.

Since the CO licensed system is brand new, there are some limitations to how practicum can be run (i.e. no licensed facilitators in CO yet, no licensed healing centers, no tested and available mushroom product). However, for at least the first year CO regulators have given us two pathways to satisfay practicum requirements: In-Person and Alternative

In-Person (Portland, OR)
Because OR created their system a couple years ago, systems exist in OR to run high-quality practicum training. For the moment then, all APL in-person training happens in Portland, OR.

Usually a four day intensive toward the end of any cohort schedule (though sometimes as a pair of weekends depending on space availability), APL has created a series of in-person activities to train you and give you the opportunity to practice real-world faciliation skills like patient intakes and preparation, de-escalation skills practice and situational challenges, and train the ability to recognize deficiencies in practice. These training opportunities are coupled with activities to help train non-drug induced changes in consciousness like meditation and breath-work.

For real-world practice, APL partners with high-quality facilitators and identifies clients ammenable to having student observers to create opportunites for small groups of students to see facilitation in action. This training method give students the potential to see the client(s) through the whole facilitation experience, start-to-finish. That way students can observe and ultimately discuss and debrief the process. It is not always possible to secure a willing lay-person client because of the personal nature of journeys. So, APL practicums utilize real clients with real facilitation whenever possible, but will always provide the training and skills to practicum students regardless of whether a live client is available or not.

Alternative
While APL has had great success implementing the above type of practicum in Oregon, we recognize that some Colorado students may not be able to travel to Portland in order to participate. While we anticipate eventually running our APL practicum in Colorado, we won’t be able to do that until the program is more mature and there are healing centers, growers, and licensed facilitators available to help us run our standard program.

Consequently, we want to create the opportunity for Colorado students who are unable to attend practicum in Portland to still complete their practicum hours using the CO alternative practicum rules (3.3.E). To that end, students will be able to engage in a variety of activies ranging from meditation to breathwork to taichi to watching recorded sessions to meet their hours requirement and not have to travel to Portland.

Please see the CO practicum page for the specific details of how alternative practicum is structured.

The Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) department tasked with implementing the rule making and regulatory process for the emerging Natural Medicine system in Colorado. DORA is responsible for approving curricula for educational programs and for granting licenses for facilitators. The CO Department of Revenue (DOR) will oversee the licenseing of Healing Centers and growers.

Approval from DORA is required for psilocybin training programs to grant certificates that allow graduates to be eligible for licensure. To ensure that you will meet license requirements after completing a training program, you should verify that any training program you are considering is approved by DORA.

Acadia Professional Learning is DORA approved as of September 2024.

No, Acadia Professional Learning does not offer scholarships.

Students with a declared financial need can split their tuition payments in two with the first payment due the first week of classes and the second payment due by the end of the seventh week of class.

There is a needs-based private scholarship opportunity offered by the Sheri Eckert Foundation. APL is not affiliated with the foundation, but you can find more information about their scholarship at www.sherieckert.org

The licensed facilitation space is brand new in CO. Until January 2025, no one will be licensed to do this work at all and even then, it’s an emerging market. Eventually, licensed Healing Centers will come online, but if Oregon is any guide, you will be self-employed and will need to recruit your own clients. It is unlikely the psychedelic facilitiation will be a W2 employed position for some time. We've been doing in OR for two years and virtually no facilitator is an employee working for someone else.

That's not to say there isn't work. There is tons of work, but it will be work you will need to generate for yourself, entrepreneur-style, and not work that will be handed to you by someone else.

Thinking about how you can build a practice is part of the course work, but it will absolutely require some hustle and some creativity while we learn what the demand for these services will be in CO.

Currently, passing an approved course does not expire. Meaning, once you pass your course, there is no time limit on the validity of your course work. You can apply for a license and pay for it when you’re ready.

Yes, sort-of. CO law currently allows people to serve in supportive and harm-reducing capacities for people using psychelics and to be paid for that work. That means, for now, that you can facilitate in homes or non-public areas that are not licensed Healing Centers. Because of the non-public piece, it is not currently legal to facilitate in a park for example. We include the "for now" because emerging markets are, by their nature of being new, always in flux, and the rules could easily change in the future.

In OR by contrast, facilitation is only allowed in licensed service centers, but we know that there is still a large underground market serving clients in their homes. What we also know from facilitators working on the ground is that client needs vary widely and some clients feel more comfortable journeying in their home and many others would prefer to go to a specialized place like a licensed Healing Center to have their journey in a safe and contained environment. How it will play out in CO we will learn in the next year.

No, like many other licensed professions, your facilitator license is only currently issued by the state of Colorado and only applies within its borders.

Once other states have legalized facilitation, you may have the option of applying for a license in those states with or without having to take another course.

However, even though Oregon has been licensing facilitators for two years DORA (the CO regulators) have not clarified what kind of reciprocity exists, or will exist, for licensed OR facilitators to work in CO and visa versa.