CALGARY, AB, Sept. 23, 2021 /CNW/ – ATMA Journey Centers Inc. (“ATMA”), an Alberta-based company focused on delivering innovative psychedelic-assisted therapies internationally, unveils the development of its Therapist Network Services Program (TNSP) aimed at providing a B2B turnkey solution for mental health care professionals to incorporate Psychedelic-assisted Psychotherapy into their practices.
The current shortage of mental health professionals in Canada is creating a substantial mental health accessibility gap. The ongoing waves of Covid-19 variants are only exacerbating the mental health crisis. Psychedelic-assisted Therapy can be a catalyst in alleviating this rising burden on the mental health care system and patient accessibility. For therapists, the current process of adding Psychedelic-assisted Therapy to their practice is often not feasible without committing significant time and resources. Building infrastructure services around therapists and providing necessary tools is one way to encourage higher engagement of mental health care professionals in Psychedelic Medicine. Vu Tran, ATMA Co-CEO, stated,
“We see a 20% rate of participation of Canadian therapists as being the critical mass to providing sufficient accessibility and possibly bringing a balance back to the mental health care system.”
ATMA is committed to creating an inclusive service model for therapists to add psychedelic-assisted therapies to their current practice through a one-stop technology platform that connects the whole psychedelic service ecosystem with therapists. Introducing ATMA’s Therapist Network Services Program (TNSP), providing:
- Education and Training (the foundation of TNSP);
- An online community network of like-minded Therapists;
- Curated resources and regular expert Speakers;
- A tool kit of how to integrate Psychedelic-assisted Therapy into practice;
- Clinical Trial participation;
- Medicine Sourcing and Prescribing Physician Services;
- Ancillary services to support Psychedelic Therapy in your Practice;
- A Therapist/Client Interface acts as a psychedelic therapy directory to serve Patients and Clients, helping them access participating Therapists locally.
The foundation of the TNSP is our Education Curriculum. ATMA began a Psychedelic-assisted Therapy Training Program in the spring of 2021 and has experienced significant interest and uptake of the training. Every training course offered has sold out. Our current goal is to train 800 therapists through 2022. Vu Tran commented,
“Early-stage demand from Therapists suggests this is easily achievable. However, we hope to scale that much higher to meet the Canadian Therapists’ 20% participation rate.”
Building foundation and infrastructure takes time,
“for those who think it is still too early, we say there is little time to waste to educate adequately, train and build support services around enough mental health care professionals to provide these alleviating therapies to Canadians in need of them.”
The knowledge of effectively providing Psychedelic Therapy exists here and now. ATMA is doing the work of gathering, curating, and packaging it in an integral, scalable, and user-friendly way for Therapists to integrate it into their Practice. We aim to build a broad bridge from Traditional Psychotherapy to Psychedelic-assisted Psychotherapy” to create greater accessibility for all Canadians.
“Psychedelic treatments are here, but doctors aren’t prepared.”
LA TIMES Op-Ed Aug 29, 2021 Rick Doblin & Jennifer Ouyang Altman
In partnership with Wayfound Mental Health Group, ATMA aims to address the issue Rick Doblin conveyed in the August 2021 op-ed.
“It is a tall order, but we are preparing for the hard work ahead, and we are open to working with any parties in the industry that shares the vision of greater accessibility of these effective therapies.” -Vu Tran, ATMA Co-CEO.
Wayfound Mental Health CEO Dr. Megan McElheran expressed:
“We are committed to supporting mental health professionals to access a high standard of clinical training in Psychedelic-assisted Psychotherapy, as we understand how crucial mental health professionals will be to the continued development of the Psychedelics Industry. We want to stay ahead of the tide and engage as many mental health professionals as possible in training opportunities with Psychedelic Medicine and Psychedelic-assisted Psychotherapy so that the Mental Health Industry is ready when legalization occurs.”
ABOUT ATMA JOURNEY CENTERS INC.
ATMA is a Canadian company focused on delivering practical and innovative healing and transformative experiences that leverage the potential of Psychedelic Medicine to awaken the inner healer and allow a deeper connection with self, with others, and with the beauty of our world. ATMA was the first private company in Canada to conduct legal Psychedelic-assisted Therapy with Psilocybin under a Section 56 Exemption granted by Health Canada and continues to work to provide Psilocybin-assisted Therapy care to Health Canada approved palliative care patients for compassionate reasons.
ABOUT WAYFOUND MENTAL HEALTH GROUP
Wayfound Mental Health Group Inc., and its predecessor companies, have been proudly serving the community in Calgary since 1999. Wayfound has grown to become a national mental health service provider and, in addition to work in psychedelic training, is focused on innovation in mental health program development and delivery. The mental health professionals at Wayfound bring years of experience working with clients across the lifespan and suffering from various mental health conditions. Wayfound focuses on service provision for first responders and public safety personnel who have suffered operational stress injuries in the line of duty. The organization believes that access to mental health care should be a right, not a privilege, and they advocate for the importance of mental health care being as commonplace as physical health care.