Psychedelics, Altered States and Transpersonal Psychology

The one-year Psychedelics, Altered States and Transpersonal Psychology Certificate Programme at Alef Trust is a 100% online program led by David Luke, Ph.D. The program provides a collaborative environment to study the transpersonal nature of the psychedelic experience, altered states of consciousness and exceptional experiences. The program starts in February, and the tuition fee is £3,000.

With a renaissance in psychedelic research suggesting that traditionally prohibited substances such as psilocybin and MDMA might have a valuable role to play in revolutionizing psychiatry and in the treatment of mental health problems, this program offers a roadmap through the complex psychological terrain of the psychedelic experience and other altered states of consciousness within the intellectual and therapeutic envelope of transpersonal psychology.

This program of study will explore the transpersonal nature of the psychedelic experience and other altered states, drawing upon transpersonal psychology, parapsychology, cross-cultural psychiatry, neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience, anthropology, ethnobotany, and the study of religions, among other disciplines. Students will learn of recent research developments in understanding the state induced by, and the potential applications of, psychedelics. The program will take a cross-disciplinary approach and will both encompass and challenge the prevailing ontology of materialistic-reductionism, drawing upon multiple cross-cultural worldviews in the epistemology and interpretation of the psychedelic experience and other altered states. It will cover the study of a range of transpersonal and exceptional experiences, such as mystical, shamanic and mediumistic experiences, inter-species communication, entity – e.g., divine beings – encounters, psi experiences, out-of-body and near-death experiences, insight and creativity, love, compassion, connectivity, and empathy, and other experiences and concomitants of the psychedelic encounter.