Ensuring a Safe, Accessible, and Affordable System
Distinguished guests from across the behavioral health ecosystem joined BrainFutures and Sunstone Therapies for Bridging Research and Practice: The Future of Psychedelic-Assisted Care, convenedby BrainFutures, Sunstone Therapies, University Psychedelic Education Program (U-PEP), and the Office of Systems Catalyst.
BrainFutures Executive Director, Sarah Norman, and Dr. Manish Agrawal, CEO and Co-Founder of Sunstone Therapies, opened the convening and emphasized the urgent need to build partnerships, infrastructure, and collective action across the system to shape and scale the care people desperately need.
The discussion featured a powerful patient story; bipartisan perspectives; a fireside chat exploring current strengths of the behavioral health system; and expert panelists sharing practical strategies and on-the-ground insights.
Core Competencies for PAT
What Clinicians Must Know and Be Able To Do
During the convening, BrainFutures unveiled our consensus-driven initiative to advance training standardization, quality implementation, and professional development.
We're bringing together an interdisciplinary workgroup of clinicians, researchers, national provider associations, training leaders, and patient voices to identify and develop core competencies.
Core competencies define what practitioners must know and be able to do safely and effectively to deliver care. They establish the foundational knowledge, skills, and abilities that guide education, training, and professional development across a field.
Practitioners need a shared lexicon, shared principles, and a common educational architecture to support a growing workforce. We’re building core competencies as a foundation for the field, because the future of psychedelic therapy depends on the workforce prepared to deliver it.
While there are already many psychedelic therapy training programs, there are still gaps in educating providers, including those who will deliver the care directly and those who may counsel and refer patients.
BrainFutures’ Senior Director, Jazz Glastra, moderated a discussion with Dr.Caroline Dorsen, Clinical Professor and Associate Dean at NYU Meyers College of Nursing, Dr. Janice Berry Edwards, Professor with the School of Social Work at Howard University, and Sandy Samberg, CPNP, founder of thePsychedelic Education Partnership, on strengthening education and workforce development.
Panelists shared a vision for building a workforce that is ready to counsel patients on psychedelic therapy, refer those who may benefit, and deliver this psychedelic therapy safely and effectively.
BrainFutures and our partners are building the infrastructure needed to realize this vision. That’s why we’re convening the interdisciplinary workgroup to identify and develop core competencies for psychedelic-assisted practitioners and to review existing training programs to establish a shared model.
Integrating Psychedelics Into Behavioral Health
Sarah Norman moderated a fireside chat with Dr. Steve Levine, Chief Patient Officer of Compass Pathways, and Dr. Leith States,former HHS official. The panel focused on how psychedelics are like other new treatment models, which also require workforce development, guideline development, and reimbursement pathways.
"Individual providers can't do it alone. It's going to really take the systems to shift. So, what are some of the strengths we can build on to achieve system-level change and incorporate psychedelic-assisted care into the health and behavioral health system?" Sarah posed to the panel.
Among other key takeaways, panelists discussed the need to build on the foundation we already have and support the behavioral health workforce with high-quality training that doesn’t take months or years to complete.
A movement for collective action
Joanne Maislin, Office of Systems Catalyst, closed the convening and echoed the call for interdisciplinary collaboration to move the field forward on this short timeline. There is truly something for everyone who wants to help shape the next generation of mental health care.
BrainFutures was invited to share policy priorities at the 3rd Annual Federal Psychedelic Medicine Policy Roundtable, hosted by DB3 in partnership with Vogel Group and Baker Donelson.
Executive Director Sarah Norman, pictured above with former Senator Tom Daschle, shared insights from our collaboration with federal agencies, including the VA, SAMHSA, NIMH, and others, to:
invest in training and workforce development at the VA, IHS, and in community-based behavioral health
advance Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act to drive coverage and fair reimbursement
embed psychedelics and other emerging treatments into existing and future Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation pilots
As innovation accelerates, partnerships will be critical to ensuring that progress translates into safe, effective, and accessible care for patients.
Bridging the Gap Between Research and Real-World Application
Strengthening Mental Health from the Start
Innovation in mental health does not begin and end in clinical care.
At BrainFutures, we believe the future of mental health also depends on strengthening the brain skills that shape resilience, learning, and emotional regulation. These foundational skills influence everything from classroom learning to long-term well-being, and they are among the most powerful opportunities we have to support mental health early in life. Evidence shows that without them, mental health treatments are less effective.
More states and school districts, including our partners in Baltimore County Public Schools, are recognizing the need for a holistic approach to promote positive academic and mental health outcomes.
Programs that foster executive function skills are a necessary part of the continuum of mental health interventions in schools, for both prevention and early intervention. Discover why executive functions may be one of the most powerful drivers of mental health and well-being.
Read BrainFutures’ Summary Statement on Executive Function and Mental Health.
Executive functions may be some of the most important factors shaping children’s behavior, learning, emotional health and well-being. Yet, most adults don’t know the term.
In a new BrainFutures conversation series, national experts help unpack the science and provide practical strategies to help children strengthen these essential skills.
Join us in April as we explore the hidden skills that drive children’s mental health and well-being.
Help Move Mental Health Forward
“BrainFutures is providing hope for so many people by paving the way for psychedelic therapies to enter clinical practice."
