Introducing Dragon Training™

Professional Development and Job Education Training

Intention Statement 

The intention of Dragon Training is to create a pathway that supports the professional development of psychedelic guides as they build and maintain their private practice. It is also designed to provide ongoing mentorship support to help Dragon Trainees develop their local psychedelic and Conscious Cannabis community. Lastly, it is a job education program designed to support Trainees who wish to work towards paid positions as Psychedelic Sitters School trainers and staff, as well as prepare students to work in collaborative clinical settings, both at the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness, and elsewhere. 

You are invited to join us on this new expedition. You would join a cohort led by two Senior Dragon mentors who are there to provide ongoing mentorship and support as you develop your skills and capacity as a guide. As legalization of other psychedelic medicines begin to expand, quite possibly allowing for psilocybin therapy in Colorado as early as next year, it is important for likeminded people to come together in a shared vision of collaboration and support. There are big waves ahead for all of us. 

Our goal is to help you grow into becoming a psychedelic guide, and we believe we have created a great model that can do just that, both effective facilitation techniques in the actual psychedelic session itself, but equally important, also supportive in navigating the legal, operational, and societal constraints of being a professional, legal, above ground psychedelic guide in 2022. If you are interested in joining us please read on.

Dragon Training begins January 2023 with 1 year minimum commitment

Introductory Cost for 1st Cohort

• Annual Professional Membership in Medicinal Mindfulness Foundation: $150/year (Discounted for the initial expedition by 50%) – see additional information on this in the MMF Membership section preceding this. Scholarships can apply, reducing the cost to as little as $90. 
• Monthly Training tuition – Sliding Scale $90-$150/month (autopay) with 1 year contractual commitment, monthly thereafter.
• (Dues and tuition are based on your current scholarship rate or current needs of student) 
• Initial Cohorts may be limited to create some stability in the 2023 start date. New membership may open again mid-year 2023 – After an initial cohort works for at least 6 months, we’ll reevaluate the membership and tuition fees based on sustainability and real costs. Therefore, this is an introductory offer and there is a financial incentive to be in the first cohort. 

Prerequisites

• Simple application with statement of intention. 
• MMF membership, and monthly tuition payment
• PSS1-2 Graduate (intensive and practicum completed), with intention of continuing through PSS3 or PSS4.
• Participation/completion in Psychedelic Guide Credentialing Program with intention of further credentialing in PSS3 or PSS4.
• Update signatures on all participation agreements and new credentialing/training agreement. This new agreement allows CMM/PSS to credential students as competent professional facilitators.

Attendance Requirements & Invitations

• Monthly meeting with your cohort – Each cohort is facilitated by two Senior Dragon Co-Facilitators. 1.5hrs. Approval required. Cohort determined by interest, cohort location, and monthly meeting accessibility
• Participate in Live Class Recordings – Daniel McQueen and other trainers in our program will be hosting a series of weekly, and even 2x weekly trainings on all subject matters of all PSS1-3 levels (and much more) to record for the training program platform. The video recording will be formatted to only show the trainer, any co-trainers, and the slides. However, student voices with first names may be audible through questions. Messaging questions and remaining anonymous is an option. Members retain access to all recorded sessions that are level appropriate on training platform.
• Free Participation OR sitting in ongoing, MM Sponsored Conscious Cannabis Circles and other psychedelic cannabis events where space is available. Online participation as either a sitter or journeyer is always available and free. We want to support ongoing practice. 
• Leadership Training & Job Education – Some classes will be specific trainings outside the scope of the PSS1-3 Training program, and will only be available through the Dragon Training. These trainings are designed to support students in providing certain paid services of CMM/PSS, while simultaneously training students in the skills required to develop and maintain local Conscious Cannabis and psychedelic communities. These sessions would include trainings for both clinical practitioners, PSS trainers, and non-clinical group facilitators.
• Invitation to Quarterly, All Community Meetings with community updates and proposals, for all members to vote on (hybrid in person/online or by proxy)
• We will do everything we can to make our program as accessible as possible to our lower income students. This is a job education program with you in mind.

Community Accountability

As mentors committed to affirming leadership and training styles, Senior Dragon Council members are invited to mentor the Dragon trainees in their professional development. While they regularly review the competency and conduct of their members to ensure high standards of care and professionalism, this review is positive, constructive, non-judgmental, appropriately boundaried, and resourcing. All members, including the leadership of our program, agree to comply with the code of ethics standards of the credentialing and training agreement and other documents in the Student Handbook. All members, including leaders, are accountable to the the community through this process.

Many Opportunities

This program provides a ton of opportunities in addition to the monthly meeting and attending live, ongoing classes for recording new webinars. Be as active as you want to be, or go at your own pace, knowing you have a lot of support around you by simply being a member of this program. Here are some opportunities and benefits of participating in this program. 

The Natural Medicine Health Act, decriminalizing psilocybin, non-peyote mescaline, DMT and Ibogaine is a paradigm shifting event. The Dragon Training will be the first expedition into these new territories. 

1. Democratic Voting & Community Organizing 

• Have a real voice in a psychedelic community professional organization. Don’t be a cog in a corporate machine. 
• We are moving towards collaborative business structures that requires skill sets in collective governance and democratic processes. Not only do I believe this structure fits the ethical considerations of the psychedelic community, I believe we need to organize collectively to share mutual expenses, receive necessary legal and insurance support, and to compete with the corporate financial interests coming into the field. The quarterly and monthly meetings are an opportunity to practice collective decision making within a safe educational container, and to find your place in a collaborative community matrix. 

Medicinal Mindfulness Foundation Membership

• The Board of Directors of the MM Non-Profit has voted to become an unaffiliated “religious” organization. This is a significant step towards providing legal protections to our members who do not have clinical licenses to practice through supervision and accountability of a religious organization as a membership “in good standing” per explicit regulations outlining First Amendment Freedom of Religion exemptions.
• The Foundation will continue to stay up to date on regulatory requirements as psychedelic medicines become legal and provide this information to its members. 
• The MM Foundation is responsible for maintaining the shared code of ethics and community accountability structure. This code governs ethical conduct with clients, but also among community members, creating a community council process to support growth among differences.
• EcoPsychedelics, Advocacy, Research, Fund Raising for personal projects are all available to the members to help organize or participate in
• This is the Conscious Cannabis equivalent to a professional association.

2. Ongoing Training

Group Facilitation Training

• Only Dragon Trainees can audit PSS classes that you’ve already taken, participate as a sitter and shadow small group leaders, eventually becoming small group leaders as well (when opportunities are available). You will learn to host small local groups for events and training
• Additional support in facilitating local and online Conscious Cannabis events, both in facilitation training, and also optional operational support
• Peer support through the forum, future support through an app
• Small group leaders – experience facilitating small groups, must have audited level at least twice, leading to paid position
• Practicum group leader – experience in facilitating practicums, leading to paid position
• Sit for events facilitated by other guides for free – assistant small group leaders – both in-person and online.
• Sit/Participate in the ongoing CMM/PSS Online/Boulder Hybrid CCCs that we are now offering, with the intention of growing into facilitation roles when ready. This is an advanced, professional level event so experience is required. Other future hosting locations are already forming. 

Interviewer Training

• Sit in on interviews for applying PSS students, train to interview and assess PSS students, with a benefit being you can assess your clients and local members better, and begin interviewing our potential students (when opportunities are available – paid position), and your future local pods. 

Other Medicines & Further Legalization

• Do you want to learn how to facilitate with Psilocybin, DMT, Ketamine and other medicines? The revolution is coming. Be the first to complete these facilitator trainings and be some of the first professional guides in your area. Start with cannabis, and grow into the other medicines. Training begins 2023.

First to be Invited to PSS4 Psychedelic Mystery School Weeklong Intensive

• A weeklong retreat exploring the more mystical sides of psychedelic guiding.
• Ceremony, Energy Practices, Prayer, Dieta, Altars, Divination, Spirit Encounters, Navigating Strange Terrains. We are considering facilitating our first evening cannabis brew ceremony. 

3. Professional Support – Currently under development

Future Collaborative Company Membership

• We are exploring options for a collaborative service company structure that is democratic, while also allowing for individual and community investments. More information forthcoming. 
• The service organization would provide logistical and operational support to its members, and make services available to individual private practices that may otherwise only be available to a larger corporation.
• And speaking of not wanting to work for a new psychedelic corporation, this structure provides empowered ownership and representation, giving each of its members the flexibly of a private practice, and the support of a large institution.

Online Marketing Directory & EHR Software

• Public facing, client matching facilitators directory solely for our community, as well access to a larger directory listing, with EHR (Electronic Health Records and client tracking software) that includes all MM related client forms, feedback forms, and additional clinical scales. With Client Intake management applications. Additional monthly charge could apply for these optional services (but the cost would be below market value for an individual private practice). Also access to private practice website development at reduced costs. These are the benefits of working collectively. 

Become a Practitioner of the Boulder Center for Medicinal Mindfulness 

• Become an Independent Practitioner of the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness and join our crew. We generally recruit at least once a year.
• Full practitioner insurance coverage and a lot of the scheduling/invoicing logistics support by our team. This is a great way to learn the ropes of professional guiding. 
• Above industry pay rates
• Cannabis Office Space availability
• Ketamine Access for Clients – Graduates of PSS2, Guide Credentialing and the upcoming MM Ketamine Facilitation training program (in good standing), qualify to use the MM Ketamine Prescriber, Dr. Alyse Powers, for ketamine lozenges (in accordance with our safety guidelines), AND may be able to rent MM center office for Intramuscular Ketamine injections. Multiple location opportunities are becoming available.