What it is
Read the organizational chart before the curriculum. Naropa University does not offer this program any more. In December 2024 Naropa announced the separation and renaming of the Naropa Center for Psychedelic Studies into an independent 501(c)(3), the Memoru Center for Visionary Healing Arts, a collaboration between the NCPS founding team and Boulder MDMA researchers Marcela Ot'alora G., Bruce Poulter and Sara Gael Beauregard. All NCPS staff and operations moved. Naropa's own transition FAQ gives the reason plainly: 'Because Naropa receives federal funding and is subject to federal regulations, we cannot administer these substances or operate related clinics.' What remains at Naropa is a BA Psychedelic Studies minor, some existing graduate courses, and an exploratory natural-medicines track in the Master of Divinity. The Naropa PFT page is still live and still advertises a cohort that started 21 January 2025 with applications that closed 24 November 2024 — a stale page, not a current offering. If you are pricing this program in 2026 you are pricing Memoru.
The regulatory position is the reason this record matters, and it is genuinely different from almost every other training in this set. Colorado has a real, operating, licensed facilitator profession under Proposition 122 and SB23-290, administered by DORA's Division of Professions and Occupations. As of 6 August 2026 the DORA list of Approved Natural Medicine Training Programs includes 'Memoru Center for Visionary Healing Arts, Boulder, CO' with didactic, practicum training and consultation all marked Yes — one of only about fifteen approved programs statewide. 'Naropa University' does not appear on that list. So the training pathway is intact, it just has a different name on the certificate.
Oregon, however, has fallen away. Naropa's page still claims Oregon approval, and the December 2024 press release said Memoru 'has inherited Naropa's Colorado state certification to offer psilocybin training and transferring the Oregon certification is in process'. It did not complete. Oregon Psilocybin Services' live list of training programs with approved curriculum, checked 6 August 2026, contains fifteen programs and neither Naropa nor Memoru is among them (UC Berkeley's BCSP and CIIS both still are). Memoru's own training page now says only that its program 'is designed to prepare facilitators for licensure in Colorado and we remain open to complying with additional state models in the future'. Treat every Oregon claim on the Naropa page as expired.
What Colorado licensure actually costs you in hours: 150 hours of approved didactic training with a topic-by-topic minimum set by rule (25 hours ethics and Colorado natural medicine rules, 25 hours physical and mental health and state, 10 each on relational boundaries and touch, trauma-informed care, Indigenous/social/cultural considerations, preparation, administration, integration, group facilitation and facilitator self-care, 5 each on best practices, drug effects and interactions, suicide risk and screening), plus 40 hours of supervised practice (the practicum), plus 40 hours of consultation with a licensed Consultant, of which 10 must be on ethical issues, completed within two years of the Training License being issued. You also need to be 21+, hold current Basic Life Support certification, clear criminal-history screening, complete the Healthcare Professions Profile, and pay a non-refundable application fee. Notably, DORA does not publish a state examination requirement for facilitators — that is an Oregon feature, not a Colorado one. Naropa's page states a 50-hour consultation figure; DORA's own March 2025 facilitator guide says 40, so use 40. Licenses run to 31 January annually and continuing education is required — DORA held a stakeholder meeting on 20 August 2026 on revising the CE rule, so treat the exact annual CE hours as in flux.
For a California LMFT, LCSW or LPCC the answer to 'what can I do with this' is: work in Colorado, on Colorado's terms, under a Colorado license, and nothing at all in California. Colorado's Facilitator tier has no clinical-license requirement, so a Californian can complete the training and license as a plain Facilitator — but a Facilitator explicitly 'cannot engage in psychotherapy, the practice of medicine, or any secondary profession that would require the use of touch beyond the scope allowed by 4 CCR 755-1 6.6, Supportive Touch'. The higher Clinical Facilitator tier, which does let you practice your secondary profession alongside natural medicine services, requires an active Colorado license as a PSY, LSW, LCSW, LMFT, LPC, LAC, MD, DO, APN, NP or PA. A California LMFT license does not satisfy that; you would need Colorado licensure. Colorado also offers licensure by endorsement to someone holding an Oregon facilitator license in good standing for a year plus a valid Colorado secondary license.
See it and hear it
What it lets you do
This is the section the program’s own marketing is least specific about, so it runs before everything else. It was established against the program’s own materials and against the two state registers that matter — Oregon’s approved-curriculum list and Colorado’s.
- Actually lead to a real state license — which almost nothing else in this field does. Complete the 150 didactic hours with a DORA-approved program, 40 practicum hours and 40 consultation hours, hold current Basic Life Support certification, clear criminal-history screening, complete the Healthcare Professions Profile and pay the application fee, and Colorado will license you as a Natural Medicine Facilitator.
- Legally administer psilocybin to adults in Colorado once licensed, and conduct preparation, administration and integration sessions — the three components of natural medicine services — for participants whose safety screen does not indicate the need for a medical or behavioral health provider.
- Be completed by a Californian. There is no Colorado residency requirement for the Facilitator tier: eligibility is 21+, high school diploma or equivalent, US resident. The didactic phase is delivered live online, so the travel burden is the practicum and any in-person retreats.
- Be stacked onto a Colorado clinical license for the Clinical Facilitator tier, which uniquely allows you to practice your secondary profession simultaneously while providing natural medicine services. A California LMFT would first need Colorado LMFT licensure.
- Be reached by endorsement from Oregon: Colorado grants Clinical Facilitator licensure by endorsement to applicants who hold a valid Colorado license in their secondary field plus an Oregon facilitator license held in good standing for one year.
- Give you a real, current grounding in the operational parts of the job — screening, informed consent, safety planning, dosing, de-escalation, group work — which generic 'psychedelic-assisted therapy' certificates skip.
- Do anything for you in California. A Colorado facilitator license has no effect on a California BBS license or scope, and psilocybin remains Schedule I federally and unlawful for therapeutic use in California. California has no regulated access program: SB 58 was vetoed in October 2023, and the 2025-26 bills (AB 1103, SB 751, SB 1224, AB 2489) are research-funding and study measures.
- Be obtained from Naropa University. Naropa transferred the program to the independent Memoru Center in December 2024 and does not appear on Colorado DORA's approved-program list. The Naropa web page describing this program has not been updated since late 2024.
- Qualify you for Oregon. Neither Naropa nor Memoru appears on Oregon Psilocybin Services' list of training programs with approved curriculum as of 6 August 2026, despite the Naropa page's Oregon claims and a December 2024 statement that the Oregon transfer was 'in process'. Memoru's current training page claims Colorado only.
- Let you do psychotherapy inside the psilocybin work, if you hold only the plain Facilitator license. DORA is explicit: 'A facilitator cannot engage in psychotherapy, the practice of medicine, or any secondary profession that would require the use of touch beyond the scope allowed by 4 CCR 755-1 6.6, Supportive Touch.'
- Be practiced remotely. Licensed facilitation happens in Colorado, in person, under Colorado's regulatory structure — which means relocating, commuting, or building a bi-state practice.
- Be budgeted for yet, because no tuition figure is published for the didactic program, the practicum or the consultation, and DORA does not publish its license fee schedule on the public site.
Psilocybin facilitation under the state regulatory adult use model is an emergent and evolving field. Naropa's non-degree PFT certificate program is designed to prepare facilitators for licensure in Colorado and Oregon. Because regulations vary state by state, additional training may be required for credentialing depending on the legal context of the facilitator's intended practice location. The future trajectory and guidelines for psilocybin facilitation vary by region, regulatory agency, and protocol, and are subject to changes in federal, state, and local guidelines.— Formerly the Naropa Center for Psychedelic Studies, Naropa University; separated from the university in December 2024 and now operating independently as the Memoru Center for Visionary Healing Arts, Boulder, CO, in its own materials
Why the answer is this narrow →
Cost, length and who can apply
What you would study
- Module 1 — Traditional Roots, Healing Justice, Health Equity
Traditional cultural use and decolonial approaches to psilocybin facilitation; racial justice and intergenerational trauma; empathy versus compassion and facilitator self-care.
source ↗ - Module 2 — Presence, Ethics, Harm Reduction, Boundaries
Facilitator best practices and core competencies; mitigating risk; abuse of power and ethical facilitation.
source ↗ - Module 3 — Trauma-Informed Care, Establishing Rapport, Screening and Intake
Trauma physiology; trauma-informed communication skills; determining client eligibility; safety considerations and referral in screening.
source ↗ - Module 4 — Preparation, Set and Setting, Safety Planning
Developing therapeutic rapport; informed consent; developing a safety plan.
source ↗ - Module 5 — Administration, Navigating Challenging Experiences
Dosing strategies and subjective experience; challenging behaviors in administration sessions; traumatic stress, de-escalation and safety in administration sessions.
source ↗ - Module 6 — Integration, Group Work
Integration modalities and resources; boundaries and group dynamics in group facilitation; providing individual care and navigating challenging experiences in group administration sessions.
source ↗ - Add-on — Practicum (40 hours)
Required for licensure in both Oregon and Colorado; 'an in-depth opportunity for trainees to facilitate a non-ordinary state of consciousness experience under the guidance of a qualified supervisor'. Naropa listed an Oregon option at the Cora Center in Portland and a Colorado option, both with dates and costs TBD, with registration prioritizing in-state residents. Memoru now lists Practicum as an approved offering on the Colorado DORA register.
source ↗ - Add-on — Consultation (Colorado)
Colorado requires post-training consultation before licensure. DORA's current guidance sets this at 40 hours, of which 10 hours must focus on ethical issues arising in the trainee's course of work and the remainder a mix of case review and structured learning, all completed within two years of the Training License being issued. Memoru is registered with DORA as offering consultation.
source ↗ - Colorado rule-set the 150 hours must cover
Facilitator Best Practices (5h); Ethics and Colorado Natural Medicine Rules and Regulations (25h); Relational Boundaries and Introduction to Physical Touch (10h); Physical and Mental Health and State (25h); Drug Effects, Contraindications and Interactions (5h); Introduction to Trauma-Informed Care (10h); Introduction to Suicide Risk (5h); Indigenous, Social and Cultural Considerations (10h); Screening (5h); Preparation (10h); Administration (10h); Integration (10h); Group Facilitation (10h); Facilitator Development and Self-Care (10h). These are minimums; programs may exceed them.
source ↗
Who teaches it
Faculty is a large part of what these programs actually sell, and it changes between cohorts — check the current list before you decide on this basis.
- Diana Quinn, ND — Director of the PFT program and Director of Clinical Education at NCPS; licensed naturopathic doctor, healing justice practitioner, queer mestizo Chicana, nearly twenty years serving BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities.
- Sara Lewis, PhD, LCSW — now director of Memoru's Colorado-approved Natural Medicine training program, and the through-line from Naropa to Memoru. Columbia PhD in medical anthropology and public health, former Associate Professor and Chair of Contemplative Psychotherapy and Buddhist Psychology at Naropa, co-founder of NCPS, has trained upwards of 400 students in psychedelic-assisted therapy, and serves as an MDMA-Assisted Therapy Training Consultant with Lykos Therapeutics.
- Marcela Ot'alora G., MA, LPC — Memoru co-founder; Principal Investigator and clinical supervisor at the Boulder site of the MAPS Phase 3 MDMA-assisted therapy study, and a Naropa alumna.
- Bruce Poulter, RN, MPH — Memoru co-founder; study therapist and clinical supervisor at the same MAPS Phase 3 site.
- Sara Gael Beauregard — Memoru co-founder; Boulder-based therapist and psychedelic researcher.
- Victor Cabral, LSW — Lead Educator; former Director of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Fluence Training and former Deputy Director in the Pennsylvania Governor's Office of Advocacy and Reform.
- Wilhelmina De Castro, LCSW — Lead Educator; Interim Executive Director of PRATI, MAPS- and PRATI-trained, lead therapist on a Phase 3 psilocybin trial for treatment-resistant depression.
- Alessandra Santos-Pye, LPC — Lead Educator; post-graduate certificates from CIIS and NCPS; practices sublingual ketamine-assisted therapy.
- Syre Saniyah, PhD, LP — guest instructor; co-founder and Director of Programming of the Cora Center, a queer- and BIPOC-led psilocybin service center in Portland, OR; holds an OHA-approved psilocybin facilitation certificate from Alma Institute. Fronts Memoru's 2026 info sessions.
- Candace Oglesby, LCPC and Esteban Orozco — guest instructors on KAP and on liberatory pedagogy and Indigenous healing traditions respectively.
- Joseph Harrison, MS — founding Executive Director of NCPS, now Director at Memoru.
What people say about it
Quoted with the source attached in every case, including the program’s own claims about itself — which are labeled as such — and the critical ones.
Where it stands right now
Running, but under a different organization. Verified 6 August 2026: Naropa University's own pages state the Center for Psychedelic Studies separated in December 2024 and that its certificate programs moved to the Memoru Center for Visionary Healing Arts; Naropa's PFT page is stale and still advertises the January-June 2025 cohort with applications closed 24 November 2024. Colorado DORA's Approved Natural Medicine Training Programs list carries 'Memoru Center for Visionary Healing Arts, Boulder, CO — Didactic Yes, Practicum training Yes, Consultation Yes' and does not carry Naropa. Oregon Psilocybin Services' approved-curriculum list carries neither. Memoru is publicising a 2026 Psychedelic Facilitator Training with recorded info sessions but has not published dates or tuition.
What I could not establish
These are the things I looked for and could not establish. Take them to the program, and notice how quickly and precisely they answer.
- No tuition published for the didactic program, the 40-hour practicum or the 40 hours of consultation — not by Naropa, not by Memoru at memorucenter.org, and not at memoru.com.
- Colorado's DORA license application and renewal fee amounts are not published on DORA's public web pages; the guides say only that a non-refundable fee is required. (Oregon's, by contrast, are public: $150 application plus a $2,000 annual license fee, $1,000 reduced.)
- No 2026 cohort start or end dates announced by Memoru.
- Whether Memoru intends to pursue Oregon curriculum approval at all, having said in December 2024 that the transfer was in process and having since narrowed its published claim to Colorado only.
- Colorado's annual continuing education requirement is in flux — DORA scheduled a stakeholder meeting for 20 August 2026 on revising Rule 5.4 CE requirements for Facilitators and Clinical Facilitators. Naropa's page cites 20 hours a year; do not rely on that figure.
- Naropa's page says 50 hours of consultation over six months; DORA's own March 2025 facilitator guide says 40 hours within two years of the Training License. The discrepancy is a rule change, and Naropa's page was not updated.
- No independent reviews, alumni interviews or journalism about the PFT program specifically could be found — only coverage of Naropa's broader psychedelic expansion and its 2024 spin-out and 2026 layoffs.
- Cohort size, completion rate, and how many graduates have actually obtained a Colorado license are not published by anyone.
- Could not verify any FDA action on MDMA-assisted therapy after the August 2024 complete response letter within reachable sources; this record assumes psilocybin and MDMA remain Schedule I federally and that no FDA-approved MDMA product exists.
Sources for this page (16)
- Naropa PFT program page (stale, last updated for the 2025 cohort) — format, modules, eligibility, Oregon/Colorado claims, scope disclaimer
- Naropa Center for Psychedelic Studies — history, transition FAQ, and the federal-funding explanation
- Naropa press release, 13 December 2024 — 'Naropa University Announces Separation of Center for Psychedelic Studies'
- Memoru Center for Visionary Healing Arts — training program page (Colorado-only claim)
- Memoru Center — organization, team and 501(c)(3) status
- Colorado DORA Natural Medicine homepage — the Approved Natural Medicine Training Programs list (Memoru present, Naropa absent, 6 Aug 2026) and CE rulemaking notice
- Colorado DORA Natural Medicine FAQ — the 150-hour topic-by-topic breakdown and the Clinical Facilitator requirements
- Colorado DORA — Facilitator & Clinical Facilitator Traditional Path guide, March 2025 (150 didactic + 40 practicum + 40 consultation; no state exam; scope limits on psychotherapy and touch)
- Colorado DORA — Natural Medicine applications, forms and guides index
- Oregon Psilocybin Services — live list of training programs with approved curriculum (neither Naropa nor Memoru present, 6 Aug 2026)
- Oregon Psilocybin Services — facilitator license fact sheet (exam, $150 application, $2,000 annual fee, residency requirement expired)
- Oregon Psilocybin Services — facilitator scope of practice fact sheet
- Oregon Psilocybin Services — HB 2387 dual-licensure fact sheet (Oregon-board licensees only, from 1 Jan 2026)
- Boulder Daily Camera, 21 May 2026 — Naropa faculty layoffs
- Inside Higher Ed, 11 March 2024 — 'A Small University Goes Big on Psychedelic Therapy Training'
- BCSP Law and Policy Map — California and Colorado status, 2026