Psychedelic Plant Medicine as a Continuation of Herbal Practice

Workshop Information

This course will explore psychedelic therapy as a continuation of herbal practice by looking at the various sacred “spirit” medicines, current and past treatment options, and medicinal herbs to support the therapeutic process in this exciting new approach to healthcare. As the psychedelic medicine industry emerges, creating well-grounded educators and practitioners to inform policy creation is essential. The phytotherapist is well-positioned to do so by the nature of their training, utilizing these and other powerful herbs to elicit long lasting change in their patients.

This course is aimed at providing an understanding of the use of mind-altering, low therapeutic range herbs to licit substantial changes in cognition and well-being. Students will receive guidance on starting their own personal practice, allowing them to empathically create a safe container for their exploration from a place of inner knowing and experience. From this course, the practitioner will gain insight into the therapeutic application of psychedelics as medicine as well as their importance in mental health practices and in determining the etiology of disease.

What will be covered:

The Phytotherapist as Psychedelic Practitioner: a natural (health) progression

Herbalist / Shaman / Plant medicine practitioner

What is the cross over? A brief look at historical accounts (alchemy, wisdom traditions, esoteric and occult medicine practitioners etc)
Why are psychedelic minded herbalists the best suited to the job?
Raised in a tradition vs self-initiated? Have you done “the work”?

History of “narrow therapeutic range” aka poison path herbs

Traditional entheo-botany
Mainstream awareness
Current trends

Basic “Poison Path” Materia Medica

Plants and Fungi monographs
Synergies
Compounds vs whole plant extracts
Synthetic vs organic compounds – considerations with ketamine, MDMA etc

Holding space – prep work – mental and physical

Creating your container
Working with a co-facilitator vs working alone
Prep and post
Day of journey
Group work vs individual journeys
Personal and professional ritual creation
Boundaries
Safe touch

Psychedelic therapeutics

Screening candidates
Selecting the medicine – requirements for tx
Patient centered care – environments, support workers etc
Herbal support prior, during, and after
Diet and lifestyle

Professional Practice

Counselling – trauma informed, harm reduction, accessing patients, prep, and aftercare (questionnaire)
Mental health:
- Nervous system
- Endocannabinoid system
- Opioid system
- Addictions

Microdosing vs macrodosing

What to begin with?
Benefits vs challenges
Which is best? Are they both needed? By what measurement can we determine the course of tx?

Legalities

Where we’ve been (policy in Canada and around the globe)
Where it’s going
The timeline to professional practice

Personal work for the Practitioner

Active self-exploration / progress
Journeys – what have you tried?
Spirituality?

*PRC diploma students will receive 1 WHS academic credit for this workshop.

Workshop Instructor

Tony Ācworth (Ayk-worth) is a visionary herbalist, consciousness researcher, and psychedelic advocate living with his family amid the coastal rainforests of Vancouver Island. For over 15 years, he has walked the plant and mushroom path, completing more than 5,000 clinical hours helping patients unravel what truly plagues the mind, body, and spirit. Mentored by herbal elder and mycologist Robert Rogers, Tony deepened his lifelong reverence for the fungal world and its intelligence.

At Pacific Rim College, he created and taught the first Medicinal Mushroom Materia Medica and contributed to courses in herbal therapeutics, nutrition, and phytotherapy clinics. Drawing from a decade of ceremonial work with psilocybin and ancestral healing traditions, Tony now guides integrative psychedelic experiences rooted in safety, reverence, and transformation.

A devoted explorer of plant, fungal, and human intelligence, Tony brings humour, heart, and grounded insight to the evolving field of psychedelic herbalism.

Workshop Prerequisites

None

Workshop Dates

Saturday and Sunday, March 14-15, 2026, 9:00am-4:00pm

Workshop Format

On Campus

Workshop Tuition

Regular – $325 (Early Bird – $300, until January 5)
Students – $300 (Early Bird – $275, until January 5)
PRC Alumni – $310 (Early Bird – $285, until January 5)

Withdrawal Policy

For workshop withdrawals submitted in writing 30 days or more before the start of the workshop, registrants will receive a full tuition refund less a $40 non-refundable registration fee. For workshop withdrawals submitted in writing more than 14 days but less than 30 days before the start of the workshop, registrants will receive a 50% tuition refund. Without exception, no refunds will be given for withdrawals less than 14 days before the start of the workshop.