Overview:
CU Denver psychedelic program begins this fall to meet growing demand for mental health treatments outside the pharmaceutical industry.
Psychedelics have been around for centuries, from sacred indigenous practices to Grateful Dead shows in the 1970s to today’s stars of Hulu’s new hit reality television show, “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” broadcasting their use of ketamine therapy. But it’s not just Mormon reality stars getting into psychedelics—psychedelic therapy is becoming an increasingly popular alternative for mental health treatment.
“SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) almost killed me, and psychedelics saved me,” said CU Boulder senior Stella Jaunich.
Jaunich had struggled with crippling anxiety and depression for the majority of her adult life, but the fall semester of her junior year was unbearable. She had been on SSRIs for two years and felt more negative effects than positive. Jaunich was already in a dark spot, and then her best friend passed away.
“I was numb and my best friend had just died,” Jaunich said. “That’s not how you’re supposed to feel.”
Frantically trying to save her life, Jaunich took a step back from Western medicine, including a $900 per hour psychiatrist, and began searching for alternative options. Her mother’s friend suggested psychedelic therapy, and the rest is history.
Jaunich was administered MDA, psilocybin and ketamine, all while lying in her bed with an eye mask and speaking through her emotions with her therapist. Starting with MDA, the “heart opener,” Jaunich let her guard down and spoke with her therapist about how she was truly feeling. She was then administered psilocybin, which acted as a “truth serum” that brought forth what she needed to focus on most in her life.
“I was working through a lot of the grief that I was not able to feel while I was covering it up the semester prior with SSRIs,” Jaunich said. “If I didn’t make that change in my life, I would not be here today.
After completing the session, Jaunich continued to be more gentle with herself, and her unnecessary yet debilitating anxieties had completely diminished. Jaunich has now completed another session of psychedelic therapy to work through her more personal issues, compared to solely working on her grief.
“When I was going into my second one, I didn’t really think there was enough ‘wrong’ with me to do this kind of medicine,” Jaunich said. “Coming out of it, I learned that you don’t need something ‘wrong’ with you to want to better your life.”
Psychedelics in Colorado
One new development adding to the state’s psychedelic craze is the University of Colorado, Denver’s (CU Denver) recent announcement in August 2025 that it will launch a 16-week Psychedelic Facilitator Training Program. The new program will kick off in October and is designed to teach students how to administer psychedelics to patients with didactic coursework that incorporates real-world clinical experience.
“We are going to train two basic groups to use psilocybin,” said Jim Grigsby, founder and executive director of CU Denver’s Center for Psychedelic Research. “One of those groups is people who already have a license in a mental health field like psychiatry, psychology, social work or psychotherapy counseling. And another track for people who don’t have a background like that. So, if you’ve got a high school diploma, you could potentially train to become a facilitator.”
Colorado has long held a reputation for having a relaxed attitude when it comes to recreational drugs, being one of the first states (along with Washington) to legalize marijuana in 2012. In November 2022, Colorado voters approved Proposition 122, ending the lockdown for psychedelic use and research that began during President Nixon’s term with the Controlled Substances Act.
Proposition 122 legalized psilocybin and psilocin, the two compounds found in “magic mushrooms,” and expanded research opportunities for psychedelic medical treatment.
Contrary to Nixon’s government, Governor Jared Polis has encouraged the expansion of psychedelic research. Governor Polis’ office approached Grigsby to create a psychedelic facilitator training program for the university.
“It’s really incredible that research is being opened back up again,” Jaunich said. “Now that we have more technology and more open-minded individuals, the research will have such a huge impact on so many lives.”
The Future of Psychedelic Therapy
As seen with the influx of applications for the CU Denver psychedelic program, there is a strong desire to implement psychedelic therapy as an alternative resource to common mental health treatments.
“The government (is) starting to pay (attention) to some of this research,” Grigsby said. “And the fact that so many of our current treatments for psychiatric disorders stink.”
Grigsby said that research has led to the conclusion that psychedelic therapy could be more helpful for depression, anxiety and trauma, possibly more than antidepressants.
“We want to find out what works, for what does it work and for whom,” Grigsby said. “And some people aren’t going to benefit, too, so it’s good to find that out so we don’t put them through unnecessary treatment.”
The CU Denver psychedelic program emphasizes ethical integrity, psychedelic expertise and embodied presence for its intensive, fast-paced four-month training period. The program is already a huge hit, with the school expected to fill its fall cohort solely with early decision applicants. With CU Denver’s new training facility, students could soon be able to save countless lives just like Jaunich’s.
“It’s great that [psychedelic therapy] is becoming more popular,” Jaunich said. “Even though it is very different from typical Western medicine, it has such a great impact on so many lives.”
