Psilocybin-assisted therapy in Denver
Anticipated regulatory approval in Colorado in 2025. We currently provide in-person Ketamine-assisted therapy (also available with at-home treatments from Mindbloom).
Learn how people could treat anxiety, depression, and PTSD with a new type of psychedelic-assisted therapy in Colorado, potentially starting in 2025 after state regulatory approvals.
Note: We’re therapists, not a medical clinic or research facility. We don’t provide free sessions, microdosing, “trip sitting,” or psychedelic guiding, but we’ve done more Ketamine-assisted therapy sessions than nearly every private practice in Denver.
Psilocybin-assisted therapy will not be a low-cost therapy option and is unlikely to be covered by insurance or Medicaid. Studies suggest that treatments will cost over $7,500.
How does psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy work?
In 2019, Denver made history as the first city in the United States to decriminalize the use of “magic” mushrooms for personal use. Now, many people are wondering when psilocybin and psilocybe therapy will be available in Colorado. Short answer, it’s looking therapists will be able to use psilocybin with their clients sometime in 2025.
The active ingredient in these mushrooms is psilocybin, and growing research has shown that psychedelic drugs like psilocybin, Ketamine, and MDMA can help people seeking help anxiety, depression, PTSD, and even addiction. After psilocybin was decriminalized, people 21 and older can grow or possess mushrooms in Denver, but sharing or selling them remains illegal, especially for state-licensed therapists.
Similar to how Ketamine is being used in therapy today, research has shown promising results for using psilocybin in a therapeutic setting. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that psilocybin dramatically reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression in patients with cancer. Their studies have also indicated that psilocybin can be extremely effective with helping people quit smoking and become “unstuck” so that they can get past damaging patterns and addictions.
Another study at New York University also found that up to 80% of patients with cancer who had psilocybin-assisted therapy had sustained improvement in their depression and anxiety 6 months after treatment. Most of the study’s participants said that their experiences with psilocybin therapy were life-changing and that they had near-immediate reduced feelings of anxiety and depression.
While studies like these are very promising, like MDMA-assisted therapy, psilocybin isn’t yet approved for use in therapy in Colorado, even if it remains accessible to people with life-threatening conditions through Right to Try laws. While some therapists in Denver are providing psilocybin-assisted therapy illegally for clients, they’re risking their professional licenses by providing “trip sitting” or psychedelic guiding services. Because anyone can provide those services, most reputable therapists aren’t providing services where you pay for someone to watch you during a psychedelic trip. As a result, we’ll be one of the first therapy practices in Denver to legally provide it as a treatment once it’s approved for use in therapy with treatment protocols that are based in clinical research.
For those seeking help for treatment-resistant conditions sooner because psilocybin-assisted therapy isn’t available yet, including depression and trauma, many of our therapists already are trained in using Ketamine-assisted therapy, and we can connect you with qualified medical professionals who can help you build your path to healing and lasting change with psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Featured on CBS Colorado
My Denver Therapy’s founder Courtneyrose Chung was recently featured on CBS Colorado for a story on psilocybin-assisted therapy in Denver.
Psilocybin-assisted therapy is still undergoing regulatory approvals in Colorado. We anticipate very high demand for psilocybin-assisted therapy and will start maintaining an active waitlist once treatment protocols, medication prices, and state regulations have been established that will determine how much treatment plans will cost.
When will psilocybin-assisted therapy be legal?
In 2018, psilocybin was designated as a “breakthrough therapy” by the FDA for treatment-resistant depression.
While clinical trials are underway as research helps determine how and if psilocybin can be used for therapy in the United States, it could take years for it to be legalized on a federal level for use in therapy. In Colorado, regulations haven’t been finalized and it will likely be available sometime in 2025 for therapists to legally use with clients.
For people with certain conditions, the federal Right to Try law makes exceptions for terminally ill patients who have exhausted their government-approved options and can’t get into a clinical trial to access treatments.
Now that Ketamine-assisted therapy is legal in Colorado and the United States, our therapists offer another type of psychedelic-assisted therapy for those looking for alternative treatment options.
What will psilocybin or psilocybe potentially be used for in therapy?
So far, research on psilocybin-assisted therapy has been focused on a few major areas and populations:
- Terminal illness, end-of-life, or life-threatening conditions
- Anxiety
- Depression
- PTSD
- Addiction
How much will psilocybin-assisted therapy cost?
There’s significant demand for psilocybin-assisted therapy in Colorado, but few people realize how much it will cost. A recent study estimated that psilocybin-assisted therapy will cost between $7,638 and $9,532, depending on the price of psilocybin. In Oregon, for microdosing alone without therapy, a guided trip currently costs $3,500 per session.
While the study was early, it concluded that psilocybin has the potential to be a cost-effective therapy for severe depression compared to other types of treatment, but it will depend on the level of support given to patients receiving psilocybin and the price of the drug itself.
What are some risks with psilocybin-assisted
therapy?
Outside of the very obvious risk that psilocybin-assisted therapy is currently illegal for therapists to provide, there is a risk of people having a “bad trip” when using psilocybin. This can cause people to have enhanced feelings of fear, anxiety, confusion, and even panic. How people react to psilocybin can be dramatically different from person to person.
Also, psilocybin can cause psychotic reactions in people with bipolar disorder and mental health conditions like schizophrenia. With ongoing research, these risks and challenges are likely part of why psilocybin is currently not available as a legal method for therapy.
Now that Ketamine-assisted therapy is being provided by therapists and online services like Mindbloom, there is some momentum for psilocybin-assisted therapy to be legalized in the not-so-far future,
Healing may not be so much about getting better, as about letting go of everything that isn’t you – all of the expectations, all of the beliefs – and becoming who you are.
Rachel Naomi Remen
Meet our Denver therapists
My Denver Therapy is one of the largest woman-owned therapy private practices in Colorado with many of the best, most requested therapists in Denver.
As a therapist-owned practice with decades of combined experience, we care about seeing our clients heal, grow, and thrive. We’re one of the only therapy practices in Colorado with licensed professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, addiction counselors, social workers, and psychiatric nurse practitioners who actively see new clients. Whether you’re an adult, teen, young adult, couple, or family, our inclusive therapist team is built to specialize in you.
Our practice started with one therapist in a shared office suite, but we’ve grown to help thousands of people in Colorado by providing in-person therapy at our conveniently located Denver Metro area counseling offices in Denver, Greenwood Village, and Lone Tree, plus online therapy for clients throughout Colorado. Because of the way our team works, our therapists provide consultation for other therapists and private practices in the Denver Metro area.
Our inclusive therapists provide some of the most innovative, effective, and in-demand forms of therapy available today, including EMDR, Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, CBT, and IFS. We also have more therapists trained in Ketamine-assisted therapy and more teen therapists and young adult counselors than nearly every other private practice in Denver.
We know that clients want to find the best therapists in Denver, so our team includes therapists with different backgrounds, specialities, and experiences to help you find the right fit. We’ll match you with one of our therapists who is the best for your goals, location, budget, and schedule to help you get started quickly.
We’re out of network for insurance, Tricare, and are unable to take Medicaid, but most of our therapists’ rates are lower than the local and national averages for therapy.
All of our therapists take a client-focused approach to counseling and approach each session with a commitment to your progress and growth.
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Please note: We’re unable to accept Medicaid or insurance.
Our rates are listed on our website. MDMA and Psilocybin-assisted therapy aren’t available yet. We are out of network for all types of insurance, including TRICARE.