Building Capacity and Healing: A First Nations-led Study of Education for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy

September 1, 2026 updated by: First Nations Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba

Building Capacity and Healing: A First Nations-Led Educational Pathway for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy

Building Capacity and Healing: A First Nations-Led Educational Pathway for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy is an educational initiative led by the First Nations Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba (FNHSSM). The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a First Nations-led, culturally grounded education program for psychedelic-assisted therapy is feasible and acceptable by health practitioners working within First Nations communities. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Is a First Nations-led educational and culturally grounded intervention feasible in a land-based setting?
  • Do participants complete the intervention and follow-up assessments?
  • Does a First Nations-led program improve acceptability and knowledge comprehension of psychedelic-assisted therapy? Researchers will compare quantitative and qualitative data from those in the intervention who receive land-based training compared to virtual training modules to see if it improves acceptability, adherence, and knowledge comprehension.

Participants will acquire a full medicine bundle (spiritual, ethical, cultural, and scientific knowledge) through land-based teachings with respected Elders and Knowledge Keepers. No medicine administration occurs in this study.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

40

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Manitoba
      • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R2C 5G1
        • Recruiting
        • First Nations Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Experience working with or a member of an Indigenous population: Experience working with First Nations, Inuit, or Metis people in the capacity of a therapist, clinician, mental health practitioner, or community wellness worker.
  • Connection to community: Participants may reside, work within, or maintain significant connections with an Indigenous community (urban, rural, or on-reserve) to reflect the diversity of Indigenous contexts.
  • Age: Adults aged 18 and older to ensure participants can provide informed consent.
  • Availability to complete training and evaluation sessions: Participants must be available to complete both the required training components and the follow-up assessments, including participation in the First Nations-specific training if randomized to the intervention group.
  • Language proficiency: Proficiency in the language(s) used for the study (English or an Indigenous language if culturally appropriate) to ensure effective communication.
  • Stable health status: Participants should be in a relatively stable physical and mental health condition to ensure their ability to participate without compromising their well-being.
  • Access to support: Participants should have access to a support network or resources (e.g., counsellors, family, or community support) during the study to address any emotional or psychological distress that may arise.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Active Substance Use Disorder Without Stability: Individuals actively using substances in a way that would impede participation or pose safety concerns during study activities
  • Inability to Provide Informed Consent Individuals who cannot fully understand the study's purpose or consent process due to cognitive impairments or other reasons.
  • Lack of Community Connection: Individuals with no connection to or work with Indigenous communities, as this connection is integral to the study's cultural and contextual relevance.
  • Concurrent Participation in Conflicting Studies: Individuals participating in other research studies with similar goals or interventions in the last 12-months, to avoid conflicting influences or overburdening the participant.
  • Unwillingness to Engage: Individuals unwilling or unable to fully engage in study activities, such as interviews, focus groups, or educational pathways.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Enhanced Curriculum
Control TheraPsil training PLUS an immersive First Nations-led educational program co-developed and delivered by First Nations Knowledge Holders.
Behavioral: Enhanced Curriculum

The enhanced in-person and land-based educational curriculum includes:

  • Ceremony, cultural protocols and the "full medicine bundle" framework.
  • Knowledge on traditional medicines (tobacco, cedar, sage) and relational approaches to ceremonial medicines.
  • Ethical, trauma-informed, and relational practice.
  • Legal/regulatory framework overview contextualized for First Nations sovereignty.
  • Reflective circles and mentorship with Knowledge Keepers/Elders.
Active Comparator: Standard Curriculum
Virtual TheraPsil training package.
Behavioral: Standard Curriculum
Standard online course delivered over two weekends with didactics, case seminars, supervision, and online modules. Delivered per TheraPsil schedule and documented for fidelity.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Feasibility of Recruiting Eligible Health Practitioners
Time Frame: From recruitment start to 4-weeks enrollment.
This outcome will evaluate whether a First Nations-led educational program is feasible based on attaining a recruitment rate of 85% or higher within the first 4-weeks of recruiting eligible health practitioners.
From recruitment start to 4-weeks enrollment.
Adherence to Intervention and Follow-up Assessments
Time Frame: From baseline to final assessment (March 2027), approximately 5-months.
The percentage of participants that complete the intervention and follow-up assessments.
From baseline to final assessment (March 2027), approximately 5-months.
Acceptability of the Enhanced Curriculum
Time Frame: Immediately post-training
Whether participants respond positively to a standard training survey measured immediately after the in-person intervention.
Immediately post-training

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Self-Efficacy in Relation to Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy
Time Frame: Pre-training and immediately post-training for both intervention and control groups.
Measured via a "Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Attitudes and Culturally Centred Experiential Work Self-Efficacy Scale". This scale is a brief candidate measure developed for this feasibility trial to assess pre- to post-training changes in attitudes toward psychedelic-assisted therapy and self-efficacy in delivering or participating in culturally centred experiential work. The item set contains 16 items. Each item is phrased so that higher scores indicate stronger self-perceived confidence, readiness, or self-efficacy in relation to psychedelic-assisted therapy and culturally centred experiential work. This represents a feasibility measure related to our ability to collect the primary outcome of a larger trial, if feasible.
Pre-training and immediately post-training for both intervention and control groups.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

First Nations Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba

Collaborators

Accelerating Clinical Trials Consortium

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Wanda Phillips-Beck, PhD, First Nations Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

September 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 31, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 1, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 1, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

September 8, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 8, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 1, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2025-006

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

IPD will not be shared in adherence to First Nations principles of Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession (OCAP) and regional data sovereignty frameworks.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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