Fluence is dedicated to increasing awareness, availability, and safety of psychedelic therapies and related healthcare.
In order to meet this goal, we work to expand the availability of and access to high quality professional education in the field of psychedelic integration and psychedelic-assisted therapy. Our foundational work is to:
- Increase knowledge and acceptance of psychedelic therapies and people who choose them among healthcare professionals;
- Equip healthcare professionals to provide or assist in the provision of ethical, safe, legal, therapeutic access to psychedelic therapies for mental health and addiction treatment;
- Reduce stigma and related barriers to access for psychedelic therapies, especially those that hinder access by more marginalized groups;
- Increase access to quality professional assistance for people who use psychedelics by educating more professionals about this topic while recognizing greater barriers for more marginalized groups;
- Promote diversity in the field of psychedelic-informed medical and mental health professionals through our selection of trainers, affiliates, collaborators, materials, citations, and sources.
There is a clear connection between drug-related harms, stigma, and drug policy.
Drug policy has often been the product of political and social motives and written in ways that are disproportionately punitive for marginalized groups, as opposed to being based in science. This has contributed to the stigmatization of—and increased harm to—people who use drugs. This stigma extends to those who are associated with people who use drugs, including professionals who provide treatment and other services, especially in a non-punitive manner. According to drug laws and international conventions created five decades ago, psychedelics have been misunderstood as having high abuse potential and no medical value.
For this reason, many professionals have limited access to quality education about psychedelic therapies: psychedelics are stigmatized as prohibited drugs, and education about them is often excluded or biased. This in-turn increases the harm related to psychedelic use: when someone goes to a medical or mental health professional to discuss a psychedelic experience or ask about psychedelic-assisted therapy as a treatment option, they may be met with stigma and misinformation and discouraged from discussing their experience, finding accurate information, or pursuing psychedelic therapies where it would be appropriate to do so. An even greater risk exists for those who are subject to disproportionate monitoring by law enforcement or discriminated against on an institutional level due to marginalized group membership.
At Fluence we strive to give providers an open, honest, and welcoming learning atmosphere in which to learn about the true risks and potential benefits of psychedelics, such that authentic, patient-centered, research-informed discussions can take place and providers can offer access to high-quality care.