BRWN-000095 - Indigenous Perspectives on Psychedelics
Enter a space that invites reflection, relational ways of knowing, and a broadened lens that extends beyond what is typically centered in clinical practice. In this lecture, Dr. Christine Rodriguez, an Afro-Indigenous, Two-Spirit, Family Nurse Practitioner, Associate Dean of Nursing Impact, and Assistant Professor at Yale School of Nursing, offers an enriching exploration of Indigenous Perspectives on Psychedelics.
This lecture gently unsettles pharmacological reductionism by honoring the sentience of plant relatives and the vitality of animist worldviews present within Indigenous epistemologies. We will also consider the enduring influence of colonial legacies, highlighting how contemporary patterns of bioprospecting and commodification reflect these historical continuities. Participants are invited into a thoughtful dialogue on how we might move from extractive approaches, within the fields of psychedelics, toward practices rooted in reverence, reciprocity, ethical responsibility, and the respectful stewardship of sacred medicines.
This is a recorded asynchronous distance learning course.
- Approximate duration: 1 hour
- Registration: $30
- CEs: 1
(contingent on passing a post-test, score of 70% or higher)
Following registration and payment, you will receive an email with a link to view the lecture, print off handouts, and take the post-test. Complete viewing and the post-test at your convenience at any time over the next 30 days.
Questions about online lectures? Please email us at brownprofdev@wustl.edu.
Course Outline
Content Level: Beginner
Target Audience: All mental health professionals and public health professionals.
Date Recorded: February 10, 2026
Agenda & Timing:
- Welcome & Opening Remarks - 5 mins
- Setting the Context: Indigenous Epistemologies & Wholistic Perspectives - 15 mins
- Psychedelics in Indigenous Epistemologies - 15 mins
- Intersecting Knowledge: Indigenous, Biomedical & Clinical - 15 mins
- Colonial Legacies & Contemporary Engagement with Psychedelics - 10 mins
Learner Outcomes
- Identify the role of psychedelics within Indigenous epistemologies, with attention to relational and spiritual dimensions that recognize the interconnectedness and sentience of the natural world.
- Describe diverse approaches to health and healing, considering how Indigenous epistemologies, as well as contemporary biomedical and clinical practices inform and enrich each other’s understandings of wellness and wholistic care.
- Identify how enduring colonial legacies shape contemporary engagements with psychedelics, including issues related to bioprospecting, commercialization, and the cultural appropriation of Indigenous knowledge.
*** Some Indigenous peoples use the term ‘wholistic’ to convey an understanding of wellness that includes not only body, mind, and spirit but also community, land, and the broader network of life.***
Course Completion Requirements:
The Brown School is an approved provider of Social Work CEUs in Missouri and Illinois.
The Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, Professional Development, provider #2130, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 9/24/2025 – 9/24/2028. Social workers completing this course receive 1 clinical continuing education credits.
To earn CE credit, registrants must watch all videos in their entirety, pass a post-test with a score of 70% or higher, and complete and evaluation with in 30 days of registration. Partial credit is not available.
Missouri and Illinois CE Certificates will be available online within 10 business days of course completion by visiting your learner profile at https://ce.wustl.edu/portal/logon.do?method=load&parentSite=brown. You will receive an email notification with specific instructions for accessing the online certificate when it is available. ACE CE Certificates, if requested in your evaluation survey, will be emailed within 10 business days of course completion.
For more information about CEs, accessibility, refund/cancelation policy, our grievance policy, or other inquiries please visit our About Us page or email brownprofdev@wustl.edu.