Roland Griffiths, PhD

“The preparation before, and the support after, psilocybin sessions are believed by many, including me, to be vital complements to maximizing enduring positive outcomes. And it is precisely this focus of Project New Day’s approach that I find so appealing.”

The Project New Day Program

In 2022, the United States experienced a staggering 100,000 fatal drug overdoses, equating to one avoidable death every six minutes. These overdoses represent not just an isolated problem within a particular segment of society but serve as the most visible aspects of a much larger problem of intergenerational trauma, dysfunction, and often, self medication.

Mary Cosimano, LMSW

“When I learned about the Project New Day Program, I felt it was very much in alignment with what I believe and what is important to me. Central to that is how you have compassion and caring for human suffering at its core.

About Our Program

The Project New Day Program emerged from our collective recognition of the deep-rooted mental health issues reaching epidemic levels in our society. At the same time, we know that positive change is attainable. We are resolute in our conviction we can bring about substantial improvement in the well-being of countless individuals. Is this audacious? Indeed. Impossible? Far from it. We possess the knowledge, experience, resources, and unwavering community support required to effect this change. We understand how to reach the masses and know what can make a difference.

Drawing upon our personal experience, observations, review of scientific literature, and insights gleaned from respected veterans in the field, we believe the combination of life coaching, clinical psychedelic therapy, and community support can help thousands of people onto a clear path of recovery. However, we are also extremely concerned about the misunderstanding and misuse of psychedelic medicine. Without proper guidance from trained practitioners, both before and after psychedelic sessions, the long-term effects may be minimal or even counterproductive. To address this concern, we have:

  • Developed an innovative, teachable, and easily scalable model that seamlessly integrates life coaching, clinical psychedelic therapy, and community support. This model is available to interested organizations worldwide at no cost.
  • Created two certification programs for life coaches and community facilitators to ensure high standards of care and support.
  • Established a network of life coaches who are available at minimal cost to enhance accessibility.
  • Launched free weekly Zoom community support sessions, offering a valuable resource for those in need.

To further clarify the Project New Day Program:

  • Project New Day is a 501(c)(3) foundation composed of dedicated officers and directors committed to sharing our integrated model for healing, growth, and thriving, at no cost.
  • Our program model is a scalable, organized, sharable template, based on our knowledge and observations.
  • We firmly believe that our knowledge-based life coaching sessions can benefit most individuals. We also maintain that structured, community meetings can be immensely valuable to the majority. Based on our observations, we are also convinced that many individuals can find benefit from clinical psychedelic treatments. Supporting our beliefs is a roster of endorsements from the most renowned figures in the psychedelic healing field, including Roland Griffiths, Gabor Maté, Mary Cosimano, Anne St. Goar, Paul Stamets, Sam Chapman, and others.
  • Ultimately, we will connect donors and organizations that align with our mission.

Important!

  • Project New Day does not provide psychological or medical treatment, or recommend or administer psychedelic therapy to anyone. The responsibility for this belongs to the organizations that adopt our model, guided by legal and professional statutes along with individual suitability assessments conducted on a case-by-case basis.
  • Our model is not a psychotherapeutic or medical program; rather, it is an initiative aimed at disseminating knowledge to improve the life performance of anyone, including those grappling with addiction and trauma, by way of life coaching, online community meetings, and, when suitable and legal, psychedelic therapy.
  • Our directorial staff members are not medical practitioners, addiction specialists, or trauma experts. Instead, we view ourselves as concerned citizens who are willing to effectively organize and disseminate knowledge, drawing upon the advice of experts across various fields who possess experience in addiction, trauma, and healing.

We strongly believe that, when employed appropriately, our program model can assist people in overcoming unresolved trauma, enabling them to lead lives of freedom, purpose, and fulfillment.

Our program has been meticulously designed to support the safety and well-being of those seeking a path to fulfillment and a better life. It is intended to be self-scaling, enabling us to rapidly and cost-effectively expand its reach.

Our purpose is clear: to make a positive impact on the lives of those in need. This is Project New Day.

Connections and Possibilities

Compassion and understanding are essential when it comes to helping individuals struggling with addiction. According to Gabor Maté, MD, Bestselling Author, Speaker, and Addiction Specialist,

“The first question is not why the addiction; it’s why the pain? And from my perspective, it’s always rooted in childhood trauma, either overt or covert … Trauma is when there is a loss of feeling and there is reduced flexibility in responding to the world. This is a response to a wound.”

We wholeheartedly agree with Gabor Maté’s compassionate and insightful perspectives. We have repeatedly seen childhood trauma (acute, chronic, and complex) lead to rigid, constricted, pessimistic thought patterns and, moreover, alienation from oneself, from others, and from nature. These responses are the basis for anxiety, depression, PTSD, addiction, and physiological illnesses. The path to healing involves transcending these patterns of thought by fostering connections and creating possibilities. This is precisely what the Project New Day Program model seeks to achieve through life coaching, psychedelic therapy, and community support.

The Project New Day Program Model

The following image is a graphical representation of the Project New Day Program model. The model may be thought of as comprising three categories: Healing, Supporting Elements, and Training. Each category contains a set of building blocks, which are linked to web pages with additional information.

Healing and Addiction Philosophies

Gabor Maté, MD

“All the modalities, principles, and intentions that Project New Day is bringing together, I’m absolutely convinced, can help many people move forward and heal not just the behavior, but the trauma that underlies the behavior.”

The Project New Day Healing and Addiction Philosophies comprise three pillars:

Peer-reviewed science has demonstrated that each of these pillars, individually, increases the odds of breaking the cycle of chemical dependency. As an integrated triad, our experience shows that it is the most effective approach available.

More specifically, the power of this triad comes from the following:

1.

A set of knowledge-based life-coaching sessions in which Project New Day certified coaches strive to create a sense of connection by listening carefully and holding their clients in unconditional positive regard. In tandem, Project New Day coaches use a proprietary, knowledge-based coaching model to present life-improving methods that open both hearts and minds to new possibilities. Six coaching sessions precede the two psychedelic therapy sessions*, one coaching session is held between them, and six more follow to effectively support the integration of new perspectives into the participants’ daily lives.

2.

Two psychedelic therapy sessions in which the possibilities for a better life are deeply felt. Initially, these will be psilocybin sessions, conducted legally by a select group of facilitators in Oregon who understand and share the PND healing philosophy.

Note: As mentioned above, Project New Day does not provide psychological or medical treatment, or recommend or administer psychedelic therapy to anyone. The responsibility for this falls on other organizations that adopt the PND Program model, guided by legal and professional statutes along with individual suitability assessments conducted on a case-by-case basis.

3.

Weekly Community Group Zoom sessions led by Project New Day certified group facilitators. Virtually all well-designed recovery programs stress the need for structure and follow-on community support. This support is especially important after psychedelic therapy as participants may experience new revelatory perspectives for weeks or even months.

Additional information on the Project New Day Healing Philosophy.

Additional information on the Project New Day Addiction Philosophy.

Supporting Elements

Harm Reduction

When an organization adopts the Project New Day Program model it must determine the suitability of psychedelic therapy guided by legal and professional statutes along with individual suitability assessments conducted on a case-by-case basis. Furthermore, every effort must be made to promote safety and to create the best possible outcomes for its participants by providing extensive support preceding, during, and following the psychedelic therapy sessions. The PND Program model suggests six preparatory life coaching sessions and an additional six integrative life coaching sessions. Following the integrative coaching sessions, the PND Program model also recommends ongoing weekly community group sessions. All PND-certified coaches and all PND-certified community group facilitators must complete five certificate training courses covering addiction, trauma, coaching techniques, and psilocybin fundamentals. The PND Program model furthermore strives for optimal outcomes by encouraging a compassionate approach from coaches and trainers and insisting they treat the participants with unconditional positive regard. And all participants are carefully screened as described in the following section.

Additional information on Harm Reduction.

Acceptance and Screening

The Project New Day Program’s acceptance and screening procedures aim to ensure that any person who engages in the program can do so in a safe and controlled manner. These procedures are the first steps in making sure that the PND model is setting and maintaining a high standard of treatment by establishing specific and thorough psychological, physiological, behavioral, and social acceptance criteria.

Additional information on Acceptance and Screening.

Scaling and Promotion

The end goal is for our program to save thousands of lives and improve many more.

Anne St. Goar, MD

“This is a model that can easily be scaled to address the huge need for healing for substance use disorders and other mental health issues that are so prevalent in our society.”

Here is how Project New Day plans to make the program model available on a large scale and to increase awareness of its existence.

  • Using credentialed life coaches for preparatory and integration talk sessions instead of psychotherapists.
  • Using an economy of scale to minimize the costs of psychedelic therapy sessions.
  • Funding the costs for the initial cohorts to validate the program.
  • Promoting the program in the media to raise awareness.
  • Fundraising once the program is validated.

And finally, by giving our proven model to the world at no cost for the benefit of humankind.

Additional information on Scaling and Promotion.

Resources

The Project New Day Resources page contains diagnostic assessments, coaching worksheets, group facilitation forms, and numerous documents that pertain to addiction, recovery, and psychedelic therapy.

Additional information on Project New Day’s Resources.

Training

Project New Day (PND) certified master coaches and community facilitators must complete an extensive suite of online training courses in which they learn a set of healing methods as a sequence. From that sequence, program participants learn how to transcend rigid, pessimistic thought patterns, create possibilities, and connect with their authentic selves, others, and their environment. This structured approach ensures the PND program is effective and repeatable.

Master Coach Training

Project New Day Coaches are to be certified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), the gold standard in coaching. In addition, to become a Project New Day Certified Master Coach, coaches must receive certifications in:

  • Knowledge-Based Life Coaching (6 hours)
  • Understanding Psilocybin: Effects, Neurobiology, and Therapeutic Approaches (9 hours)
  • Trauma and Addiction Fundamentals at Wholehearted.org, including “Healing Trauma and Addiction by Gabor Maté” (8 hours)
  • The Project New Day Program Coaching Philosophy (1 hour)

Additional information on becoming a Project New Day Master Coach.

Community Group Facilitator Training

Project New Day Certified Community Group Facilitators are not required to be ICF certified. Instead, they will be required to receive a completion certification for Project New Day’s Coaching Fundamental course.

In addition, Community Group Facilitators must receive certifications in:

  • Understanding Psilocybin: Effects, Neurobiology, and Therapeutic Approaches (9 hours)
  • Trauma and Addiction Fundamentals at Wholehearted.org, including “Healing Trauma and Addiction” by Gabor Maté (8 hours)
  • The Project New Day Program Coaching Philosophy (1 hour)
  • Group Facilitation, including “Group Facilitation Skills” from Rutgers University (2.5 hours)

Additional information on becoming a Project New Day Community Group Facilitator.

The Project New Day Goal

By combining our lived experience and the wisdom of our veteran leaders in this field, we have created a rapidly scalable, revolutionary healing program using:

The goal is to reduce needless suffering and prevent thousands of deaths by proving the efficacy of this model, promoting it, and making it freely available to the world.