Welcome to Cohort Conversations, where BCSP speaks with former members of the training program about their experiences. Please note these interviews describe the experiences and perspectives of the trainees and do not necessarily reflect the views of BCSP.
Q&A with Matt Rojo
Matt Rojo is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Walnut Creek, California, who specializes in couples therapy and treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He has worked extensively in community mental health at Contra Costa County and Kaiser Permanente with people experiencing severe mental illness, as well as in an administrative role at Diablo Valley College, overseeing their mental health, basic needs, and crisis team programs.
Matt is the father of two amazing daughters. He hails from North Dakota, and traces his ancestry primarily to Sweden. His dream is to offer MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in the context of couples therapy.
BCSP
What is your current role, and how does psychedelic facilitation fit into your practice?
Matt Rojo
I currently work in private practice as a licensed marriage and family therapist in Walnut Creek, California. My work focuses on couples therapy and treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
I’m currently incorporating ketamine work into my practice and plan to become licensed as a psychedelic facilitator in Oregon later this year, where I intend to work with people using psilocybin.
I come to facilitation from a long career in community mental health, including roles at Kaiser Permanente and Contra Costa County, as well as an administrative position at Diablo Valley College, where I oversaw their mental health and basic needs programs. My heart is really in community mental health. I entered this field to help those in need.
I’ve kept a private practice going all these years. It became clear that private practice would be the best way for me to offer facilitation to others and so this has now become my focus.
I approach this work with a great deal of respect for the medicines and the intense experiences they can evoke, and I wanted to learn with and from people who knew what they were doing.
BCSP
Why are you drawn to psychedelic facilitation? What was your personal and professional journey to pursuing the program?
Matt Rojo
I am drawn to facilitation due to my own lived experiences with psychedelics which have improved the quality of my life. I’ve been quite privileged to be able to experience psychedelics in several contexts, including facilitation with an underground therapist for individual and couples therapy, spiritual exploration with both a highly trained shaman as well as with the Santo Daime church, and community experiences in a church that grew out of the rave and Burning Man scenes of the late ‘90s.
I know that these medicines can offer profound healing and growth, and have wanted to work with them since my first experiences with them, particularly with MDMA or Ecstasy. I have always known that MDMA is meant for couples work, and I dream of the day when I can legally offer MDMA facilitation in the context of couples therapy as well as for PTSD.
BCSP
What drew you to the BCSP Psychedelic Facilitation Certificate Program over others?
Matt Rojo
A friend urged me to apply even though I did not think I would be accepted. I had no interest in attending any other program. I was attracted to the quality and professionalism of the training.
I approach this work with a great deal of respect for the medicines and the intense experiences they can evoke, and I wanted to learn with and from people who knew what they were doing. I wanted to have the best education possible because I take this work so seriously, because it is so important, because there are many ways it can go wrong, and most importantly, because there are so many ways it can go right.
The program certainly delivered what I hoped for, and made me a better therapist overall. The emphasis on spirituality, community, diversity, Indigenous traditions, and ethics set it apart. I hope that other programs will borrow from it.
BCSP
What was your most meaningful experience within the program?
Matt Rojo
I appreciated the diversity of backgrounds and experiences, and learned a great deal from everyone, not just the faculty. More than anything else, the kindness of everyone in the program stands out to me. We welcomed each other with open hearts and open minds. However, the most profound experiences for me were silly.
At times, we would spontaneously form a circle, arms around each other’s sides, and sway back and forth rhythmically, often humming and giggling. We called this the “anemone.”
You might suspect, but no, we were not under the influence of any psychedelics. It’s never a good idea to explain a joke. Yet, there’s a vulnerability in connecting that might seem odd to the outside observer, the awareness of which we found hilarious.
There was warmth and caring, tempered by wisdom, intelligence, playfulness, and humor, all of which were illustrated by our willingness to be silly.
BCSP
What did you learn from other students in your cohort?
Matt Rojo
Our program selected students who were well-established in their fields, including spiritual care, medicine and psychiatry, mental health, research, Indigenous traditions, and contemplative practice. Many were well-established and respected facilitators. I was so lucky to learn from them.
We were encouraged to explore and understand our worldview toward psychedelics through the lens of our different backgrounds, and everyone in the program helped. I spent a lot of time trying on and thinking through different approaches, and eventually felt very certain and clear about my worldview.
At first, I felt a tremendous sense of impostor syndrome. Eventually, I realized we all brought something valuable to our shared experience, and we all had something to learn from each other. We developed deep friendships and care, and we support each other as we move into this work now.
BCSP
Where do you expect to focus your efforts in the psychedelic space?
Matt Rojo
I plan to focus on working with couples using MDMA, assuming it becomes legal. Like many, I joined the program optimistic that the FDA would approve MDMA for PTSD treatment. I trained with Candice Monson, who developed a couples therapy protocol for PTSD that was adapted for MDMA research with promising results.
My path in the psychedelic field will likely remain unconventional, integrating cognitive behavioral approaches to couples therapy. I often call couples therapy the orphan stepchild of mental health—underfunded and underutilized, with few clinicians specializing in it.
Many therapists don’t associate cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with facilitation or couples therapy, so my approach is unusual. I deeply believe in CBT as well as the power of MDMA to support healing, especially by helping couples improve connection, safety, and trust, which are often at the core of trauma and its resolution.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.