atai Life Sciences
Redefining how the world approaches, prevents, and heals mental health disorders.

We are a biopharmaceutical company that leverages a decentralized platform approach to incubate and accelerate the development of highly effective mental health treatments that address the unmet needs of patients.

atai is pioneering the development of highly effective mental health treatments that address the needs of patients.

The atai Life Sciences Clinical Trials Training program prepares facilitators working on atai sponsored studies to provide patient support to clinical research trial participants in the context of clinical research trials. This program is for research site staff, by invitation only.

Training Components:

  • Study Facilitator Manual
  • On-demand Video Instruction
  • Background Information on the Study Drug
  • Clinical research Documentation Training
  • Structured Role Play Practice Sessions with Expert Feedback
  • Live Q&A Sessions with Experienced Research Clinicians
  • Competency Evaluation and Certification

Meet the Instructors

Dr. Elizabeth Nielson
Program Trainer

Dr. Elizabeth Nielson is a co-founder of Fluence and a psychologist with a focus on developing psychedelic medicines as empirically supported treatments for PTSD, substance use problems, and mood disorders. Dr. Nielson is a Site Co-Principal Investigator and therapist for an FDA approved Phase 3 clinical trial of MDMA-assisted Psychotherapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and has served as a therapist on FDA approved clinical trials of psilocybin-assisted treatment of alcohol use disorder, psilocybin-assisted treatment of treatment resistant depression, and early phase 2 and 3 trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Through Fluence, she provides continuing education and training programs for therapists who wish to engage in integration of psychedelic experiences in clinical settings. Her research includes qualitative and mixed-methods projects designed to further understand the phenomenology and mechanisms of change in psychedelic-assisted therapy, including the experience of trial participants and of the therapists themselves. Having completed an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at NYU, she has published and presented on topics of psychedelic therapist training, therapists' personal experience with psychedelics, and including psychedelic integration in group and individual psychotherapy.

Dr. Dan Roberts
Program Trainer

Dr. Dan Roberts is a board-certified psychiatrist in private practice in New York City and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. At NYU, he provides trauma-informed psychiatric care for patients at the World Trade Center Health Program, and he is also a clinician-researcher at the Center for Psychedelic Medicine, where he serves as study physician and lead therapist on a number of clinical trials exploring psychedelic-assisted therapy for a variety of therapeutic applications. Dr. Roberts has advanced training working with psilocybin, MDMA, and ketamine, and he is highly active in the training and supervision of therapists learning and practicing psychedelic therapy as part of NYU Fluence, and the MAPS Public Benefit Corporation.

Aja Molinar
Program Coordinator

Aja Molinar received her MA in Psychology at the New School for Social Research (NSSR) in 2021. During her studies at NSSR she assisted Dr. Elizabeth Nielson and Dr. Ingmar Gorman in writing a peer-reviewed article on psychedelic harm reduction and integration. She also contributed to the design and implementation of a quality assurance study of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. Since graduating, she has provided support around Fluence training programs and workshops. Currently, she assists with the development of therapy manuals and adherence criteria for clinical trial therapist trainings, oversees enrollment and training completion processes, and acts as a trainer for live online and in-person training events. Outside of Fluence, she volunteers for the Fireside Project, where she provides support for individuals experiencing a psychedelic or seeking to integrate past psychedelic experiences.