Amsterdam-based psychedelic The Synthesis Institute, which offers retreats and training for practitioners, has filed for bankruptcy in the Netherlands, Willamette Week reported this week. Psilocybin Facilitator Training Course in Oregon with an uncertain future.
The Synthesis Institute, founded in the Netherlands by Myles Katz and Martijn Schirp in 2018, is used to help tackle depression and anxiety, and shows potential to help treat other mental health ailments. It sought to bridge the gap between clinical and more health-oriented psychedelic therapies. Its flagship center just outside Amsterdam offered her three- or five-day retreats for about $1,000 a day. The company will begin its expansion into the North American market in 2021, with Synthesis planning to establish a psilocybin service center and a facilitator training program. The company secured his $7.25 million in Series A funding in September 2021 and adopted an unusual company structure, a steward-owned organization.
However, the expansion project did not come together as expected. In June 2021, a company owned by Katz purchased Buckhorn Springs, a 124-acre property in Jackson County, Oregon, for his $3.6 million. The intended use of Buckhorn Springs as a psilocybin service center violated Jackson County zoning regulations. Because Buckhorn Springs is in a resource zone, not a commercial zone, it was determined that the county’s land development ordinance would not allow it to be used as a psilocybin service center. This came after a 2022 vote in Jackson County that could prevent companies from establishing psilocybin centers in their jurisdiction.
The retreat may have run into bureaucratic roadblocks, but Synthesis’ Psychedelic Practitioner Training Program was one of the first to be approved by the state of Oregon. The first students to undertake the Psychedelic Practitioner Core Training Program will commence in November 2022. The course was expected to take 13 months, and the initial cost was just under $10,000 for him.
Businesses fail every day for myriad reasons. Whether it’s a centuries-respected department store, a technology start-up, a psilocybin facilitator training and retreat organization, bad management, bad trading conditions, bad decisions, or simply bad luck. But for Synthesis, the ramifications of its collapse could have destabilizing effects throughout the nascent commercial psychedelic community.
