Andrew Penn was trained as an adult nurse practitioner and psychiatric clinical nurse specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. He is board certified as an adult nurse practitioner and psychiatric nurse practitioner by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. He has completed extensive training in Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy at the California Institute for Integral Studies and recently published a book chapter on this modality. A leading voice for nurses in psychedelic therapy, he is a cofounder of OPENurses, a professional organization for nurses interested in psychedelic research and practice and is a study therapist in the MAPS sponsored Phase 3 study of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD and the Phase 2 Usona sponsored study ofpsilocybin facilitated therapy for major depression. Additionally, he is a co-author in a forthcoming article in the American Journal of Nursing on this topic, the first in 56 years. He is the Co-chair for Sana Symposium, a leading national CME meeting on psychedelic therapies
Currently, he serves as an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of California-San Francisco School of Nursing and is an Attending Nurse Practitioner at the San Francisco Veterans Administration. He has expertise in psychopharmacological treatment for adult patients and specializes in the treatment of affective disorders and PTSD.
As a steering committee member for Psych Congress, he has been invited to present internationally on improving medication adherence, cannabis pharmacology, psychedelic assisted psychotherapy, grief psychotherapy, treatment-resistant depression, diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder, and the art and science of psychopharmacologic practice. He also keeps regular blogs on all things psychiatric.
Associate Clinical Professor, UC San Francisco School of Nursing
The recipient of both the 2020 Hallie T Debas Academy of Medical Educators Excellence in Teaching Awardand the prestigious 2021 UCSF Academic Senate Distinction in Teaching Award, Andrew has been teaching at UC San Francisco since 2007, first as a volunteer Assistant Clinical Professor, currently appointed to a full time, Associate Clinical Professor position in the School of Nursing, Department of Community Health Services. He is faculty of record for several psychiatric nurse practitioner psychopharmacology courses, a general psychiatry survey course, and a first year clinical seminar.
Additionally, Andrew is an internationally invited speaker for continuing education conferences and grand rounds, having provided over 100 lectures on contemporary issues in psychiatry. He currently is the Co-Chair for Sana Symposium, a leading CME meeting on psychedelic therapies and a steering committee member for Psych Congress.
See button below for a full list of past and current topics.
Andrew brings over 25 years of mental health professional expertise to clients as an expert consultant. He has served as a steering committee member for Psych Congress, a large, national continuing education meeting since 2010.
He has testified as an expert witness in nurse practitioner malpractice cases.
He is available for consultation for matters considering medication and psychotherapy treatment of patients.
Andrew brings over 25 years of mental health professional expertise to clinical practice. After working in outpatient psychiatry with Kaiser Permanente for 13 years, he now treats American veterans at the San Francisco VA. He has taught and has expertise in cases of treatment resistant depression, PTSD, and the use of psychedelic assisted therapies such as ketamine, psilocybin, and MDMA in the treatment of psychiatric illness. He is a study therapist in the
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I do not currently have a private practice and cannot provide referrals for psychedelic therapy. People seeking psychedelic therapy are encouraged to look on clinicaltrials.gov.
I get many requests for informational interviews about the PMHNP profession, training, and career opportunities and am happy to talk with potential future members of the profession. Before contacting, I ask that you please read this interview first, as it answers many frequently asked questions. If you're especially interested in learning to be a psychedelic assisted therapist, I'd encourage you to read this first.
If you still have questions, please feel free to get in touch.
