Cheetah House First Do No Harm Meditation Safety Training
A comprehensive, evidence-based training by the world’s top experts in meditation-related challenges.
Training Breakdown
Our full FDNH training is 4 levels:
Level 1 & Level 2 offers on demand videos that can be paired with periodic discussion Q & A sessions with faculty. Because Q & As are scheduled in order on a yearly basis, they are not mandatory, but they are highly encouraged for folks interested in applying to level 4.
Level 3 is workshop-based and all components are mandatory: on-demand courses, pre-workshop work assignments, and workshops. Levels 1 & 2 are recommended, but not required to take Level 3.
Level 4 is a group practicum experience directly supervised by faculty. Space is limited and acceptance is by application. Completion of Levels 1-3 is required.
Training Faculty
Our training faculty consist of top experts on meditation-related challenges, including clinicians, researchers, religious studies scholars, and yoga and meditation teachers.
Perhaps most importantly, the Cheetah House safety training includes the voices of individuals who have lived experience of meditation-related difficulties. They share firsthand what was helpful, unhelpful, and harmful.
Many of our training faculty serve on the Cheetah House Care Team and actively provide support to meditators-in-distress.
Level 1: Fundamentals
An introductory overview of the research on meditation-related difficulties along with narrative, experiential perspectives of MRAEs featuring two survivor stories.
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Asynchronous, on-demand
Faculty Q+A: May 2026
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Total duration: 9 hrs
Didactics: 6 hrs
Faculty Q+A: 3 hrs
APA-approved CE Credits: 4
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Willoughby Britton, PhD
Scott Lippitt
Jennifer Lang
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$200 didactics only
$270 didactics + Faculty Q+A
Level 2: Foundations
A deep dive into the phenomenology of contemplative experiences, necessary cultural competencies, and the impact of interpersonal dynamics.
Levels 2A + AB dive into the different types of meditation-related challenges (phenomenology), including fear and terror states, traumatic re-experiencing, energy-like somatic experiences (ELSEs), visual hallucinations, delusion-like ideation, changes in sense(s) of self, and meditation-induced dissociation.
Level 2C explains the central role of Buddhist Modernism, and includes sessions on the historical Buddhist view(s) of “meditation sickness,” “kundalini,” the role of worldviews, and criteria for distinguishing between “progress” and pathology and when to intervene.
Level 2D explores interpersonal dynamics, power, and control with experts in cultic dynamics, coercive control, institutional betrayal, tradition-specific ideologies and the lived experience of helpful and harmful teachers.
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Asynchronous, on-demand
Faculty Q+A: Summer 2026 TBA
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Total duration: 41 hrs
Didactics: 32 hrs
APA-approved CE Credits: 29
Faculty Q+A Hrs: 9hrs
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Willoughby Britton, PhD
Nathan Fisher, PhD
Pierce Salguero, PhD
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$1050 didactics only
$35 for each Q+A
Level 1+2 bundle= 10% off didactics ($1145)
All access pass =20% off, including Q+As ($1000)
Level 3:
Into Practice
A hands-on, individualized training in specific competencies, including:
Creating site-specific Monitoring and Crisis Protocols
Active listening and Scaffolding
Meditation Assessment Process (myMAP)
Each topic consists of a didactic video and homework followed by a workshop to practice skills and receive faculty feedback.
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Fall, Winter
with Cohort + Faculty
By Application only
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Didactics: 7 hrs
APA-approved CE Credits: 7
Supervised skills practice = 23 hrs
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Willoughby Britton, PhD
Nicholas Canby, PhD
Scott Lippitt
Mandy Johnson
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TBA
Level 4:
Practicum
An advanced practicum for meditation teachers and clinicians who want to be fully competent with or specialize in working with meditation-related difficulties. The advanced practicum includes shadowing members of the Cheetah House Care team in their individual sessions and support groups for meditators in distress, followed by a one-on-one supervision with the Care team member. Completion of other modules is a prerequisite for acceptance into the advanced practicum.
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Fall, Winter
with Cohort + Faculty
By Application only
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Didactics: 7 hrs
APA-approved CE Credits: 7
Supervised skills practice = 23 hrs
-
Willoughby Britton, PhD
Nicholas Canby, PhD
Scott Lippitt
Mandy Johnson
-
TBA