Pioneering science-based research in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in Brazil.

Rigorous scientific studies have shown Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy (PAP) to be a safe and effective approach to a range of mental health conditions, making it one of the most promising fields in modern psychiatry.

The Phaneros Institute is dedicated to the evaluation, research, and development of PAP in Brazil. Recognizing that traditional medical education has largely left out accurate information on psychedelic substances, it works to broaden how medical and therapeutic professionals understand their role in mental health care.

Founded in 2011, Phaneros has pioneered psychedelic research in Brazil for over a decade. In 2020 it launched its first online course, an evidence-based update for health professionals. In 2022 it introduced FoPAP, a two-year training program in Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy that prepares professionals to take part in scientific research and develop new clinical protocols. Unique in Brazil and internationally, FoPAP includes supervised clinical internships with volunteers in Phaneros' research protocols.

Visual approach

The name Phaneros comes from a botanical classification that divides plants into two groups: phanerogams, whose reproductive organs are visible, and cryptogams, whose reproductive organs are hidden. From it come two ideas: the apparent and the concealed.

For the Institute, the name expresses its very work: bringing into view knowledge that ancestral cultures have held for millennia and that modern science is only now rediscovering.

Greek letters, rich in history and closely tied to reason and science, became the foundation of the identity.

Stylized Alpha and Omega carved in stone at the entrance to Gaudí's Sagrada Família, Barcelona.

Stylized Alpha and Omega carving at entrance to Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Família (Barcelona). Photo: Etan J. Tal. Source.

Symbol concept

Omega

While Omicron, the “small O” (ō mikron), forms the basis of the letter Phi in the symbol, Omega is literally the “great O” (ō mega). The distinction mirrors the one between cryptogams and phanerogams: the hidden and the visible. Omega stands for vastness, or for the culmination of a great phase of development, whether of the universe, a planet, a nation, or a single person. In spiritual traditions, it marks evolution and awakening: the end of one cycle and the beginning of another, a time of ending, transformation, and rebirth.

Phaneros symbol study: three circles growing from a single point.

Exponentiality

Three spheres grow from a single point: the human being in their present state of consciousness and in a state of expanded consciousness, where potentials once blocked are finally released and each person regains authorship of their thoughts and actions. The number three invites many readings: the Holy Trinity; body, mind, and spirit; individual, collective, and society; or the triad of patient, therapist, and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.