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What is Jason Luoma, Ph.D. known for?
Jason Luoma, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and researcher known for three overlapping roles: studying psychedelic-assisted therapy and the psychological processes behind change, researching shame and the social functions of emotions, and helping develop Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). He also hosts the Research Matters podcast, where he interviews researchers about how they actually work.
Beyond research, he is an entrepreneur in the social-enterprise mold. He co-founded the Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center, which operates as a research and training clinic whose profits fund scientific research, and he helped start the Portland Institute for Psychedelic Science and Northwest Psychedelic Services.
As a trainer, speaker and author, he teaches clinicians worldwide in ACT and psychedelic-assisted therapy, with a particular focus on working with highly self-critical and shame-prone clients. He has also written books related to ACT.
If you want to know whether his work is relevant to you, use this quick filter:
- Clinician or therapist: his training and writing on ACT, shame and psychedelic-assisted therapy are the most directly applicable.
- Researcher or student: his academic work on processes of change, shame and emotion, plus the podcast, are the main draws.
- Social entrepreneur: his clinic model shows how a practice can fund research rather than depend solely on grants.
A useful next step is to decide which of those three audiences you belong to, then start with the matching area—training and books for practitioners, research and the podcast for academics, or the Portland Psychotherapy model for anyone interested in mission-driven organizations.
How does Jason Luoma integrate research and entrepreneurship in his work?
Jason Luoma integrates the two by treating research and business as mutually reinforcing rather than separate careers. He describes himself as a researcher studying psychedelic-assisted therapy, shame, and processes of change linked to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and as an entrepreneur who starts organizations and scales them for social impact. The bridge is the social enterprise model: a clinic that earns revenue and channels profits into scientific research.
The clearest expression of this is Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center, which he co-founded as a research and training clinic run as a social enterprise. In practice, that structure lets clinical work, therapist training, and research share one organization instead of competing for separate funding. He has also helped start the Portland Institute for Psychedelic Science and Northwest Psychedelic Services, extending the same model into psychedelic science and services.
His third role — trainer, speaker, and author — connects the other two. He trains clinicians worldwide in ACT and psychedelic-assisted therapy, and specifically in working with highly self-critical and shame-prone clients, and he has written books on ACT. Training is both a dissemination channel for research findings and a revenue source that can support the mission. The Research Matters Podcast plays a similar connective role: he interviews researchers about how they actually work, which is knowledge-sharing rather than a commercial product.
What this looks like as a working model
| Activity | Research function | Entrepreneurial function |
|---|---|---|
| Portland Psychotherapy | Research and training clinic | Social enterprise whose profits fund research |
| Psychedelic institutes and services | Applied study of psychedelic-assisted therapy | New organizations scaled for reach |
| Training and workshops | Translating findings into clinical practice | Fee-based programs and audience building |
| Books and podcast | Disseminating methods and ideas | Visibility that supports the organizations |
Who this is useful for
If you are a clinician or researcher considering a practice-based research network, his path shows one way to stop treating income generation and science as rivals. If you are building a mission-driven organization, the relevant idea is designing the business so its surplus has a defined scientific purpose from the start. If you are a therapist wanting practical skills, his training focus on shame and self-criticism is the most directly applicable part.
A useful next step is to read his three-part "Research in Practice" series, which addresses incentives, designing the engine, and making research inevitable — essentially the operational side of embedding research inside an organization. For a broader community of practitioners doing similar work, Portland Psychotherapy is the clinic's own site.
What topics does the Research Matters Podcast cover?
The Research Matters Podcast focuses on how researchers actually do their work — the practical, behind-the-scenes side of building and running a research career. Host Jason Luoma interviews established researchers about methods, collaboration and career decisions rather than about specific study findings.
Recurring themes across the episode list include:
- Integrating research into clinical practice — private practitioners and clinic owners describing how they fit data collection and practice-based research into everyday work.
- Practice research networks — how clinicians and academics cooperate across institutions, and what makes those partnerships last.
- Funding and priorities — balancing grant pressures against following genuinely interesting questions.
- Career development in academia — getting into graduate school, authorship conventions, planning, and navigating academic mental health.
- Lab culture and collaboration — how senior researchers run labs, handle controversy, and use organizing or political skills to support science.
- Scaling access and community engagement — reaching underserved groups and using digital tools in mental health research.
Who it suits: early-career researchers and graduate students who want candid career and method advice, plus clinicians curious about adding research to a practice. It is less useful if you want deep dives into the clinical results of psychedelic-assisted therapy — Luoma's own research area appears in his work, but the podcast's framing is about research process.
Next step: skim the episode list and start with the guest whose setting matches yours — for example, an episode on private practice if you work in a clinic, or one on grad school and authorship if you are a student. To compare with similar interview shows, Jason Luoma, Ph.D lists the full catalogue.
What training opportunities does Jason Luoma offer for therapists?
Jason Luoma, Ph.D., offers therapist training in two main areas: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and psychedelic-assisted therapy. He also provides specialized training on working with highly self-critical and shame-prone clients. According to his site, he has trained clinicians worldwide, and his training work sits alongside his roles as a researcher, author, and co-founder of clinical organizations.
What the training covers
- ACT – clinical application of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
- Psychedelic-assisted therapy – therapist training in this emerging area.
- Shame and self-criticism – practical work with clients who are highly self-critical or shame-prone.
Ways to access it
- Workshops and events – the site lists a dedicated workshops and events section, which is the most direct route to scheduled trainings.
- Books – he has written books related to ACT, useful for self-study or supplementing a workshop.
- Podcast – Research Matters interviews researchers about how they work; it is not clinical training, but it is a free way to follow the research behind these approaches.
Who it suits
- Therapists who want structured, evidence-informed training in ACT.
- Clinicians preparing to work in psychedelic-assisted therapy, or already doing so and seeking grounding in its psychological processes.
- Practitioners whose caseloads include chronic shame and harsh self-criticism, where standard techniques often stall.
A practical next step Start with the workshops and events page to see what is currently scheduled, then decide between a live workshop and a book depending on whether you want interaction and feedback or flexible self-paced study. If your main need is shame-focused work, prioritize training that explicitly addresses self-criticism rather than general ACT content.
For context on the wider training landscape, compare offerings from organizations such as Association for Contextual Behavioral Science and Portland Psychotherapy, the clinic he co-founded.
How does Portland Psychotherapy operate as a social enterprise?
Portland Psychotherapy is a research and training clinic run as a social enterprise: it earns revenue through clinical services, then uses the profits to fund scientific research rather than distributing them to owners. Jason Luoma, who co-founded it, describes this model in the context of his broader interest in social enterprise as a way to maximize social good. The clinic also serves as a training site, so its commercial activity and its research and teaching missions reinforce each other.
For a reader trying to understand the model, the key practical points are:
- Earned income, not donations. Clients pay for therapy; that revenue sustains the organization.
- Mission lock on profits. Surplus goes toward research, which is otherwise hard to fund.
- Integrated training. Trainees and clinicians work in the same setting where studies happen.
- Multiple related ventures. Luoma also helped start the Portland Institute for Psychedelic Science and Northwest Psychedelic Services, extending the same social-enterprise approach.
A useful next step: if you are considering a similar structure, ask three questions before committing — which service line reliably generates surplus, what governance rule keeps that surplus directed to the mission, and whether research and training can share staff and space without compromising either. The clinic's own site, Jason Luoma, Ph.D, describes the model from the founder's perspective; the clinic itself is at Portland Psychotherapy.
What are Jason Luoma's contributions to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?
Jason Luoma, Ph.D., contributes to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) mainly as a trainer, speaker, author, and researcher, with a particular emphasis on shame, self-criticism, and the psychological processes of change. His website describes training clinicians worldwide in ACT, and he also writes books related to the approach. Alongside that clinical teaching, he researches shame and the social functions of emotions, and processes of change linked to ACT, which connects his academic work to what therapists actually do in session.
Where his ACT work is most distinctive
- Shame and self-criticism: He trains therapists specifically in working with highly self-critical and shame-prone clients. That is a narrower, more practical niche than general ACT instruction.
- Training and speaking: He presents to clinicians internationally, so his contribution is as much about dissemination and clinical skill-building as about publishing.
- Writing: His books related to ACT give readers a structured way to study the model beyond workshops.
- Research links: His interest in processes of change fits the ACT question of how and why clients shift, rather than only whether they improve.
A useful next step is to decide what you need. If you are a clinician wanting applied skills for self-critical clients, look first at his training and books. If you are a researcher, start with his writing and podcast interviews on processes of change. If you want a wider view of ACT's development, compare his work with that of other ACT figures such as Steven C. Hayes, whom he has interviewed on the Research Matters Podcast, and with organizations such as the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science. His co-founded Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center also shows how he connects ACT practice, training, and research funding in one social enterprise.
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