Individual sessions • Online or in-person • English or Spanish
I have worked with clients who were harmed during psychedelic experiences — people in vulnerable states who were not protected by those responsible for holding the space. I have also worked with people whose experiences were life-changing in the best possible way, and who still needed support to integrate them.
That is why I offer consultations for people considering an experience who want to think it through carefully. The quality of your container — setting, facilitator, relationship, and of course the substance itself — is central to whether an experience is therapeutic or harmful, and not everything in the psychedelic retreat world is ethical, trauma-informed, or safe. I name this because you and this work deserve honesty.
First, let me be clear about why I do this work: because these substances, used properly, are POSITIVELY life-changing. I have accompanied people who made quantum leaps in their personal development, experienced profound transformation, and found relief and long-term healing — from PTSD, C-PTSD, anxiety, and disordered relationships with food, substances, themselves, and other people. I see tremendous potential in the correct, ethical integration of psychedelics into therapeutic processes of living.
I am a licensed Gestalt psychotherapist trained in MDMA-assisted therapy through the MAPS Psychedelic Therapy Training Program. I work primarily with experiences involving MDMA and psilocybin (mushrooms), including but not exclusively for PTSD, C-PTSD, and trauma processing, and am informed about other therapeutic substances. My approach is clinical, present-centred, and relational — non-ceremonial and non-ritual — working from the principles of informed consent and harm reduction. I am closely familiar with the aftermath of both medical and religious trauma, which overlap with psychedelic work and often go unnamed.
Preparation — If you are planning an experience with a licensed therapist, clinical trial, or other provider, we can clarify intentions, understand what to expect psychologically and physiologically, identify material likely to surface, and lay the groundwork for integration. Preparation also means expecting the unexpected — managing your relationship with mystery and uncertainty, since these journeys can only be prepared for, never fully planned or controlled.
Integration — Integration is making meaning from what happened: grounding truly transformative insights into your body, relationships, and life. We may engage the material of your experience directly — images, sensations, patterns that surfaced — or simply help you re-adjust to being your new, changed self, without the old baggage. I offer a non-judgmental, clinically grounded space to process whatever happened — whether in the container or on the journey itself. These experiences often continue to unfold for months beyond the event, and the work that grounds insight into daily life does not happen automatically.
Integration intensive — For particularly significant or complex experiences, integration may be better held in an intensive: uninterrupted time and sustained therapeutic presence over one to three days, in person in Durango, in English or Spanish. Same format as my 1:1 intensives, including online preparation and integration sessions.
Psilocybin mushrooms and other psychoactive plants have been used in sacred ceremony by indigenous communities — their healers, shamans, mara’akate, and medicine women and men — on the now-colonized lands of Turtle Island and Abya Yala, including what is now called Mexico, for thousands of years. I hold deep respect for those traditions. And still: I do not encourage uninformed, faith-based engagement with any substance, provider, or offering, however it is framed. My own practice transparently does not appropriate cultural ritual or ceremony.
I work on the principle that informed consent is the foundation of safety. "Trusting the process" or "surrendering to the guide" does not constitute informed consent — and it does not guarantee safety. You must be able to freely ask ALL the questions you need and receive full, transparent answers before committing to a journey. Consent is as informed as YOU need it to be, or there is no true consent.
Your questions and concerns should always be taken seriously. You should never be pressured to "push through," or shamed as "resistant," for having questions, doubts, a difficult experience, or a nagging concern at any point in a process — consent can be revoked at any moment.
And beyond the "set and setting" most psychedelic providers claim to cover with a blanket and a decent speaker: sitter, substance, and safety plans all need to be addressed just as fully. These substances are not "feelings" or "experiences" — they are psychoactive compounds that interact with your body’s processes, its preexisting conditions, and other substances, including prescribed and non-prescription medications. Reasonable measures can and must be taken beforehand to ensure your physical integrity will not be compromised, and "what if" plans for a medical emergency should be clearly outlined.
To be clear: I do not supply, prescribe, or facilitate the use of any substance. My work sits entirely within the therapeutic and integration frame — supporting you in processing experiences you have had, or are planning with an external provider. The legal status of psychedelic substances varies by jurisdiction; I do not advise on legality.
Preparation and integration sessions are online via Zoom, wherever you are; in-person in Durango or as part of an intensive. Fees for intensives are worked through transparently in planning. Start with a free 10–15 minute intro call.