The SoundMind Psychedelic Facilitators Membership Program

Hi! Welcome to our Membership Portal.

Requirements to apply for our membership program include:

• Being our alumni

• Interest in Psychedelic Facilitation with an intention of potentially engaging in this work down the road

• Interest in ongoing community building and support

Membership includes:

• Approximately once-per-month online teaching sessions with leaders in the psychedelic field

• Ability to ask questions and interact with these leaders

• Community support with ongoing programming

• Access to the meeting recording that stays up for 2 months

• There will be more as well, join us on this journey! All activities are optional - the main goal of this program is to keep you connected.

Rodney Garcia (Church of the Eagle and Condor) - wisdom of sacred plants during trying times

Rodney Garcia is a Curandero and ceremonial practitioner of the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition (PMT). He also is an apprentice of the Shipibo Ayahuasca and Master Plant tradition working under Enrique López Fasanando, at Inkan Kena Centro Espiritual in the Peruvian Amazon. Rodney holds a Medical Doctorate specialized in Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine. He is a licensed and Board Certified Anesthesiologist practicing in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His passions for medicine, health, and wellness extend beyond Anesthesiology and the operating room and are expressed through various western medicine modalities including Lifestyle and Integrative Medicine, as well as Body, Mind, and Spiritual practices.

Spiritual, medical, and food sovereignty are of vital importance to him and, in alignment with this overarching approach to integral health, Rodney established and co-owns a regenerative, permaculture farm and homestead in the high desert environment of central New Mexico. Rodney and his partner are in the process of establishing a Ceremonial retreat and Wellness Center in Mexico, in the town of Tomatlan. The Center will serve as a traditional medicines practice and plant medicine educational center for the local communities and international visitors.

CRISTIE STRONGMAN, MHC-LP - MDMA Therapy

Cristie works with individuals, couples, and groups utilizing a humanistic approach to focus on the whole individual and stress concepts such as free will, self-efficacy, and self-actualization. She advocates for improving the understanding of neurodiversity in mental health, specifically for BIPOC populations in the mental health care system. Rather than concentrating on dysfunction, Cristie strives to help people see their life’s ongoing journey as an endless source of wisdom and draw on internal strengths with innovative methods. Her specialty lies in helping clients with ADHD, learning disabilities, anxiety, depression, PTSD, relational issues, low-self-esteem, and loss of purpose.

Cristie completed a dual Masters degree in Counseling Psychology at Columbia University as well as a Masters in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, where her studies focused primarily on ritual and urban shamanism. She is a trainee of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Cristie is currently working with MAPS on an FDA approved clinical trial study, as an investigator and co-therapist, examining whether MDMA-assisted therapy can help heal the psychological and emotional damage caused by sexual assault, war, violent crime, and other traumas. She is also a trainer to other professionals in psychedelic integration and psychedelic assisted-therapy. She is trained in cultural competency to work specifically with diverse minority populations, and is a fierce ally to LGBTQ+ folks. Cristie is bilingual and can also conduct sessions in Spanish.

Emma Knighton, MA, LMHC, RYT - CCM Controversy and Boundary Violations

Emma holds an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Bastyr University, a Graduate level certificate in Psychedelic Assisted-Therapies and Research from The California Institute of Integral Studies, and a Master’s level certificate in Holistic Health from St. Catherine University. She is also a registered yoga teacher. Her therapeutic approach encompasses the integration of therapy, yoga, and psychedelic practices. Her work with clients is based in learning safe embodiment, deep listening to self and intuition, and curiosity into the possibility of the present moment. Her work has taught her that trauma shows up in many forms, and that our bodies and consciousness have the ability to teach us what our minds may have difficulty accessing and expressing.

Her personal practice with altered consciousness states has been integral to her own trauma healing and personal growth. Meditation, Holotropic Breathwork, and psychedelic medicine work provide her a space to enter the depths of her subconscious and connect to resources inside and outside of herself. She holds sacred her relationships with the many facets of self and the greater sense of collective love consciousness, for these are her greatest teachers.

Pierre Bouchard, MA, LPC - Integration and psychedelics

Pierre Bouchard is a Licensed Professional Counselor with a private ketamine practice in Boulder, CO. He specializes in blending somatics, embodiment, attachment theory, and trauma therapy with ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. A graduate of Naropa University (in Contemplative Psychotherapy), he has trained in several somatic psychotherapy modalities, most recently the Hakomi Method under Melissa Grace, and currently, in Ido Portal’s movement system. He supervises therapists around ketamine work. He has maintained a meditation practice for 20 years, and in his spare time, works as a vinyl DJ.

Brian Pilecki, PhD - Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy

Dr. Brian Pilecki is a clinical psychologist at Portland Psychotherapy that specializes in the treatment of anxiety disorders (OCD, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, panic disorder), trauma and PTSD, and matters related to the use of psychedelics. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and practices from an orientation based in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Brian also has extensive experience in the areas of mindfulness and meditation, and incorporates them into his therapy with clients. He is an active researcher and has published on topics such as anxiety disorders, mindfulness, and the relationship between theory and practice in psychotherapy. At Portland Psychotherapy, Brian is also involved in research in the use of psychedelics for the treatment of mental health problems.

Cindy Kaza - mediumship and psychedelics

Cindy has been extremely intuitive since very early childhood. At the age of 10 she had her first memorable experience with a spirit. Days after losing a childhood friend in a fatal car accident, Cindy woke up in the middle of the night to see her friend standing next to her bed. At the time, she dismissed this experience and convinced herself it was just a dream. It wasn’t until her early 20s that she realized she was having psychic and mediumistic experiences all along. During this “awakening” she began searching for answers and reasons for her experiences and became aware of her multi-faceted abilities as a psychic medium. She began training not only in the United States but also at the Arthur Findlay School of Intuitive Sciences in Stansted, England. She believes in compassionately sharing her gift with others while also opening up others to the gifts they too possess and that everyone is inherently intuitive and able to feel Spirit!

Cedar Wren McCloud - tarot and psychedelics

Cedar Wren McCloud is a queer, disabled artist and author living in southern California. They enjoy archaic crafts, nature walks, and fashion. They believe storytelling is a beautiful tool for healing from trauma. Cedar is a Scorpio sun/Gemini rising/Virgo moon. They were born and raised in Maryland, and graduated from Towson University in 2013 with a B.S. in Painting, Drawing, and Printmaking. Cedar has been a witch since 2001 and started reading Tarot in 2003. They are agender, asexual, and grey-romantic, and their pronouns are they/them.

In the description of their Numinous Tarot deck, they state that the perspective of the deck is theirs. Cedar comes from a lower class background, but say that they are fortunate enough to have a college degree. They have listened carefully to perspectives and experiences of people within the communities they are not a part of, in the areas where they have privilege. They are also a solitary witch and a mystic, someone who prioritizes personal experience with the divine and magical over dogma or tradition. The Numinous Tarot's name pulls from this; the word "numinous" is defined as "surpassing comprehension or understanding; mysterious." It is intended to be a tool for self-exploration, healing, and magic, though you may of course use it however you like.

Dr. Anne Wagner - Relationships and psychedelics

Dr. Anne Wagner, C.Psych., is a clinical psychologist and treatment development researcher based in Toronto, Canada. Anne is the founder of Remedy, a mental health innovation community, and Remedy Institute, Remedy’s home for research and accessible services. She is the lead investigator of the pilot trial of Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD + MDMA and the upcoming randomized trial of Cognitive Behavioral Conjoint Therapy for PTSD (CBCT) + MDMA, a couples therapy for PTSD her team has previously tested in a pilot trial. Anne is deeply committed to bridging the worlds of psychotherapy and non-ordinary states of consciousness, and has a passion for its use for relational healing. She is committed to uplifting the voices of women in the psychedelic world. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology and an Associate Member of the Yeates School of Graduate Studies at X University (formerly Ryerson University), is the Past-Chair of the Traumatic Stress Section of the Canadian Psychological Association, is a Global Ambassador for the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies, and sits on the board of Casey House, Toronto’s HIV/AIDS Hospital.

Joe Tafur, MD - energetic healing

Joe Tafur, MD, is a Colombian-American family physician originally from Phoenix, Arizona. After completing his family medicine training at UCLA, Dr. Tafur spent two years in academic research at the UCSD Department of Psychiatry in a lab focused on mind-body medicine. After his research fellowship, over a period of six years, he lived and worked in the Peruvian Amazon at the traditional healing center Nihue Rao Centro Espiritual. There he worked closely with master Shipibo shaman Ricardo Amaringo and trained in ayahuasca shamanism. In his book, The Fellowship of the River: A Medical Doctor's Exploration into Traditional Amazonian Plant Medicine, through a series of stories, Dr. Tafur shares his unique experience and integrative medical theories. To learn more about his work, visit drjoetafur.com and modernspirit.org.

Mareesa Stertz - PSYCHEDELICS AND THE STORY

Mareesa Stertz is a filmmaker, storyteller, and KRI certified Kundalini Yoga teacher. She is a cofounder at Lucid News and the producer and host of the documentary series, The Healing Powers (of Psychedelics and Other Mindful Practices), currently streaming on Gaia TV.

She has shared her stories of working with psychedelics on stages internationally as well as in education, for the Synthesis Practitioner Training Program, and teaches storytelling workshops in retreats and online for leaders and for psychedelic preparation.

She is passionate about using story to illuminate the powerful transformation that comes from navigating trauma, and her work is heavily informed by her own journey of personal growth, which has taken her all around the world, filming with the curanderos of Peru to the holy men of India. She has a BA in Cinema at San Francisco State University, and her films have been featured by Gaia TV, Viceland, Indigenous Films, Merry Jane, and Participant. She is in development on a one-woman play that celebrates the adventure in healing, and is in postproduction on a documentary chronicling her travels in Peru with Ayahuasca, which she thought didn't work for her. You can see her first feature length film on Damanhur, the Spiritual Intentional Community on Gaia TV.

Mike Jay - Mescaline

Mike Jay is a leading specialist in the study of drugs across history and cultures. The author of Artificial Paradises, Emperors of Dreams, and The Atmosphere of Heaven, his critical writing on drugs has appeared in many publications, including The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The International Journal of Drug Policy. He sits on the editorial board of the addiction journal Drugs and Alcohol Today and on the board of the Transform Drug Policy Foundation. He lives in England.

Frederick S. Barrett, PhD

Frederick Barrett is a cognitive neuroscientist with training in behavioral pharmacology. Dr. Barrett has been conducting psychedelic research at Johns Hopkins University since 2013, and his research in heathy participants and in patients with mood and substance use disorders focuses on the psychological and neurological mechanisms underlying the enduring therapeutic and other effects of psychedelic drugs. In 2017, he received an NIH “R03” grant as Principal Investigator to investigate biological mechanisms of psilocybin effects, the first federally funded research since the 1970s administering a classic psychedelic to people with psychedelic effects as the primary focus. He developed the first comprehensive questionnaire to measure subjective aspects of challenging experiences encountered with psilocybin. He also published the first studies in humans characterizing the enduring effects of psilocybin on the brain (up to a month after psilocybin administration), the effects of psilocybin on a brain structure called the claustrum (which has been proposed to variously mediate consciousness and cognition), the effects of LSD on the brain's response to music, and the effects of the atypical hallucinogen salvinorin A on human brain network function. He is currently leading a clinical trial to investigate the use of psilocybin to treat patients with major depressive disorder and co-occurring alcohol use disorder, and he is leading a number of ongoing studies aimed at better understanding the psychological, biological, and neural mechanisms underlying therapeutic efficacy of psychedelic drugs.

Aaron Paul Orsini - Autism, Neurodiversity, and Psychedelics Webinar

Aaron Paul Orsini is the author of Autism On Acid: How LSD Helped Me Understand, Navigate, Alter & Appreciate My Autistic Perceptions. He is also the co-founder of the Autistic Psychedelic Community, a peer support group for neurodivergent individuals interested in discussing psychedelics and building connection with others with similar experiences in terms of personal sensory processing. He has just finished editing and publishing his second book on the subject, entitled Autistic Psychedelic, a neurodiversity-minded anthology of psychedelic essays & survey responses that is now available via www.AutisticPsychedelic.com

Daniel Shaw, LCSW

Daniel Shaw, LCSW, is a psychotherapist trained in psychoanalysis as well as in trauma-informed psychotherapies, including Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems, and Trauma-Informed Stabilization Therapy (TIST). He is in private practice in New York City and in Nyack, New York; and Faculty and Supervisor at The National Institute for the Psychotherapies in New York. His papers have appeared in Psychoanalytic Inquiry, Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalytic Perspectives and Psychoanalytic Dialogues, and most recently, his book, Traumatic Narcissism: Relational Systems of Subjugation, was published by Routledge for the Relational Perspectives Series and nominated for the prestigious Gradiva Award. His book Traumatic Narcissism and Recovery: Leaving the Prison of Shame and Fear was published in 2021. In 2018, the International Cultic Studies Association awarded Dan the Margaret Thaler Singer Award for advancing the understanding of coercive persuasion and undue influence.

Evan Segura - Get your Finger on the Oregon Psilocybin Pulse

Evan Segura is a young Chicano psychedelic practitioner, a community organizer, and co-founder of the Rhizome, a community healing center in NE Portland. He is an amateur mycologist, and has taught thousands of people how to develop right relationship with sacred mushrooms and cultivate their own medicine. He spends most of his time stewarding Portland’s psychedelic community, stomping around the forest looking at mushrooms, and riding his motorcycle along the coast.

Rachael Petersen

Rachael is a writer, community facilitator, and founder of Earthrise Services, a consulting firm supporting dynamic global teams tackling our world’s greatest societal and spiritual challenges.

She dedicated the first decade of her career to international environmental policy, completing extensive fieldwork in remote sites from the Arctic to the Amazon. As Senior Advisor to National Geographic Society and founding Deputy Director of Global Forest Watch, she advanced climate change solutions by transforming our approach to food, agriculture, and land use. Through her consulting firm, Earthrise Services, she has advised large philanthropic clients, as well as small community-based nonprofits, on how to achieve climate mitigation impact.

After experiencing burnout, she participated in a Johns Hopkins University clinical trial using psilocybin to treat major depression. Following that transformative experience, she felt called to support others overwhelmed by ecological crises. Now enrolled as a scholar and visiting fellow at Harvard Divinity School, her body of work covers spiritual approaches to current ecological crises, the future of spiritual care, and the promise and perils of psychedelic medicines. She practices Zen Buddhism in the Sōtō tradition, and is training as a Buddhist Ecochaplain through the Sati Institute.

She holds a BA in Anthropology and Environmental Policy from Rice University. Her poetry and nonfiction have appeared in The Sun, The Rumpus, The Outline, Psymposia and elsewhere.

SIMEON SCHNAPPER

Simeon Schnapper is the founding Partner of JLS, a plant medicine fund His introduction to psychedelics came 30+ years ago in Chicago where he studied with Dr. Robert E.L. Masters and Jean Huston Ph.D. who authored the seminal book The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience: The Classic Guide to the Effects of LSD on the Human Psyche – one of the most important books written on the effects of LSD on the human psyche. As a curious teenager entering the space, searching for greater meaning in life he quickly learned about all the mental health indications that could be alleviated by coupling these molecules with psychotherapy or protocols millennia old from indigenous cultures. Later, he immersed himself in the Amazon with various ayahuasqueros and syncretic churches which showed him the power and efficacy of plant medicines; now becoming mainstreamed and medicalized. As a life-long student of Psychedelics he a keen awareness of the cultural, regulatory and the nascent venture landscape of the mushrooming industry. As the president of the Hinman Foundation he formulated the vision and led all efforts on the ground in Tibet, Nepal, Myanmar, India, Mongolia and Bhutan. The foundation was able to support community-based organizations in several forest cultures where plant medicines are inseparable from everyday life and also oversaw grants which included a study on the Psychological and Cognitive Effects of Long-Term Peyote Use and the efficacy of hallucinogens for treating substance dependence. Simeon co-founded the High Art Collective in 2008 the world’s first Psychedelic Art Gallery and Marijuana Dispensary praised as a paradigm shift at the very beginning of the end of prohibition. Simeon advises several psychedelic and impact startups, is an Aspen Institute Fellow and a member of the New York Mycology Society. Born into a Peace Corps family, his early life was spent on assignment overseas where the ethos of exploration and helping others became deeply ingrained in his belief system.