Our Why

We believe healing and knowing the goodness of life is our nature and birthright, we have a training mission dedicated to making high quality, legal psychedelic therapy available to all who seek it. 

 

Saj Razvi is the Founder and Director of Education at PSI. He is a former clinical researcher in the MAPS Phase 2 trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. He is faculty at Synthesis and taught PTSD studies at the University of Denver, and a PhD course at the University of Copenhagen. He is one of the primary developers of the Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy (PSIP) modality which is a next generation, primary consciousness oriented psychotherapy. The focus of PSIP is to maximize the relational and autonomic healing capacity of psychedelic medicine to treat complex, childhood developmental trauma.

 

Saj's primary focus is to train clinicians to provide legal, effective psychedelic treatment in their private practice settings utilizing readily accessible medicines such as cannabis and ketamine. He provides PSI trainings and supervision to students internationally. In 2015, he was part of a harm reduction effort that was unsuccessful. Saj is open about these events and invites you to read his story here.

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Hillary L. McBride (PhD) is a Registered Psychologist, a researcher, and podcastor. While her expertise that includes working with trauma and trauma therapies, embodiment, perinatal mental health, and the intersection of spirituality and mental health, all of her work centres around how to help people experience themselves as more at home and at ease in their bodies. Her published books include Mothers, Daughters, and Body Image: Learning to Love Ourselves as We Are (2017),  Embodiment and Eating Disorders: Theory, Research, Prevention, and Treatment (2018), The Wisdom of Your Body: Finding wholeness, healing and connection through embodied living (2021), and Practices for Embodied Living: Experiencing the Wisdom Of Your Body (2024). In 2017 she was awarded the International Young Investigators Award for research contributions so early in her career. She is on teaching faculty at a number of universities around BC, is an ambassador for Sanctuary Mental Health, is the CBC's award winning podcast Other People's Problems, and is the co- developer and director of Katalyst Mental Health, a group Ketamine Assisted Therapy program. Hillary makes her home on the land of the lək̓ʷəŋən People, known today as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations, and you can often find her near or in the ocean.

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Contact: hillarylmcbride.waitlist@gmail.com

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Paula DeSanto, MS, LSW, CCDP-D, has developed programs that serve people with mental illness and/or substance use issues for over 40 years. She has dedicated her career to advocating for person-centered, common sense, compassionate care.

She has provided both leadership and clinical services in a variety of settings that include case management, community support, recovery community organizations. intensive residential/outpatient treatment, and the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center. She also taught for 4 years at the U of M Master Level Integrated Behavioral Health Program.

She is the founder of Minnesota Alternatives (outpatient treatment for both mental health and substance use), which was acquired by Mental Health Resources in 2018.

She is currently a co-owner of Expanse MN, a state-of-the-art mental health clinic that opened in January 2022. She has a master’s degree from Boston University in Psychiatric Rehabilitation Counseling and is a licensed social worker and is certified as a Co-Occurring Disorders Professional Diplomate.

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Contact: pauladesanto@yahoo.com

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Robin Temple, MA, MSW, Applied Existential Coaching. With her roots in Transpersonal Psychology and Gestalt Therapy, Robin has been in practice for 28 years as a couple's therapist and experiential workshop leader.  She is a Master Teacher and Trainer for PAIRS (Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills) and co founder (along with her husband Michael) of Couples.us--Tools for True Love.

After decades of helping thousands of couples, as well as training other therapists and clergy to do so, she sees intimate relationships as the most fertile ground for healing attachment trauma and working with transference. She is passionate about the unparalleled ways in which PSIP dramatically accelerates the healing of attachment trauma, and the promise of using this modality to help individuals to experience secure and meaningul love relationships. Incorporating PSIP into her life, both personally and professionally, has been deeply rewarding. She is enlivened by facilitating this work and equipping other mental health professionals with this profound tool to expand the capacity for joy in the lives of their clients.  Robin is based in Longmont, CO.

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Contact: robin@couples.us

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Jackie Meltz is a Clinical Social Worker and holds a doctorate in Clinical Psychology. She has been a practicing psychotherapist for 25+ years. She specializes in treating developmental trauma, using a psychodynamic, somatic and psychedelic therapy approach. She has extensive training in Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP), an accelerated, somatic based, psychodynamic approach, and provides clinical supervision and trainings to therapists learning this therapy modality. She has found that ISTDP and Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy, combined, provide a very comprehensive approach to treating developmental trauma, as both access and work with trauma directly in the body. Jackie has also taught psychology and social work at California State University Los Angeles, University of Colorado at Boulder, and Colorado State University Fort Collins. She is now teaching faculty with the Psychedelic Somatic Institute, providing immersive trainings to therapists wanting to learn this model of psychedelic therapy. She feels passionate about teaching this type of therapy to therapists and using it with clients, seeing that it has the ability to access and help people work though trauma that no other type of therapy modalities currently out there does. She is based in Boulder, Colorado and Los Angeles, California. Jackie also provides PSIP supervision to students wanting to enhance their proficiency in the model.

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Contact: therapy@drjackiemeltz.com

Phone: +1 (320) 803-0559

Daniel (SEP) works with developmental trauma, attachment trauma, and Complex PTSD through a somatic and relational lens. Over 9 years of working with various psychedelic medicines emphasized to him the necessity of integrating the body and the therapeutic relationship to effectively resolve complex trauma.



His passion for PSIP is fueled by his own depth of healing he received within this model. During his training, he experienced a profound reparative experience around an early attachment wound he was unable to access despite previous psychedelic retreats and years of somatic therapy. This led him to fundamentally shift his private practice and understanding of trauma resolution. 


 

Contact: www.recoveryourcalm.com/contact

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Jia Lee, MA is a Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Therapist, and former family therapist. She sees clients across the country via zoom, and travels to various locations across the country to work with clients face to face.

Her background spans to include doctoral studies in Somatic Psychology, a master’s in psychology, along with training in Somatic Experiencing, Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE), Instinctual Trauma Response Therapy (ITR), Integrative Body Psychotherapy (IBP), Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB), Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP), PULSE mediation, Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT) and more.
 
Jia helps individuals, couples, corporate leaders, and teams work through trauma, relational gridlock, and addictions, in ways that foster greater self-authorship, and authenticity. She offers video sessions, intensives, and a group training programs. Her specialties are eating disorder recovery, couples therapy, developmental, sexual and medical trauma recovery, and leadership development.

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Contact: jia@embodichange.com

Phone: +1 (304) 940-2959

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Eric believes that working through trauma is one of the most courageous, meaningful, and beautiful things that humans do. With his training in psychedelic and somatic therapies, Attachment Theory, Interpersonal Neurobiology, and Nonviolent Communication Eric brings a wide range of skills, knowledge, and sensitivity to his work as a PSIP Therapist. Eric specializes in attachment trauma, PTSD, and Complex PTSD.

Prior to discovering PSIP, Eric worked for twelve years with various psychedelic medicines and therapies for his own healing. PSIP has become the focus of Eric's healing work because it has helped him go much deeper into his own attachment trauma than any of the previous healing he has done.

Eric is also a musician, storyteller, and the author of Meet Me In Hard-to-Love Places: The Heart and Science of Relationship Success. Before he became passionate about healing trauma, Eric was an expedition river guide and whitewater kayaker. Much of what he learned on the river and in the wilderness continues to inform his work as a trauma therapist.

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Contact: eric@roadtocompassion.com

Phone: +1 (604) 442-8811

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Dr. Kari Gleiser is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in the treatment of complex trauma and dissociation in private practice for over 20 years. She is a senior faculty member in the AEDP Institute, a psychotherapy training institute that promotes an attachment-based, experiential and transformational model of therapy. Dr. Gleiser co-founded and co-directed an integrative health center for trauma recovery for 13 years in Hanover, NH. She also co-founded and is currently co-directing a center for human flourishing in Tuscany, Italy. Dr. Gleiser is trained in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy models and practices PAP with legally prescribed medicines. She has co-developed an “intra-relational” model of parts work that imports relational and experiential interventions to patients’ dissociated internal systems. Dr. Gleiser teaches and consults internationally. She holds an undergraduate degree in Creative Writing from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychotherapy from Boston University.

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Harley Conyer is a counsellor, psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, meditation trainer, leadership coach, mentor and facilitator, with substantial experience working with individual clients and facilitating workshops, trainings, groups and retreats.
 

Harley is the founder of Menstuff (Australia) and The Transformation Space, and is currently a PSI Instructor based in Sydney, Australia.
 

He has been in private practice for 18 years, and has over 10,000 hours of one-on-one client work.
 

He specializes in trauma-related presentations including addiction, dissociation, developmental trauma and attachment issues, gender and sexuality identity, depression and anxiety, spiritual emergence, life transitions, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
 

Harley has an integrated and client-centered approach. He works with a range of modalities including somatic, transpersonal, shamanic, ecotherapy, Brainspotting and psychedelic-assisted therapy, including preparation, harm reduction and integration.
 

He has his own extensive experience with cannabis and psychedelic healing (in legal settings) that has helped to process and dissolve trauma, reduce reactivity, increase empathy, improve relationships and provided a deep understanding from the inside about how plant medicines work, and how to work safely and effectively with plant medicines.
Harley is passionate about PSIP because of the efficiency, depth and breadth of trauma resolution that it offers, as well as the attachment and relational healing aspects.

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Contact: http://www.psychedelicsomatictherapy.com.au/

Phone: +61 411 411 103

Dr. Ampolos received her MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology, with an emphasis in Health Psychology, at the California School of Professional Psychology in San Diego, CA. She received her BAs in Psychology and Spanish at the University of San Diego. She completed her pre-doctoral training at Wai’anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center on O’ahu. She is an Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner (IFMCP), and is certified in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). She completed the post-graduate Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy certificate program at Naropa University, the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) training for MDMA-assisted therapy, and is certified in Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy (PSIP). Her specialities include treating complex trauma and PTSD, personality disorders, eating disorders, nutrition and mental health, depression, anxiety, couples in crisis, and chronic health challenges, including pain and autoimmune disease management. She specializes in providing mind-body, root-level healing. She is passionate about providing access to care and strives to create a warm, open and non-judgmental healing environment at Illuminate Wellness, of which she is the founder and Clinical Director.

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Contact: lauren@illuminatewellnessmaui.com

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 Amber Vantze is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Program Director of Psychedelic Services, and a Clinical Supervisor at Illuminate Wellness in Maui, Hawaiʻi. She is a founding member of the American Psychedelic Practitioners Association and regularly participates in discussion regarding ethics, best practices, research, and existential topics to learn from and support others in the field of psychedelic assisted psychotherapy.

Amber has deep relationships (cultivated over decades in legal settings) with plant medicines and experienced profound healing of preverbal wounding in her PSI Part A training with the support of cannabis, ketamine, and her skilled PSI Instructor. She wholeheartedly trusts in the PSIP model and each individual's ability to connect with their inner healing intelligence. Amber is particularly passionate about supporting therapists in experiencing PSIP to sense healing in their own systems so that they can be of better service to their clients. She provides a warm, safe, and supportive space that allows students to engage in profound nervous system healing and corrective relational experiences. She offers individualized care unique to each person's needs and capacity. Her direct and assertive approach assists students in communicating with honesty, clarity, and authenticity.

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Contact: amber@illuminatewellnessmaui.com

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Georgeanna Lewis, MA, MSW, LICSW, brings experience and training in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, EMDR, Brainspotting, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Dance Movement Therapy, Internal Family Systems, and the Adult Attachment Interview. Her clinical foundation is in developmental theory and attachment. She has also completed graduate work in English and Creative Writing (Poetry). Georgeanna understands all early trauma to result in both an attachment rupture and a rupture within the self. PSIP has been a revelation for her, both personally and professionally, in the way it greatly facilitates processing the embodied energy of trauma, dismantles unconscious structures created to cope with the trauma, restores trust in and connection to the self, and fosters creativity. She has found her foundation in attachment-based somatic work invaluable in preparing clients to work with medicine, while conversely, her experience using PSIP has deepened her understanding of nervous system dynamics and in the process transformed her non-PSIP work. She feels a sense of mission about training others to do this work. Georgeanna is based in Minneapolis, where she co-owns Springbox Therapy, a group practice, with her husband, therapist Sean Toren.

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Contact: georgeanna@springboxtherapy.com

Phone: +1 (612) 239-2796

Jean Clarin is the Enrollment Director at PSI. She is responsible for handling all the administrative and logistical needs of the students. She is also a Pastry Chef, Cake Artist, Entrepreneur, and Fur Mom who enjoys anything to do with food, fun, and flavor. Aside from knowing her way around a kitchen, she also enjoys organizing and supporting people as best as she can. She looks forward to making her best-selling cakes, pastries, and desserts for students during their training.

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Contact: jean@psychedelicsomatic.org

Sheryne is the Administrative Assistant at PSI. She is responsible for handling all the administrative and logistical needs of the students. She is also a registered nurse specializing in geriatric care, advocating for the health and well-being of older adults. Aside from being a compassionate nurse, she also enjoys making crafts and arts. She dreams of putting up her own art gallery that children in kindergarten can come visit and enjoy.

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Contact: sheryne@psychedelicsomatic.org

Dr. Cosmo is a Certified Good Dog (CGD) and holds a dog-torate in Clinical Psychology. She specializes in issues that occur within 8” of the ground. As our Denver training site's resident bread loaf, Dr. Cosmo is available for pets, kisses, licks, belly rubs, and butt scartches during our trainings. Her favorite hobbies include playing tag, soccer, fetch, going for very short walks, snuggling with humans, playing in the snow and being naughty. She is our teacher when it comes to secure attachment and what a joyful animal nature can look like.

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Contact: drcosmo@pleaseplaywithme.org