My Story of Transformation

My journey along the path of expanded states started in 1995 when I had a dream that changed my life. When I woke up, covered in sweat and shaking, I knew this was no ordinary dream. It was an invitation to a journey of self-discovery.  This experience catalyzed a process of self-exploration and learning.  I began studying shamanism, dreamwork, somatic embodiment, expressive arts therapy, and other subjects that helped me gain skills to navigate expanded states of awareness. I also became a certified coach and completed an MA in Transformative Leadership.  All this time I was working on my "real job" as a program manager for corporations and non-profits. 

During this period, I was attending a lot of transformational festivals, and I kept on finding myself in situations where people who had taken psychedelics needed support.  It happened so many times, actually, that in 2012 I took the MAPS training on psychedelic harm reduction so I knew what to do in case of an emergency.  In 2014 I had an powerful experience at Burning Man, supporting a young woman who needed help.  I spent 8 hours with her, and by the end, I knew that I had found my calling.  But at that time, there were not many above-ground opportunities to pursue training, so I didn't know how to move forward.  The following year, the psychedelic renaissance began gaining momentum, and more opportunities for learning and training opened up.  I began attending conferences and workshops to deepen my understanding on how to safely support folks working with psychedelic substances.

In 2018, after a particularly powerful journey and a string of amazing synchronicities, I decided to leave the corporate world and commit myself to the Medicine Path. I enrolled in the East-West Psychology Ph.D. program at CIIS, where I could pursue my passion.  Being a full-time student allowed me the opportunity to take graduate-level courses on shamanic practices, psychedelics, indigenous traditions, rites of passage, spiritual counseling, art therapy integration, and eco-psychology.  For my dissertation, I studied the effects of psychedelics on people's experience of eco-anxiety.  In 2019, I launched Spiral Journey, where I help my clients become skilled at safely navigating profound and transformative psychedelic experiences.  From 2023-2024, I was a psychedelic Retreat Facilitator and the Director of Integration for Beckley Retreats, where I led the preparation and integration process for over 350 guests and facilitated retreats in Jamaica.  Currently, I am part of the facilitator mentorship faculty at Nectara, a psychedelic integration resource.