Center For Psychedelic Studies

Staff, Faculty & Guest Instructors

The Naropa University Center for Psychedelic Studies is honored to work with many individual and institutional contributors whose expertise helps strengthen the ongoing development and integrity of our programming, including the Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Psychedelic Alchemy Speaker Series. Contributors include members of our faculty, staff and leadership teams, as well as prominent leaders in the field of psychedelic studies.

Naropa University is honored to work with many individual and institutional contributors whose expertise helps strengthen the ongoing development and integrity of our certificate training program. Contributors include members of our faculty, staff and leadership teams, as well as prominent leaders in the field of psychedelic studies.

Center for Psychedelic Studies

Naropa Center for Psychedelic Studies Leadership Team

Dr. Sara Lewis is Associate Professor and Chair of Contemplative Psychotherapy and Buddhist Psychology at Naropa University. She earned her PhD from Columbia University and MA from the University of Chicago, specializing in psychological anthropology and clinical social work. She is author of Spacious Minds: Trauma and Resilience in Tibetan Buddhism, (Cornell University Press, 2019) and a former Fulbright fellow. Sara is a therapist with MAPS MDMA-assisted therapy study site in Boulder, CO and has conducted research on how psychedelics can be a catalyst for change in psychotherapy.

Joe’s career has focused on studying organizational leadership and on medications development for the treatment of substance use disorders. Prior to joining Naropa, he worked at Johns Hopkins University’s Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit managing a large research group, conducting clinical trials, creating experiential programs for students, and fostering collaborative private-sector relationships. While at JHU, he was an advisor to the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research and held positions on boards and committees focused on business development, diversity and inclusion, community outreach, and research oversight. He is the co-founder of Peabody Pharmaceuticals, a company whose mission is to minimize the role that prescription pain medications play in the opioid epidemic. He holds a BS in Psychology from Towson University and a MS from Johns Hopkins in Regulatory Science. Joe lives in Baltimore, MD with his family, has a personally meaningful yoga practice, and fly fishes the Chesapeake Bay region during his free time.

Dr. Quinn is a licensed naturopathic doctor with a focus on psychoneuroimmunology and integrative mental health. Her clinical work has centered on care of marginalized communities, including people of color, the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and low-income populations. Dr. Quinn is a graduate of the CIIS Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research program. She is a member of the Board of Psychedelic Medicine and Therapies, where she serves as co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, and is a member of the Ethics Working Group with the American Psychedelic Practitioners Association. She serves on the board of Source Research Foundation, where she chairs the Community Grant Program, and is a member of the Chacruna Institute Racial Equity and Access Committee. Dr. Quinn is the Training Director of Alma Institute, a psilocybin facilitator training program and service site in Portland, Oregon. She serves on multiple advisory boards dedicated to building ethical integrity, equity, accessibility, and structural competency in the field of psychedelics.

Victor Alfonso Cabral, LSW, is an Afro-Latinx professional deeply dedicated to serving historically marginalized communities. Drawing from his personal and professional experiences, Victor approaches his work with empathy and strategic insight. His varied career includes contributions to policy development, community outreach, training and education, and community mental health services. He is a licensed social worker and therapist in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with training in MDMA/Ketamine/Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy and Internal Family Systems.

As the former Director of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Fluence Training, Victor was instrumental in guiding policy initiatives, shaping inclusive training curricula, and fostering connections among key stakeholders in the field of psychedelic medicine.

Prior to joining Fluence, Victor served as Deputy Director for the Pennsylvania Governor’s Office of Advocacy and Reform where he helped shape regulations for youth detention centers and residential treatment facilities. He facilitated the establishment of the first Racial Day of Healing in Pennsylvania history and developed accessible trauma training for Pennsylvanians.

He is actively involved in a documentary film titled ‘We Are The Medicine’, which seeks to highlight the importance of BIPOC voices in the psychedelic community (www.PictureAColorfulWorld.com) He was recognized in the Students for Sensible Drug Policy’s “40 Under 40 Outstanding BIPOC Leaders in Drug Policy” and received the 2022 Emerging Social Work Leader Award from the National Association of Social Workers of Pennsylvania.

Belinda is of Dine’ (Navajo) and A:shiwi (Pueblo of Zuni) descent. Her maternal clan is One-Who-Walks-Around and she was born for the Zuni Pueblo people. Belinda was born and raised on the Navajo reservation, located in Arizona, United States of America.

She is the wisdom carrier, healer, and founder of Kaalogii LLC, focused on cultural and traditional teaching, inner healing, and an international speaker on various topics impacting Native American communities in the United States.

Belinda holds degrees in Health Sciences, Technology, and Public Health. In addition, Belinda has participated in the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, MDMA People of Color, and Eye Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy Training Programs.

Belinda is also a Founder and Board member of the Church of the Eagle and the Condor, a Program Advisor for Naropa University, and a Native American Traditional Advisor for SoundMind.

She is the author recent articles that are available on charuna.net: “Considerations for Psychedelic Therapist when working with Native American People and Communities”, “ Guidelines for Inclusion of Indigenous People into Psychedelic Science Conferences” and “This is not Native American History, this is US History with Belinda Eriacho”. In addition, a contributing author to the recently published Psychedelic Justice: Toward a Diverse and Equitable Psychedelic Culture.

Website: www.kaalogii.com

Austin R. Pick is Executive Director of Extended Campus. He holds an MA in Religious Studies from Naropa, where he has been on staff since 2014. Austin’s fiction and non-fiction writing has appeared in a variety of publications, including The Arrow, The Stockholm Review of Literature, and Epiphany. He served as contributing editor of Along the Path: The Meditator’s Companion to the Buddha’s Land, a dharma travel guide published by Pariyatti Press in 2009. Austin’s passion for contemplative practice and inventive language reflects his dedication to developing an ever more conscious engagement with our ongoing composition of the world—one that is expansive, inclusive and compassionate.

Audra Barber is a Program and Enrollment Manager for Naropa University’s Extended Campus. She holds a MA in Communication Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder. Audra repurposed her master’s thesis, An Eco-Spiritual Approach to Solving Climate Change, into a 2022 TEDxCU talk titled, Environmental Interdependence is our Climate Solution. Dedicated to creative and embodied problem-solving, Audra is thrilled to support the Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Training Program and other Extended Campus programming.

Jacob Goldberg is the Lead Program and Communications Manager for Naropa University’s Extended Campus. He holds a BA in Environmental Studies from Naropa University, where he has been on staff since 2020. Jacob believes that business, technology, and industry can be used as a force for social and environmental change, evident in his undergraduate thesis Examining the Triple Bottom Line: Patterns Within the Field of Sustainable Business. As a member of the Extended Campus team, Jacob is proud to develop and support public offerings that exemplify mindful leadership, diversity and inclusivity, and contemplative pedagogy.

2023 Visiting Luminaries

Rick Doblin, Ph.D

Rick Doblin, Ph.D. is the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He received his doctorate in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Rick studied with Dr. Stanislav Grof and was among the first to be certified as a Holotropic Breathwork practitioner. His professional goal is to help develop legal contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription medicines but also for personal growth for otherwise healthy people, and eventually to become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist. He founded MAPS in 1986, and currently resides in Boston with his wife and three children.

MAPS PBC MDMA-Assisted Therapy Instructors

Marcela Ot’alora G., MA, LPC

Marcela Ot’alora G. was born and raised in Colombia where her mother, aunt, and grandmother were instrumental in cultivating compassion and kindness as the highest values for engaging with others and the world. Their teaching led her to view success from this lens. Currently she lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband, dogs, and daughters nearby. She has an MA in Transpersonal Psychology from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and an MFA in Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. For over 20 years Marcela has been in private practice working primarily with PTSD. In addition to private practice, she has dedicated her professional life to training and research. Beginning in 1999, she has worked on various studies sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) as a Principal Investigator and therapist using MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD. Additionally, she is a lead trainer and supervisor for MAPS’ training program.

Bruce D. Poulter, MPH

Bruce has worked extensively with people in chronic pain as an educator and Rolfer and has served as a Sub-Investigator and Clinical Supervisor on the MAPS-sponsored Phase 2 and 3 MDMA-assisted therapy trials. What Bruce appreciates about MDMA-assisted therapy is its’ deeply intimate nature; driven by a profound love for self, community and other; participant centered; respectful of participants processes; it leverages a person’s native inherent wisdom; and invites/demands authenticity of all parts and parties involved in the at times mysterious, service of healing.

2023 Core Faculty

German F. Ascani, MD, MS, is a psychiatrist in clinical practice in Colorado and California. He has collaborated in published research regarding Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP). He is passionate about the potential for psychological, emotional and spiritual healing that new and emerging psychedelic medicines bring to the mental health field. He supports the use of these powerful transformative tools.He is a graduate of the University of California Davis School of Medicine. Completed his psychiatric training at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California. He has a Masters of Science in Physiology from Georgetown University and a BA in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley. He presently serves as co-faculty for PRATI in their KAP training retreats and is a therapist for the MAPS phase 3 research trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD in Fort Collins.

NiCole Buchanan, Ph.D., Professor, co-Chair of the APPA Board of Directors, member of the Board of Directors and the Racial Equity and Access Committee for the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicine and has trained with MAPS, the CIIS Certificate for Psychedelic Research and Therapy, and the Polaris Insight Center.

Dr. Buchanan is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, the American Psychological Association, and has received international awards for her contributions to the field. An accomplished consultant, writer, and scholar with over 120 publications and international speaker including TEDx and National Public Radio.

Carla Burns, MDiv, is an Instructor in Naropa’s Core College including BA Contemplative psychology courses, and meditation practicums. She serves as faculty for the MA Contemplative Psychotherapy residential retreat program, and for Naropa’s Compassion Initiative. She co-developed Naropa’s Embodied Mindfulness in Teaching retreat program and is the Program Manager for the Center for the Advancement of Contemplative Education. Her specialties include the integration of corporeal, elemental, and spatial knowledge as a means to bring more dimension into our field of awareness; to cultivate the natural-receptive wisdom energy of the body that is inherently connected, wise, and spacious; and to close the distance between enlightenment and ordinary freedom.

Stacia Butterfield completed her Somatic Practitioner program in 1999, going on in 2000 to work at Healing Visions, an early Ibogaine clinic in St. Kitts, BVI, under the leadership of Dr. Deborah Mash. She then certified as a Holotropic Breathwork facilitator in 2005 and joined the Grof Transpersonal Training staff in 2006. She worked closely with Stanislav Grof for 13+ years, bringing Holotropic Breathwork to large public groups and a variety of academic and professional settings, including California Institute of Integral Studies, Tel Aviv University, MAPS Psychedelic Science 2013 & 2017 conferences, Sophia University, Kripalu and the Fetzer Institute. Stacia’s long interest in the wisdom of the body and deep trust in the intrinsic healing orientation of the psyche informs her work with others.

Chris Pateros, MA, RN was called to existential work with psychedelics in 2011 through her own death experience in psychedelic ceremony in the Amazon jungle.

Chris brings over three decades of experience in clinical health care, research, and teaching to her work and since training with Ketamine Training Center in 2019, she has been guiding clients both privately and in groups with ketamine-assisted treatment and integration honoring connection to the sacred and interconnection of self, nature, spirit, and the mystery that is beyond what our minds know. Chris earned her Transpersonal Ecopsychology M.A from Naropa University, is a graduate of the Light Body School of The Four Winds Society, and is an initiate of the Qero indigenous mystics of the Andes. She is a PRATI co-founding member, core lead faculty and course director of the End of Life/ Existential Distress KAP and PAT Training. Chris lives in Boulder and works with clients in Denver, Boulder and Chicago and distance globally.

Alessandra Santos Pye is a psychedelic-assisted therapist, psychotherapist, facilitator and artist. Her clinical approach and facilitation offerings center relational dynamics rooted in ceremony, restorative justice, trauma informed care, and the expressive arts. Born in São Paulo, Brazil, original territory of the Tupi Guarani, her identity is multifaceted by Indigenous, West African, and European ancestry. Alessandra is the Founder and Creative Director of the Chrysalis Institute, whose mission is to expand the spectrum of opportunities available to emerging BI&POC artists by supporting self-exploration, self-care, and contemplative practices. She is at home in group retreat environments and values crafting experiences that are both engaging and restorative.

Alessandra has earned post-graduate certificates from the Center for Psychedelic Studies and Research at the California Institute of Integral Sciences and the Naropa Center for Psychedelic Studies. She currently serves Naropa University as core faculty, and cohort leader for the Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy certificate program. Alessandra also supports MAPS-PBC education offerings as a program assistant. She is a member of the American Psychedelic Practitioners Association and is deeply passionate about processes involving thoughtful preparation, delivery, and integration of psychedelic experiences.

Charlotte Z. Rotterdam is the Director of the Center for the Advancement of Contemplative Education (CACE) at Naropa University, and is an instructor in the Core College, World Wisdom Department, and Graduate School of Psychology. She co-developed and teaches Naropa’s Mindful Compassion Training, a secular program designed to cultivate compassion in personal, professional and societal contexts. Charlotte is the Lead Teacher of the Mother Lineage (Magyu Lopön) at Tara Mandala Retreat Center. The mother of two boys, she has published essays on the intersection of spiritual practice and daily life in Lion’s Roar, Buddhadharma, Mandala, and in an anthology, Fearless Nest.

Syre (he/him) is a Black, queer, transmasculine, polyamorous, & kinky healing practitioner. He is passionate about working with BIPOC, LGBTQIA, Kinky, and Non-Monogamous/Polyamorous Folx. Syre practices from a liberation centered intersectional feminist perspective with the goal of collaborating with folx toward embodied liberation.

Syre completed training in MDMA assisted psychotherapy with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Syre is a Lead Educator at Alma Institute, Inc. in the Psilocybin Facilitator Certificate Program. He is also a Cohort Integration Leader in the Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Certificate Program at Naropa University.

Syre has a Master’s Degree in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University & a Ph.D in Counseling Psychology from Fordham University. He has been a fully licensed psychologist since 2010. He is a Registered Yoga Teacher (Hatha & Kemetic), a Ra Sekhi Kemetic Energy Medicine Practitioner, as well as a Usui/Holy Fire Reiki Master. Syre is the founder of Liberation Reiki, a path of Reiki that centers the energetic intergenerational healing of BIPOC and queer folx.

Joe Tafur, M.D., is a Colombian-American family physician originally from Phoenix, Arizona. After completing his residency at UCLA, Dr. Tafur spent two years in academic research at the UCSD Department of Psychiatry. After his research fellowship, he lived and worked in the Peruvian Amazon at the traditional healing center Nihue Rao Centro Espiritual where he trained in ayahuasca shamanism with master Shipibo shaman Ricardo Amaringo. In his book, “The Fellowship of the River: A Medical Doctor’s Exploration into Traditional Amazonian Plant Medicine,” Dr. Tafur shares his unique experience and integrative medical theories. He leads the nonprofit organization www.modernspirit.org.

2023 Visiting Instructors, Presenters & Consultants

Angela Carter, ND

Dr. Angela Carter (they/them) is a queer, trans, genderqueer, neuroqueer, disabled, naturopathic primary care physician, midwife, sexual assault examiner, harm reductionist, and health justice activist.

Angela survived as Program Manager for the initial rollout of Oregon’s Measure 110 Substance Use Decriminalization, Treatment and Recovery Program with the Oregon Health Authority. Angela currently serves as Chair of the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board. Angela is certified in MDMA assisted psychotherapy through MAPS.

Angela and Katie Cox co-founded the Marie Equi Institute, a nonprofit queer and transgender health advocacy organization, where Angela directed the primary care and medical education programs from 2015-19.

Mark Cunningham, MS, LMFT

Mark is an LMFT and Certified Sex Therapist in his private practice called Adaptive Therapy LLC in Fort Collins, CO. After completing 7 years in the Army and serving in Afghanistan Mark found himself struggling with Moral injury/Soul wound and other impacts of combat. Taking psychedelics opened him up to start a path toward healing. Recently Mark completed the MAPS MDMA training with the Bronx VA and KAP training with PRATI. Mark serves veterans & first responders in his practice and on wilderness retreats with Huts4Vets in the summer. Mark has also participated in research with the Heroic Hearts Project using ayahuasca in Peru.

Celina De Leon, MDiv

Celina De Leon, MDiv, is a leader on the training team at the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics (BCSP). She has twenty years of experience in the field of psychedelics and contemplative practice with particular experience working with various indigenous and spiritual lineages. She received an M.Div from the Graduate Theological Union-Starr King School for the Ministry and she is the founder and director of Circle of Sacred Nature 501c.3 church. Her long-standing relationship with the Kamentsa indigenous community of the upper Putumayo of Colombia informs her perspective on valuing how indigenous knowledge contributes to our understanding of the spiritual and therapeutic uses of psychedelics. Celina is deeply committed to indigenous reciprocity and incorporating social justice principles in all aspects of her work.

Kevin Franciotti, MA, LAC

Kevin Franciotti, MA, LAC is an addiction counselor and clinical psychotherapist with over 15 years’ experience in community mental health, harm reduction, and direct service work. Kevin completed a BS in Behavioral Neuroscience from Northeastern University, and an MA in Psychology from The New School. In 2021, Kevin received a scholarship through the Usona Institute to complete training with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies in MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD, and was a Cohort Integration Leader for the 2022 Naropa University Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies Certificate Program.

Emma Knighton, MA, LMHC, is a white, queer, able-bodied femme with lineage rooted in Celtic Druidry. She is a somatic trauma therapist, psychedelic integration therapist, psychedelic educator, and conscious organizer and leader. In their clinical work, Emma works at the intersection of complex PTSD from childhood abuse, queer identity development, and consciousness exploration. Her clinical and leadership approach is grounded in queer, consent, feminist, and anti-oppression/pro-liberation theories. Emma teaches courses on integrating trauma-attuned consent practices into psychedelic-assisted therapy and strives to be in service to the psychedelic space with integrated mind, body, spirit, and community. Emma does organizing work in the psychedelic ecosystem around equity, access, and integrating liberation practices and the spirit of the medicine into organizational strategy and operations. A lifelong learner, Emma is in sacred relationship with their ancestors, tree elders, plant teachers, and the collective consciousness.

works at the intersection of complex PTSD from childhood abuse, queer identity development, and consciousness exploration. Her clinical and leadership approach is grounded in queer, consent, feminist, and anti-oppression/pro-liberation theories. Emma teaches courses on integrating trauma-attuned consent practices into psychedelic-assisted therapy and strives to be in service to the psychedelic space with integrated mind, body, spirit, and community. Emma does organizing work in the psychedelic ecosystem
around equity, access, and integrating liberation practices and the spirit of the medicine into organizational strategy and operations. A lifelong learner, Emma is in sacred relationship with their ancestors, tree elders, plant teachers, and the collective consciousness.

Quinntarah “Q.” Maxwell, a licensed mental health counselor since 2016, is a trailblazer in the field. As a CIIS Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research trainee (2021), she infuses the psychedelic realm with social justice insight. Especially equipped to aid the Black, LGBTQIA+ community, Q wields trauma-focused techniques from her healing toolkit. Committed to equity, she dismantles barriers to mental health access. Q champions collaborative, judgment-free healing, fostering lasting mental wellness. With 180+ hours guiding KAP medicine sessions, she exemplifies her principles, making a profound impact.

Dr. Ben Medrano earned his MD from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, prior to completing his Psychiatric Residency at Mount Sinai Hospitals NYC. His time serving a state-assigned, highly traumatized cohort of New Yorkers kindled a desire for greater impact and meaning as a healer. This ultimately led to his current specialization in Integrative Psychiatry, Ketamine Assisted Therapy and Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration.

Mary Sanders, LCSW, is a psychotherapist, educator and social justice advocate exploring transgenerational trauma with BIPOC, 2SLGBTQIA+, veterans, immigrants, refugees, and
foster youth. Mary has completed training at CIIS CPTR, MAPS, and the Ketamine Training Center and is certified in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Mary works both in private practice and at the Veteran Affairs’ homeless program in San Francisco. Mary is involved in development of the national organization, People of Color Psychedelic Collective which involves increasing content, awareness, and access to psychedelic medicine practices that represent BIPOC voices. She is currently completing training in Somatic Experiencing and Internal Family Systems.

Dr. Gillian Scott-Ward (Cornell University, BA; City University of New York, PhD) is a Clinical Psychologist & documentary filmmaker specializing in healing through the Mind-Body-Soul connection.

Expertly trained in cutting-edge & effective treatments, Dr. Gillian weaves together
mindfulness and body-based practices with gold-standard treatments such as: EMDR (Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), psychodynamic therapy, hypnosis, Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy and Meridian tapping.

She has a certificate in Psychedelic Research and Therapies from the California Institute for Integral Studies and is also trained in MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy through MAPS.

She has a private practice in New York City.

Zach (he/him) is a psychologist, former marine, and lead therapist with the Social Neuroscience and Psychotherapy (SNaP) Lab at the Portland VA, supporting trials of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for methamphetamine use disorder and MDMA-assisted group psychotherapy for PTSD. Having trained in correctional facilities, the Northern California VA and Northern Arizona VA Health Care Systems, Zach also facilitated psychedelic-assisted therapies for US Special Forces communities at The Mission Within and continued integration with individuals and couples at Heroic Hearts Project. As an educator with the Center of the Science of Psychedelics at UC Berkeley and California Institute of Integral Studies, his focus aligns military and veteran culture with traditional medicine practice.

Evan Sola, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist practicing in Oakland, California, where he offers intensive depth psychotherapy, occasionally facilitated by ketamine. He is passionate about creating a bridge between psychedelics and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. He is co-author of the MAPS treatment manual and served as a therapist in MDMA clinical trials — for PTSD, at UCSF and at Polaris Insight Center — as well as for anxiety associated with life-threatening illness, in Marin. He now serves as a supervisor and educator for several psychedelic therapy organizations in the Bay Area. Evan’s dissertation involved coding themes of transformation with combat veterans in daylong psychedelic therapy sessions.

Kylea Taylor, M.S., LMFT is licensed therapist who has been thinking, writing, and teaching about ethics for three decades. She developed and teaches InnerEthics®, a self-reflective, self-compassionate, approach to relational ethics. The model includes a set of awareness tools that are especially useful to those working with psychedelic-assisted therapy. Kylea started studying with Stanislav Grof, M.D. and Christina Grof in 1984 and worked with Stan Grof as a Senior Trainer in the Grof Transpersonal Training throughout the 1990s. She is the author of The Ethics of Caring: Finding Right Relationship with Clients (2017), and several books about Holotropic Breathwork®. ww.InnerEthics.com