Psychedelic Practitioner Fundamentals:

Chara Caruthers is a skilled facilitator with decades of personal and professional practice as an educator, therapist and lifestyle medicine practitioner working with groups and individuals. Her life and work is grounded in eastern spiritual traditions, ancient and indigenous wisdom and modern science and philosophy. She holds a professional certification in psychedelics, entheogens and transpersonal psychology, is a graduate of the Center for Holding Space Foundations program at the Leadership level, and is currently completing a master of science in transpersonal psychology.  As a Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT), certified Ayurvedic practitioner and psychedelic researcher, she is passionately dedicated to building bridges between ancient lifestyle traditions and modern western medical approaches to mental health and wellbeing.  Chara believes that a loving and supportive community is the vital and often missing piece of the picture of wellbeing for so many.  She recognizes that her work in the psychedelic space is that of building and empowering community as a container for embodying our wholeness.

Courtney Watson is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist. She owns Doorway Therapeutic Services, a group therapy practice in Oakland, CA, serving the mental health needs of Black, Indigenous & People of Color, Queer folks, Trans, Gender Non-conforming, Non-binary, and Two-Spirit individuals. Guided by her ancestors, Courtney incorporates psychedelic-assisted therapy for those with multiple marginalized identities, emphasizing the need for BIPOC and Queer providers. She has trained at the Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research at CIIS, MAPS, and Polaris Insight Center. Courtney is passionate about the impact of psychedelic medicines on marginalized identities and their role in decolonization. She believes the field needs to better address the unique needs of Communities of Color and is dedicated to bridging this gap. Her clinic, predominantly QTBIPOC providers, offers Ketamine Assisted Therapy. She founded Access to Doorways, a non-profit to subsidize ketamine/psychedelic therapy for QTBIPOC clients, and created a directory for Queer and BIPOC clients to connect with psychedelic therapists. Outside of work, she's watching Nickelodeon with her kids, working on her dissertation, or taking a nap!

Sandra Dreisbach is an Ethicist and Psychedelic Ethics specialist with a MA, Phd in Philosophy.  She is an Ethics Advisor active in Psychedelic Integration, Education and Advocacy. Sandra is the community leader of EPIC (Ethical Psychedelic International Community), Director of Ethics for Nectara, a psychedelic support ecosystem, Ethics Director for World Psychedelics Day 6/20, and former leader of the Santa Cruz Psychedelic Society. Sandra taught Bioethics at University of California, Santa Cruz, for ten years; worked for many years in the tech industry primarily at Apple; and is a Reiki Master.

Heather’s passion lies at the intersection of IFS (Internal Family Systems) and Expanded States of Consciousness, particularly in Psychedelic Assisted Therapy. From 2015 to 2023, Heather operated Insight Counseling of Alexandria, LLC, specializing in parts work and supporting clients' integration of therapeutic medicine experiences. She has advanced through IFS levels 1-3 and served as a Program Assistant for various IFS trainings.

In 2019, Heather initiated a MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) sponsored Expanded Access site in Rockville, MD, for studying MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD, receiving her MAPS Therapist training. She has also trained with Compass Pathways, Fluence, and attended psychedelic conferences like MAPS 2023, Horizons, and SOAP.

In January 2022, Heather founded The Moxie School®, offering courses, workshops, and consultations for therapists, coaches, and guides in IFS Informed Psychedelic Assisted Therapy. She also organizes IFS Informed Retreats, providing transformative experiences within a supportive community.