I’ve spent over a decade exploring and guiding others through psychedelic experiences. Drawing from years of personal and professional practice, I’ve refined how I practice psychedelic-assisted therapy. One of the major lessons I’ve learned is that one of the most important factors is the relationship between the client and facilitator.

A trusted guide helps create a secure environment for clients to explore deep emotional and spiritual material.

Psychedelics as Catalysts, Not Cures

Psychedelics can catalyze profound insight, emotional release, and reconnection with parts of the self that have been suppressed. But they are not quick fixes. True transformation happens through ongoing inner work, integration, and relational safety.

Most of mainstream psychedelic-assisted therapy offers a compacted model: generally one or two preparation sessions, then one or more medicine sessions, then one or two integration sessions, and you’re done. While this approach does work to some degree, it often lacks the depth needed for trauma-informed healing.

In my work, preparation and integration are not add-ons to get to the psychedelics—they are an essential part of the healing journey. Our time together before and after medicine sessions is just as important for healing as the sessions themselves.

Learn more about how I guide medicine sessions.

Why the Relationship Matters in Psychedelic Healing

In every form of therapy, healing happens in relationship—and psychedelic healing is no exception. The facilitator-client relationship is the foundation of a safe, effective, and deeply transformative experience.

Here’s why:

1. Surrender Requires Deep Trust

To fully open into a psychedelic journey, you must feel safe enough to surrender—to your emotions, your body, and the unknown. That kind of surrender happens only when your nervous system feels safe, which depends on a deep, embodied trust in your facilitator. You cannot rush this process. You may think, in your mind, that you have no reason to distrust your facilitator; but the body needs more than that. The body needs to build up that trust over time.

2. Vulnerability Needs Safety

Psychedelic experiences often bring up content that are intensely vulnerable for the journeyer. You may come across feelings you didn’t even know you had. You may struggle with thoughts that you’ve never expressed out loud. Without a sense of safety, that openness can become overwhelming. With a strong relational foundation, however, that same vulnerability becomes the doorway to healing.

3. The Facilitator Must Understand How the Mind Works

No matter how skilled a facilitator is, they will always be more effective if they understand your particular psychological landscape—your defenses, attachment style, and emotional language. This understanding only develops through consistent sessions outside of medicine work. I like to spend ample time exploring my client’s psyche alongside them. Every mind-body works differently and every client responds better or worse to different kinds of interventions. By the time we’re ready to bring in psychedelics, I know the language of your subconscious and how to navigate it.

4. Attachment Wounds Heal Through Relationship

Because most trauma originates in disrupted attachment, healing requires an attachment-based relationship—one that is consistent, attuned, and safe. This kind of connection cannot be rushed. It is the very ground on which healing from trauma rests.

Two people holding hands gently, symbolizing trust, safety, and connection in relational psychedelic therapy. — Trust and attunement between guide and client are at the heart of relational psychedelic therapy.

A Relational, Trauma-Informed Model

Unlike shorter protocols, a relational psychedelic therapy model emphasizes pacing, personalization, and collaboration:

Ongoing Therapy First: Before any medicine work, we build a foundation of safety, regulation, and mutual trust.
Flexible Timing: Some clients feel ready after several weeks; others after months or years.
Customized Medicine Plan: There is no fixed number of sessions or dosages. We adapt together as your process unfolds.
Integration as Ongoing Relationship: After the journey, integration continues through the therapeutic bond, translating insights into lasting change.

This trauma-informed approach aligns with emerging research from institutions like Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research and NYU Langone’s Psychedelic Medicine Research Program, both of which emphasize safety, preparation, and skilled facilitation.

A 2021 study by Davis et al found that the stronger the therapeutic alliance, the better the patient outcomes for major depressive disorder.

What to Expect When Working With Me

We begin with therapy, exploring what brings you to this work—whether anxiety, trauma, grief, or spiritual inquiry.
We focus on safety, attunement, and emotional regulation through somatic, mindfulness, and IFS-informed methods.
When it feels right, we may integrate psychedelic work—such as ketamine therapy or psilocybin support—as one part of a longer healing journey.
After medicine sessions, we return to ongoing therapy, deepening the insights that arose and embedding them into daily life.

In this way, psychedelic therapy becomes an extension of a living, evolving therapeutic relationship, not a one-off event. The relationship itself is the medicine.

Begin Your Own Relational Psychedelic Journey

If you’re curious about psychedelic therapy in Colorado, or want to explore a relational, trauma-informed path toward healing, I’d be honored to connect.

Learn more about Psychedelic-assisted Therapy with me.

Book now to schedule a free consult call.

Relational Psychedelic Therapy in Colorado: Healing Through Trust and Connection