About Your Psilocybin Facilitator
About Parad
My name is Parad, and I am a licensed Natural Medicine Facilitator in Training in the state of Colorado. While my license still says “in training,” this is simply the first step in Colorado’s natural medicine licensing process. I am not new to this work, and have been involved in psychedelic and natural medicine healing for well over a decade.
At my core, I am incredibly relational and personable, and that naturally shapes the way I work. I don't believe in positioning myself as the expert on your experience; I prefer to collaborate and work with you. I bring my whole, authentic self into the room, and I value the kind of genuine human connection that allows people to feel comfortable being fully themselves. My hope is that you feel not only supported by me, but truly seen and met by me.
For me, psychedelic work is ultimately about creating enough safety, curiosity, and spaciousness for something new to become possible. I don't believe I need to tell you what your journey should mean or what you should get from it. My role is to create a supportive container, stay present with what emerges, and help you explore the experience with intention and openness.
My Relationship with Psychedelic Work
I received extensive training in psychedelic and psilocybin facilitation through the Integrative Psychiatry Institute (IPI), along with additional education and ongoing study in the areas of psychedelics, trauma, consciousness, spirituality, and healing.
Beyond formal training, I have spent many years deeply engaging with this work through reading, learning, exploring, and experiencing the many ways psychedelic medicines can support healing and transformation.
Perhaps just as importantly, I have been fortunate to have my own extensive personal experience with psychedelic medicines. Since 2015, I have participated in many intentional psychedelic journeys in a variety of settings, including therapeutic work with clinicians, ceremonial experiences, and personal exploration with trusted loved ones and in nature.
I have also been part of a small community of clinically trained peers who spent years sitting for one another, both to support our own healing and to deeply understand what it means to accompany another person through this kind of experience. Through these relationships, we were able to offer honest feedback, refine our skills, and develop a deeper appreciation for the responsibility, humility, and presence required to hold space for someone else's journey.
I believe one of the most valuable forms of education for a facilitator is their own willingness to engage in deep personal work. Experiencing the vulnerability, uncertainty, beauty, and complexity of psychedelic states firsthand has shaped the way I approach this work and strengthened my respect for how unique each person's journey truly is.
My Background as a Somatic Trauma Psychotherapist
When I am not working in my role as a psychedelic facilitator, I am a Somatic Trauma Psychotherapist, and the owner of a therapy business in Denver Colorado, called Beyond the Mind Psychotherapy. I have been working in the mental health field since 2009 and I specialize in complex trauma, PTSD, developmental and attachment trauma, and the ways difficult experiences can become held in the nervous system and body.
My therapeutic approach integrates somatic work, nervous-system-based approaches, and parts work to help people develop deeper relationships with themselves and the different parts of who they are. I have spent many years sitting alongside people through some of the most vulnerable, difficult, and transformative experiences of their lives.
Natural medicine facilitation is not psychotherapy, and I hold those roles as distinct. At the same time, my background in trauma, nervous-system-based work, and parts work naturally informs the way I show up as a facilitator.
If challenging or unexpected material arises during a journey, I bring a grounded understanding of how to be present with those experiences without needing to rush them away or make them mean something they don't. My hope is that my background allows me to offer an additional layer of safety, attunement, and understanding within the facilitation space.
Who I Love Working With
Trauma is one part of what brings me to this work, but it certainly isn't a prerequisite for working with me.
I am especially drawn to working with people who feel relatively grounded in their lives but sense there is more to explore. You may not be looking to “fix” something—you may simply feel curious, called, or ready to go deeper.
I love working with people who are exploring spirituality, consciousness, identity, relationships, sexuality, creativity, purpose, or what they want their next chapter to look like. I welcome people across identities and relationship structures, including queer and LGBTQ+ individuals and couples.
I’m also interested in the less easily defined territory: the desire to loosen the grip of old identities and patterns, see yourself in a new way, or explore what it might mean to go beyond the ego.
Sometimes we come to this work because something hurts. Sometimes we come because something is calling us forward. Sometimes the desire isn't to heal something that is broken, but to become more fully ourselves.
How Psilocybin Facilitation Works in Colorado
Colorado has created a regulated system for legal psilocybin use and facilitation. As a licensed Natural Medicine Facilitator in Training, I am able to provide regulated psilocybin facilitation within this system.
What does “Facilitator in Training” mean?
Colorado’s natural medicine program includes multiple levels of facilitator licensure. My current designation as a Natural Medicine Facilitator in Training means that I have completed the required education and training to begin facilitating within the regulated system while completing the additional consultation requirements needed for full clinical facilitator licensure.
Where do psilocybin journeys take place?
In Colorado, regulated psilocybin journeys take place at licensed Healing Centers. A Healing Center is a specific location approved by the state to provide natural medicine services.
Your journey will take place at one of these licensed Healing Centers, and I will be there with you throughout the experience as your facilitator.
I currently collaborate with a Healing Center along the Front Range:
ETC-Hospitality — Golden, Colorado
This Healing Center provides a safe, intentional, and regulated setting for your psilocybin experience.
What is my role as your facilitator?
My role is to support you through the preparation, journey, and integration process within the scope of natural medicine facilitation. I am there to help create a supportive container, offer grounding and presence during your experience, and support your process of exploring what emerges.
My interest areas
Who This Work May Be For
There is no single reason someone feels called to explore psychedelic work. Some people come seeking healing from painful experiences, while others come from a place of curiosity, growth, or a desire to understand themselves more deeply.
I especially enjoy working with people who are interested in exploring:
Healing, Trauma & Emotional Patterns
Complex trauma, PTSD, developmental trauma, and attachment wounds
Grief, complicated grief, and experiences of loss
Understanding how past experiences shape the nervous system, relationships, and sense of self
Healing old patterns and creating new ways of relating to yourself and others
Self-Exploration & Personal Growth
Exploring the questions: Who am I? Who am I becoming?
Understanding yourself in new ways
Identifying patterns, beliefs, or protective parts that may be keeping you stuck
Exploring personal growth, authenticity, and your next chapter
Identity, Relationships & Authenticity
Exploring identity, sexuality, gender, and authenticity
LGBTQ+ individuals and people exploring their relationship with self and others
Relational patterns, attachment dynamics, and deeper connection
Couples and individuals interested in exploring relationship patterns and personal growth
Spirituality, Meaning & Consciousness
Spiritual exploration and growth
Deepening connection with yourself, others, nature, or something greater
Exploring expanded states of consciousness and what it means to go beyond the familiar ways we understand ourselves
Life Transitions & Transformation
Major life transitions and times of change
Questions around purpose, direction, and what comes next
Navigating shifts in identity, relationships, health, or life circumstances
Professionals Who Hold Space for Others
I especially love working with therapists, healers, and others who spend their lives supporting others. Those who hold space for others often rarely have the opportunity to receive that same depth of care and exploration themselves.
Healing Centers
I partner with several healing centers in the area to host psilocybin journeys.
Etc Hospitality in Golden, Colorado
You can either start with an initial consultation call with me, or a discovery call with etc-hospitality (usually with Erik or Dina) . They are both warm, and lovely individuals who will share information with you, ask you some questions, and act as a first contact for their space. Be sure to let them know you’d like to work with me, Parad!
Once we have established that working together, and in collaboration with etc-hospitality is the right plan, we will schedule the day that you will take the psilocybin at the healing center with me as your facilitator. I like to call these days “Journeys”, while the state of Colorado calls them “Dosing Days”, because they are the day you actually take the psychedelic mushrooms. We will also schedule two 1-hour preparation sessions, and at least one 1-hour integration session. Those can be virtual or we can meet at my office in Denver.
I have chosen, and feel very lucky, to be in collaboration with etc-hospitality for a number of reasons. To start, I strongly align with the vision that Erik (the founder; dynamic, warm & welcoming) and Jana (the clinical director; kind, thoughtful, and clinically astute) have for their Healing Center. I believe they have pure intentions to offer safe and ethical legal psilocybin in the state of Colorado. They have hand selected a small number of facilitators to be a part of their team who align with their vision and each are highly skilled in their area of expertise, and in addition, they have created a beautiful space. In my opinion, the physical space in which a psilocybin journey is experienced can have a profound impact on your overall experience and healing potential, and they have prioritized this in the manifestation of their vision.
In their own words, etc hospitality says, “At Etc, space is created with intention. It's where quiet meets comfort and where healing can unfold naturally. There is room to pause, to breathe and to reconnect with self. Every corner invites presence, every detail an opening toward transformation.”