Meet the Training Team
Governing Board & Lead Instructors
Alison McQueen, MA, LPC, ATR-BC, ACS
Lead Instructor
& Member of Governing Board & Co-Director of Training | Natural Medicine Licensed Clinical Facilitator
Alison McQueen is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Board Certified Art Therapist, and Approved Clinical Supervisor, and she serves as a Lead Instructor of the Medicinal Mindfulness Academy. Alison served as Sub-Investigator and MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapist/Researcher in the Phase 2 MAPS sponsored and FDA-approved study for the treatment of complex post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2019 she completed Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy training with Dr. Philip Wolfson and the prestigious Ketamine Training Center, and since 2014 she has been co-developing Psychedelic Cannabis protocols and trainings with her husband Daniel McQueen. Alison was educated by advanced legacy practitioners in Psilocybin Support Services and Harm Reduction. She holds a Masters of Transpersonal Counseling Psychology degree with an emphasis in Art Therapy from Naropa University (2012) and over three years of training in somatic trauma work with the Somatic Training Institute. She is on the board of directors for the Medicinal Mindfulness Foundation and is a lead instructor in our training program for psychedelic professionals. Bringing together 15 years of experience in the mental health field, FDA-approved clinical research experience in psychedelic therapies, and four years of international experience in therapeutic art education in the Czech Republic, Alison works skillfully and empathically with individuals and groups in cultivating lives of meaning and authenticity.
Daniel McQueen, MA
Lead Instructor
& Member of Governing Board
Daniel McQueen is a Psychedelic Specialist, Psychedelic Therapy Educator, Activist, and Author of the book Psychedelic Cannabis: Therapeutic Methods and Unique Blends to Treat Trauma and Transform Consciousness. In 2012, he co-founded the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness which is the first legal plant-based psychedelic therapy center in the United States. His work with psychedelic cannabis has created a wide-spread movement of practitioners across the globe. He serves as the Executive Director and Lead Instructor of the Medicinal Mindfulness Academy and Psychedelic Sitters School, as well as the Lead Researcher for extended-state DMT research (DMTx).
Daniel has over 25 years of transformational and healing arts experience, having studied multiple spiritual and psychological traditions, including advanced training in energy healing, transformational alchemy, and shamanic practices. He was educated by advanced practitioners in Psilocybin Support Services and Harm Reduction. He is also trained in MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy by the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Although he is trained as a clinical psychotherapist, with a Masters degree in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology from Naropa University, he identifies professionally as an advanced Psychedelic Guide, meaning an expert professional consultant in the field of psychedelics.
Lindsey Morris, M.Ed
Co-Director of Medicinal Mindfulness Academy & Member of Governing Board | Natural Medicine Facilitator in Training
Lindsey Morris, M.Ed.,is experienced in education and complex organizational management. As the Operations Manager for the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness, she leads operational strategies, enhances program delivery, and fosters a safe, supportive environment for transformative healing practices. She is skilled in curriculum and instructional design, creating learner-centered digital environments using evidence-based strategies. Lindsey excels in eLearning design, multimedia integration, and adapting to dynamic work environments, with strong skills in communication, problem-solving, and project management.
Lindsey holds a Master’s in Education, which has further refined her ability to lead teams, manage projects, and employ critical thinking in strategic decision-making. She is proficient in time management, organizational skills, and maintaining high standards in professional and therapeutic settings.
She is also pursuing licensure as a psilocybin mushroom facilitator, expected by 2026. Additionally, she will co-teach the Ethics & Regulations course, alongside Daniel McQueen, covering Colorado’s Facilitator Code of Ethics, ethical considerations related to equity, privilege, vulnerability in altered states, and appropriate touch and consent protocols.
Class Facilitators & Assistants
Katie Asmus, MA, LPC, BMP
Guest Lecturer
Katie Asmus MA, LPC, BMP is a Somatic, Nature-based and EMDR therapist, consultant, trainer, as well as a Rite of Passage Guide. Katie has been working with people therapeutically for over 30 years, and has been teaching and training practitioners internationally in Somatic Soul-based Trauma work since 2000. Katie taught graduate counseling students at Naropa University and Prescott College for over 20 years, and currently directs the Somatic Nature Therapy Institute in Boulder, CO USA that offers therapy, mentoring and advanced therapeutic trainings.
Michael A. Franklin, PhD, ATR-BC
Michael A. Franklin, PhD, ATR-BC, is professor and past chair of the graduate Transpersonal Art Therapy program at Naropa University. Prior to this appointment, he chaired the art therapy programs at the College of St. Teresa and Bowling Green State University. Michael continues to work as a supervisor and clinician in private practice. As an international workshop leader and researcher, he has published over 30 articles on numerous subjects. His current work integrates the relationships between art therapy, art-based in-session empathic methods, and community-based, contemplative approaches to the arts. He is the recipient of the American Art Therapy Associations Distinguished Educator Award and Distinguished Service Award. He is the author of: Art as Contemplative Practice: Expressive Pathways to the Self with SUNY Press. (see ArtisYoga.com)
Jay Waxenberg, MA
My journey with psychedelics and spirituality began simultaneously while earning my Master’s in Philosophy, with a focus on mysticism and the psychedelic experience, from the University of Miami. My academic studies allowed me to work closely with several shamanic traditions and plant medicines, sparking my own spiritual path. After graduating, I spent the next few years traveling the world studying various spiritual traditions—living in India, Nepal, Israel, and Spain to name a few. My spiritual training took on a more structured format when I began Interfaith Seminary, with the goal of combining ministry and psychedelics. I eventually settled in Colorado to focus on psychedelic training, going on to complete all of the Medicinal Mindfulness programs and Polaris Insight Ketamine training. I am also trained by advanced practitioners at the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness in Psilocybin Support Services and Harm Reduction. In addition to this, I have successfully completed Psychedelic First Aid training which includes CPR certification, psychedelic mental health crisis intervention and suicide intervention training.
I recently completed additional InterSpiritual companioning and counseling trainings from One Spirit Seminary. The psychedelic techniques I have found in nearly all of the world’s spiritual traditions have convinced me that these techniques can be used by people of any belief (including no belief at all) to examine, connect, heal, grow, and change their own beliefs. Unifying years of spiritual and psychedelic training, I specialize in helping people use psychedelics to deepen their spirituality, reconnect to spiritual traditions, and discover new spiritual paths. I work with people to help them heal religious wounds, explore spirituality, and to prepare, integrate, and support them through the psychedelic experience.
I am committed to the healing of our shared world, a process that I believe requires a continuous reflective process of recognizing difference, privilege and shadow of the incarnations we are currently experiencing. In that spirit, it is one of my deepest held beliefs that this work is the birthright of all those who feel called to it. If you are here, and if you have a longing in your heart to serve the healing of this world, I am here to support you. I’m committed to working with and making this work accessible to those of all backgrounds. I consider myself as an ally to the BIPOC, LGBTQI+ and all marginalized communities in our world.
Javiera Kostner
Originally from Chile, Javiera is a bilingual cannabis guide and group practitioner for Psychedelic Sitters School. She is also an e-commerce manager, yoga instructor, and Wellness and Nutrition Coach in the making. She first came to Yoga to help cope with chronic illness, pain management, and to learn to befriend her body, becoming a Yoga Instructor in 2015. Her love for the healing power of cannabis brought her to the Ganja Yoga community. In 2018 she trained with Dee Dussault from Ganja Yoga, also with Stacey Mulvey from Marijuasana and is currently leading the San Francisco Ganja Yoga community, creating her own blend of slow vinyasa flow, relaxing vibes, grounded spirituality and a touch of Latino spice. Javi trained with Daniel McQueen in 2017 and has since taken on a leadership role with the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness.
Javi has specialized in Trauma Recovery Yoga and Chakra alignment. Javi works with clients in preparation, guidance and integration of psychedelic journeys and is currently completing her Integral Nutrition Coaching certification this 2021. She has opened her practices to the underserved Latino community adding Spanish education and classes.
Together with her husband Sebastian they founded Green Magic Yoga in 2019 to bring together the practices of mindfulness, psychedelic healing and yoga. They are both trained by the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness as psychedelic sitters and cannabis guides and have been hosting monthly Conscious Cannabis circles in the Bay Area and online since 2020. Their vision is to expand the healing potential of psychedelic cannabis through education and creating accessible practices geared towards people of color and the Latino community.
Javi lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains and in her free time enjoys hiking, yoga, cooking, plants, creating cannabis topicals and edibles and hanging out with her 2 cats and husband.
Ron Camacho, MA
Ron uses an eclectic approach towards trauma, psychedelic integration, and shadow work. Incorporating spirituality, elemental energy work, psychosomatics, sound, vibroacoustics, and Cannabis-Assisted Psychedelic Therapy, Ron helps create meaning from personal wounds through ceremony, ritual, and art making and aides in transforming these experiences with non-ordinary states of consciousness.
Ron’s traditional and non-traditional training throughout his life experiences and healing journey humbly informs his therapeutic and spiritual worldview. Ron trained as a Marriage and Family Therapist at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA. However, chooses not to identify as a psychotherapist and identifies more as a Psychospiritual Consultant and Psychedelic Guide. Ron finds that this honors his deep personal passion for plant medicines, esoteric teachings, and his own longing for connection to his ancestral roots. Ron considers himself a lifelong student of the cross-cultural spiritual and shamanic teachings and his spiritual foundations are rooted in family spiritual practices of Puerto Rican Espiritismo, Sanse, and Santeria, a merging of Afro-Caribbean religions, indigenous Taino traditions, and European esoteric teachings.
Ron is bilingual, fluent in Spanish and English and is passionate about paying it forward to indigenous communities and people of color as well as being an ally to marginalized communities. Ron is also a U.S. veteran and advocates for the safe and legal use of entheogens to help veterans heal from their invisible wounds.
Skye Weaver, MFA, CYT
Natural Medicine Facilitator in Training
Skye Weaver is a multifaceted Medicine Woman, educator, guide, and advocate working at the intersection of psychedelics, somatics, women’s leadership, and radical self-care. Guided by a deep reverence for Indigenous wisdom traditions, she upholds the principles of integrity, right relationship, and sacred reciprocity by fostering decolonized, holistic, and legal containers for healing and personal transformation.
With extensive experience in psychedelic facilitation, integration, and somatic psychology, Skye applies a trauma-informed, ethically grounded approach to her practice. She is trained in Mindful Somatic Psychology (Hakomi of CA – 2019), Mindfulness-Based Psychedelic Therapy (Medicinal Mindfulness – 2019), and multiple healing modalities, including yoga, Reiki, and bodywork. In addition to this, she has successfully completed Psychedelic First Aid Training (Psychedelic Sitters School – 2019) which includes CPR certification, psychedelic mental health crisis intervention and suicide intervention training.
As a leader and trainer for Medicinal Mindfulness Academy, Skye co-facilitates retreats and teaches advanced coursework in Psychedelic Screening, Preparation, Integration, and Self-Care, in their Natural Medicine Facilitator Training program approved by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies
Skye also earned her MFA in acting from Harvard University, where she specialized in voice, movement, and creative freedom. This foundation informs her work in personal development, creative expression, authentic relating, and embodied leadership.
As a passionate advocate for psychedelic accessibility, harm reduction, and women’s empowerment, Skye founded the Psychedelic Sisterhood: A Ceremonial Container for Women’s Leadership bridging ancient wisdom with modern therapeutic practices while maintaining a commitment to relational healing through community. She also facilitates CannAbyss, a legal and intentional group cannabis ceremony that provides a safe space for exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness in the safety of conscious, intentional community.
Rebecca Morino, BSW
Rebecca considers it a great privilege to have been in service to her fellow humans through the evolution of her professional career. She believes holding sacred space for the significantly transformative and healing journeys of others is a calling and a deep honor. Rebecca graduated with a Bachelors of Social Work from University of Alaska Anchorage in 2003.
After many years as a child protection social worker as well as facilitating a breathwork modality for over a decade, Rebecca completed advanced training in Mindfulness-Based Psychedelic Therapy (levels 1-3 of Psychedelic Sitters School, as well as Psychedelic First Aid) through the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness and feels privileged to share her passion for the healing, revelatory nature of psychedelics as a lead practitioner and small group leader for students in the program.
Rebecca guides in-person and virtual individual, couples and group cannabis sessions through her business, Creating Healing Paths in Anchorage, Alaska.
Lani Lee, MA, LMFT, CAP
Lani Lee is a Small Group Leader for Psychedelic Sitters School and offers Mindfulness-Based Psychedelic Therapy, Integration and Education through CannaCocoon, the business she founded with her husband Chris Lee. She practices as a Somatic Psychotherapist, Cannabis-Assisted Psychotherapist and Clinical Supervisor in her private practice in Santa Rosa, CA. Lani graduated with her Master’s degree in Somatic Psychotherapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, CA in 2008, and received her Bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2003.
Lani is a lifelong advocate and activist for the healing potential of Cannabis Sativa, a graduate of Psychedelic Sitters School training (Sept 2019-May 2021) and she continues to be engaged in her own learning through the Medicinal Mindfulness credentialing program. Additionally, Lani explores the inner terrain of consciousness and transformational processes through professional trainings and personal practices in Psychological Shamanism, Somatic Ecopsychology, Alchemy of Initiation, Spiritual Massage, Myofascial Unwinding, Quantum Touch, Reiki, Dagara Grief Rituals, Sweat Lodge Ceremonies, Butoh Dance, Ecstatic Dance, yoga and backpacking.
Lani specializes in supporting other healing professionals through initiatory processes, grief tending, trauma resolution, life transitions, and self-actualization. Her clinical orientation is rooted in somatic, mindfulness-based, client centered, trauma informed, feminist, and transpersonal approaches to health and healing. She is passionate about furthering the dynamic growth edge of the human potential by helping people navigate through their holotropic process of becoming fully themselves in order to bring their unique gifts into the world during this pivotal time of human history.
Rich Tyo, BA
Rich Tyo is a psychedelic psychotherapist, musician, arts educator, and grass-roots community organizer. After spending 13 years as a mental health and addictions crisis worker, he spent 10 + years learning and developing skills in working with various psychedelic medicines to empower others in their own healing. Rich is a trainer for Therapsil and teaches for the Medicinal Mindfulness Academy, TAM integration, Morbid Anatomy, and Fungi Academy. He also co-founded the Neuma Centre for Psychedelic Safety and Response and is a member of the Fellowship of Psychonauts in the UK. In his spare time, Rich writes songs and spends mindful moments with his daughter and partner in Kingston, Ontario.
Brendan Caldwell, MA, LPCC
Natural Medicine Facilitator in Training
Greetings! I am a psychedelic guide with advanced training in Mindfulness-Based Psychedelic Therapy from the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness. I also hold a Masters degree in Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Mental Health Counseling from Naropa University. My holistic view of wellness integrates a transpersonal and spiritual orientation with my clinical training in mental health counseling. I have expertise in attachment and polyvagal theory, which provide the lens through which I treat clients with trauma. I also take a multicultural and systems approach to helping my clients work towards wellness. I have been trained in the use of somatic and mindfulness-based interventions to regulate the nervous system and help clients move through challenging experiences. I have received training in Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy. I identify as an ally to the BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, poly, and kink communities. I am also trained by advanced practitioners at the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness in Psilocybin Support Services and Harm Reduction. In addition to this, I have successfully completed Psychedelic First Aid training which includes CPR certification, psychedelic mental health crisis intervention and suicide intervention training.
I have extensive experience, both as a journeyer and guide, with psychedelic healing and journeywork. In 2015, I started holding space for others through providing psychedelic peer support and harm reduction services at live music events. I have been consistently working with DanceSafe and have received extensive training from the Zendo Project and several similar organizations. I have apprenticed with masters in psychedelic healing for the last 8 years and have been able to hone my skills as a psychedelic practitioner under wise, ethical and careful tutelage. All in all, I have been holding space for psychedelic experiences for over a decade and I bring that deep experiential knowledge into my practice.
I was initiated onto my medicine path at age 19; and from then on, psychedelics have undoubtedly been the greatest source of growth in my life. When I started, my intentions were entirely recreational – with very little to no support at all. Nonetheless, psychedelics allowed me to regain access to many lost parts of myself and helped me live my life more fully. In this unsupported setting, however, psychedelics also provided me with some of the most difficult experiences of my life.
After one particularly intense experience in an unsupported setting, I thought for years that I would never return to psychedelics. When I did return to them, it was with a caution and reverence that I didn’t have before. I started using psychedelics only very occasionally and with purpose. This ultimately reintroduced me to spirit, which I had long since lost touch with. I discovered a deep calling to create a safe space for psychedelic experiences and provide others with the support I needed years ago but did not have access to. When I have the privilege of guiding someone through a psychedelic experience, I can feel my purpose be ignited. Even when it’s hard, there is literally nowhere else in the world I would rather be. I am honored and deeply grateful to have found this vocation.
Amy Valesh-Peterson, FNP-BC, EP-BC
Amy graduated from the University of Iowa College of Nursing with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing in 2000. She worked as a surgical ICU nurse until 2003 when she earned her Master’s of Science in Nursing. She was board certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner and started out her career working in emergency room settings. Along the way she became board certified as an Emergency Nurse Practitioner as well. She has spent a total of 12 years in emergency rooms, 1.5 years in family practice, and spent the rest of her career working in urgent care settings. She earned a Medical Cannabis Certification in 2021 and enjoys educating patients on the use of cannabis medicinally to treat their symptoms and health issues. This led to an interest in the transformative power of psychedelics. She has been trained by the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness in the best practices for ketamine administration. Amy has also completed Psychedelic Sitter School part 1 &2, which provided extensive knowledge regarding the process of using psychedelics therapeutically with clients. In 2025 Amy completed a Psychedelic Screener Mastermind Certification, where she received extensive instruction regarding the pharmacology and use of various psychedelics from the esteemed Spirit Pharmacist Ben Malcolm. Amy is also a member of the Psychedelic Pain Network, a community that focuses on the transdiagnostic uses or psychedelics. Amy delights in working for the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness, and looks forward to helping clients in their journey!
Angela Amirault, BA, Dip, MBPT
Training Program Coordinator
& Admissions Interviewer
Angela is passionate about supporting individuals who are looking for growth, healing and transformation. She was born in Nova Scotia, Canada and has lived in Ireland and Colorado. She has spent two decades studying and working in the mental health field as a psychotherapist, but in the last few years has shifted her focus primarily to the psychedelic medicine space.
While living in Boulder, she received advanced credentialing as a mindfulness-based psychedelic therapist with Psychedelic Sitters School (2022). Following her training she began working with Medicinal Mindfulness. She was the first practitioner to offer a week-long retreat working with cannabis and psilocybin legally. She returned to Nova Scotia in 2023 and founded Altered Healing, a cannabis-assisted psychedelic therapy practice.
She credits her own intentional work with psychedelics as being a huge part of her own healing and transformation. She counts community, movement and nature as another. She is so grateful to be a part of this growing movement, and supporting new guides wanting to step into the work.
Chris Lee
Training Program Coordinator
& Admissions Interviewer
Chris Lee is a Small Group Leader for Psychedelic Sitter School and offers Mindfulness-Based Psychedelic Therapy, Integration and Education through CannaCocoon, the business he co-founded with his wife Lani Lee in Santa Rosa, CA. He has been producing electronic music since ‘97 and developed a class called, “Music as a Guide for Psychedelic Journeys” for psychedelicshine.com to help build confidence for new guides. Chris was credentialled by Medicinal Mindfulness Psychedelic Sitter School in 2021 and received his Massage Therapist certification in 2016.
Chris’ mindfulness coaching is an offering born from his own healing journey. Experiencing a decade of chronic illness in his early thirties motivated him to seek optimal health and healing from a variety of practitioners and modalities before finding relief and aligning with his life purpose: to help others ease suffering by journeying inwards and reconnecting with their own wholeness.
He was raised at the Sonoma Mountain Zen Center with an MFT father who taught him about the inner workings of the psyche and the importance of staying centered. Growing up, his mother was dedicated to hospice, helping people transition into the world beyond and her warm heart instilled in him a deep caring for others. As an adult, the initiation of parenthood resonates in him as a transformational force like no other, healing his masculine ancestral line and redefining fatherhood in a modern era.
Additionally, his work is informed by professional trainings and personal practices exploring the body- mind- spirit- nature connection through Susan Feinbloom’s Clairvoyant Psychotherapy, Melissa Patterson’s Somatic Awakening, Carl Jung’s Active Imagination, alchemical journeywork, parts work, symbolic archetypes, shamanic healing modalities, Anatomy in Motion, Cranial Sacral, energy healing modalities, the creative process, and backpacking.