InnerTrek Team
InnerTrek offers an all-star team of administrators, educators, and advisors who represent a variety of disciplines, backgrounds, and perspectives. Esteemed guest instructors also join from around the world in support of the Oregon effort.
Lead Educators
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Tal Sharabi is an experienced psychotherapist skilled in somatic and transpersonal models. Tal trained in psychedelic psychotherapy and research at the California Institute of Integral Studies, in Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy through the Polaris Insight Center, and in MDMA-assisted therapy through her completion of Parts A-D of MAPS-Certified training. Tal is experienced in and enjoys designing and implementing therapeutic programs, mentoring new practitioners, and leading plant medicine retreats in different areas of the world.
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Jason is a seasoned therapist in private practice in Seattle, where he incorporates a deeply humanistic and psychospiritual outlook, informed by a strong core of ethics. Jason has served as lead supervisor with the Zendo Project and has over 10 years of experience in psychedelic facilitation and education in a variety of capacities. He trained in Core Energetics and has a second degree black belt in Aikido.
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With a masters in depth psychology, Simon Yugler is an internationally experienced psychedelic therapist, educator, and the author of the book, Psychedelics & the Soul: A Mythic Guide to Psychedelic Healing, Depth Psychology, and Cultural Repair. He has taught for five psychedelic facilitator training programs including Naropa University and InnerTrek. Simon draws on his diverse experience learning from Indigenous cultures, including the Shipibo ayahuasca tradition and the Native American Church. For a year-and-a-half he routinely served as a retreat leader with MycoMeditations, a leading psilocybin therapy retreat center in Jamaica. Prior to becoming a therapist, he served as an experiential educator and guide, leading immersive study-abroad journeys for young adults across 10 countries. Based on the land now called Portland, Oregon, Simon is passionate about helping his clients navigate the liminal wilds of the soul.
Adjuct Educators
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Mario (also known as ‘Oneiros Speculum', The Dream Mirror), born and raised in Mexico, is an author and therapist. An expert in the field of Dreams and Visions, Mario holds significant experience in supporting sacred plants ceremonies and guiding psychedelic integration. With a master's degree in Philosophy of Religion, and complementary training in Transpersonal Psychology, he’s collaborated in several of Mexico’s educational and research projects on Psychonautics and Expanded States of Consciousness such as MINDSURF (Psychonautic Education), Via SYNAPSIS (Mexico’s Academic Congresses), NIDO (Psychedelic Care in Festivals) and NIERIKA (Entheogenic Research and Intercultural Therapy). Mario has engaged in fieldwork with the Mazatec people of Oaxaca, Mexico, and completed research on traditional mushroom ceremonies and indigenous perspectives on healing and entheogenic cosmology.
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Elyse Gardner, MA, is a licensed transpersonal psychotherapist, retreat leader, and facilitator with a long-held and deeply rooted relationship to psychedelics. Her work blends somatic, eco-psychological, and mindfulness-based approaches to healing. She runs her private practice and serves as Director of Operations and retreat leader for the nonprofit Right To Heal. Elyse holds advanced certifications in Post-Traumatic Growth Somatic Therapy and Psychedelic Integration Coaching and is a certified Aegis De-escalation Trainer. Guided by Indigenous traditions and a deep connection to the earth, Elyse’s work reflects a steadfast commitment to ethics, safety, and helping clients reconnect with themselves and the earth through integrative and grounded practices.
Guest Educators
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Dr. Erica Zelfand is a licensed family doctor, ketamine provider, and psychedelic facilitator. Specializing in functional medicine and integrative mental health, she is well versed in pharmaceutical, nutritional, botanical, somatic counseling-oriented, and psychedelic approaches to healing. She has written extensively on the topic of psychedelics, offers seminars and courses for professionals, and regularly presents at conferences and medical school grand rounds. Erica also served as medical supervisor for the Zendo Project, supporting psychedelic safety and harm reduction.
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Gina is a licensed marriage and family therapist in private practice with Looking Glass Counseling, specializing in somatic practices for the treatment of trauma, eating disorders, and relationships. She is trained in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD through the MAPS, Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy through The Polaris Insight Center, and is currently working with the OHSU-Portland VA as a study therapist on upcoming psilocybin-enhanced and MDMA-assisted therapy research with Veterans. Gina believes in the power of healing through compassion and connection.
Leadership Team
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Tom, a seasoned psychotherapist, is Founder and Executive Director of InnerTrek. He was the architect of Oregon’s Measure 109 and led the campaign to establish Oregon’s statewide Psilocybin Services Program. He served as the Chair of Oregon’s Governor-appointed Psilocybin Advisory Board during its pivotal first year, and also established the Sheri Eckert Foundation, the leading philanthropic provider of access to psilocybin training and services across the state of Oregon and beyond through scholarships and other supportive programs.
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Nate was an advisor to Oregon’s Ballot Measure 109 (Psilocybin Services Initiative), helped with Ballot Measure 110, and was a founding member of the Craft Cannabis Alliance and the campaign to create interstate adult-use cannabis commerce to accelerate the end of the drug war. He currently facilitates the Plant Medicine Healing Alliance. Along with his brother Aaron, Nathan founded East Fork Cultivars in 2015. He also serves on the Oregon Cannabis Association’s Board of Directors as its Vice Chair and the Co-Chair of its Political Action Committee. He is a leader in Oregon’s political community and served as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Mayor.
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Emma (she/they) is a somatic trauma therapist, a psychedelic-assisted therapist, and a psychedelic educator, organizer, and leader. Organizationally, Emma focuses on increasing ethics, trauma-informed care culture, and pro-liberation practices in organizations and psychedelic facilitation work. In their clinical work, Emma works at the intersection of trauma healing, queer identity development, and psychedelic healing. She co-founded the American Psychedelic Practitioners Association and teaches around the country at various institutions about consent and trauma-informed care practices in psychedelic services. Emma is a student of Celtic Druidry and strives to serve the medicine and her community with integrated mind, body, and spirit.
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Lisa Snyder is the Director of Marketing & Digital Operations for InnerTrek, an InnerTrek Graduate, a state-licensed psilocybin facilitator in Oregon, and a Natural Medicine Facilitator in Colorado. She also serves as the InnerTrek Alumni Network Coordinator and provides support at the InnerTrek Service Center as a Liminal Liaison, helping to foster meaningful connections and transformative experiences. Beyond her work with InnerTrek, Lisa is a community developer, feminist, and seasoned digital artist with over 20 years of experience in digital strategy and relationship management. She is deeply committed to women’s liberation through the self-healing revolution, with a focus on the queer, cannabis, and psychedelic movements. Throughout her career, Lisa has developed local, national, and international organizations, produced over 500 interactive women-centered events, and was a passionate advocate on PSI 2020 signature efforts, in addition to voter pamphlet testimonials for Measure 109.
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Jill Golden, PhD is an OR Licensed Psychologist and longtime entheophile. She brings experience in small business creation and management, event production, managing communities, psychedelic harm reduction services and the creation and holding of intentional containers. Jill has trained in various programs including the Polaris Insight Center. She continues to participate in ongoing training and education in trauma informed care, the use of psychedelic medicines for treatment resistant mental health disorders, psychedelic integration, IFS parts work, Polyvagal Theory, and sound healing techniques. She is committed to bringing evidence based best practice, ethics, and diversity, equity and inclusion to the psychedelic field.
Some of the InnerTrek Team members hanging out at the Horizons Northwest conference in September 2022 at the Portland Art Museum