We help our members discover joy, peace, love, and purpose that seemed impossible

We facilitate a direct and durable transformational process while helping our members avoid the pitfalls of rapid transformation. Our programs synthesize the ineffable, spiritual nature of working with plant sacraments with the grounded, proven tools from psychology and psychedelic-assisted therapy. All of this is in service of helping our members find their own path to their Highest Self—the truest, most integrous, and powerful version of who they could be and have been all along… the Divine within.

What Sets Us Apart

One of the remarkable differences between traditional talk therapy and psychedelic-assisted therapy/ceremony is how accelerated the healing process can be. Work with plant medicines is often described as “ten years of therapy in ten hours”. Indeed, more than 95% of our participants share that this is the most transformative experience of their lives. With this extraordinary opportunity comes an equally extraordinary responsibility: we can transform into our Highest Selves or construct new protective layers. We believe that tools from psychology and psychospirituality are essential for safe and durable transformation.

Read more at the Ceremonia blog: Content vs. Process: the Key to Durable Transformation

Psychedelic Medicine

Psychedelic medicine has been called the most promising treatment for mental health ever. The FDA has fast-tracked MDMA and psilocybin through clinical trials with the expectation of federal legalization by 2023-2025. Psychedelics have been decriminalized in a number of municipalities, including Denver, CO, Oakland, CA, Washington DC, and more. Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (“psychedelic therapy”) has been legalized for medical use in Oregon and Colorado.

Ceremonia serves these sacred entheogenic sacraments as an accelerant for self-healing which, in turn, enables us to connect with divinity within and without. We combine this sacred practice with a synthesis of the latest technologies in psychotherapy and sacred shamanic wisdom. Thus, we seek to honor the rituals and traditions of indigenous tribes that have carried these sacraments for thousands of years while amplifying their potential with modern tools.

Access and Legality

As a non-profit church located in beautiful Colorado, we provide access to these transformational experiences in a way that most providers cannot.

The sacred entheogens that we serve are integral components of the Ceremonia religion. As such, our sacred practices and use of these sacraments are protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which has been upheld in the Supreme Court in concern with other plant sacrament churches. Additionally, Colorado recently decriminalized psilocybin mushrooms and DMT (the psychotropic compound in Ayahuasca) on November 9, 2022 in Proposition 122. Our Tax Identification Number is: 88-2318126

Finally, our sacred space is located halfway between Denver and Boulder, Colorado and just forty minutes from Denver airport. Colorado is conveniently located in the middle of the United States. Our campus has two acres of land, is located minutes from one of the largest lakes in the region, and has a gorgeous view of the Colorado Rockies. The beauty of this land and the opportunity to explore snow-capped mountains cannot be understated.

Durable Transformation

Transformation does not happen overnight. The expectation of immediate transformation coupled with powerful new awareness can lead to guilt, disappointment, or despair when one “fails” at fulfilling their expectations. Thus, durable transformation requires long-term intention, commitment, and action to reprogram a lifetime of habits, patterns, and limiting beliefs.

Our three-stage arc of Awaken, Heal, and Manifest training programs is designed to carry our members through their unique journey of becoming. Each stage has a unique intention that maps to the overall process of psycho-spiritual work: Awaken curates Awareness; Heal develops Inquiry; and Manifest ground Surrender. Each training includes its own optional (but highly recommended) online mastermind program with a growing community of members on their own paths to support each other.

We believe that this process embodies the awesome opportunity and requisite responsibility of working with sacred entheogenic sacraments.

Skillful Facilitation

Most shamanistic ceremonial experiences with plant medicine have light or no facilitation. While we honor that this may have worked for many generations in indigenous tribes, we believe that informed and skillful facilitation with grounding in psychology and psychospirituality enables a safer, more efficacious, and durable process of transformation.

Our facilitation begins weeks in advance of the journey with readings, meditations, exercises, community-building activities, and group calls. We conduct Full Circle workshops of our whole journey cohort of up to 16 members and pair Inner Circle peer sub-groups with experienced facilitators. We staff each of our journeys with psychotherapists, coaches, and plant medicine facilitators to provide individual support when necessary both in and out of the psychedelic experience. Finally, we offer ongoing coaching support as well as tools for our community to provide skillful peer support.

We believe that our skillful facilitation built on decades of combined experience with entheogenic sacraments, psychotherapy, and shamanic training lend to a holistic approach to transformation.

Non-dogma & Values

Every religion, shaman, facilitator, or practitioner will come with their own set of beliefs. Every individual will walk through these doors with their beliefs. A core value of ours is non-dogma: it does not matter what you believe, so long as you believe something. While each of our facilitators have their own beliefs, we facilitate a program strictly centered on the human at the center.

Our experience with these powerful sacraments is that they have both the tremendous opportunity and responsibility to dramatically alter beliefs. In the light, this can help shift one out of their limiting beliefs; in the shadow, one can absorb and root even deeper others’ beliefs. Thus, our values first and foremost prioritize the agency and empowerment of the individual to manifest their own healing.

Our facilitators are not healers. We do not believe the sacrament itself is the healing agent. Rather, we believe that we are guides and the sacrament is an accelerant to help us connect more deeply, quickly, and safely with the divine that lives within each of us.

Meet the Team

  • Austin Mao

    Program Director & Head Minister

    Austin Mao is a renowned psychedelic facilitator and keynote speaker, bridging science, spirituality, psychology, and shamanism. As co-founder of Ceremonia, Colorado's pre-approved psychedelic healing and facilitator training center, he has guided over 500 individuals, including Fortune 500 executives and industry leaders.

    Austin has spoken and taught on stages around the world, including TEDx, Mindvalley, and major psychedelic conferences.

  • Dr. Gerry Grace

    Clinical Facilitator & Lead Instructor

    Dr. Gerry Grace, Ph.D., is a psychotherapist and spiritual director with over 25 years of experience in trauma-based care, integrating psychological science with spiritual wisdom. A passionate advocate for uniting the mind and heart, he draws from integral theories, wisdom traditions, and plant medicines to support deeper healing and spiritual awakening. As a trainer in evidence-based PTSD treatments and a dedicated researcher of plant medicine’s potential, Gerry bridges science and spirituality to enhance human awareness and presence.

  • Clayton Ickes

    Lead Clinical Facilitator & Minister

    Based in Boulder, Colorado, Clayton Ickes has supported over 150 individuals through transformative psychedelic experiences. A Licensed Therapist (LSW) with more than eleven years of dedication to the field, he has held key roles in the psychedelic community, including President of the National Board of Psychedelic Club. Trained in Clinical Psilocybin Facilitation, Experiential Psychedelic-Assisted Somatic Therapy, and more, Clayton offers a grounded, heart-led approach to healing and is set to be one of Colorado's first licensed clinical facilitators.

  • Zachary Cohen

    Lead Facilitator & Minister

    Zachary Cohen is a certified coach, and founder of Authentic Vermont, with a decade of experience guiding transformation and self-awareness. Since 2016, he has worked actively as a psychedelic facilitator, combining ceremonial wisdom, coaching expertise, and a deep connection to nature. Based in northern Vermont, Zachary’s approach is rooted in authenticity, fostering profound growth and connection in those he supports.

  • Kedar Shashidhar

    Lead Facilitator & Minister

    Kedar Shashidhar is a certified Relatefulness facilitator, coach, and founder of Relateful LA, known for blending Western psychology with ancient spiritual traditions to foster deep emotional and relational growth. Creator of The Unshakable Self, Kedar empowers leaders to cultivate resilience and relational intelligence for thriving in modern complexity. As a musician, he combines global medicine songs with Indian classical improvisation, using music as a powerful medium for healing and connection.

  • Nicole Derseweh

    Facilitator

    Nicole Derseweh is a medicine woman, intuitive healer, and integration coach with nearly a decade of experience guiding transformational ceremonies. Trained in Internal Family Systems (IFS), somatic therapy, and Reiki, she blends ancient wisdom with modern healing modalities to help individuals awaken to their true selves. Having studied under renowned shamans, including Shipibo Maestra Estela in Peru, Nicole holds a deeply sacred and compassionate space for healing, connection, and personal transformation.

  • Ethan Babbage

    Facilitator & Coach

    Ethan Babbage, NBC-HWC, is a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach and Ceremonia’s Journey Manager, where he oversees retreat operations and facility management. With over a decade of plant medicine experience and training from Blue Morpho Academy, Ethan has supported hundreds of clients as a psychedelic guide and integration coach. Combining holistic mental health expertise with Internal Family Systems and meditation, Ethan takes a heart-centered approach to guiding others on their transformative journeys.

  • David Angel

    Facilitator & Coach

    Since 2018, David Angel has guided deep emotional healing through a blend of ancient wisdom and modern therapies. Initiated on sacred Incan land in the Ausengate mountains and trained in the Peruvian jungle with revered healers like Curandera Daniela Riojas, Maestro Camarampi, and Ashaninka Maestro Charini, his journey unlocked the power of energy clearing. Integrating indigenous practices with approaches like Internal Family Systems, dream unfoldment, and Circling, David empowers authentic inner healing.

  • Peter Benjamin

    Coach

    Peter Benjamin, ACC, is a transformational coach and co-founder of the Avalon Coaching Institute, with over a decade of experience leading 1,000 workshops and retreats in communication, transformation, and embodied partswork. Renowned for sparking deep connections, Peter’s expertise lies in fostering transformative relationships through experiential learning and group dynamics. His dedication to personal and professional growth has made him a sought-after leader in the fields of coaching and human development.

Austin’s Story

In 2020, I was invited to join an Ayahuasca retreat for entrepreneurs. I signed up thinking that this was a networking opportunity. I scoffed at spiritual concepts, considering myself agnostic, bordering atheist. I went in filled with pride. I would not believe that I could experience anything beyond the recreational psychedelic adventures I’ve had previously.

I could not have been more wrong.

This formative journey would go on to define the rest of my life, heralding a renaissance of the man that I would become. I wrote Remembering My Memories afterwards to share my story of regaining my memories through the discovery of an original trauma my mind had repressed. I am still filled with gratitude at all the winding paths that led me to this awakening: the gift of “being cured of Alzheimer’s”, as I figuratively put it.

Over the next few months, I would repair my relationship with my mother and ex-partners. I transmuted my grief of my father’s passing to immense gratitude. I began to write, speak, facilitate, and coach — I turned my creative powers from material gain to sharing the promise and process of transformation with the world. I moved to Costa Rica and dived deeper into spirituality through these sacred sacraments while simultaneously doubling my real estate company’s revenue at the height of the pandemic. Everything was moving at the speed of perfection.

Then, life became chaotic and challenging. My marriage was failing; my investments crumbling; my friendships ending; and my body breaking. My “clarity” gave way to ignorance. A new pride entered: something I now know as “spiritual ego”. After years of being in service guiding other founders from the position of “teacher”, I was once again humbled by Ayahuasca as a participant. I discovered that my pride was a form of ignorance blocking me from growing further.

I was “spiritually bypassing” by jumping straight to acceptance and love without acknowledging, honoring, and feeling the very valid emotions of anger, fear, guilt, and shame underneath. The Yoga Sutras from 500 BCE says that “ignorance is the source of all suffering”—indeed, I could look in my wake and see the disharmony and destruction from all the ignorance I had embodied in my spiritual journey.

I made new commitments. I dived into psychology, psycho-spirituality, and psychodrama, pursuing new modalities to unravel the mysteries of my mind. I attended many new trainings, selecting them based on asking people that inspired me, “how did you become this way?” I got certified as a psychedelic integration and addiction coach. I created partnerships with leading psychologists and plant sacrament facilitators.

I now know that feeling all of my feelings instead of avoiding or suppressing them is the path to wholeness. I can let go of the grip of my beliefs and open myself vulnerably within my own inner sense of safety. I can manifest my ideal reality through trust, surrender, and inspiration. And I can continue to learn, grow, and humble myself to the variety of stories and souls that come through our door.