Changa Institute

Samantha is a spiritual care practitioner trained in spiritual healing and interfaith chaplaincy. She has worked at the NYU Center for Psychedelic Medicine on clinical trials exploring the treatment potential of psychedelic medicines. Her focus has been on trials of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of alcohol dependence and upcoming research on psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of existential distress in individuals with a cancer diagnosis. She offers spiritual healing and meditation through Atman Spiritual Healing, working with individuals who require healing preparation and integration support. Samantha has completed graduate training from Columbia University in Spiritual Psychology, along with Interfaith Chaplaincy training from the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley. Her contemplative training includes Vedanta yogic meditation lineage, Indo-Tibetan Dzogchen meditation, and both spiritual healing and constellation therapy. She is interested in integrating spiritual care and traditional healing practices into the facilitation process for psychedelic medicine work.

Kaycie López Jones is a transformational coach, consultant, and facilitator. She has worked as an intercultural educator for the past 15 years and an equity facilitator for the past 8 years. Initially, her vocational focus was within the field of education (Early Education, K12, and Higher Ed) and the nonprofit sector. However, Kaycie has expanded their reach to work with organizations of all kinds, specifically those dedicated to shifting their culture to create more equitable outcomes. Kaycie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Analysis: Human Behavior from Pomona College in Claremont, CA, and an inter-collegiate Master of Arts in International Development and Service with a focus on Intercultural Communication and Intercultural Education. She has had the opportunity to train and teach at post-secondary and professional levels. Kaycie has recently founded a transformational coaching, consulting, and facilitation practice focused on transforming and transmuting the energy of racialized, intergenerational and historic trauma. Additionally, Kaycie is a Qualified Administrator with the Intercultural Development Inventory. Kaycie employs equity, liberatory, trauma-informed, and healing-centered lenses in her approach to her practice, and they strive to impact those around her in ways that inspire reflection, actualization, and collaboration through the facilitation of intercultural dialogue.

Tracey is a clinical herbalist and holistic health consultant who has helped countless people overcome acute and chronic ailments that conventional medicine could not resolve. She has worked in informal settings, wellness departments, and health clinics. Her love of natural medicine started early, foraging for mushrooms with her dad, a serious mycophile. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from San Francisco State University. During that time, she attended several workshops at the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, including "The way of Shaman" with Michael Harner and "Shamanism in Medicine" with Don Alberto Taxo. In 2003, Tracey attended The Spirit Vine retreat center in Manaus, Brazil, participating in multiple Ayahuasca ceremonies, awakening her gift of intuitive healing with entheogens. Then a fortuitous meeting with herbalist Juliette De Bairacli Levy led Tracey to study Traditional Western Herbalism at Vital Ways Institute. Becoming an herbalist was key in Tracey healing herself. She became a Santo Daime member to further help her diagnose a mysterious illness that had been ailing her for years. After a year of ayahuasca ceremonies, it was revealed what plant medicine she needed to cure herself of a nearly fatal infection. She's spent the last decade deepening her knowledge of natural medicine. She went with her husband to visit Paul Stamets for a medicinal mushroom cultivation seminar, which would later prove helpful for growing psilocybe cubensis. Her favorite mushroom for new growers, as well as beginner psychonauts, is Golden Teacher.