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A Unique Team With A Unique Vision

Synthesis offers safe, legal, medically supervised psychedelic retreats in Amsterdam. We make the psychedelic experience accessible for curious individuals who want to utilize moderate-to-high doses of truffles to catalyze creative breakthroughs, explore consciousness, find meaning, improve confidence, and search for a mystical experience. Find out here what our customers say about us.
 

PIONEERING TRANSFORMATIONAL WELLNESS

 
Synthesis spearheads a new era in the integration of psychedelics into modern culture. In professionally curated settings, these remarkable molecules can be agents of transformational experiences. Psychedelics have the potential to restore our sense of wonder and foster a renewed sense of connection; to ourselves, others, and the natural beauty of the wider world.
 
“Our name is a tribute to our core mission; providing an integrative approach to transformative wellness synthesizing modern science and medicine with wisdom traditions, ancient shamanistic rituals, and spiritual practices.”
 
Through workshops and ceremony, open-dialogue, bodywork, meditation, sound and psychedelic education, led by our professional facilitators, psychedelic experiences have the power to restructure thoughts, sharpen perceptual lenses, and awaken expanded forms of consciousness. This sense of possibility is what you will discover at Synthesis; a locus for profound transformation.
Retreat Team
Daan Keiman

Daan Keiman

MA Spiritual Care | Lead Facilitator, Director of Ethics and Advocacy

Daan holds an MA in Spiritual Care and is the co-founder of Guild of Guides Netherlands: an organisation that seeks to professionalize psychedelic sitting services. His experience with guiding and caring for people in altered states of consciousness spans over a decade; ranging from psychedelic harm reduction work on festivals to his private practice as a Psychedelic Chaplain.


Daan draws from his personal Buddhist practices, psychedelic research and his professional experiences to create compassionate and powerful containers for personal and relational transformation. As an avid explorer of consciousness, he is highly capable of supporting others who are traversing the landscapes of the mind.

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James Clifton

Lead Facilitator

For more than three decades James has studied many of the world's perennial philosophies and engaged fully in a number of the great wisdom traditions, with specific interest in non-ordinary states of consciousness.

Trained formally in integral coaching and working with trauma and addiction, he is experienced at tracking tension and points of change and growth in individuals and groups. This unique experience allows him to fully understand the role of psychedelics and entheogen’s as a catalyst for authentic transformation.

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Lesley Joy Quilty

Lead Facilitator

Lesley is a facilitator, coach, leadership consultant, meditation teacher, and theater artist who has designed and delivered transformational retreats and learning in a wide variety of personal, spiritual, and organizational development settings. Everything she shares professionally grows from her own embodied experiences.

A committed meditation practice, holotropic breathwork, a lifestyle rooted in intentional community, and practices taught by North and South American Indigenous teachers have resourced and guided her throughout her adult life, as have psychedelics. Lesley has been working with entheogens in dedicated ceremonial settings since 2014 and feels incredibly blessed to co-create and share this work!

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Hanneke Schots

Co-Lead Facilitator

How do you "do" life? What does "being human" entail? Hanneke has always been intrigued by these questions. Her curiosity has led her on journeys — both in solitude and in groups — through inner and outer worlds and across countries, cultures, traditions, and practices, where the physical, emotional, mental, and energetic meet, interact, and influence each other. Psychedelic explorations have provided embodied insights and experiences that have had a significant role in her development.
 
Professionally trained in psychodynamic therapy and specializing in trauma and inner child work, Hanneke has built a vibrant therapy practice, including workshops and retreats, in the heart of Amsterdam. Her inclusive and holistic approach combines bodywork, breathwork, plant medicine, hypnotherapy, shadow work, and voice dialogue, among many modalities.
 
Psychedelics first sparked her interest in therapy, and now therapy has re-ignited her interest in psychedelics. Hanneke’s open curiosity toward all life paths, professional training, and personal experiences is what allows her to create loving, non-judgmental structures where people can explore themselves and find acceptance, love, and transformation.


Bernardo is passionate about the role of psychedelics in ancient cultures and spiritual traditions and deeply interested in exploring the effects of psychedelics combined with practices such as yoga and Qigong to expand human consciousness and find inner balance. He also has a musical background as a guitarist and flute player and enjoys performing music from different traditions in the context of psychedelic ceremonies.

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HANNEKE MEESTERS

Retreat Facilitator

Hanneke began working with psychedelics in 2012. She discovered the healing potential of psychedelics in combination with ceremonial practices after spending time in the Guatemalan jungle where she studied the Mayan culture, herbal medicine, and Shamanism. After this beautiful and intense experience, Hanneke decided to combine her own intuitive skills with psychedelics and lifestyle coaching. Since then she has been working with individuals and groups as a coach and retreat facilitator using plant medicines, bodywork, and mindfulness practices to nurture alignment and synchronization.

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ODIN PEPPER

Retreat Facilitator

Odin is a Dutch-American, born and bred in Amsterdam. For the past decade, he has worked as a cinematographer after earning his Bachelor of Arts degree at the Dutch Film Academy.

For the past few years, he has been on a path of self-exploration, self-development, healing, and trauma processing. He has been exploring different modalities and methods like tai-chi, reiki, the healing properties of psychedelics like ayahuasca and psilocybin-containing truffles, meditation and different forms of movement practices. He's recently completed a 2-year intensive course as a certified AuraTouch practitioner.

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JOHN NEWTON

Retreat Facilitator

John has widely studied the field of Transpersonal psychology and philosophy, and has a passionate interest in psychedelics, meditation and awakening. 
 
He has worked in research with psychedelics, harm reduction services, and has a wealth of experience in providing psychological care, especially in supporting those undergoing challenging psychedelic experiences.   
 
Formally trained as a mindfulness coach, John is a long term meditation practitioner, and is deeply committed to supporting personal insight in service of collective transformation.
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David de Wied

Retreat Facilitator

David's research has been focused on set and setting factors such as the role of music and the effects of different social and physical contexts on the psychedelic experience, a collaborative project with Imperial College and the Psychedelic Survey.

David is particularly fascinated by visionary experiences and cognitive changes from psychedelic experiences, as well as finding the right therapeutic approach to work alongside psychedelics.

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Ona Praderas

Retreat Facilitator

Ona is a seasoned psychonaut and facilitator, as well as an advocate for safe practices and healthy containers for holding space. Her experience in psychedelic harm reduction in festivals has allowed her to understand the complexity and beauty of altered states in different environments.

Raised in Mexico with a Spanish-Canadian heritage and a creative background as an illustrator, Ona combines psychedelics, movement, art, and Gestalt therapy to support individuals in their growth, healing, and spiritual pursuits.

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Costanza

Costanza Di Prisco

Retreat Facilitator

Costanza began working with psychedelics in 2012, first as a participant and later training as a psychedelic practitioner and breathwork facilitator. She has also studied body psychology and somatic therapy in Mexico and has taken teacher training in yoga, meditation, and acupressure.

Costanza follows the lineage of the Shipibo tribe from Peru and has completed a master plant dieta with Noya Rao. Her facilitation style includes traditional practices to create profound transformational experiences.

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Gabriele Cotronei

Retreat Facilitator

For over a decade, Gabriele has studied the human mind, beginning with its formation in utero and early infancy. After working in various mental health settings, he continued to deepen his understanding, training in psychoanalytic therapy and infant observation, Jungian sand play therapy, and traditional Chinese medicine.

This passion for the human experience led him to delve into spirituality and explore Buddhism, Taoism, and Native American spiritual practices. Psychedelics were a natural progression, allowing him to support others on complex journeys through the collective internal world.

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Lindsay

Lindsay Branham

Retreat Facilitator

Lindsay’s experience with contemplative practices and perennial philosophies spans decades. She has led art and justice retreats, trained as a Buddhist eco-doula to provide spiritual support in times of climate collapse, and works with psychedelics as catalysts for deep transformation. 

Formally trained in research psychology focusing on nature connection and trauma and mental health in war-affected populations, Lindsay also leads film-based interventions for people living amid violence to build on their inherent resilience. She is committed to the spiral-like relationship between personal and collective transformation and intersectional equity and justice. Her work with entheogens is rooted in the wondrous cosmic tenderness of interconnectivity.

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Nora Mamblona

Retreat Facilitator

Nora has worked in private practice as a healing practitioner of psychotherapy, providing a compassionate, safe space for clients near Munich, Germany, since 2005. She has focused on ayahuasca facilitation and psychedelic preparation and integration therapy since 2012 and has more recently incorporated Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Dr. Gabor Maté's trauma-focused Compassionate Inquiry into her practice. 


As the co-founder of an indigenous reciprocity NGO working on completing her PhD, Nora continues to travel and deepen her journey of Shipibo plant medicine dietas as an apprentice of Ricardo Amaringo and other wisdom teachers.

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Maria Petit

Wellness Operations Manager

Former Motorola Ltd Commercial Director Europe Middle East and Africa. Maria left the corporate world in 2009 on a two year sabbatical which led her to study Arabic in Yemen, play polo in Argentina and launch her first start-up JAM Language. During the decade that followed, Maria lived in the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Jordan, Yemen, Spain, Argentina and Brazil where she co-founded the events company SPNM.

Afterwards she embraced a minimalist lifestyle as a digital nomad chasing the summer between Europe and South America. This period led her down a road of self discovery which included living in Osho meditation communities in Germany and in Uruguay, attending Humaniversity and getting certified as a Human Potential Coach.  Coaching in the areas of Wellness, Performance and Lifestyle.

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Julia Piedmont

Retreat Assistant

Julia's background is rooted in psychology and caretaking. Between the United States and Europe, her career has involved many roles supporting mental health. This includes working in a drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation center, being a caretaker for a woman with severe brain damage and paralysis, working with children with special needs, coaching individuals facing a variety of mental challenges, and more.

After Julia experienced some difficult challenges herself, psychedelics sparked a transformation in her that was life-changing. Through Synthesis she is able to bring her knowledge and skillset together with her support for psychedelics as a tool for healing and growth.
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Juan Tepui

Retreat Assistant

Juan has studied music since childhood and music production at University. He became interested in psychedelics and their strong influence on music and consciousness from an early age. He has spent years in India practicing meditation and yoga in various ashrams. He also studied the Bansuri flute with the legendary Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. 

He has been dedicated to facilitating live music for meditation and psychedelic ceremonies for many years, mainly for the Ayahuasca tradition of Colombian Shamans. 

Juan is very passionate about the transformative power of psychedelics, what they can bring to humanity, and how they can help us heal our connection to nature and spiritual growth. 

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Magda Haver

Retreat Assistant

Magda is a certified life and spiritual coach who bridges spirituality with practical life. With empathy, care, and the art of listening, she helps others to connect with their authentic selves and cultivate trust as guidance toward their inner knowing.

Born and raised in Poland, Magda traveled the world and, following her heart and intuition, found teachers and mentors to help guide her experiential learning and inner transformation. After exploring mindfulness and meditation, reiki, yoga Nidra, tarot, and wisdom traditions, she discovered a passion for psychedelics that opened gates to more understanding, love, and compassion.

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Hannah De Waal

Retreat Assistant

Hannah is interested in facilitating individual, relational, and systemic change. Passionate about creating safe spaces for deeper connection, she works with individuals and groups seeking integration and supports large organizations in enacting culture change.

At the age of 15, Hannah began to explore theories of consciousness, which piqued her curiosity about psychedelic experiences. She went on to study mindfulness and breathwork while researching psychedelics and addiction and now holds an MSc in Health & Medical Psychology. She views integration —  of extraordinary experiences into everyday consciousness as well as different aspects of the individual and collective psyche — as the core of the human journey.

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Bernardino Machado

Retreat Assistant

Born in Venezuela but currently living in Madrid, Spain, Bernardino is a religious sociologist and physiotherapist (specializing in manual therapy and myofascial disorders) who has studied yoga, meditation, and ancient traditions for over 20 years. Over the past decade, he has led teacher training certification and workshops around the globe as a Yoga Alliance certifier.

Bernardo is passionate about the role of psychedelics in ancient cultures and spiritual traditions and deeply interested in exploring the effects of psychedelics combined with practices such as yoga and Qigong to expand human consciousness and find inner balance. He also has a musical background as a guitarist and flute player and enjoys performing music from different traditions in the context of psychedelic ceremonies.

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Sophie Luckett

Community Manager

Sophie is a life coach, yoga teacher and curious soul, with a former decade-long career in market research and consultancy. 

Fascinated by the human experience, in particular how we find true meaning and fulfilment, Sophie experienced profound transformation and healing by exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness after a challenging burnout. Sophie is passionate about the role psychedelics can play in individual and collective expansion, aligning with the Synthesis mission. She believes these practises offer a beautiful opportunity to find a deeper connection to ourselves, other people and the world.

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Operations Team
Arin Dell Amsler

ARIN DELL AMSLER

Interim Director of Human Resources

Arin has a background in business, hospitality, leadership development and yogic philosophy, and has spent most of her career as a startup Founder working on projects to scale healing and transformative experiences.

She is a Reiki Master Teacher, and certified integrative psychosomatic coach with special concentration in Tantra, relationships and sexuality. She believes business can be a powerful vehicle for healing and helping, and that starts with the heart of business: its people and leaders.

Her journey with Psychedelics began in Peru's Sacred Valley, and she is passionate about bringing more integration, balance and enjoyment to the world journey through embodiment and self-discovery.

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Atticus Harris

Atticus Harris

Director of Customer Journey

Atticus has worked at tech, design and fashion start-ups for most of his career. But after 10 years of climbing the corporate ladder he was facing recurrent cluster headaches, addiction and burnout. A pivotal moment led him to psychedelic healing, which changed everything. After this, he knew transformation was not only possible, but deeply powerful.

At Synthesis, Atticus contributes toward the healing of others through his skills in communication and technology. When he's not working you'll find him training to be a mindfulness coach, playing with kettlebells, and spending time with his daughters.

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Ethan Holmes

ETHAN HOLMES

Financial Controller

Ethan is the financial controller at Synthesis. Over the past 15 years, he has worked in the private sector managing community-based projects for start-ups, state and federal government projects in the U.S. Ethan is especially passionate about conscious organizational strategy in the psychedelic space, financial modeling and providing data-driven insights to inform strategic, financial, and operational decision-making across the company.

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Christopher Koutsouvelis

Christopher Koutsouvelis

BSc. Accounting | Financial Accountant

Chris has spent his career at many firms performing multiple roles over the last 5 years including EY and Morgan Stanley. He holds multiple accounting degrees and honours in South Africa, with eligibility to register as a Chartered Accountant. He also started his own small business and is a highly entrepreneurial thinker.

Chris is passionate about improving the well-being of fellow man and the advancement of consciousness. He is excited to see the benefits of safely introduced psychedelics into a new world and is committed to help create a more connected future. When not accounting he is an avid movement enthusiast and spends his spare time building a mind body awareness through gymnastics, yoga, meditation and breathwork.

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Maya Albert

Maya Albert

Operations Specialist

Maya is an operations specialist and writer, bringing a thoughtful presence to all of her work and business practices. She is grateful to dedicate all of her professional energy to the psychedelic ecosystem, and aims to help propagate a collaborative and cohesive state of being for this global community. She has authored a compressive analytical report on the business of psychedelics, and is now co-authoring the book, Our Trip Together.

Having co-founded the annual psychedelic conference, Psyched, Maya continues her pursuit to strengthen the community through the open-source sharing of knowledge and interdisciplinary networking. She has consulted for, and worked with, a number of other organizations in the space, including Heroic Hearts and Tabula Rasa Ventures.

As a Product Manager for Synthesis, Maya supports each department to achieve their specific goals through tech integration and project oversight.

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Fred Perozzo

Fred Perozzo

Personal Advisor Lead

Fred has worked in client services and project management positions in the financial industry for over 20 years. In the last 10 years, he trained as body centred psychotherapist and started exploring psychedelic. His journey brought him closer to a form of connected spirituality and provided him with an experienced sense of belonging.

Fred is honoured to bring together his natural client focus, communication style and project management skills an organisation committed to pioneering new ways of self-exploration, healing and expansion. In his free time, Fred sews, walks in nature and loves helping his beekeeper friends look after the hives.

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Emily Roth

Emily Roth

Personal Advisor

Born and raised in California, Emily is excited to be part of the growing US team at Synthesis. Her passion for connecting people with opportunities for personal growth carries through in her work as part of the Synthesis customer support team.

Emily brings nearly a decade of experience in the health and fitness industry, primarily from her role as director for a series of successful yoga and wellness studios in the Bay Area. During her career, she's had the privilege of witnessing many transformative moments, which inspires her daily to continue advocating for new mental health treatments and increased access to care.

She is honored to be working alongside passionate people toward the mission of empowering others to tap into their ability to heal and experience life in a more intimate way.

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Jorden de Rijk

Jorden de Rijk

Personal Advisor

After graduating from university, Jorden worked as a data analyst for brands in fashion and technology. He combines an analytical brain with a big heart and fast working senses with intuition. He had a life changing insight while spending time in the Amazon and Asian forests, where he suddenly understood ‘there must be another way’. This mantra continues to help him on a path towards bringing higher levels of awareness to the world. He’s learned to embrace physical conditions like eczema, stomach aches and fatigue as teachers on his path, and finds his healing through Shamanic practices, Animism, and Zen buddhism.

Yet his biggest teachers are his three young children, who he loves to hang out with at the playgrounds, in the forests and at the lakes near his house.

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Myriam Jenni

Myriam Jenni

Customer Journey Product Manager

Myriam has worked as a management consultant for the last 5+ years. She worked on a wide variety of projects, ranging from IT implementation customer journey to eLearning development.

Since discovering the medicine work four years ago while travelling in Ecuador, she became increasingly fascinated by the healing potential of psychedelics. Her thirst for learning more led her to enrol in a Master's degree in Transpersonal Psychology which she is currently completing. On top of that, she also co-founded the psychedelic society of Barcelona, where they organize talks and events related to the psychedelic world. Myriam loves spending time in nature in her free time, especially in the mountains, where she likes to go on long hikes.

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Sauli Kahkonen

Sauli Kahkonen

Digital Operations Coordinator

At Synthesis, Sauli takes care of digital content, anything from videos to emails for the Psychedelic Practitioner Training program. Sauli was born in Finland and comes from a career as a TV Director with experience creating compelling storylines.

Sauli's decade-long yoga and meditation practice led him to seek new adventures in the world of psychedelics and transformational healing.

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Louise Bezzerra

Louise Bezerra

Product Development Project Manager

Louise has over 15 years of experience as a project manager, facilitator, and communications specialist. Coming from Latin America, she has a wealth of experience in the nonprofit sector where she designed, planned, coordinated, and led coalitions, associations, networks, and events, facilitating the collaborative work of a broad variety of people, from farmers in the most vulnerable regions of Brazil to famous athletes, community leaders, politicians, and CEOs.

Louise is a breast cancer survivor and a champion for women's health. She has a profound connection and experience with plant medicines.  As a Product Development Project Manager for Synthesis, Louise supports the continuous improvement of our products and strives to run things smoothly for the team and our customers.

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Michaela Mairinger

Director of Marketing

Michaela spent most of her professional career working in growth-oriented startups. Before joining Synthesis, she was the marketing lead in digital mental health and sustainability start-ups.

Experiencing traumatic grief led her to initiate a decade-long journey of looking into different traditional and non-traditional approaches to healing. Some of these were fruitful, some useful, and some ineffective, her first encounter with plant-based psychedelics marked a profound before and after in her life. 

Her mission at Synthesis is to create strategies and tactics that educate, inspire, and invite others to explore how psychedelics can support their potential for deep, meaningful change. 

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Emma Hinkson

Senior Health Screener

Emma is a UK-registered nurse and psychotherapist currently living in London with her partner and daughter. With more than ten years of experience working with the NHS, she specializes in palliative care and long-term health conditions. Her interest in psychedelics began on a trip to Peru, and she believes in moving towards a more integrated holistic approach to healthcare and wellbeing.

Emma is committed to the practice of Vipassanā meditation and is always curious to explore other self-exploration practices. She loves to travel and is working towards her Professional Doctorate in Existential Psychotherapy.

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About Us Page

Hannah P Burns

Content Marketing Manager

Hannah is a writer, editor, and multimedia storyteller with over a decade of experience crafting compelling content at the intersections of art, technology, entertainment, and the numinous. Along the way, she has also established herself as a nationally-and-internationally-recognized artist and collaborated to found and direct an experimental film festival, a non-commercial gallery, and a contemporary video game showcase. 
 
A series of profound psychedelic encounters led her to cultivate deep gratitude and abiding respect for entheogenic teachers and ceremonial containers, and she is thrilled to be part of the Synthesis team at such a pivotal moment for psychedelic research, legality, and access. She loves to help bring the mission, voice, and vision of Synthesis to life and create opportunities for inquiry, education, and inspiration.
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Education Team
Dr. Rachel Lovie

Dr. Rachel Lovie

Ph.D | Director of Education

Rachel’s background in the arts and education, and lifelong interest in expanding awareness, led her to a doctoral inquiry that explored the myriad processes at work in transformative learning experiences. She developed a rich understanding of the interplay between the variety of ways we come to know and relate to ourselves, others, and the world through the extrarational dimensions of emotion, imagination, intuitive and embodied knowing. 
 
Rachel is a trained wilderness rite-of-passage guide, helping people reconnect to their own wild nature through ceremony and intentional contemplative journeying in the natural environment. She has an abiding love and respect for psilocybin containing mushrooms as guides and teachers, and for revealing the deeper truth of our connection to our beloved Earth and all beings.

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Frederica Helmiere, MAR, MESc

Frederica Helmiere, MAR, MESc

Program Director | Psychedelic Practitioner Training

Frederica is a designer and facilitator of transformational learning experiences -- in classrooms, workplaces, community groups, and in the backcountry. Fascinated by the ways that consciousness, worldviews and discourses change and expand, she has spent the past twenty years exploring the tools available to respond to civilizational crises, especially the modern West's loss of the sacred.

Frederica holds masters degrees from Yale Divinity School and the Yale School of the Environment, and a BA from Dartmouth College in Religion & Environmental studies. She has served as a Peace Corps volunteer, taught 22 distinct university level courses at the University of Washington and Seattle University, and worked as a global interfaith peacebuilder at the United Religions Initiative. Prior to Synthesis Frederica served as Director of Education at Spiritual Directors International, designing online learning experiences for advanced spiritual professionals. An avid backpacker, triathlete and mountain enthusiast, she lives in Seattle with her husband and two daughters.

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Courtney Zapor Campo

Courtney Z. Campo

Program Manager

Courtney Z. Campo has a formal background in art, design and anthropology, and has been fortunate to work with psychedelics for over a decade. Her fascination with these fields of study led to her exploration of many different plant medicine traditions from around the world. Through immersive learning from different elders and their rituals, she became very interested in identifying cultural nuances as well as observing broader commonalities.

Courtney is interested in the intersection of psychedelics and design as well as the dialogue between scientific findings and traditional plant medicine practices. Courtney has a passion for psychedelic education and is very grateful to be the Program Manager in the Psychedelic Practitioner Training team.

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Liz Hanna

Liz Hanna

MAR | Community Manager

As a Community Manager for the Psychedelic Practitioner Training Program, Liz draws on experience facilitating individual and group work in contemplative ecology and music, as well as nonprofit experience in operations, programs, and administration, to support all aspects of participants' experience in the program. Her formal studies include music therapy, performance, composition, psychology, sacred music, religion and ecology, liturgical studies, and spiritual discernment. 

Liz is passionate about engaging creativity in healing, and is especially interested in processes of spiritual and personal formation in community, both human and more-than-human. Her relationship with sacred mushrooms has been a source of profound support and joy.

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Research Team
Pedro Teixeira

Pedro Teixeira

PhD | Director of Research

Pedro is Full Professor at the University of Lisbon (FMH) where he leads a vibrant research group on the topic of health behavior change. He holds a MSc in Exercise Science and a PhD in Nutritional Sciences and he is a past-president of the International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. Until 2019, he was the director of the National Physical Activity Promotion Program, at the Portuguese Ministry of Health (DGS).

His main research interest is the study of determinants and interventions in the area of physical activity and healthy eating. He has published over 100 international peer-reviewed articles and has been an investigator in several NIH and EU projects, including Eurobese, SPOTLIGHT, EuroFIT, and NoHow.

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Maria Amato

Maria Amato

MSc. Cognitive Neuroscience | Researcher & Health Screener

Maria holds a master degree in Cognitive Neuroscience and has a background in molecular biology. She carried out research investigating the immune system, the role of neurotransmitters in the brain, and emotional processes in people with ADHD.

Maria has entered a path of self-exploration through meditation and the study of Eastern religions and philosophies. Her passion for psychedelics developed together with her scientific curiosity towards the mysteries of the brain. She sees her own psychedelic experiences as life-changing
and hopes for a world where science and spirituality can come together for the awakening of human consciousness. 

She is in love with nature and spent the last year fighting climate change both as activist and educator. As part of the medical screening team, Maria carries out scientific research with the aim of improving the physical and mental health of people joining the Synthesis retreat.

 

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Leadership Team
Martijn Schirp

Martijn Schirp

Co-Founder & Chief Visionary Officer

Martijn has driven the vision of Synthesis Institute since he co-founded the company in 2018. As CEO for two years - and now as Chief Visionary Officer - he has stewarded Synthesis through the early concept to maturity with the vision of making psychedelic tools accessible in a safe, legal, and modern context. Under Martijn's leadership, Synthesis has heralded a world-class, professional standard for psychedelic wellness and mental health. 

Having previously co-founded HighExistence and Apotheosis, Martijn is an experienced entrepreneur in the wellness and transformative space. As a writer, speaker and interviewer on psychedelic subject matter, he was one of the first in the space to anticipate the microdosing revolution in early 2014.  

Applying his academic background in interdisciplinary science and philosophy, his work and identity as an entrepreneur is strongly influenced by eco-phenomenological thought, and by his decade-long personal practice with Buddhism and Shamanism. He is currently focused on scaling opportunities for flourishing, well-being, and transformation through the synthesis of contemplative practices, immersive technology, and psychedelics. 

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Myles Katz

Myles Katz

Co-Founder & Director of Business Development

Myles has spent his career on three different continents launching or leading VC-funded startups with technological, socially responsible, and green initiatives.

He has a strong belief that business and capitalism, when incentivized correctly, can be the most powerful tools we have to make positive, sustainable change in our modern society, and is excited to bring his experience to the psychedelic movement.

Specifically with Synthesis, Myles looks forward to developing an impact-focused business model that increases access to safe, legal and professionally-guided psychedelic experiences and sets an example for what a psychedelic-integrated future can look like.

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Rachel Aidan

Rachel Aidan

PhDc. | Chief Executive Officer

Rachel is a serial entrepreneur, conscious business and leadership coach, speaker, and conscious social change facilitator with nearly 20 years of experience working with clients across the U.S., Europe and East Africa.

In addition to her passion for conscious business and leadership, Rachel is focused on the transformation of trauma into action and leadership. Her practice includes a variety of modalities integrating body, breath, meditation, and creative arts-based practices.

Rachel holds a B.A. in Transformative Education & Leadership and a M.A. in Clinical Mental Health and Mindful-Trauma Informed Leadership. Rachel is currently working on her PhD in Integral/Transpersonal Psychology.

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Tabita Luis

Tabita Luis

VP People & Culture

Tabita is an international HR Executive with over 12 years of experience leading people teams and strategically partnering with business leaders. She has designed and executed impactful people and culture strategies in a large range of companies, from complex corporate environments, early-stage startups to hyper-growth scale-ups across Europe and Latin America.

Tabita holds a bachelor in social sciences, with a major in organisational psychology. She has specialized in cultural transformation, DE&I, leadership development, and innovation. She is a passionate lecturer at several schools in topics such as career coaching, DE&I for HR professionals, and inclusive leadership. She co-founded the biggest Spanish-speaking community focused on Talent, Diversity, and Inclusion (weall.es) and she is a frequent guest lecturer for this topic at several events, podcasts, webinars, and universities in Europe and Latin America.

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Advisory Board
Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris

Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris

Advisory Board Member

Robin is the Head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research, in the Department of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London, where he has designed a number of functional brain imaging studies with psilocybin (magic mushrooms), LSD, MDMA (ecstasy) and DMT (ayahuasca), plus clinical trials of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression. His scientific contributions to psychedelic-assisted therapy could play a significant role in the future of psychedelics for mental health care.

Robin states that scientific investigation into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics is vital for combating the mental health crisis. As a partner with the center, scientific research shows that the Synthesis experience was found to significantly reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, improve sense of wellbeing and emotional stability, and increase connection to self, others and nature. Legal, professionally-organised retreats like Synthesis can be a safe way for people to experience the transformational potential of psychedelics, and they can also be a great source of data for research, helping to further advance the field. Robin is excited to continue working alongside Synthesis to provide high-quality services and meaningful scientific research for the psychedelic community.

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Dr. Beatriz Caiuby Labate

Dr. Beatriz Caiuby Labate

Advisory Board Member

Dr. Beatriz Caiuby Labate (Bia Labate) is a queer Brazilian anthropologist based in San Francisco. She has a Ph.D. in social anthropology from the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil. Her main areas of interest are the study of plant medicines, drug policy, shamanism, ritual, religion, and social justice. She is Executive Director of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines and serves as Public Education and Culture Specialist at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). She is also Visiting Scholar at Naropa University’s Center for Psychedelic Studies and Advisor at the Synthesis Institute. Additionally, she is Diversity and Inclusion Chair at Veterans of War. Dr. Labate is a co-founder of the Interdisciplinary Group for Psychoactive Studies (NEIP) in Brazil and editor of its site since. She is the author, co-author, and co-editor of twenty-five books, two special-edition journals, and several peer-reviewed articles (https://bialabate.net).

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Tero Isokauppila

Tero Isokauppila

Advisory Board Member

Tero is the CEO and Founder of Four Sigmatic, a global superfood company helping people to elevate their wellness with adaptogenic mushroom ingredients. He is also the author of two best-selling books Healing Mushrooms and Santa Sold Shrooms.

A respected expert in the industry, Tero speaks at various events and was chosen twice as one of the world’s Top 50 Food Activists. Tero believes that professional, legal and modern contexts like Synthesis are making psychedelic experiences more accessible to help people gain the benefits of greater connection, personal healing and meaningful insights from a single dose.


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Dr. Rosalind Watts

Dr. Rosalind Watts

Advisory Board Member

Rosalind worked at Imperial College London’s Centre for Psychedelic Research.

Rosalind has developed a psychedelic research model ‘Accept, Connect, Embody’, and a psychometric measure of ‘connectedness’ which her qualitative research identified as a mechanism of therapeutic change in psychedelic approaches. Collecting data from our participants, her research has recognised consistently positive outcomes for people attending Synthesis retreats. Rosalind will use her expertise to optimise the Synthesis retreat model, continue scientific research and develop a model to help more people with mental illnesses in the future.

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