Your Facilitators
Higher Growth programs & circles are led by experienced therapists trained in psychedelic guiding & integration.
Main Facilitator
Hi, I’m Carla,
Carla Mae Leuschen, MPA, MSW
My passion for psychedelic integration work began when I was 28 & worked as a psychiatric research assistant in mood disorders (not involving psychedelics) for Dr. Paul Grof in Ottawa. During that time I was introduced to his brother, Dr. Stan Grof’s concepts of psychedelic psychotherapy which gave me a new sense of hope & understanding related to mental illness & psychedelics. For more details about my professional qualifications please go here.
“After having personally conducted over the last fifty years more than four thousand psychedelic sessions, I have developed great awe and respect for these compounds and their enormous potential, both positive and negative. They are powerful tools and, like any tool, they can be used skillfully, ineptly, or destructively. The result will be critically dependent on the set and setting.”
I have now worked in mental health for about 15 years & have specialized in psychedelic integration for the past 7. In addition to teaching these Higher Growth courses, I lead a team of Psychedelic Integration Counsellors at Strength in Heart Counselling & I also work 1-1 with individual clients to push the boundaries of "normal" to uncover & deconstruct the root causes of their suffering.
Over the past 20 years I have been on a transformative personal & professional journey into healing with non-ordinary state based approaches, both with psychedelic substances & without substance (e.g. meditation, breathwork, hypnosis, etc.). These courses are based on a template of my experience, training & invaluable mentorship, enriched by the experiences of the hundreds of people whom I have had the honour to support.
Guest facilitators
Photo Credit: Will Pegg