This training offers a comprehensive foundation in how to ethically, safely, and skillfully facilitate group sessions involving natural medicines. Participants will learn best practices for holding space in communal settings, cultivating safety and trust, navigating
interpersonal dynamics and integrating somatic and transpersonal processes that arise within group medicine work. Through experiential learning, role play, and reflective dialogue, trainees will explore how to maintain clear boundaries, uphold regulatory and ethical standards, and skillfully navigate both the profound and the challenging moments that can arise in ceremonial and clinical contexts.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- Understand and honor the historical, cultural, and ancestral roots of group psychedelic and natural medicine work.
- Recognize appropriate group-to-facilitator ratios and considerations for group size, safety, and structure.
- Establish and maintain ethical boundaries and healthy relational dynamics among participants and facilitators.
- Demonstrate core skills for facilitating group preparation, journey, and integration sessions.
- Apply regulatory and safety requirements relevant to group facilitation of natural medicine.
- Confidently navigate challenging or unusual scenarios through skillful communication and grounded presence.
Course Content
- Designing and facilitating group sessions
- Managing group dynamics and conflict
- Creating safe and inclusive space
- Group integration strategies
- Ethical considerations in group work
- Enrollment closes 48 hours before the live class begins.
- Cancellations must be submitted no later than 1 week prior to the class start date to receive a 100% refund.
- No refunds will be issued for no-shows or same-day cancellations.
About Course Facilitators
FACILITATOR: Alison McQueen
Alison McQueen, MA, LPC, ATR-BC, ACS (she/her) is the Clinical Director and Co-Founder of the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness clinic. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Board Certified Art Therapist, and Approved Clinical Supervisor. Alison also serves as a Board Member and Natural Medicine Personal Use Support Practitioner with the Medicinal Mindfulness Foundation non-profit, and is a Lead Instructor for Psychedelic Sitters School.
With 15 years of experience in the mental health field, Alison specializes in trauma-informed, mindfulness-based psychedelic therapy, art therapy, somatic trauma work, and psychedelic integration. She has extensive training in MDMA-Assisted, Cannabis-Assisted, Ketamine-Assisted, and Psilocybin-based support services and harm reduction. Alison served as Sub-Investigator and MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapist/Researcher in an FDA-approved MAPS Phase 2 clinical trial for complex PTSD.
Alison holds a Master of Transpersonal Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Art Therapy from Naropa University, along with advanced training in somatic trauma work through the Somatic Training Institute. She brings together clinical expertise, research experience, and international art-therapy work to support clients and students in cultivating authenticity, resilience, and post-traumatic growth.
FACILITATOR: Karina Maria Tibble
Karina María is a bilingual (Spanish/English) Psychedelic Guide with advanced training in Mindfulness-Based Psychedelic Therapy from the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness. She holds a Master’s degree in Transpersonal Psychology from Naropa University (2013) and has additional training in Psilocybin Support Services, Harm Reduction, and Psychedelic First Aid (including CPR, crisis intervention, and suicide intervention).
With over 18 years of experience in bilingual mental health settings, Karina María has supported women, non-binary individuals, and children through trauma, transformation, and empowerment. Born and raised in Colombia, she has studied with the Arhuaco natives of the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta and integrates their earth-based teachings into her work.
Karina María has apprenticed with the Awakening Women Institute and Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, and her approach blends clinical psychology with deep spiritual reverence. She supports individuals and groups in transforming limiting beliefs and ancestral patterns to cultivate joy, vitality, abundance, and authentic connection. When invited, she incorporates ritual and ceremony to honor each client’s unique relationship to the sacred.
