About Laurel

A Journey of Healing and Service

My path has always been guided by a desire to understand the deeper dimensions of human experience. I began my studies in Comparative Religious Studies at Vassar College, exploring the spiritual traditions and practices that help people connect with meaning and transformation.

After graduating in 2004, I pursued graduate education at New York University, earning my Master of Social Work in 2010. For over 15 years, I dedicated myself to palliative and hospice care — bearing witness to people at the threshold of life's greatest mystery. Those years refined my clinical skills and deepened my understanding of what it means to truly serve people in their most vulnerable moments.

My senior thesis at Vassar explored the mandala as a vehicle for transformation — the way sacred geometry and cyclic return can facilitate healing and awakening. That scholarly inquiry became lived practice. Today, the mandala sits at the heart of Inner Circle's identity, representing the journey inward and the wholeness we all carry within.

I believe that over time and circumstance, many of us become separated from our own intuition and inner wisdom. Through psilocybin in a carefully held, safe space — surrounded by professional clinical awareness and genuine care — people can reconnect with that deep knowing that has always been there. My role is not to fix or direct, but to create the conditions where something important can unfold naturally.

Professional Credentials & Training

Education

BA, Vassar College (2004)
Comparative Religious Studies
MSW, New York University (2010)
Master of Social Work

Clinical Credentials

Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
State of Colorado, since 2013
Advanced Palliative & Hospice Social Worker (APHSW-C)
Certified through HPCC, since 2019
Natural Medicine Facilitator in Training — Clinical (NMIT)
In progress

Specialized Training

Memoru (formerly Naropa Center for Psychedelic Studies)
Boulder, Colorado
Psilocybin facilitation training

Clinical Research Involvement

I serve as a trained facilitator in three active clinical research trials at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. This work allows me to remain at the forefront of psilocybin research while contributing to our scientific understanding of these natural medicines.

Clinical researcher writing notes, representing the rigor of psilocybin research

Active Research Trials

Psilocybin for Advanced Cancer: A randomized controlled trial enrolling approximately 200 participants navigating advanced cancer diagnosis.
Fear of Cancer Recurrence: A study focused on supporting individuals with breast and ovarian cancer who experience fear or anxiety about recurrence.
Safety in Healthy Older Adults: A safety study examining psilocybin in healthy adults 65 and older, expanding our knowledge of this work across the lifespan.

Approach & Philosophy

My facilitation is rooted in a non-directive approach. What that means in practice: I don't tell you what your experience means. I don't interpret what you're seeing or feeling. I don't steer the journey toward any particular outcome. The work that happens in a psilocybin session is your work — your inner wisdom navigating what it needs to navigate. I trust that process completely.

The word facilitate matters to me. It means to make easier, to create the conditions for something to unfold. My role is to hold the space — to be a calm, steady, clinically attentive presence so that you can go wherever you need to go, knowing you are safe. Sometimes that looks like sitting quietly beside you. Sometimes it's offering a hand to hold during an intense moment. Sometimes it's simply breathing steadily nearby.

This is not a cure for anything — I'm honest about that. But when someone enters a carefully held space with genuine openness and intention, remarkable things can happen. Psilocybin doesn't create those things. It amplifies what is already within you — which is exactly why the preparation, the environment, and the quality of presence matter so much.

Warm, inviting healing space with a brown leather sofa and plants — soft natural light