Brendan Caldwell, MA, LPCC​

Psychedelic Therapist, Psychotherapist, Harm Reduction Specialist

Greetings! I am a professional psychedelic therapist with advanced training in Mindfulness-Based Psychedelic Therapy from the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness. I also hold a Masters degree in Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Mental Health Counseling from Naropa University. My holistic view of wellness integrates a transpersonal and spiritual orientation with my clinical training in mental health counseling. I have expertise in attachment and polyvagal theory, which provide the lens through which I treat clients with trauma. I also take a multicultural and systems approach to helping my clients work towards wellness. I have been trained in the use of somatic and mindfulness-based interventions to regulate the nervous system and help clients move through challenging experiences. I have experience in providing sex therapy and am currently enrolled in PACT couples therapy training. I identify as an ally to the BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, poly, and kink communities. I am a provisionally licensed clinician under the supervision of Alison McQueen, MA, LPC, ATR-BC, ACS (LPC.0012954). I am also trained by advanced practitioners at the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness in Psilocybin Support Services and Harm Reduction. In addition to this, I have successfully completed Psychedelic First Aid training which includes CPR certification, psychedelic mental health crisis intervention and suicide intervention training.

I have extensive experience, both as a journeyer and guide, with psychedelic healing and journeywork. In 2015, I started holding space for others through providing psychedelic peer support and harm reduction services at live music events. I have been consistently working with DanceSafe and have received extensive training from the Zendo Project and several similar organizations. I have apprenticed with masters in psychedelic healing for the last 7 years and have been able to hone my skills as a psychedelic practitioner under wise, ethical and careful tutelage. All in all, I have been holding space for psychedelic experiences for over a decade and I bring that deep experiential knowledge into my practice.

I was initiated onto my medicine path with LSD at age 19; and from then on, psychedelics have undoubtedly been the greatest source of growth in my life. When I started, my intentions were entirely recreational – with very little to no support at all. Nonetheless, psychedelics allowed me to regain access to many lost parts of myself and helped me live my life more fully. In this unsupported setting, however, psychedelics also provided me with some of the most difficult experiences of my life.

After one particularly intense experience in an unsupported setting, I thought for years that I would never return to psychedelics. When I did return to them, it was with a caution and reverence that I didn’t have before. I started using psychedelics only very occasionally and with purpose. This ultimately reintroduced me to spirit, which I had long since lost touch with. I discovered a deep calling to create a safe space for psychedelic experiences and provide others with the support I needed years ago but did not have access to. When I have the privilege of guiding someone through a psychedelic experience, I can feel my purpose be ignited. Even when it’s hard, there is literally nowhere else in the world I would rather be. I am honored and deeply grateful to have found this vocation.

Spiritual Statement

Psychedelics have deeply informed my spiritual life – they brought me back to it and reinforce my spiritual practices to this day. I have learned that there is an intrinsic and ineffable wisdom, inside of ourselves and inside of the psychedelics, which knows what experiences the journeyer needs to have in order to naturally find greater wholeness. I believe that this wisdom is spirit, an energy shared between us, the medicine, and everything that currently exists.

I am excited to work with people from all religious and spiritual backgrounds. My personal spiritual practices are done through the lens of nature-based paganism – one of the many mystical traditions of my ancestors. I am absolutely non-dogmatic in my approach to this work.  I believe in customizing the psychedelic experience to the journeyer and will happily adopt whatever language aligns with your beliefs – including atheistic or agnostic perspectives.

I see my role as being in service of your personal journey with the psychedelics as an ally with their own wisdom and consciousness. The many years I have spent cultivating relationships with these medicines allows me to help guide others through unfamiliar terrain. Ultimately, however, most of the expertise lies with your inner wisdom and the deep and ancient wisdom of the psychedelics.

Specialties

• Cannabis-Assisted Psychedelic Therapy
• Psilocybin Support Services 
• Ketamine-Assisted Psychedelic Therapy
• Psychedelic Harm Reduction
• Psychedelic Preparation and Integration
• Transpersonal Counseling
• Spiritual Care and Exploration of Spirituality
• Trauma-Informed Psychedelic Therapy
• Sex, Sexuality, and Gender
• Men’s Work and Positive Masculinity
• Child-Centered Play Therapy
• Polyvagal Theory
• Parts Work
• Couples Counseling
• Existential Issues
• Persistent Anxiety and/or Depression
• Problematic Substance Use

I feel particularly called to support:

• People from marginalized communities – particularly members of the BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, poly, and kink communities
• Psychedelic “newbies” of all ages, as well as advanced journeyers
• Anyone who is navigating a major life transition and/or change in identity
• Anyone struggling with persistent anxiety and/or depression
• Those seeking to heal and make meaning from traumatic experiences
• Those seeking greater contact with their authentic feelings and desires
• Those looking to work on issues related to sex or sexuality
• Those looking to explore and expand their spiritual life
• Individuals looking to get ‘unstuck’ in their path towards wellness
• Individuals struggling with existential issues – purpose, meaning, death
• Individuals struggling with a terminal diagnosis
• Individuals looking to stop relying on psychiatric medications
• Men looking to engage in men’s work and developing positive masculinity
• Anyone looking to improve their substance use through the lens of harm reduction