The Synthesis Institute

Tuesday, December 1Dec 1  11 AM Pacific11 AM PT

Register

The Psychedelic Practitioner

December Edition

The Crossroads:
From Personal Experience to Becoming a Psychedelic Guide

with Simon Yugler

Register at No Charge
Portrait of Simon YuglerSimon YuglerPsychotherapist and author

About The Psychedelic Practitioner

The Psychedelic Practitioner is a public live conversation series from the Synthesis Institute, exploring the science, wisdom, and practice of psychedelic care.
December 1
Tuesday, 2026
11 AM Pacific
2 PM Eastern, 7 PM GMT, 8 PM CET
75 minutes
Live conversation with a host and one guest
No charge
Complimentary registration

Join Simon Yugler for a live conversation about what it takes to move from personal experience with psychedelics into guiding others.

For many, a personal experience with psychedelics can mark a turning point in their professional lives. It may prompt questions about the work they want to do and whether they are ready to guide others. Perhaps you have supported a friend through a psychedelic experience and wondered what it would take to do this work professionally. Perhaps you are considering a vocational transition and are trying to understand where your existing experience might lead.

Moving into this work brings a different set of responsibilities. When guiding a person through a psychedelic experience, you may be working with someone in a vulnerable state, whose trust and openness ask a great deal of you. How do you prepare for that role? How do you recognize the influence you have, and understand how your own experiences and assumptions may affect the person you are guiding?

In his book, Psychedelics and the Soul: A Mythic Guide to Psychedelic Healing, Depth Psychology, and Cultural Repair, Simon Yugler explores the role of the guide through myth and archetype. His writing considers how the guide’s influence can be used responsibly, and what it means to develop the inner authority required for this work.

Hosted by Chara Caruthers, Program Director of the Synthesis Institute, this conversation draws on Simon’s experience and writing to explore the questions that arise when personal interest begins to develop into a professional calling.

Register at No Charge

Portrait of Simon Yugler

Guest Speaker

Simon Yugler

Psychotherapist, psychedelic guide, educator, and author

Simon Yugler is a psychotherapist and licensed psilocybin facilitator in Oregon. He holds a master’s degree from Pacifica Graduate Institute, and his therapeutic work draws on Jungian psychology and mythology. He also works with Internal Family Systems.

Before moving into psychotherapy and psychedelic practice, Simon worked as an experiential educator and guide, leading study-abroad programs for young adults across ten countries. He later spent a year and a half as a retreat leader and therapist at a legal psilocybin retreat center in Jamaica. He has also taught for five psychedelic facilitator training programs.

Simon is the author of Psychedelics and the Soul: A Mythic Guide to Psychedelic Healing, Depth Psychology, and Cultural Repair, published by North Atlantic Books in 2024.

What does it take to become a guide, and how do you prepare for the responsibility that comes with this role?

What We Will Explore

Four areas of inquiry across a 60-minute conversation, followed by a 15-minute audience Q&A.

A personal crossroads and path into practice

What prompts a person to consider becoming a psychedelic practitioner? Simon reflects on his own move into the field and the questions that can accompany a change in professional direction.

Myth as a map for practitioners

Simon draws on myth and Jungian psychology to make sense of what people encounter on a psychedelic journey. He considers how a story or archetype can help a practitioner understand a client’s experience, and where such maps have their limitations.

The guide and the question of power

A person guiding a psychedelic experience holds a position of influence. How is that influence experienced by the person being guided, and what responsibilities come with it? Simon explores the relationship between power and inner authority, including the importance of recognizing the limits of the guide’s role.

Knowing your own myth

The stories you carry about yourself can influence how you understand your work and respond to the people you accompany. Simon’s mythopoetic approach to integration begins with the idea that individuals, like cultures, live by personal myths. This part of the conversation explores how practitioners come to recognize the stories that inform their work.

Join us if you…

  • Have had a psychedelic experience that prompted questions about the work you want to do.

  • Have supported another person through a psychedelic experience and are considering whether this work could become part of your professional life.

  • Are considering a change of professional direction and want to understand what working in psychedelic care involves.

  • Already work in psychedelic care and want to reflect on the influence you have in your role as a guide.

Portrait of Chara CaruthersChara CaruthersProgram Director

Your Host

Chara Caruthers

Chara Caruthers is Program Director at the Synthesis Institute, where she has guided hundreds of practitioners through the Psychedelic Practitioner Core Training. Her work spans ethics, research, and the relational dimensions of psychedelic facilitation.

Join the Conversation

Tuesday, December 111 AM Pacific, 2 PM Eastern, 7 PM GMT, and 8 PM CET

About The Synthesis Institute

The Synthesis Institute is a global leader in the modern psychedelic movement, offering legal retreat programs in the Netherlands and trauma-sensitive psychedelic practitioner training rooted in safety, ethics, and a multidimensional approach to care.

Learn More