Alison McKleroy, LMFT

Ali McKleroy is a licensed marriage and family therapist and art therapist in Sebastopol, California, who offers psychedelic integration therapy through her practice, The Creative Psychonaut. She works one to one with California residents, in person or online, and runs creative integration circles.

Approach

She has about 20 years of experience as a therapist and more than 30 years of her own involvement with plant medicine. Her arts-based C.R.E.A.T.E. model uses drawing, journaling, collage and reflective inquiry to revisit an experience and turn its insights into decisions, boundaries and new habits. She draws on Internal Family Systems, somatic work and mindfulness-based cognitive behavioural therapy, as well as non-violent communication, polyvagal theory and therapeutic yoga. She holds master’s degrees in marriage and family therapy and in art therapy, wrote The Self-Compassion Journal, and works in four languages. She describes her practice as grounded in respect for the Indigenous cultures that have long kept these medicines.

Who it is for

She specialises in working with women. Clients come to prepare for or integrate experiences with psilocybin, ayahuasca, LSD, MDMA, ketamine or 5-MeO-DMT, including ketamine-assisted therapy.

Practical details

Sessions are listed at $200 to $230. Coaching packages run on Zoom: a two-week preparation or reset with two 60-minute sessions costs $500, and a three-month programme of six sessions costs $1,350. Creative integration circles take up to 12 people, and cacao creativity circles meet in Sebastopol.

Care and safety

A free 15-minute phone call comes first, then a confidential intake form on medical and psychological history, current support and goals, and signed informed consent. She confirms that each client has medical clearance for any psychedelic use they intend, asks that they can reach licensed medical and psychological care, and does not provide or administer any medicine.