Nurse.

As a nurse, my philosophy on what makes an excellent psychedelic sitter is centered around being a compassionate and empathetic individual who can recognize the unique needs of who I'm sitting for. I pride myself on remaining non-judgmental and providing a safe and supportive environment for you to explore your innermost thoughts and emotions.

• Physical safety: I prioritize your well-being above all else. This means being vigilant for any signs of distress or discomfort, and being able to intervene if necessary to ensure that you’re as safe as possible. That said, these experiences typically test your relationship with discomfort, and I'm not about stealing that lesson from you.  However, I do everything in my power to make sure your set/setting doesn’t interfere with the journey you’re looking to take.  

• Spiritual neutrality: A good sitter should always respect the individual's autonomy and personal beliefs, while also helping them to navigate any difficult emotions that arise.  Oftentimes in psychedelic journeys there are projections of the sitter's own spiritual beliefs and values onto the experience, which leads to feelings of inauthenticity or judgment or rejection at best, or an inability to explore your own personal belief system at worst. I'm deeply honored to have people trust me while they're in a vulnerable state, and I don't betray that trust by imposing unwanted beliefs or ego into the mix.  

• Unrelenting continuing education: Finally, it's important for a good sitter to stay current on research and advancements in the field, as well as to participate in ongoing training and education. This ensures that I can provide the highest level of care for you, while also advancing the field as a whole.  We're living in a time of interesting political promise vis-à-vis psychedelic-assisted therapy, so staying abreast of Colorado's, other state's, and federal laws and being an engaged citizen has never been so personally and professionally fulfilling for me.  You, dear explorer, get to reap the benefit of that.

• My career as a Registered Nurse (Colorado license number 1657693, exp. 09/2024) began in emergency medicine.  Since then I have worked in pediatric oncology, outdoor camp-based nursing, interventional radiology, and other outpatient settings.

• It was in the emergency department where I first encountered patients in the throes of their psychedelic experiences.  We - nurses and doctors alike - told them to “sleep it off”.  While this is usually sound advice, it’s a terrifying (and decidedly sleepless) experience having the worst trip of your life under harsh fluorescents with the background noise of a fully-functioning trauma ward.  Fresh nurse that I was - I thought there had to be a better way.  That thought then disappeared under the current of life, only to resurface during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• In addition to my RN license: I worked up from an associates, to a bachelors, to a Master's in Nursing.  My graduate thesis was on introversion in nursing leadership.

• Volunteer credits include Roze Room Hospice, Boulder County Public Health, Burning Man Emergency Services, ZENDO and other festival-based harm-reduction shifts, Psychedelic Science, and Clinica Esperanza on the island of Roatan, Honduras.

• I am also a registered yoga teacher (RYT-200), my passions here are in teaching prenatal and yin yoga.

• A resume is available on request.

• I began Psychedelic Nurse because my friends and family were requesting my sits in order to feel comfortable in their own experiences, time and again.  What began as a gesture of love ("of course I'll sit for you!") has blossomed into the ability and expertise to guide and sit competently with others.

• Colorado, as a forward-thinking and deeply compassionate state, has decriminalized many of the entheogens of interest and allowed me freedom to explore these medicines myself.  Chances are good that I will have a profound river of connection, rather than a purely clinical one, with the substance that is calling to you.

• I have a history of intentional psychedelic use spanning three continents.

• My longest venture as of yet was a two-week "master plant" dieta combining ayahuasca by night and marusa by day, as in the Shipibo tradition.  During this period I was in isolation and fasting, eating food brought to my hut every three days.

• I tend to take a animistic view of psychedelics, especially plant- and fungus-derived ones.

• My very first encounter? Well, ask me about that if you're interested. The story never fails to get a smile.

It's like being a good Airbnb host: available for problems/local tips/conversation but won’t engage unless engaged with first.  After reading my bio it's my hope that you see I certainly understand the desire for space.  Even the most well-meaning gestures can have a profound or deleterious impact in such a sensitive state, and I'd rather err on the side of you doing "your work", even if invisible and silent, than potentially intrude.  So if you just want to be in a room present with me enjoying silence or music or books I consider that a compliment of the highest order.

That said - if you wish to speak, let's do it!  I'd consider a lively conversation and human connection to work well for certain substances, like MDMA.

I keep my phone use minimal, and never in your presence.

• My hobbies include woodworking, board gaming, gardening, reading poetry and sacred texts, and casual lyre + ukelele learning.

• I was born in the Philippines as the eldest of five children. All of us became Registered Nurses, oddly enough.

• In my early life I was Catholic - as those in the Philippines tend to be - then regularly attending a Protestant church (Lutheran, specifically).  I am now religiously non-denominational with mostly Buddhist leanings.

• My first open water dive outside of PADI certification was a night dive, which just happened to coincide with the phosphorescent algae bloom local to that area.  This occurred when I was volunteering in Roatan.

• Along with my partners, 1-year-old son, and two cats, I have resided in the Longmont area in a 1970’s house we’ve been slowly remodeling.

• When family allows, I am liable to disappear for days or weeks at a time to do silent, isolative retreats.

• The first time I cried over a book (that didn't have the lovable animal dying) was the ending to 1984. I was sixteen.