Welcoming our New Director of Education

Dear Zendo Project Community,

It’s with deep gratitude and excitement that I introduce myself to you as the new Director of Education at Zendo Project. I’ve admired Zendo Project’s work for many years and stepping into this role feels like a return to something essential: a belief that compassion, presence, and community can transform the way we move through altered states, crisis, and life itself.

My path to this work has been winding, like so many of ours. I come from a background in sustainability and social impact, and over the last several years I supported the MDMA-assisted therapy education program at Lykos Therapeutics. As my path shifted, I kept circling back to the same questions: How do we hold each other through complexity? How do we create spaces—internal and external—where healing and growth are possible?

Zendo Project has always felt like a quiet yet profound answer to those questions.

In one of our first conversations, Executive Director Chelsea Rose Pires described Zendo Project as a living, breathing entity of its own. Now that I have been welcomed into the fold, I understand the beauty of her expression. There is a tangible energy here, something bigger than the sum of its parts, that the community has created in this gracious endeavor of supporting people in non-ordinary states of consciousness with integrity, humility, and love.

What drew me to Zendo Project, and what continues to inspire me daily, is the commitment to peer support as a radical, relational act. The beauty of this work is that we have so much to offer each other, simply through our humanness. As Director of Education, my hope is to help deepen and expand Zendo Project’s training programs so that even more people feel equipped to hold space—not only at festivals, but in clinics, in homes, and in everyday life. I believe that the skills we teach, such as attunement, non-directiveness, cultural humility, and trauma-attuned care, are essential not only in psychedelic contexts but in the world at large.

In the coming months, I look forward to learning from you, dreaming with you, and building with you. Together may we grow a culture of care that extends far beyond the Zendo walls—one grounded in curiosity, connection, and the enduring medicine of human presence.

Thank you for welcoming me into this space.

Zendo Project at Red Rocks!

Zendo Project provided peer support to attendees at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO during the April 25th Subtronics show!

Our pilot collaboration with the Stadium Medical team at Red Rocks gave EMTs the opportunity to observe our peer support techniques— tools many expressed they’re now inspired to integrate into their own medical practices. Based on positive feedback from security and medical staff, we’ve been invited back to provide our services at additional shows this summer.

This is the power of community-based harm reduction and the impact of compassionate care. We look forward to continued collaboration and a growing relationship with these partners!

Common Psychedelic Expressions: The Runner

What happens when someone runs away during a psychedelic sit? What if it happens at a festival or ceremony? Zendo Project instructor Simone Weit speaks to prioritizing safety without restraint when offering psychedelic peer support.

Learn more about running and other common psychedelic expressions in our upcoming July SIT course. Registration is open now!

Happening Tomorrow!

Psychedelics Design Conference: Zendo Project Keynote

Join us at the Psychedelics Design Awards tomorrow, Thursday, May 15th for our virtual keynote: Risks & Harm Reduction for Creative Explorers. While many talks at this conference will celebrate the beauty and potential of psychedelics, we feel a deep responsibility to speak to what happens when things don’t go as planned—and to offer skills for meeting those moments with care. This session introduces concepts from Zendo Project’s Sitting and Integration Training (SIT) program, providing specific tools for navigating difficult psychedelic experiences with confidence and skill through the lens of psychedelic creativity.

While the psychedelic movement celebrates breakthroughs in therapy and creativity, we address the critical question: what happens when someone encounters fear, confusion, or overwhelm? Learn practical approaches to create psychological safety, recognize warning signs, and apply effective de-escalation strategies that can transform challenging moments into opportunities for growth and learning.

Speakers: Chelsea Rose Pires, LMFT, Executive Director & https://zendoproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Countdown-2017-1.jpga Hurst, Programs Director

Use code ZENDO30 at checkout for 30% off registration.

In-Person Opportunity:
Half-Day Zendo Project Workshop at Psychedelic Science 2025

This workshop will provide an overview of the fundamental skills for supporting individuals navigating non-ordinary states of consciousness using the framework of Zendo Project’s 4 Principles of Psychedelic Care. The workshop will focus on developing skills and practices to support people having challenging, overwhelming, or complex psychedelic experiences.

When: Tuesday, June 17th

Facilitators: Simone Weit, LPCC & Timothy Crespi, LPC CADC

Sasha Shulgin’s 100th Birthday Celebration

Hello from The Shulgin Foundation!

Join us on June 17 in Denver for an extraordinary evening celebrating what would have been Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin’s 100th birthday. What better way to kick off the Psychedelic Science 2025 conference? This historic gathering will bring together the diverse communities touched by the Shulgins’ pioneering work in psychedelic research, chemistry, and therapy.

When: June 17, 6-11pm

Where: The Kirk, Denver CO

Resource Highlight: Before You Trip

Before You Trip is a first-of-its-kind public health education campaign currently being piloted in the Denver/Boulder/Aspen areas by the Coalition for Psychedelic Safety and Education (CPSE). The campaign delivers science-based digital content through an authentic Gen Z lens, aiming to empower young adults to seek a balanced understanding and make informed decisions about psychedelic substances. As use of psychedelics continues to increase — mostly in unregulated or unsupervised settings — public health campaigns can help reduce preventable harms and improve beneficial outcomes.

• Download the toolkit to support and amplify the campaign
• Follow on Instagram for psychedelic harm reduction educational content!