About Meris
Ayahuasca Integration Coach, Consultant and Researcher
About Meris
Ayahuasca Integration Coach, Consultant and Researcher
I’m a coach and consultant focusing on preparation and integration for ayahuasca and other psychedelics, a psychotherapist, and a psychedelics researcher. I’ve also personally delved deep within myself with psychedelic medicines, primarily with ayahuasca but also with 5-MeO-DMT, MDMA, ketamine, and psilocybin.
I’m immensely grateful to have connected with safe, skilled, and accessible communities where I could ‘come home to myself’ with psychedelics. I’ve been so moved and changed in this process that I wanted to combine my education, skills, and personal experiences into meaningful services. So, I’m currently aiming to fill a couple of gaps in psychedelic support through short-term preparation and integration coaching, and consultation for helping professionals.
I believe these services help promote an ethical approach to psychedelics use, and a mature stance on drug policy, education, and safety.
I also hold in my heart a vision for the future in which plant medicines and other psychedelics are carefully safeguarded, respected, and equitably integrated into systems of care, to foster personal wellness but also to expand beyond it, for the wellbeing of all.
More about my work and world
Approaches and inspirations
I have a PhD in Counselling Psychology from the University of British Columbia, and more than 20 years of experience as a therapist. In my clinical career, I worked in both private practice and institutional settings.
When I was a therapist, the main approach I used was Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), parts of which I incorporate into my coaching and consulting. AEDP charts and facilitates psychological healing, self-discovery, and growth through the processing of core emotions in a safe, attuned therapeutic relationship.
I love its central assumption that humans have an innate, wired-in drive for healing, self-discovery, and growth that’s catalyzed when the conditions are right – a truth I witnessed repeatedly with my clients and experienced firsthand in both my own psychedelic journeying and the support I received from an AEDP therapist.
I locate myself as a white, Western, well-resourced, able-bodied, cis-het woman with English-Irish ancestry, who typically goes by she/her pronouns. I live, work, and play on the unceded, ancestral homelands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.
I love my partner, my cats, Zumba, science fiction, sweets, birdsong, and gardening that supports bees and other pollinators. I cherish my friends and family. Forever an animal lover, my care for plants and animals – and my reverence for the natural world – has deepened profoundly through my experiences with ayahuasca and the master plant dietas I’ve undertaken in Perú.
MNSKY the Cat
MNSKY became part of our lives several years ago after walking into our house from the winter cold. He purr-growled at us for several weeks while eating the kibble we were putting out for him, then decided to take a chance on our home being his forever home.
A people-cat once he gets to know someone, MNSKY prefers human friends over the cat variety and so we keep him separate from our 2 other kitties, Silver and Silvia.
MNSKY gets his own bio because he regularly hangs out with me during online sessions, making him an honorary team member. You might catch a glimpse of his tail, ears, or adorable face during a call.
MNSKY has taught us a lot about what is possible in safe and trustworthy relationships, as well as about a depth of love and bonding that transcends species. He’s a (mostly) quiet reminder of the transformative power of love and trust.