Preparation and Integration of Medicine Journeys for Cultural Leaders

There is a common theme among all the people I work with:

They know that an even more beautiful world is possible – for themselves and for others.

I work with people who have extraordinary skills, networks and vision. They have devoted themselves to creating a better world for themselves and for others.

They have been successful in many ways. They have worked hard to transform themselves and to be the leaders they know they can be.

They also sense a different possibility, a new possibility, something more expansive. They know that they could have more impact, or feel more connected to their joy, or live more in their genius than in their expertise. They know that they still get in their own way or hold themselves back.

They have glimpsed this possibility in various ways – whether in meditation, or
dreams, or in the stories of others. They have moved in that direction and have not quite found their way to it yet.

Does this resonate with you?

Medicine journey work may be the thing for you to explore.

I am Mark

I support cultural leaders to lead lives of joy, purpose and contribution. I help them transform their consciousness. I challenge them to see their genius. I help them to see their blind spots and get in their own way.

I have been coaching leaders in many fields for 30 years. And I now see plant medicine (and empathogens such as MDMA) as the most valuable potential catalyst for successful coaching.

Plant medicine expands our capacity to experience life – our pain, our feelings, our love, our connection to everything – and therefore to be able to bring our genius fully to the world.

Why am I so positive about integration of plant medicine journeys? I’ve studied at the best schools, taught in the most prestigious universities, and coached many of the most influential and successful leaders on the planet for decades. All this time, I have been committed to raising my own consciousness. Plant medicine is by far the most powerful catalyst that I have experienced.

It’s not a magic pill but it is magical and I have seen many magical things happen. It takes work and good guidance but it works.

Who are “Cultural Leaders”?

Political leaders make the rules. Administrative leaders enforce the rules. Cultural leaders transgress the rules.

Cultural leaders bring new ideas from the outside to the center. They find principled and imaginative ways to break the taboos that inhibit creativity.

They change how we think and what we value. They lead innovative organizations. They start movements. They spark revolutions in the way we see the world.

We need them. Right now. That’s why I love working with them. With you.

Why Plant Medicine?

The latest scientific research (on MDMA and on psilocybin) is beginning to show the medical benefits of these medicines. However, they bring gifts beyond what science can currently show.

Plant medicine enables people to see possibilities and face feelings that many people never have the chance to explore. As a result of my own in-depth work, trainings and practice, I have seen that plant medicine massively accelerates the results of coaching. In fact, it opens up imagination in ways that are not possible in coaching.

Plant medicine by-passes cognition and the limits created by our mind. It taps into a deep sense of belonging, connection and trust and opens us to experience what is not possible in our current imagination.

It enables neuroplasticity, and creates lasting changes in our brains that help us to heal and grow.

Many say that taking plant medicine is/was one of the three most important experiences of their lives.

About Me

Born in England, for the first 30 years of my life I was shaped by, and embedded in, the dominant culture of western European – both its colonialism and its liberalism. I studied classics (ancient Latin and Greek) at Oxford, went into investment banking, and did an MBA at Stanford.

Then, about 30 years ago, I had a spiritual awakening where I understood my true nature, and saw how profoundly I had taken on the values of individualism so that I could be successful within that culture.

Since that time, I have continued to wake up to the ways in which I can help myself and others become free to live lives of purpose, connection, and joy, as well as support social and environmental justice.

I moved to the US to live and study at Esalen Institute for two years where I managed the garden. Since then, for the last two decades, I have supported cultural leaders to find the inner and outer resources to create the world they want to live in. I have worked as a coach to organizational leaders and their teams, as well as to large systems and social movements.

In recent years, I have included the preparation for, and integration of, plant medicine journeys in my work and now recognize that they are the most powerful force for personal and social transformation. I believe that the practice of plant medicines will become widespread and usher in a vast change in our culture over the next ten years and beyond. 

I have trained in two traditions for working with the preparation for and integration of plant medicine journeys (one shamanic and one mainstream Western medical) and have completed my Doctorate in Psychology with a focus on plant medicine.

I love to challenge people to transform – with love and respect. I have a gift for seeing where people get in their own way, where they do not see their own brilliance and beauty, and how to find their inner compass. I help people find their full power and genius so that they can manifest possibilities for the evolution of humanity.

Who have I worked with?

I have worked with thousands of leaders over the years. Some examples include: Desmond Tutu and his family, the leadership team at IDEO, the founder and Board of Esalen Institute, the founders of many social justice organizations, several leaders in the social finance movement, the founders of multiple Silicon Valley start-ups and venture capital companies, and best-selling authors.

I have taught regularly at Esalen Institute, the Executive Education program at the Kennedy School at Harvard, and in many Stanford classes. My TEDx talk explored how to transform intense emotion into leadership genius.

Experience, Training and Approach

As I mentioned, I have trained in two different orientations for working with plant medicine.

First, in a shamanic tradition. This is a holistic and spiritual orientation. My teachers for this work are connected to the Mazatec lineage of Maria Sabina who passed on the wisdom of the mushroom to Gordon Wasson. His article in Life Magazine in May 1957 introduced psychedelics to western culture.

Second, in the mainstream medical orientation. I have completed the certification program with MAPS (who are running the FDA trials for MDMA) to become one of the first MDMA-assisted psychotherapists.

This approach is non-directive; and it draws on the experience of pioneers in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, much of which is chronicled in How To Change Your Mind. It also assumes an inner healing intelligence in everyone.

I have a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Meridian University and an MBA from Stanford. My doctoral focus was the potential for MDMA to shift our sense of self from a pathological perspective to a mythological one.

I am part of a large network of integration guides in California who share best practice with each other regularly and I have now helped clients prepare for, and integrate, more than 200 journeys. I offer this work within current Federal, State, and City legal frameworks. As the laws change, so does the range of support I can offer.

Orientation to Being a Guide

This quote from Stan Grof captures a lens through which I see my role:

“The task of the [guide] is… not to understand rationally the problem the client is facing in order to use some specific techniques to change the situation according to some preconceived plan, but rather to mediate and facilitate the client’s access to a deeper state of the psyche. 

Healing then results from a dialectic interplay between the individual and the collective unconscious….The objective is not a gradual exploration of various levels of the individual unconscious as in verbal western psychotherapies, but facilitation of a powerful transformative experience of a transcendental nature.”

My shamanic tradition has many important elements. Two of the primary ones are 1) that we offer substantial preparation and integration (as does the MAPS protocol), and 2) that we are a relational practice.

As an integration guide, I support a connection with you which opens the possibility for the restoration of health and for access to creativity. When something calls me, I will connect with you. I will not overtake, but attune to possibility.

The inner wisdom, or internal compass, is the blueprint of the capacity of the body to be healthy and creative. I help you to connect with that in order to support transformation. All anxiety and all difficulty is an opportunity for transformation. I am here to help restore your full capacity for creativity.

Support for Life Threatening Illness

I also offer guided experiences for people who are facing a life threatening illness.

Journey work can help transform anxiety, support clarity for where to focus our energy, and allow difficult feelings and thoughts to be expressed.

For more information please email support[at]nicolsongroup.com