Central to Gather Well’s mission is the belief that equitable access to culturally responsive healing modalities is a birthright. By fostering a collective shift in consciousness, Gather Well catalyzes meaningful systemic change, creating a ripple effect that strengthens communities and sets a course for a more equitable future for generations to come. Access to transformative care, including psychedelic-assisted therapy, should be available to all who can benefit from it.
Traditional mental health systems have long been shaped by systemic inequities, often excluding those most impacted by trauma and pervasive institutional barriers. High costs, cultural disconnection, and institutional barriers prevent many from accessing the care they need. We see an opportunity to do things differently. By training practitioners to serve within their own communities, we support the empowerment of people to break cycles of generational trauma and foster collective healing in the communities they serve.
A Community-Centered Approach to Psychedelic Therapy
Gather Well’s model challenges conventional approaches to psychedelic-assisted therapy, which often follow a one-on-one, Western psychotherapy framework that can be financially and culturally inaccessible to many people. Our approach is rooted in the understanding that healing happens in relationship—with ourselves, with each other, and with the natural world. We are informed by Indigenous and community-based healing traditions, centering a group therapy approach. By training guides to facilitate group sessions, we create opportunities for shared healing while expanding access. We also emphasize cultural attunement, ensuring that practitioners have the skills and awareness to offer care that resonates with the communities they serve. Healing is most powerful when it reflects and honors the cultural and personal histories of those involved.
Reimagining Healing in a Changing World
Psychedelic-assisted therapy has shown incredible promise for treating PTSD, depression, anxiety, and addiction. But more than that, these therapies have the potential to help us remember what it feels like to belong, to be supported, and to heal in community.
Gather Well seeks to offer a model of care that is financially accessible, ethically grounded, and centered on relationships. Through a three-year training pathway that includes over 500 hours of hybrid learning, mentorship, and experiential practice, we are preparing practitioners to bring this work to those who need it most.
Our means-based tuition model is a cornerstone of our commitment to ensuring equitable access to our programs for economically diverse and BIPOC participants. This model reflects our understanding of the intersection of systemic inequities, marginalized identities, and socioeconomic status, and our commitment to actively removing barriers to participation for underserved communities. It also invites individuals with greater financial means to acknowledge this intersection, recognize their positionality, and engage in a reparative approach, contributing to expanded access for those with fewer resources, so they in turn, are able to offer their skills to the communities they serve.
A Vision for the Future
Gather Well cares about more than just training practitioners—it strives to reimagine what equitable psychedelic care can look like. By centering community, accessibility, and equity, we hope to contribute to a world where care and healing are not gate kept by institutions but shared among us.
We believe that healing is a ripple effect. When people heal in community, communities shift and are strengthened. When communities heal, the world shifts. Through this work, we hope to cultivate spaces where people can reconnect to themselves, to each other, and to a vision and actualization of a more just and compassionate world.
Gather Well is honored to be part of this movement. If this resonates with you, we invite you to join us in imagining and creating a future where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
