Hidden Gems: Meet Nicole Sylvestre of Remembering Grace Healing Arts

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Sylvestre.

Hi Nicole , so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in the woods of North Carolina and made my way out to Colorado in 2009 to attend graduate school at Naropa University. Looking back, I should have known that choosing a Buddhist-inspired, offbeat program was a sign that my life wouldn’t follow the conventional route!

Although I loved my studies, I quickly realized that traditional talk therapy wasn’t enough for me—or for the kind of healing I wanted to help others access. When I encountered psychedelic therapy, I felt a deep remembrance of my purpose. Here was a modality that spoke to the body, mind, and spirit all at once. I’d found my spark.

I earned my master’s degree at Naropa and devoted myself fully to the path of psychedelic healing. For a while, I stepped away from psychotherapy and followed my curiosity into the shamanic and spiritual realms—studying energy healing, shamanism, and plant medicine ceremonial arts. Those years were rich and transformative, but I also began to notice that, despite my spiritual growth, I was still hitting familiar walls in my own healing process.

That realization led me back to the body. I renewed my psychotherapy training with Innate Path, a somatic psychedelic therapy model that completely changed how I understood the healing process. It turned my world upside down and finally gave me the breakthroughs I’d been searching for. Because of how powerful it’s been for me and my clients, I now integrate the Innate Path model into my practice and serve on their training team.

Doing this work is my passion, and a huge honor. I get to sit with people in some of the most vulnerable, authentic, sacred moments of their lives and witness real transformation unfold. Psychedelics teach us that healing doesn’t have to be sterile or linear—it can be playful, mysterious, and deeply sacred, while simultaneously getting to the root of the problem.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Haha! If someone out there has had a smooth road, I’d love to meet them! My own path has had plenty of bumps and unexpected turns, and there were definitely moments when it was hard to hang on.

For starters, being a psychedelic therapist before it was “in” was no easy feat. I’m grateful that the cultural tides have shifted toward greater openness and respect for this work, but for a long time it felt like swimming upstream. It took a lot of patience, trust, and inner steadiness to keep following a path that many didn’t yet understand.

Another big learning curve has been stepping into the role of business owner. The clinical work comes naturally to me—but running a business? That’s been a steep learning curve! The road’s been anything but straight, yet every twist has carved out more humility, humor, and heart for the work I love.

As you know, we’re big fans of Remembering Grace Healing Arts . For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I’m a licensed psychotherapist and shamanic practitioner specializing in the intersection of psychedelic work and trauma. What really sets me apart is the balance I bring between Western psychology and Indigenous healing traditions—and the years I’ve spent walking that bridge in both my personal and professional life.

I began my psychedelic therapy journey back in 2010 and have worked with hundreds of clients since then. It takes time and humility to become truly fluent in both the science and the art of this work. Because psychedelic therapy isn’t yet governed by any licensing board or standardized training, the field can feel a bit like the Wild West—full of possibility, but also largely unregulated. I’ve learned how essential deep training and ongoing personal work over time are in navigating it skillfully and safely.

I’m grateful to have trained with Innate Path and to be among the few therapists certified in MDMA psychotherapy through the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), where I had the privilege of serving as a therapist in the Phase 3 clinical trials for MDMA and PTSD. My background also includes certification as a Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Provider through the Integrative Psychiatry Institute, an AEDP therapist, and an ear acupuncture specialist (NADA). Additional studies in somatic trauma resolution, dissociation, parts work, transference, and attachment theory have all deeply informed my practice.

Since 2013, I’ve been studying and practicing an earth-centered Yucatec Maya shamanic lineage through the teachings of Miss Beatrice Waight. This tradition emphasizes non-psychedelic plant medicine, shamanic bodywork, and abdominal massage. I’ve also trained extensively in core shamanism and found inspiration in a wide range of healing traditions—from Chi Nei Tsang and yogic philosophy to folk herbalism, functional nutrition, and Buddhist psychology.

The heart of my work is relationship. I’m known for holding a down to earth, safe space where clients can feel loved in the places they can’t yet love themselves. I bring my own authenticity and vulnerability, within a humorous, down-to-earth style that helps people feel at ease and able to approach their own vulnerabilities and pain in a more profound way. My intention is to help clients find the non-dual, non-judging, accepting awareness within themselves that can be difficult to access alone. When pain is met with validation and compassionate witnessing—while moving the stuck energy of trauma through the body—shame, self-criticism, and rigid unconscious patterning begin to soften. From there, self-compassion, curiosity, and embodied presence naturally emerge. That’s the fertile ground from which true healing happens.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I’ve always had a deep love for the ocean, and one of my favorite adventures is finding the best snorkeling spots around the world. If I ever changed careers, I’d probably chase that love all the way into becoming an underwater photographer.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.innatepath.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rememberinggracehealing/
• Other: rememberinggrace@protonmail.com

Image Credits
Nicole Sylvestre and Sandy Owens