Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Dugan.
Hi Jessica, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a multi-trade practitioner in the healing arts with credentials in mental health counseling, massage therapy & yoga. I am currently working on my Natural Medicine Facilitator License and will begin providing psilocybin-assisted therapy as early as March ’27. I earned an MA in Counseling from Regis University in 2025 and returned to higher education in pursuit of practicing above-board psychedelic-assisted therapy. During my graduate program, I immersed myself in traditional plant medicine protocols to supplement my clinical education with cross-cultural shamanism rooted in plant healing. I’ve worked extensively with Amazonian plant medicines for personal healing and to better understand how to support the human experience.
My passion for plant medicine took hold during my involvement in the cannabis industry, where I worked professionally for seven years in drug policy reform, fundraising, and health and wellness. I ran retreats, facilitated cannabis-enhanced yoga, and played a prominent role in the birth of a Shark Tank-like angel investor network for early-stage cannabis businesses.
My role in cannabis came as a result of my original dream, occurring at the intersection of conscious living and live music. My interest in covering the Burning Man festival for my then-blog, Sparkleberry Lane, led me to the SF Bay Area, where I landed an opportunity that changed my life’s trajectory in a way I couldn’t have imagined.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I spent most of my adult life living with undiagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which was revealed to me as complex or as CPTSD during a flood dose with the Iboga root from Gabon. As a result of my particular circumstances, my body developed an excruciating stress response in the form of chronic neuropathic pelvic pain via a nerve called the pudendal nerve, which translates from Latin to English as the shame nerve. The chronicity of this particular pain condition originally lasted for 9 years during the most formative years of my life, ages 20-29. I was depressed and deeply isolated in my experience, with current data suggesting the condition occurs in roughly 1 out of every 10,000 people. From a Colorado vantage point, that’s about one person in a sold-out crowd at Red Rocks Amphitheater. While the true prevalence may be higher due to underreporting and clinical misunderstanding, the condition remains uncommon. At the onset of the condition, I didn’t have the language or understanding to describe what was happening to me, nor did the medical teams I was interfacing with. This ultimately led me to deepen my spiritual practice and cultivate a well of compassion, which propelled me forward into the current iteration of my career. While I have achieved remission, every now and then the pain resurfaces. I am currently recovering from a lengthy flare that took a lot out of me and also reinforced a hard teaching I know to be true: the wisdom’s in the wound.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a holistic practitioner trained in Western psychology, Eastern philosophy, and cross-cultural shamanism. I work in Denver, Colorado as a provisionally licensed mental health counselor, licensed massage therapist, and yoga teacher. My goal, as a practitioner, is to bring the unconscious forward in support of one’s individuation or wholeness process. I believe our greatest healing is made available via our descent into the darkness. For those willing to take the plunge, I offer a light along the path. My work is influenced largely by personal healing, steeped in traditions that work with psychedelic plant medicines used clinically today to treat stubborn conditions like PTSD. I offer services separately or together on a client-to-client basis, creating individualized care that honors each person’s emotional, physical, and nervous system needs. I am also the Research Assistant at the Deva Collective, a non-profit committed to psychedelic research for Women’s Health. Results from our first study investigating microdosing San Pedro for perimenopause will be available early next year, and our next study assessing Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy for Postpartum Depression is underway.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Having a regulated nervous system is the most important quality for my success, both personally and professionally! Because dysregulation or being in a survival state (fight, flight, fawn, freeze) is inherently part of the human condition, I resource by receiving support and connection from loved ones (sweet animals included), as well as through nutrition, movement (I like to swim, walk, and practice yoga), meditation, and creativity. I also need a lot of alone time to reflect and integrate the big life experiences that are always happening. Tending to Self and Spirit as my primary relationships has been incredibly grounding for me, my work, and my loved ones. From there, everything seems to unfold more gracefully.
Pricing:
- Free 20 minute consultations
- Sliding Scale Option Available for Counseling $100-150
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jessicadugan.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicaedugan/
