Meet Clayton Ickes | Psychedelic Therapist & Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Clayton Ickes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Clayton, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
Even when things get challenging and it seems like there’s nowhere to go, it’s clear to me that giving up is not an option because of the deep level of alignment that I feel with my path. The work of psychedelic therapy has been a thread that’s run through my life for over a decade now. I’ve seen this whole field emerge and expand massively over the last couple of years. I see the way that the work impacts the people who do it, the way that my clients grow and change. When that sense of hopelessness or burnout starts to creep in, I remember those clients whose lives will never be quite the same because of our work together. I remember the fear, the pain, the doubt, and the shame that can get cleared away by this work. That fuels me. I know not to give up because I clearly see the importance of what it is that I do. I see changes in the lives of people who I have the privilege to work with. That’s a huge motivator.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a psychedelic therapist and the country’s first fully licensed natural medicine clinical facilitator. I hold a license from the state of Colorado, which allows me to legally administer psilocybin in the context of therapy. Right now there are only about 80 people in the country who hold the same license as me but I was the first. I’m really proud of that because I’ve been working towards the goal of being a psychedelic therapist since 2013. I’m excited that after years of prohibition in which this profession of psychedelic therapy was in the underground and criminalized, I now get to be an above-ground practitioner. I’m excited that the laws are changing to allow this kind of work to emerge back into public awareness without fears of persecution or incarceration.

I got to where I am today by very closely following the field of psychedelic science and taking every possible opportunity that I could find to get involved. I told my parents that I wanted to be a psychedelic professional in 2013 and they didn’t quite get it back then. My personal history with psychedelics stretches back further but I began professionally as an undergraduate writing papers and nurturing a fascination with the field. I volunteered with student organizations, such as Students for Sensible Drug Policy and Psychedelic Club, which provided me opportunities to meet people who were active in the field. Through this I got involved as a night attendant on a study looking at MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD in 2017. There were not very many opportunities to do this work but I kept my eye out and took every volunteer position that I could. I ran a psychedelic non-profit as a volunteer in 2019 and got hired at a university as their psychedelic-assisted therapies program coordinator in 2021. In 2023 I founded my own organization and began professionally facilitating people through psychedelic experiences in the legal personal use model in Colorado. In 2023 I got brought on board as a co-facilitator at a retreat and I worked my way up to lead facilitator while also coming into a network of other facilitators.

Throughout all this time I was studying, reading, and taking every opportunity to practice psychedelic facilitation through ceremonies and psychedelic crisis work with organizations like the Zendo Project. I completed a Masters of Social Work in 2024 and got licensed as a therapist, which helped me get licensed as a natural medicine clinical facilitator. Now I run my own private practice offering individual psychotherapy and psilocybin-assisted therapy. The path was not easy at all. It didn’t even really exist. While I was walking it, in a lot of ways, that had to be created. There were so many times when I thought that I was going crazy or felt hopeless that the world would not support me in doing the work that I was passionate about. I overcame all of that just through pure belief and devotion to the work that I was doing. I knew how powerful it was and that I couldn’t give up on it.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would definitely take them to Chautauqua Mountain Park. We would eat at Rincon Argentino in Boulder

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to shout out to all of the activists, advocates, researchers, therapists, and change makers who have been involved in the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies and the larger field of psychedelic science and drug policy. To the people who have kept the flame of psychedelic medicine work alive through decades of prohibition, terrible science, and persecution. To those people who have suffered incarceration and oppression at the hands of a government machine that changes too slowly. And to the light of true self that shines inside of each human being with clarity and courage.

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