WIRED spoke to the cofounders of an organization offering ketamine-assisted leadership coaching in the San Francisco Bay Area. This innovative approach aims to help high-achieving executives unlock their potential through a combination of psychedelics and personalized coaching.
WIRED spoke to the cofounders of an organization that offers ketamine-assisted leadership coaching in the San Francisco Bay Area. The two speakers are identified by pseudonyms, Aria Stone and Shuang Shuang. Aria Stone has a doctorate in psychology, while Shuang Shuang is a spiritual coach. They explained how their unique approach to leadership coaching utilizes ketamine to facilitate profound personal insights and growth. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
\Shuang Shuang: We fast-track coaching by really locking it in with the psychedelics. We deliver it to you on a cellular level. Aria Stone: With ketamine, there’s a 24- to 48-hour window of optimization, when people’s brains are literally more neuroplastic, which is why this is a multiday experience. SS: We call it an off-site, not a retreat, because we’re not retreating from anything. We don’t do them big—nine or 10 clients—partially due to the importance of confidentiality. Our clientele is primarily CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, CFOs, C-level founders of startups. All of them are in a pressure cooker. AS: Those are the kind of leaders that come—people who have achieved so much in their life, and they’re like, “OK, what’s the next horizon? Because I’ve checked pretty much every box.” SS: Here are all the loneliest people. They have to lead and go through so many things by themselves. They can come and see that they’re not alone, and let go of the burden of being so protected all the time. They just want to be people. \To screen clients, we ask about their medical and psychological background, whether they currently work with a therapist, and whether they’ve participated in a group program before. We would slow down around accepting someone with a significant trauma history, someone who is actively suicidal or has a history of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, the latter of which can be contraindicated with ketamine. AS: And since ketamine can certainly be misused, a history of substance abuse would also give us pause. SS: Our off-site costs $2,600 for three days, plus a $350 fee for a medical assessment and ketamine prescription. Meals are included, but transportation and lodging are not. AS: Over the course of a three-day off-site in the Mission, in a beautiful, open space with a tall ceiling, clients have two ketamine experiences. When you walk in, all of these BackJack floor chairs are in a circle. In the center are candles. We put a rose on every seat, and information about what to expect. SS: The vibes are witchy. The first day is about settling into that radical acceptance, welcoming what’s coming to us on ketamine. Our opening ceremony could include movement, dancing, getting into the body, or we might just talk to each other about what’s alive for us. We have an intention-setting session. We check with everybody to see if we have their consent, from every part of their body, to receive medicine. Then our medical doctor and registered nurse distribute the medicine through a shot—it’s all intramuscular. If it’s your first time using ketamine and you’re nervous about it, thank God! That’s the way it should be. But there’s also the option to not do ketamine at all: You thought you wanted to do it, and then when push comes to shove, you’re on your journey mat and you’re just like, “I really don’t want to do it.” Ketamine and psychedelics are not a panacea. We know that it’s not for everyone. You don’t have to push yourself to do this new, innovative, cutting-edge type of therapy. Yes, there is great promise, and the data over and over again makes this area very frothy and enthusiastic. But it’s perfectly OK if you’re scared and anxious. Just listen to your body and heart. \AS: When we transition into the journey, we pull the BackJacks out. SS: It’s pretty sweet. They have little nests, little beds. They’re all tucked in. They have blankets and pillows, and earplugs if the ambient music playing on the speakers gets too loud. They’re wearing eye masks, because ketamine is more of a dissociative medicine—there is this sense of naturally going inward and being quiet. There are a bunch of stuffed animals there that some people take for their journey. AS: There’s this huge teddy bear holding a cup of the intramuscular ketamine. We encourage clients to bring things that are meaningful for them—like a journal, photos of loved ones, loved ones that have passed, rocks. It’s just really loving, grounding, and open. SS: It’s like an executive-coaching psychedelic slumber party. On the first day we do a psycholytic dose of ketamine. It’s not exactly a psychedelic dose, but it lets you kind of just teeter onto the realms. The next day is a mid-dose. That day is all about medicine and integration, and there’s coaching around it. AS: Four of us facilitate the off-sites. While people are on their ketamine journey, we’re all very attentive. We’re in silent communication with each other. Collectively, we’re really holding this space, seeing what emerges. I mean, we’ve seen over 100 ketamine journeys at this poin
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