Outside of his work with PRATI, Stephen is a psychotherapist and KAP practitioner in Fort Collins, Colorado. He runs his private practice, Kairos Insight Counseling, where he helps guide others as they heal from past wounds, rewrite their inner story, and reunite with a sense of self that feels whole, connected, and fulfilled. He also serves on the board of the Nowak Society, a Colorado nonprofit that helps connect and organize psychedelic communities.
Thank you for everything you do, and for sharing your insights in this interview!
Tell us a little about your role as the Foundational KAP Training Course Director, psychotherapy practice, and your vision for the world.
It’s a challenge to summarize three of the most meaningful things in my life, but I’ll give it a go. My involvement with PRATI started back in 2019 when the organization came together and began hosting KAP trainings. I was thrilled to be involved but mainly assisted with the audio-visual setup as I was a freshly graduated social worker and lacked clinical experience with KAP. That soon changed over the course of supporting PRATI trainings and eventually moving into private practice as a KAP therapist myself. When the opportunity arose to be Course Director for our Foundational KAP Training program, I felt the calling to step up in service to support this work, PRATI’s mission, and our incredible team of faculty. It’s a great honor to collaborate with so many talented and compassionate people in this organization and to witness the personal transformations and collective healing that occurs during each training. It’s a dream job, what more can I say!
As for my practice and vision for the world, I am passionate about supporting people in connecting to the healing energy that is within them all the time but gets blocked by trauma and psychological burdens. I believe psychedelics and complementary therapies such as Internal Family Systems are powerful tools to reconnect with the Sacred, whether that be a loving, compassionate Self or a transpersonal union with nature or the cosmos. My hope is these experiences of psychospiritual healing will ripple out and catalyze broader shifts in humanity’s relationship to the living world and each other.
What do you appreciate most about using KAP as a modality with your clients?
Ketamine is such a profound tool for working with consciousness. I tell my clients that it is like spreading out the psyche, making space to see, explore, and spend time with all the parts of us that feel compressed and confused in our day to day. It’s remarkable to me how well it works to get people unstuck from their rigid mental cul-de-sacs and come back with fresh insights and perspectives. As a KAP therapist, you don’t have to work so hard and you can witness, support, and marvel together at the mystery that unfolds. I’ll admit I was initially a little skeptical that ketamine was that useful a tool for psychedelic therapy, but after these past 4 years of clinical practice and KAP trainings, I’m a devout believer. I’ve seen dramatic transformations occur in one or two sessions in the most impressive cases, and most people seem to get notable benefits.
What advice would you offer to a provider interested in starting to practice KAP?
Do your own KAP therapy first, if you can. Develop a relationship with the medicine and gain experience understanding the terrain of consciousness it opens up. Then attend an experiential training, whether through PRATI or another established organization. All these things will be invaluable for your competency and skill supporting clients with KAP.
Is there anything else you would like to share with our community?
I want to thank all the clinicians and clients that have been enjoying and sharing the PRATI Music playlists on Spotify over the years. It has been a great joy and honor putting these together and seeking out guest curators to provide a diversity of musical experiences to support this work. And huge gratitude to the brilliant, talented, otherworldly artists whose tracks comprise these playlists. We are all indebted to their incredible creations, beyond what words can convey. Thank you, thank you!
