Elise has been studying meditation, mental health, group dynamics and personal growth for nearly 30 years. After years as an educator and raising children, she earned her Master’s in Counseling Psychology in 2011, specializing in holistic studies, and the bio-psycho-social-spiritual model of healing. Her graduate studies included a practicum at the Center for Mindfulness, deepening her own meditation practice while studying the healing potential of meditation. She has completed all three levels of Internal Family Systems training, which deeply informs her non-pathologizing style of psychotherapy. More recently, she completed the Certificate in Psychedelic Research and Therapy at the California Institute of Integrative Studies, and numerous trainings at Polaris Insight Center, where she trained in Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP). Elise is also the facilitator of the Contemplative Practices and Psychedelics Affinity Group at the Boston Psychedelic Research Group. She also teaches meditation with the Awakening Heart Practice Community. She is currently offering KAP, psychotherapy, supervision and meditation instruction, and remains steadfast in her commitment to supporting people's healing. As she continues to weave together somatic practices, compassion based practices, Internal Family Systems and KAP, she is energized by the potential of this work for her clients, and looks forward to co-leading groups with her colleagues at Mandala KAP. When out of the office, Elise loves to be in nature, hiking, swimming, snow-shoeing and gardening. She loves to cook creative meals with family and friends, and finds deep human connection central to what helps her thrive.

Swana is a board-certified internist who has been providing care to patients in the internal medicine and palliative care settings at Weill Cornell Medical College in NYC for over a decade. Driven by curiosity about people and their lives, Swana centers her work in the association between people's physical ailments and their mental health. She brings a holistic approach to her patient care with a focus on mindfulness, stress reduction, and nutrition. Swana graduated from medical school at the University of Amsterdam and completed her residency training at Montefiore/Albert Einstein in the Primary Care/Social medicine program. Her specializations include compassionate effective and empathic communication with patients, providers, and within organizations. As faculty of the Academy of Communication (ACH), she leads communication workshops and Train-the-Trainer programs. She provides coaching and leads reflection groups focusing on professional identity and well-being to health care providers. Swana is a 2022 graduate of the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) program in Psychedelic Assisted Therapy and Research. She also completed training with the Ketamine Training Center and is interested in the potential of legal use of psychedelics to address anxiety, depression, and burnout symptoms related to COVID 19 in health care providers. Based in New York City and Amsterdam, Swana loves to travel, to cook delicious meals, and share them with loved ones. She practices yoga and speaks Dutch, German, and Spanish.

Jonathan is a board-certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP), as well as a board-certified adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner. He currently works full-time in outpatient psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital where he has practiced for over seven years. Clinically, Jonathan has experience in inpatient, outpatient, emergency, correctional, and hospice settings. He works with a number of mental health concerns including mood and anxiety disorders, ADHD, and substance use disorders (including Suboxone/buprenorphine prescribing). He is also passionate about ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and prescribes ketamine lozenges for this purpose. With advanced training in psychiatric medication prescribing as well as in psychotherapy, Jonathan finds both optimizing his patients’ mental health and accompanying them in their suffering deeply human and fulfilling work. He is particularly interested in relationship issues, aging, death and dying, LGBTQ issues, psychedelic integration work, contemplative practices across spiritual traditions, spiritual companionship, and religious trauma. Jonathan enjoys reading, bicycling, traveling, cooking, contemplative prayer, and cultivating deep relationships.

Meg began working as certified nurses aid in nursing homes while in high school. The privilege of helping the elderly was humbling and sparked her interest to study the science of health and human connection. She became a registered dietitian and worked with persons living with HIV/AIDS during the 1980s and was touched by the experience of supporting persons dying with dignity. Listening to the wisdom of a caring mentor, she completed an EdM to learn about human development and counseling processes. She then completed a PhD in clinical psychology focusing on what helped women of color living with HIV/AIDS move from surviving to thriving. Meg completed a postdoctoral fellowship and became faculty at the Institute for Sexual and Gender Health, at the University of Minnesota. Through this work, Meg learned to recognize the effects of traumatic stress and pursued further training in the area of trauma and dissociation. She has a long standing affiliation with the Trauma Center in Brookline, MA. She practices evidence based therapies including, mindfulness, EMDR, IFS, Neurofeedback, somatic based therapies, and polyvagal theory. Meg completed KAP training in 2019 with the Ketamine Training Center. She completed the 2021 California Institute of Integral studies, Certificate in Psychedelic Research and Therapy. Meg is dedicated to being in community to honor the innate wisdom of all human beings and their ability to explore their own challenges and experiences within the context of their own culture and worldview and evolution of healing. She is excited to be a part of Mandala KAP.

Anad is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist with over 25 years of experience in Healthcare. She started her career as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) in office-based pediatric and adult primary care and transitioned to being an opreating room scrub nurse at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein in the Bronx. As a Registered Nurse she continued her specialization in vascular, and trauma operating room nursing at Westchester Medical Center in the lower Hudson Valley of New York. She then completed her training as a Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) in the open-heart Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit before pursuing her education in Nurse Anesthesiology. For the past 10 years, Anad has delivered compassionate care to the Rhode Island community as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. Anad is dedicated to alleviating perioperative pain and encouraging self-care for patients and healthcare providers alike. In addition to providing anesthetic care to all age groups, she is a passionate advocate for wellness and burnout prevention. Anad has served on the board of her professional organizations, and is interested in how healthcare environments can be designed to better support healthcare workers. An advocate for mental health for those in the healing professions, Anad is co-founder of Overgroundmed. Excited about the promise and potential of psychedelic-assisted therapies, Anad obtained certification in Psychedelic Research and Therapy at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She also received her MDMA assisted psychotherapy training from the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). She is currently pursuing education as a Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. Outside of the office, Anad enjoys gardening, meditation, traveling, creating music, and spending time with her family and two floofy pups.

Megan cares deeply about supporting quality of life and reducing suffering. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing. Her experience as a Registered Nurse includes hospice and palliative care, nursing education, and health promotion across the lifespan. Megan earned their PhD in 2020, and has since continued to conduct mixed-methods research examining the role of spirituality in supporting wellbeing. In their current work, Megan is exploring how spirituality supports people with cancer who are facing pain. They are also collaborating with a team of public health nurses to understand the role of spirituality in the health and wellbeing of Black community members in Madison, WI. Finally, they are leading a research team to explore attitudes and perceptions around psychedelic-assisted therapy among people with cancer who have been underrepresented in psychedelic research. Megan is passionate about expanding access to holistic, compassionate, and equitable palliative care. She is a co-creator of the Creative Dying Conversation Game, facilitator of Death Café Lansing/Madison, and a graduate of the California Institute of Integral Studies Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research program. Outside of the office, you can find Megan practicing yoga, creating embroidery, and playing outside with loved ones. They are especially grateful to be contributing to the program evaluation component of the Mandala KAP program.