About
Founded in 2021 by Lisa Ginzburg, Changa Institute is an innovative educational and research center dedicated to the development of psychedelic therapies. Our mission is to advance mental health care by setting industry standards in high-quality psychedelic-assisted therapy training, with a particular focus on developing treatments for OCD and eating disorders.
Our Impact
Changa Institute is one of the first licensed psychedelic-assisted therapy and wellness training ed-tech companies in Oregon and Colorado. In 2023, our students made history by becoming the nation's first licensed psilocybin facilitators. Roughly one in three of Oregon's licensed psilocybin service centers is operated by Changa alumni.
Our team comprises clinical researchers and psychologists from esteemed institutions such as the NYU Psychedelic Research Center, Johns Hopkins, and the University of San Francisco.
We are dedicated to advancing the science of psychedelic therapy through rigorous research and evidence-based practices.
Our Mission
Advancing evidence-based psychedelic medicine research and clinical training to expand safe, equitable patient access to mental health care.
Begin your journey today, take our quiz here.
Changa Faculty
Changa is committed to the success of every student. With that in mind, we have built a strong team of trauma-informed psychedelic therapists, industry researchers, and lead educators who represent a variety of disciplines, backgrounds, and perspectives.
During the program, we will host panel talks with top industry experts from around the world, where they will share their insides, fundamental discoveries and will be able to answer the questions of our students.
Meet The Team
Changa Institute is a pioneering educational and research center dedicated to the development of psychedelic therapies. Our mission is to advance evidence-based psychedelic medicine research and clinical training to expand safe, equitable patient access to mental health care.
Program Director
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Program Director
Katy Chen is a dedicated program director with a passion for mental health, psychedelic therapy, and mindfulness. She earned a BA in Social Studies from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford University, providing her with a strong foundation in interdisciplinary thinking and strategic leadership.
Katy has extensive experience in program development and management, including her tenure as a program director at CourseClout, where she refined her expertise in creating impactful educational initiatives. Her unique blend of academic excellence and professional acumen positions her to spearhead innovative programs at the crossroads of mental health and education.
Driven by a commitment to advancing psychedelic therapy and mindfulness practices, Katy designs evidence-based programs that empower individuals to achieve mental well-being and personal growth. Her work reflects a vision of integrating cutting-edge approaches with compassion and purpose.
Lead Instructor
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Lead Instructor
Samantha is a spiritual care practitioner trained in spiritual healing and interfaith chaplaincy.
She has worked at the NYU Center for Psychedelic Medicine on clinical trials exploring the treatment potential of psychedelic medicines. Her focus has been on trials of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of alcohol dependence and upcoming research on psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of existential distress in individuals with a cancer diagnosis. She offers spiritual healing and meditation through Atman Spiritual Healing, working with individuals who require healing preparation and integration support.
Samantha has completed graduate training from Columbia University in Spiritual Psychology, along with Interfaith Chaplaincy training from the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley. Her contemplative training includes Vedanta yogic meditation lineage, Indo-Tibetan Dzogchen meditation, and both spiritual healing and constellation therapy. She is interested in integrating spiritual care and traditional healing practices into the facilitation process for psychedelic medicine work.
Instructor
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Instructor
Carla Aspesberger is a conduit for holistic transformation, blending therapy, somatic work, and energy codes all through the heart of fascia to guide others on their journey of self-healing. Carla's journey as an integration specialist is a mosaic of dedication and a ceaseless thirst for wisdom. With over a decade of teaching across six countries, she has synthesized wisdom from Traditional Psychology, Eastern Vedic traditions, Shamanic rituals, and modern Biohacking to create a unique, integrative approach that works.
Her sessions combine ancient wisdom and contemporary science, offering an experience where breath becomes a bridge to the soul, inspiring profound self-discovery and awakening sovereign potential. Through the lens of fascia—the body’s connective intelligence—she helps unlock profound shifts in emotional, mental, and physical well-being. She specializes in depression and trauma-informed care.
In her presence, students discover that true transformation arises not from seeking externally, but from aligning with the divinity already within.
Instructor
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Instructor
Alex Love is an Executive Coach who specializes in delivering impactful training and coaching to leaders and their teams to foster workplace cultures of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Alex Love is the Founder and CEO of Alex Love Consulting, a dynamic network of HR consultants, trainers, and strategists dedicated to fostering inclusive workplace cultures. Through climate assessments, policy analyses, and actionable plans, Alex and their team partner with organizations to ensure sustainability and accountability in HR and DEI practices. They also specialize in Fair Chance Employment, advising employers on creating policies and programs to support formerly incarcerated individuals. Previously, Alex held senior HR roles at Vice Media, where they managed employee relations, developed a performance management system, and launched the company’s first Apprenticeship Program for justice-impacted individuals. With a degree in Sociocultural Anthropology from NYU, Alex brings a unique perspective to building impactful workplace strategies and retreats. They are based in New York City and Las Vegas.
Lead Instructor
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Lead Instructor
Matthew is a licensed psilocybin facilitator actively supporting clients since co-facilitating the second session under Measure 109.
Matthew is an alum of the Changa Institute's first cohort and holds a Post-Graduate diploma in Teaching and Learning from the University of Canterbury College of Education, along with a Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology from the Evergreen State College. As a facilitator, he actively engages in ongoing professional development, recently completing an End-of-Life Doula certification from the End-of-Life Psychedelic Care training program. Matthew values the sharing of experiences through leading practicums and classes for facilitator training programs, participating in panel discussions at symposiums, being an active member of several facilitator support networks, and preparing and supporting clients through every stage of their personal journey with psilocybin.
With six years of experience as a youth crisis interventionist and program supervisor for at-risk young adults, he possesses a robust background in employing a trauma-informed approach to assist others through challenging situations and personal development. As a trained educator and experienced teacher, Matthew ensures his clients are well-prepared for their psilocybin journey, and he extends this commitment to the training of future facilitators. His decade-long dedication to endangered species recovery projects allowed him to work hands-on with a variety of wildlife honing his skills in relating to various forms of consciousness and nonverbal communication. Matthew's passion for entheogens has been cultivated over the course of 25 years and he is deeply grateful for the opportunity to utilize his range of skills and experiences in support of his community in the purposeful use of psilocybin and in training future facilitators.
Instructor
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Instructor
Research Assistant Professor, NYU Psychedelic Research Training Program Fellowship Recipient 2020-2023
B.S., M.A., PhD. Arizona State University
Research Assistant Professor, Arizona State University
Instructor
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Instructor
Dr. Manesh Girn is a postdoctoral neuroscientist specializing in psychedelic drugs. Working closely with Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, he conducts functional neuroimaging research on the neural mechanisms underlying the psychedelic experience and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.
He has been lead or co-author of over 20 peer-reviewed publications to date on topics spanning psychedelics, the default mode network, and related aspects of consciousness and cognition.
Manesh also serves as the Chief Research Officer at EntheoTech Bioscience, a pioneering Canadian bioscience company focused on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and multidisciplinary mental health solutions.
Beyond academia and industry, he runs a popular digital platform on YouTube and Instagram called "The Psychedelic Scientist”, where he disseminates the latest findings and developments in psychedelic science in a layperson friendly manner.
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Lectures are provided in a pre-recorded format by Kylea Taylor.
Kylea Taylor, M.S., LMFT (CA MFC #34901) developed and now teaches InnerEthics®, a self-reflective, self-compassionate approach to ethical relationships for therapists and practitioners. She wrote The Ethics of Caring: Finding Right Relationship with Clients and has been writing and teaching about ethics for three decades.
In ordinary coaching or therapy, it is relatively easy to remember ethical guidelines, codes and laws. Yet when we are sitting for people who are experiencing extra-ordinary states of consciousness, the intensity often requires the additional ethical alertness of self-inquiry.
InnerEthics® Awareness Tools help us gently identify motivations, fears, biases, conflicts of interest, and ethically precarious relational situations before these result in behaviors that might compromise a client’s healing or expansion.
Lecturer
Instructor
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Instructor
Christine Caldwell is an Educator, Advocate, and Founder/Executive Director for End of Life Psychedelic Care, a nonprofit whose mission is to create the environment where the safe use of psychedelic medicine is accessible and affordable for anyone faced with a life-threatening illness. She is the Co-Chair of the Dying Well Initiative, a part of the Global Wellness Institute, and a graduate of the year-long Psychedelics Today Vital Therapies and Integration Program. Christine is also the former owner of a 250-client home health care agency.
Founder and Chief Visionary Officer
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Founder | Chief Visionary Officer
Lisa is a visionary entrepreneur with successful exits in the biotech, psychedelic, and cannabis industries. She is an expert in experience design focused on intangible experiences and holds an MS in Architecture from Columbia University, bringing a unique perspective to crafting transformative journeys in psychedelic-assisted therapy, where intangible elements like set, setting, and emotional resonance are central to healing, personal growth, and human flourishing. She also holds dual BA/BS degrees in Economics and Computer Science.
A recognized expert in psychedelic therapy and emerging technologies, Lisa is a UN delegate and speaker, actively advocating for innovative mental health treatments and equitable access.
With over 12 years in alternative emerging markets, she has excelled in leadership, systems development, team building, and product structuring across the cannabis, biotech, psychedelics, and technology sectors. Lisa is an active member of the Oregon Psilocybin Services Rules Advisory Committee. Through Changa Institute, she leads the first accredited psilocybin facilitator training program in the U.S., shaping the future of safe, ethical psychedelic integration in mental healthcare.
Advisor
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Advisor
Mark is the Founder and Managing Partner of The Zittman Family Office (“ZFO”), a single-family office managing a sophisticated portfolio of direct and fund investments across private and public markets. ZFO allocates across all stages and industries with a particular focus on cannabis, psychedelics, biotech, longevity, AI/ML, crypto/blockchain, and real estate. ZFO has been one of the most active single family office investors in cannabis and psychedelics over the past 10 years helping seed and advise early stages companies to profitable exits.
Mark Zittman has over 30 years of professional experience, with most of that time having been spent in structured finance and private investments at firms such as Guggenheim Partners, Morgan Stanley, Greenwich Capital, and Merrill Lynch. Mark is a co-founding Partner and the former Chairman of Tuatara Capital, a sector-focused private equity fund focused on the cannabis industry.
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Senior Advisor
Dr. Richard Louis Miller, MA, PhD, has been a clinical psychologist for more than 50 years and is the founder of the internationally renowned Health Sanctuary at Wilbur Hot Springs. He hosts the syndicated talk radio show Mind Body Health & Politics. The founder of the nationally acclaimed Cokenders Alcohol and Drug Program, he has been a faculty member at the University of Michigan and Stanford University, an advisor on the President's Commission on Mental Health, a founding board member of the Gestalt Institute of San Francisco, and a member of the national board of directors for the Marijuana Policy Project.
In 2017, Inner Traditions published Psychedelic Medicine, an edited compilation of Miller's most popular radio interviews on the medicinal uses of psychedelics. The interviewees include Rick Doblin, Stanislav Grof, James Fadiman, Julie Holland, and Dennis McKenna.
In 2022, Inner Traditions published Psychedelic Wisdom. Dr. Richard Louis Miller shares stories of psychedelic transformation, insight, and wisdom from his conversations with 19 scientists, doctors, therapists, and teachers, each of whom has been self-experimenting with psychedelic medicines, sub rosa, for decades.
In 2022, Routledge published Integral Psychedelic Therapy, which Dr. Miller co-ed and edited with Drs. Jason Butler and Genesee Herzberg.
In 2023, InnerTraditions is publishing Freeing Sexuality, which looks at the stigmas of sex work, recovering from sexual trauma, sexual identification, gender fluidity, polyamory, and porn as a mirror for society.
In 2024, InnerTraditions will publish Graceful Dying: End of Life Transitions with Psychedelics, which looks at the benefits, especially for anxiety and depression, and the challenges of using psychedelic medicines as we transition to whatever comes next.
In 2025, InnerTraditions will publish Psychedelics: Adverse Effects. Breaking with the big pharma tradition of sanitizing Unwanted Complications of Medicine (UCM) by calling them "side effects" as if they are on the side and thus trivial, this book transparently reveals what is presently known by science regarding the unwanted complications of psychedelics.
Advisor
Advisor
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Advisor
Andy Russell is a serial entrepreneur and investor with a multifaceted career spanning finance, technology, media, and social impact. A 1993 graduate of Cornell University with a degree in abnormal psychology, Andy began his career at JP Morgan Chase as an investment banker in New York City. He co-founded the iconic NYC restaurant/lounge MOOMBA before earning his MBA from Columbia Business School in 1999. Andy gained deep expertise in venture capital, private equity, and media investments during his time at Victory Ventures and Pilot Group, focusing on data, predictive modeling, and persuasion. In 2011, he founded Trigger Media Group and later collaborated with the United Nations to launch the Empact Collaboration Platform.
In recent years, Andy has expanded his contributions to politics, national security, and wellness, including co-founding a sound healing company and volunteering during the pandemic. Currently, he is Head of Partnerships at Neuroscape and serves on advisory boards for the Changa Institute, Mount Sinai's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, and the New York Stem Cell Research Foundation. A proud father of two teenage children, Andy splits his time between California and New York City.
Advisor
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Advisor
Richard Rothenberg is an Executive Director at Global A.I. Corporation, a Big Data and Artificial Intelligence company that provides quantitative research, data-driven signals and alternative data for Institutional clients, including Hedge Funds and Governments. Previously, Richard worked as a quantitative portfolio manager and researcher at multi-billion dollar hedge funds and global investment banks, including Deutsche Bank, Man investments and other leading institutions. Richard is a research affiliate at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – one of the world’s largest supercomputing laboratories – and an advisor at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Richard is a member of the Task Force on data for the Sustainable Development Goals at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and member of the United Nations Science, Technology, and Innovation Expert Group. Richard holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Computational Finance from the Monterrey Institute of Technology, a Certificate of Quantitative Finance from the CQF Institute, and a Master’s in Management and Quantitative Finance from Columbia University in New York City.
Advisor
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Advisor
Dr. Ronit Kishon is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry at the Depression Evaluation Service, New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University, where she currently provides psychological support to treatment-resistant patients receiving psilocybin in an active clinical trial. A trauma specialist trained at Columbia University Teachers College and the West Haven VA at Yale School of Medicine, she has treated Holocaust survivors, combat veterans, and 9/11 survivors across two continents, and has overseen the clinical arm of multiple NIMH-funded studies focused on depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Her research examines the neurobiological and psychological mechanisms underlying therapeutic change, bringing both scientific rigor and profound clinical humanity to the Changa faculty.
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