“Nobody’s coming to a healing center to do an imperceptible dose of mushrooms. People are coming for big experiences, to have the doors of their mind kicked open.”
That’s how Teresa Crossland, a psychotherapist and co-owner of Happy Rebel Healing, characterizes what her clients are looking for: “To be held safely” while they explore parts of themselves long closed off.
That experience is now available in Boulder after Happy Rebel Healing became the city’s first psilocybin healing center in July. In the months since, at least two more — Chariot Psilocybin Healing Center and Psychedelic Growth — have followed Happy Rebel’s lead. While psychedelic mushrooms have been decriminalized in Colorado since 2022 and can be legally grown or shared, the state only began offering licenses to healing centers in January.
Psychedelic mushrooms have been used for thousands of years in Indigenous traditions for both therapeutic and spiritual purposes. Today, a growing body of clinical trials and academic studies is helping them enter mainstream psychiatry. Early trials suggest psilocybin therapies can decrease symptoms of anxiety and depression and help treat PTSD and substance use disorder. The therapies have also seen growing support from the FDA as evidence builds.
The ‘administrative session’
Psilocybin sessions at healing centers are a relatively structured experience.
During what’s known as an “administrative session,” a client takes a relatively high dose of mushrooms under the supervision of a licensed facilitator. Colorado requires one preparation session and one integration session — essentially, a conversation before and after the experience. Happy Rebel Healing considers that insufficient and requires two of each.
“The mushrooms are one thing; the integration afterwards is where the magic happens,” said co-owner Erin Pfarr. “That’s the neuroplasticity stage where you can create new habits and beliefs with yourself.”
During the first hours of the session, clients wear headphones and an eye mask to encourage focus on internal thoughts rather than external stimuli “when the medicine comes on.”
“All of psychedelic healing is based on this concept of inner healing intelligence,” said Crossland, who also worked on MDMA clinical trials. “Inside of you there is a wisdom that knows exactly where you are supposed to go, that is going to reveal and unfold the information that you need to confront.”
In practical terms, Pfarr added: “You’re dealing with a lot of yourself, and your shit.”
Facilitators are trained to help people navigate the thoughts and feelings that come up during a session that lasts at least five hours and often gets emotionally intense. Facilitator training includes a 150-hour didactic program, a 40-hour experiential practicum and 50 hours of consultation. Some, like Crossland, are also licensed therapists and thus allowed to use clinical interventions during the session. She said the experience can be draining.
“It’s pretty intense, and sometimes hard material comes up that’s challenging,” Crossland said. A facilitator aiming to stay healthy, she added, “could probably do one session a week.”
Because of that, Crossland doesn’t run most sessions at Happy Rebel. Instead, outside facilitators pay to use the licensed center — the only place sessions can legally take place.
The business challenge
Colorado is only the second state, after Oregon, to allow psilocybin healing centers. Psilocybin remains a Schedule I drug under federal law. That’s made the usual hurdles to starting a business even harder.
“Banks don’t want to work with you. Credit card processors don’t want to work with you,” Crossland said.
Zoning adds another layer of complexity: Boulder City Council this year barred healing centers in low-density, single-family neighborhoods and required special review in other residential areas.
In Happy Rebel’s case, the city initially approved its zoning in January, then later told Pfarr the approval had been a mistake. She scrambled to file a minor use change to keep the July opening on track.
Who the clients are
Barriers to entry don’t just apply to businesses. Healing center sessions are also expensive.
Happy Rebel Healing charges about $2,800 for the full experience, including preparation and integration sessions. Other Boulder centers range from $1,500 to $4,000.
In addition to approximately 14 hours of facilitator time, licensing fees and insurance are also “incredibly expensive,” Crossland said. Still, the center is looking for ways to make the experience more accessible.
Facilitator pay is the most costly element of a session, so “if our facilitator is willing to cut their rate a little bit, we’re willing to cut our rate a little bit, just to get it out there,” she said.
Perhaps as a result of the cost, Happy Rebel’s clients tend to be slightly older than the average dispensary visitor. The owners say they often fall into two categories: people in their 40s and people over 70.
Many of their older clients tried psychedelics decades ago and now return seeking meaning or peace later in life. Crossland said they’re often looking to rediscover who they are without their career and release ideas that aren’t serving them.
Clients in their 40s often “have been stuck or stalled in their therapeutic process — anxiety, trauma, addiction,” she said. Happy Rebel sometimes turns people away with serious mental health conditions if they lack adequate support afterward.
“We are making sure that they have an established relationship with a therapist, or that they establish one,” Pfarr said. “We need to make sure that they have a soft place to land and somebody to sort through all of these things with, because we just want to help people feel better.”
Prospective clients who lack such support are asked to return once they have it.
No negative outcomes have been reported at Happy Rebel to date, which is largely consistent with a recent Oregon study of over 3,100 sessions in the first six months of the year that reported fewer than 20 adverse events.
Pfarr and Crossland say they hope to keep that trend going.
“It feels guaranteed that when you start a new business, there’s going to be a learning curve,” Crossland said. “You’re going to make mistakes, how could you not? But this business, the stakes feel a little high. You don’t want to make mistakes that are going to harm a person or harm the movement.”
Despite the hurdles, Pfarr and Crossland are consistently booked and optimistic about what the future holds.
“This feels like exactly what we are supposed to be doing at this point in time,” Pfarr said. “So it is huge and big stakes — and, this is where we’re meant to be.”
Phish chicks wearing Megan Fabulous pants, healing and helping the community! This is phabulous!!
These are 2 women who care deeply about what they are doing. I’ve heard people complain about how expensive this is, but it’s because of the ridiculous costs and not greed. They are doing this because of the healing, not the money. And their kindness and care for their clients is obvious in every decision they make. If this is something you are interested in, you should reach out and get more information. Thank you for bringing attention to this important work.