We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Craig Salerno a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Craig , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the best advice you ever gave to a client? How did they benefit / what was the result? (Please note this response is for education/entertainment purposes only and shouldn’t be construed as advice for the reader)

When a client is seeking psychedelic psychotherapy services, there are two main areas I encourage them to explore.

First would be identifying the psychedelic medicine and style of treatment that feels most aligned with your goals. Between ketamine-assisted therapy, ayahuasca, and psilocybin, there are a handful of psychedelic medicines being utilized for growth and healing. Researching each medicine and how they are utilized is key. You can also chose to work individually, in a group, or in an intensive retreat environment. Having an introductory understanding around each medicine, their legality, and they styles in which they are administered is a great starting point.

Next would be finding an ideal fit between client and therapist/guide. The psychedelic experience can be extraordinarily raw, vulnerable, and sacred, and you want to make sure you are sitting with someone who feels well attuned to you and your process. Finding a good fit takes time and you should never compromise your own comfort and intuition when seeking a healing experience.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am the owner of Craig Salerno Counseling which offers psychedelic therapy and integration counseling to clients looking to heal, grow, and explore their inner landscape. We have a team of licensed therapists that provide ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) and individual counseling, and we are passionate about offering skillful, safe, and effective treatments.

I found my way into this work through my own personal experiences and training. I graduated from Colorado State University with an undergrad degree in Psychology. After working in the field for a year, I quickly realized there was so much to learn and pursued a master’s degree in Contemplative Psychotherapy from Naropa University. I worked extensively in the field of mental health treatment, focusing primarily on trauma and substance abuse recovery, and opened my own private practice in 2019. Since then, I have pursued various psychedelic therapy trainings and began offering an array of psychedelic treatments, integration, and intensives in my practice.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Working with addictions and substance abuse recovery, there are significant stigmas and prejudices people have about the individuals who struggle with these ailments. Before stepping into this field, I had my own views of how and why people became addicted, and why people “chose” addicted lifestyles. It has been a humbling process of genuinely learning the stories and struggles of my clients, and coming to a wider understanding of how trauma and physiological changes significantly increase the chance of mental health struggles and addiction.

From this vantage point, I have adopted many different understandings of how and why people become addicted, and recognize the complex web of biological, psychological, sociological, and spiritual factors that contribute to behavior. It also contextualizes how people recover and how important compassion, relationships, and purpose are in the recovery path.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

In the field of psychotherapy, the relationships you build with colleagues and clients goes a long way. The majority of client referrals come from individuals who trust your ability to do work with skill and integrity. In this way, I try to focus on providing skillful and compassionate work to my clients, and I focus on building strong networks of reliable colleagues.

Contact Info:

• Website: craigsalernocounseling.com
• Instagram: @craigsalernocounseling
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/craig.salerno.9
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-salerno-ma-lac-lpc-276ba827
• Other: https://linktr.ee/CraigSalerno