SE RT
SPIRITUAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM
We are a team of professionals and community members providing on-the-ground support to navigate challenging experiences of spiritual and psychedelic nature.
We are also building a community-integrated infrastructure of psychedelic care that weaves together coordinated crisis response, cultural and environmental stewardship, and educational resources.
SERT bridges the gap between destabilizing experiences and the community within which they happen.
Sacred Valley, Perú.
Context: the Sacred Valley.
SERT is a community-rooted initiative based in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, Perú, one of the world's busiest hubs for spiritual and plant medicine tourism.
It is also our home.
As the Valley continues to grow in diversity, activity, and complexity, we’re seeing both its potential and its pressure points. Alongside meaningful contributions, there has been a rise in extractive, unregulated initiatives, often with little regard for environmental impact, ethical responsibility, or the wellbeing of local communities.
In the absence of clear institutional oversight, coordinated response systems, or even a shared willingness to address these challenges, responsibility falls to those of us who are here.
We know this first-hand.
This is where we step in.
Bridging the gap.
This is a community housing a large number of migrants from the Global North. We recognize the impact of our presence, and the need to actively take part in shaping a more accountable, respectful ecosystem.
We have repeatedly witnessed or directly supported cases of acute spiritual crisis in the Valley, as a personal initiative out of concern, compassion, and professional capacity. In the absence of structured response, situations kept being met with inconsistent care and no follow-up.
A shared frustration around this unsustainable reality eventually transformed into creating SERT.
While access to plant medicine experiences continues to expand, the psychological and spiritual crises emerging from them have no coordinated support system to meet them.
These situations do not occur in isolation. They accumulate and ripple through the community, impacting safety, wellbeing, and cultural integrity.
This is not unique to the Sacred Valley.
It reflects a critical, global gap in psychedelic care infrastructure.
What do we mean by "spiritual emergency"?
The concept was articulated by Stanislav and Christina Grof (1989), calling for discernment between classical psychiatric diagnoses and spiritual awakenings.
By spiritual emergencies they refer to: "crises of spiritual opening, during which the individual’s ordinary sense of identity, values, and worldview are challenged and transformed"(Grof & Grof, 1989), and which usually require both professional support and appropriate spiritual guidance.
At SERT, we draw on the work of the Grofs and expand their framework to include our own observations.
The Sacred Valley continuously receives visitors on personal healing and spiritual quests, making the region a busy (unregulated) spiritual hub in itself.
In this light, emergencies here can often be understood, to varying degrees, as spiritual in nature.
Our take:
Who and how we help.
We step in when spiritual or psychedelic experiences move beyond what can be safely held. We work alongside individual helpers and existing teams to stabilize, assess, and guide next steps.
Individuals
If you are undergoing an overwhelming or destabilizing experience, we provide a coordinated response team to support you through:
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stabilization and de-escalation;
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grounded integration support;
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coverage of immediate basic needs;
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ongoing communication, mediation, and translation;
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coordination with your emergency contact and support network;
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liaison with local and international services or authorities;
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community-aware harm reduction and containment.
All support is delivered with compassionate, steady accompaniment.
Practitioners & Retreat Centers
We extend your capacity, we do not replace your role. When situations exceed what can be safely managed internally, we provide:
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additional hands-on support during critical moments;
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grounded, non-escalatory presence;
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structured coordination and resource management;
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field-tested operational insight for complex cases.
Our role is to stabilize the situation while supporting both your team and the individual in your care.
Communities & Networks
We contribute to the development of safer, more responsible ecosystems of care.
Our work includes:
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facilitating care circles for practitioners;
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delivering ethics and safety trainings;
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on-demand, digital resources;
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offering local and international consultation and collaborative support;
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developing and sharing community-integrated models of psychedelic care.
These models are thought to be adaptable and replicable across different cultural and geographical contexts, while remaining responsive to the uniqueness of each community.
Meet the team.
Bárbara Espina
Co-founder, Exec. Director & Responder
Bárbara is a psychologist working at the intersection of mental health, plant medicine, community care, and arts-based education, with over a decade of experience across nonprofit, institutional, and community settings.
She holds a degree in Psychology and an MA in Applied Theatre in Community and Educational Contexts (Leverhulme Trust Award 2018), and has trained in Shadow Work™, Somatic Plant Medicine Integration, the Human Energy-Consciousness System, and integration and safety programmes through ICEERS.
As a plant medicine practitioner, she supports with integration, ceremony holding, and crisis response. Her practice is informed by an ongoing relationship with international initiatives educating and advocating for ethical and responsible practices.
Her projects Once Upon A Ceremony (2024) and Wisdom of the Holders (2026) support critical thinking, ethics, and accountability in plant medicine spaces, combining psychology, peer-support, and storytelling.
Fernanda Baraybar
Co-founder & International Relations
Fernanda is a psychic strategist and writer, dedicated to the expansion of consciousness. She works as a consultant for Synergetic Press, supporting organizations committed to transformation. With an MSc in Spirituality, Consciousness, and Transpersonal Psychology from the Alef Trust, her research explores spiritual abuse and personalized healing. She's co-founder of Haramara Sal Sanctuary (2023), a local, community-rooted initiative supporting and advocating for survivors of spiritual abuse.
Deepening her spiritual path, she studies with the Q’ero communities of Perú and the Incan Medicine School, honoring the lineage of her ancestors.
Bridget Sipe
Responder
Bridget is an Integration Coach and advocate specializing in psychedelic-informed care during and after crisis, emergency or non-ordinary states of consciousness.
She holds an MA in Integrative Health with a focus on Consciousness Studies and mental well-being, and has trained in trauma-informed psychedelic integration, with special focus on ethics and somatic approaches. Her professional brackground includes psychiatric inpatient units, group homes, and community settings.
Informed by lived experience and global study of traditional and Indigenous medicine, Bridget believes healing unfolds through community, nature, relationship, creativity and the stories we are safe enough to tell.
Lynn Bee
Responder
Lynn is a certified psychedelic integration coach and former EMT with wildland firefighting operations. Her background in emergency response and harm reduction gives her a practical, grounded presence in crisis and non-ordinary states.
Based in the Sacred Valley, Lynn runs WholeSoul, a psychedelic integration and transformational coaching practice. She has worked as a facilitator at various ayahuasca centers, provided medical support and harm reduction at community events, and runs an educational initiative teaching first aid, CPR, and de-escalation across the Sacred Valley.
In addition to her coaching certification with Being True To You, Lynn holds a 200-hour yoga teaching certification with further yogic study at Bihar School of Yoga Ashram. She is currently an honors psychology student at Oregon State University's eCampus, with a focus on trauma-informed care.
Heather Paulson, NMD (ret.)
Responder & Organizational Advisor
Heather is a naturopathic physician with training spanning conventional medicine, functional medicine, herbal therapy, homeopathy, and Traditional Chinese Medicine. She holds additional certifications in Somatic Plant Medicine Integration, Ayahuasca Safety and Integration through ICEERS, and trauma-informed care, and is currently deepening her studies in Andean traditional healing through Escuela Medicina Andina.
She also mentors health practitioners in building sustainable, mission-aligned practices through the Health Business Growth Collective, bringing the same integrative lens to branding and organizational development that she brings to healing work.
She has spent years living and working in the Sacred Valley, first drawn by the medicine and staying for the community that grew around Hampuy House, her retreat space. As a responder with SERT, Heather brings both clinical grounding and ceremonial experience to the moments when someone needs steady, informed presence most.
Amanda Rodrigo, RN
Clinical Advisor
Amanda serves as a clinical advisor for the Spiritual Emergency Response Team (SERT), bringing over 15 years of experience as a Trauma-Informed Registered Psychiatric Nurse specializing in Behavioral Health and Chemical Dependency. She has pursued extensive training in integrative healing modalities, including Kambo (Matses), Psychedelic Therapy (American Holistic Nurses Association), Microdosing (San Francisco Psychedelic Society), Breathwork, Trauma-Release Bodywork, and Reiki energy healing.
Now based in the Sacred Valley, Amanda owns and operates a holistic wellness center where science meets spirit. She offers a heart-centered, clinically grounded approach to risk mitigation and holistic care, believing each person is their own most powerful catalyst for healing and that spiritual emergencies are profound opportunities for growth.
What guides us.
Mission
To provide compassionate, specialised support and coordinated response to spiritual emergencies and other complex situations arising in psychedelic and spiritual contexts, while supporting practitioners and communities in building the capacity to safely hold them.
Vision
To develop as a sustainable, community-integrated model of psychedelic support in the Sacred Valley, that can be adapted and implemented in other high-impact regions globally.
To cultivate reciprocal relationships and cooperation with other local and international plant medicine practitioners and communities, and aligned services worldwide, supporting shared learning, knowledge exchange, and collective maturation of the field.
To contribute to the global conversation on the present and future of psychedelic practices, and how these are informing societies' evolution.
Values
Agency
We respect each person’s worldview and autonomy, supporting their capacity to navigate challenge and find their own meaning.
Consent
We engage through clear agreement and do not impose intervention. Where needed, we work in coordination with a defined point of responsibility to ensure continuity of care.
Reliability
We offer steady, non-abandoning care, especially when things are intense, chaotic or unclear. We stay connected to the human within the crisis.
Attunement
Each situation is unique. We listen closely and adapt to the natural rhythm, needs, and unfolding of the situation, without assuming we already know. Every case informs and evolves our practice.
Community Integrity
We work within community, not around it. The wellbeing and safety of the wider ecosystem are integral to our decisions, even when this requires difficult boundaries.
Get involved.
Connect Collaborate Support Refer
We are always looking for aligned individuals to join our team and support our mission. Tell us how you think your energy an expertise could contribute to making a meaningful impact with us.
