CANADIAN PHYSICIAN AND RENOWNED ADDICTION EXPERT, SPEAKER & BESTSELLING AUTHOR

A renowned speaker, and bestselling author, Dr. Gabor Maté is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics including addiction, stress and childhood development. Rather than offering quick-fix solutions to these complex issues, Dr. Maté weaves together scientific research, case histories, and his own insights and experience to present a broad perspective that enlightens and empowers people to promote their own healing and that of those around them.

After 20 years of family practice and palliative care experience, Dr. Maté worked for over a decade in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side with patients challenged by drug addiction and mental illness. His book on addiction received the Hubert Evans Prize for literary non-fiction. For his groundbreaking medical work and writing he has been awarded the Order of Canada, his country’s highest civilian distinction, and the Civic Merit Award from his hometown, Vancouver.

His books include In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction; When the Body Says No; The Cost of Hidden Stress; Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder; Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers; and The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture.

His next book, Hello Again: A Fresh Start for Parents and Their Adult Children is expected in 2026. Gabor is also the creator of a psychotherapeutic approach, Compassionate Inquiry, now studied by thousands of therapists, physicians, counselors, and others in over 80 countries.

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST & FOUNDER OF ACER INTEGRATION

Dr. Watts is a clinical psychologist, a mother, and a nature lover. Her work as the Clinical Lead for Imperial College London’s psilocybin trial has made her one of the most prominent voices and minds in the field of psychedelic research.

Dr Watts has been named as one of the 50 Most Influential People in Psychedelics as well as one of the top Top 16 Women Shaping the Future of Psychedelics. However, what sets Dr. Watts apart is her focus on integration, harm-reduction and inclusion in the psychedelic space. 

Dr. Watts builds tools and structures to foster connectedness after psychedelic experiences, finding inspiration for their design from nature. Through all her work, Rosalind's main learning has been that safe and effective use of psychedelics requires substantial integration support. As a result, she co-founded the UK's first psychedelic integration group, and in 2022 launched ACER (‘Accept, Connect, Embody, Restore’) Integration - a global online integration community where participants follow a 13-month process together to connect more deeply to the self, others, and nature. 

www.AcerIntegration.com

BUDDHIST LAMA & FOUNDER, GAIA MANDALA

Cynthia Jurs, author of Summoned by the Earth: Becoming a Holy Vessel for Healing Our World, became a student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in the 1980s and in 1994, received his transmission to become a Dharmacharya (Dharma Teacher) in the Order of Interbeing. Cynthia has also studied and practiced deeply in the Vajrayana tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1990, she met a 106-year-old Lama living in a remote cave in Nepal, known as Kushok Mangdon (Charok Rinpoche). The question she asked him was, what can we do to bring healing and protection to the Earth? In response, she received the practice of the Earth Treasure Vases. For 30 years, Cynthia traveled around the world to places of need with these holy vessels, and through her dedication, this ancient Tibetan practice has come alive for these times. In 2018, she was recognized as an honorary Lama at Tolu Tharling Monastery in Nepal. Inspired by her years of pilgrimage into diverse communities and ecosystems to bring healing to the Earth, today Cynthia is forging a new path of dharma in service to Gaia—a path deeply rooted in the feminine, honoring indigenous traditions, and teaching an embodied sacred activism devoted to collective awakening. Cynthia lives at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northern New Mexico where she is often found walking in the wilderness with her dog or gardening with her husband. You can find her offerings and join the global healing community she founded at: www.GaiaMandala.net

FOUNDER OF ONE SANCTUM

Lara Tambacopoulou was born in Switzerland, grew up in Greece and pursued her studies in business management and photography in England. She contributed to the Greek press as a photographer and writer until 2012, when she moved with her family to Vancouver to study counseling at the University of British Columbia and remained there until 2018. 

Influenced by her unique family background—her mother was married to Timothy Leary in the 1970s —alongside her extensive research and friendship and mentorship under Dr. Gabor Maté, Lara embarked on a path into the field of therapeutic studies, with a particular interest in the healing potential of expanded states. She continues to train and work under the guidance of pioneers of this work.

Lara frequently travels and immerses herself in the wisdom of indigenous communities in Central and South America, learning from their ancestral traditions. Through the use of entheogens and sacred rituals, these communities safeguard practices that reconnect humanity to its rightful place within nature's ecosystem. Today, they stand as some of the rare and vital reminders of what it truly means to be deeply embedded within the cosmos.

She has received training in multiple therapeutic modalities, amongst them, she is a certified facilitator through the Centre for Systemic Constellations in London and has completed a 3 year training in Psychedelic Studies with the Awe Foundation. 

Dedicated to fostering psychological and spiritual growth, Lara works with individuals seeking to deepen their awareness, personal development and spiritual realisation and is passionate about bringing people and important causes together to weave what is asking to emerge in these times. She resonates deeply with concept of unconditional belonging for all living beings into the sacred ecosystem of life. 

HELLENIC WISDOM CARRIER & ANAMNESIS FOUNDER

Apostolia is a ceremonial performance artist, embodied spirituality mentor, and Hellenic wisdom carrier. Her life’s work, Anamnesis, bridges the performing arts with ancient Greek mythology, philosophy, and history. She creates contemporary rituals that activate sacred sites and evoke collective remembrance. Apostolia views ritual as the living enactment of myth, transforming participants into part of the narrative through her experiential ceremonial performances, presented at major archaeological and sacred sites across Greece. These works invite audiences to reconnect with their origins and honor the profound bond between Humanity, Nature, and the Divine.

She graduated with honors from the National School of Dance and spent five years in New York studying choreography and performance art. Supported by scholarships from the A. Onassis Foundation and the Goulandris Foundation, her time in New York deepened her artistic vision and honed her craft.

In addition to her mastery of choreography, her interest in healing and spirituality led her to lifelong studies that span Water Healing, Music, Voice, Physical Theater, AiKiDo, Scuba Diving, Craniosacral Therapy, Breathwork, and Reiki, reflecting a diverse and holistic approach to her art and teachings.

During the first 15 years of her career, Apostolia choreographed numerous productions of Ancient Greek Tragedy, skillfully blending Logos, Melos, and Orchesis (Word, Music, Movement) with a deep understanding of ritualistic performance. As the founder of The Happiness Retreat since 2016, she integrates her expertise in movement, healing arts, and spirituality to lead transformational workshops, retreats, and experiences.

Among her major achievements are Drops of Breath, the world’s first underwater dance performance; Synergy, the globally broadcast opening ceremony of the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games; and From Darkness to Light, the first overnight performance at a Greek archaeological site. Featured in over 40 international festivals, Apostolia continues to inspire and empower through her visionary teachings and transformative performances.

SPIRITUAL TEACHER & ENERGY HEALER

Tortuga Santosha is a spiritual teacher and an intuitive energy healer with experience as a Reiki Master in the Kali-ki lineage of Reiki, a certified Akashic Records Reader, a certified HeartMath Practitioner, experienced sound healer and a certified Kundalini Yoga Teacher. Tortuga also has a degree in Contemplative Buddhist Psychology from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado.

Tortuga has won numerous awards for his work in various fields, including being recognized as “Forbes 30 Under 30.” Tortuga leads individual and group sessions energy sessions focused on spiritual maturing, self-realization and healing trauma.

Tortuga is currently working towards a Ph.D. in Psychedelic Studies from Ubiquity University in partnership with the AWE Foundation, which is based in Colombia and offers a three-year intensive program in shamanic healing that combines academic studies with experiential training. This training includes working with indigenous communities in Ecuador, Mexico and Gabon, Africa, blending indigenous shamanic wisdom with western therapeutic training to create a comprehensive psychedelic therapy education. He is also researching a dissertation on the process and implications of learning with the hope that it will be in service to the world.

Tortuga is writing his first book on the existential nature of life as a human on Earth with aspirations to be of service and guidance to those navigating thier journey in this lifetime, while offering dharma talks and Kundalni Yoga sessions in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

RELIGIOUS & PSYCHEDELIC STUDIES SCHOLAR

Robert Forte is a scholar of the History and Psychology of Religion who for the last 40 years has focused on the ancient and modern use and abuse of psychedelic drugs, what are now called “entheogens” in some contexts.  Since 1983 he has conducted underground research into the effects of MDMA, and on the use of ayahuasca with cancer patients in natural settings in Peru. 

Trained in Psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and in Religious Studies at the University of Chicago, Robert has edited and published three books:  Entheogens and the Future of Religion (Council on Spiritual Practices, 1997);  Outside Looking In:  Appreciations, Castigations, Reminiscencesof Timothy Leary (Park Street Press, 1999); and the 20th and 30th Anniversary Editions of The Road to Eleusis:  Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries, by R.G. Wasson, Albert Hofmann, and Carl Ruck, (Hermes Press 1998, North Atlantic Books, 2008).

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ORGANISATION FOR THE PREVENTION OF INTENSE SUFFERING

Jonathan Leighton, PhD, is an ethics strategist, writer and social change activist. He is the Executive Director of the Organisation for the Prevention of Intense Suffering (OPIS), a Swiss think-and-do tank he founded in 2016 to promote the prevention of suffering of all sentient beings as a top societal priority. Through OPIS he has been carrying out international advocacy for better access to effective medications for people in severe pain, including morphine for terminal cancer patients in lower-income countries and certain psychedelics for patients with horrendously painful conditions like cluster headaches.

OPIS also calls for an end to factory farming and the abuse and torture of animals. Jonathan has promoted pragmatic ideas aimed at creating a lasting peace in Israel-Palestine, including through a webinar and retreat with leading peace activists in 2024. OPIS is increasingly focusing on a multidisciplinary approach to collaborative systemic change and is releasing a Guide to Compassionate Governance in 2025. Jonathan is the author of two books, The Tango of Ethics: Intuition, Rationality and the Prevention of Suffering (2023), in which he proposes a deep, rigorous reassessment of how we think about ethics, and The Battle for Compassion: Ethics in an Apathetic Universe (2011), a reflection on the question “What matters?” A molecular biologist by training, Jonathan grew up in Montreal, Canada and holds degrees from Harvard University and the University of Basel.

www.PreventSuffering.org

WELLNESS COORDINATOR

Ioanna Soulioti began her career as a model in Greece and Europe, In parallel she started a very successful career as a TV and radio presenter, fashion and lifestyle journalist, columnist, and writer. She has been the Editor in Chief for the fashion magazine Harpers Bazaar Greece and she is the author of “The Book of Style”. 

Ioanna has been practicing yoga since 1994, is a 2nd-degree Reiki Healer, Yoga Instructor, and a member of Yoga Alliance 500RYT. Her affection for this ancient technique of well-being leads her to open the first holistic center in Athens, "iSoulYoga & Wellness", for all styles of Yoga practices, energy healings (Reiki, Quantum, Theta), and massage treatments. She has attended many workshops and seminars regarding yoga and wellness such as Kundalini, Tao, Restorative Yoga, and Yoga for Healing Pain and Trauma, by internationally acclaimed teachers (Nota Georgiou, Marina Efraimoglou, Mairi Aroni, Johnny-Lee Friel, Todd Tesen, Nancy Candea). She organizes, holds, or participates as an instructor,  seminars, workshops, retreats, and holidays all based on Yoga, Wellness, and Wellbeing, in energy-filled places in Greece.