A guide from Numia Healing Center, Denver
Therapist-Led vs Facilitator-Led Psilocybin Therapy
In Colorado, a legal psilocybin journey can be guided by a licensed facilitator who completed the state training program, or by a clinical facilitator who is also a licensed therapist or medical professional. Both are legal. The difference is who sits beside you when your history, your medications, or the journey itself asks for more than training alone. Numia is built around clinical facilitator therapists: licensed therapists who also hold Colorado’s clinical facilitator license. Every journey here is guided by a licensed therapist.
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Over 200 legal psilocybin sessions guided as the second licensed healing center in Denver.
Two Kinds of Guides, Side by Side
Colorado’s Department of Regulatory Agencies issues two main licenses for the people who guide psilocybin journeys. Here is what each one means for you, drawn from the state’s rules (4 CCR 755-1) as of September 2026.
| Facilitator license | Clinical facilitator license (a licensed therapist or clinician) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who holds it | Anyone 21 or older who completes a state-approved facilitator training program, a 40-hour supervised practicum, and consultation hours. No prior clinical license is required. | Someone who already holds a current Colorado license to diagnose and treat physical or behavioral health conditions, such as a psychologist, counselor, social worker, marriage and family therapist, physician, or nurse practitioner, and who has also completed facilitator training. |
| What they may do | Guide legal psilocybin sessions at a licensed healing center. Under the rules, a facilitator may not independently practice medicine or psychotherapy. | Everything a facilitator may do, plus provide psilocybin services for the purpose of treating physical or behavioral health conditions, within the scope of their clinical license. |
| When your history is complex | If screening shows a medical or behavioral health condition that needs management, a facilitator must refer you to a clinical facilitator or obtain written clearance from your own medical or mental health provider before proceeding. | A clinical facilitator can work with conditions that fall within their own clinical scope, and still coordinates with your prescriber or physician when the medical picture calls for it. |
| Preparation and integration | Preparation and integration sessions are part of the rules for everyone, and many facilitators hold them beautifully. They are not psychotherapy. | Preparation and integration can draw on the therapist’s clinical training, so what surfaces in the journey can be worked with as therapy, not only reflected on. |
| How to verify | Look up any Colorado facilitator on the DORA license lookup, and any healing center on the Natural Medicine Division lookup. The rules themselves are published by the Office of Natural Medicine Licensure. | |
| At Numia | Numia’s model is the clinical facilitator therapist: a licensed therapist (LCSW, LPC, PsyD, LMFT) who also holds Colorado’s clinical facilitator license (NMCF), at our own licensed healing center, NMHC-00022, in central Denver. Every journey is guided by a licensed therapist, and the same therapist prepares you, sits with you on journey day, and integrates with you afterward. | |
Why We Built Numia Around Clinical Facilitator Therapists
Our founder, Carolina Correa, came to this work as a psychotherapist and an anthropologist. She spent years sitting with people in traditional therapy and holds deep respect for it. She also holds deep respect for facilitators and for the ceremonial traditions that carried this medicine long before Colorado wrote its rules. Many facilitators in this state are gifted, careful people, and for some clients a non-clinical container is exactly right.
What Carolina noticed, over years of practice, is that psilocybin tends to open the deeper layers of a person’s emotional world: old grief, trauma held in the body, patterns that talk therapy alone had not reached. When those layers open, it matters who is in the room. A licensed therapist is trained to recognize what is surfacing, to stay steady with it, and to keep working with it in the weeks that follow. That is the whole reason Numia exists: a licensed healing center built around clinical facilitator therapists, where the medicine and the therapy are held by the same person, in the same space.
This is not a claim that therapist-led is better for everyone. It is a description of what is different, so you can choose with clear eyes.
Who guides you at Numia
Clinical Facilitator Therapists, From the First Session to the Last
Every journey at Numia is guided by a licensed therapist, and our model is Colorado’s clinical facilitator license (NMCF), the tier the state reserves for clinicians licensed to diagnose and treat. Some are professors, some are researchers, and others bring expertise in trauma-informed or expressive therapies like art. Beyond their credentials, what truly defines them is their heart: compassionate, grounded, and genuinely committed to walking alongside you.
- Carolina Correa, MFT-C, Founder and Clinical Director
- Kathleen Zachary, MSW, LCSW, NMCF, Co-Owner and Director of Research
- Katy Barrs, PsyD, LP, Clinical Therapist
- Anne Metz, PhD, LPC, NMCF, Clinical Therapist
- Claudia Barfoot, MA, LPC, NMCF, Clinical Therapist
- Johanna Oppeck, LPCC, ATR, Therapist and Art Therapies Specialist
- Benjamin Hawes, DAcCHM, LAc, NMF, Co-Owner and Director of Wellness Practices, supporting preparation and integration with acupuncture
What changes when a clinical facilitator therapist holds the journey
- Screening within scope. Your history, your medications, and anything that could make psilocybin a poor fit are reviewed by a clinician who is trained to weigh them, and who will tell you honestly if this is not the right path.
- Preparation that is already therapy. Two one-hour sessions to build trust and set intentions, led by the same therapist who will be with you on journey day. How we prepare together.
- Someone trained for the hard moments. Difficult material can surface. Your therapist stays in the room from beginning to end and knows how to hold what comes up.
- Integration as real work. Two one-hour integration sessions, the first usually the day after, where insight becomes choices that stay with you.
- Coordination with your own care. With your permission, we work alongside your existing therapist or prescriber, so this becomes part of your care rather than a detour from it.
- One person, start to finish. The therapist who prepares you is the one who sits with you and integrates with you. Nothing is handed off.
Numia opened in September 2025, founded by therapist Carolina Correa. Since then our therapists have guided over 200 legal psilocybin sessions in Denver. Meet the full team on our therapists page, or read the fuller picture of psilocybin therapy in Denver.
“Carolina provided a secure container, held the threshold while I went where only I could go.”Numia client, May 2026
Questions to Ask Any Provider Before You Book
Whether you are talking to a healing center, an independent facilitator, or a therapist who partners with a center, these questions will tell you who will actually be beside you. We welcome them here.
- Which license does my guide hold?Ask whether the person guiding you holds a facilitator license or a clinical facilitator license, and ask for the number so you can check it on the state lookup.At Numia: our model is the clinical facilitator therapist. Every therapist holds a Colorado natural medicine license, and you can verify any of them on the DORA lookup.
- Are you a licensed mental health professional?A facilitator license does not require one. If you carry trauma, grief, depression, or anxiety, ask whether your guide is also a licensed therapist or psychologist and what their clinical training is.At Numia: yes. LCSW, LPC, PsyD, and LMFT clinicians, many with years of trauma-informed practice.
- Who screens me, and what happens if I need clearance?Ask who reviews your medical and mental health history, and what happens if a condition or medication needs a prescriber’s input.At Numia: your therapist and our clinical team review your intake, and we coordinate with your prescriber when it is needed.
- What happens if something difficult surfaces?Ask who is in the room, how they are trained to respond, and what support looks like in the days after.At Numia: your therapist never leaves the room, and integration begins the very next day.
- Who leads preparation and integration?Ask whether the same person leads every session, how many sessions there are, and how long they run.At Numia: two one-hour preparation sessions and two one-hour integration sessions, all with your own therapist.
- Where does the journey happen, and who licenses it?Psilocybin may only be administered at a licensed healing center. Ask for the center’s license number and visit if you can.At Numia: healing center license NMHC-00022, a calm, home-like space in central Denver. See pricing.
What Colorado’s Rules Actually Say
Under the Natural Medicine Health Act, adults 21 and older may receive psilocybin services from a state-licensed facilitator at a licensed healing center. The Office of Natural Medicine Licensure at the Department of Regulatory Agencies licenses the people; the Natural Medicine Division at the Department of Revenue licenses the centers, cultivators, and testing labs.
The rules for guides live in 4 CCR 755-1. Rule 2.2 creates the facilitator license and states that a facilitator may not independently practice medicine or psychotherapy. Rule 2.5 creates the clinical facilitator license for people who hold a Colorado license to diagnose and treat physical or behavioral health conditions, and allows them to provide psilocybin services to treat those conditions within their clinical scope. Rule 6.16 requires a safety screening for every participant, and when screening shows a condition that needs management, a facilitator must refer the participant to a clinical facilitator or obtain written clearance from the participant’s own provider.
Where facilitator-led care fits: for someone with a straightforward history who wants a ceremonial or contemplative container, a skilled facilitator at a licensed center can be a wonderful choice. Where therapist-led care fits: for someone carrying trauma, grief, depression, anxiety, or a complicated medical picture, and for anyone who wants what surfaces to be worked with as therapy afterward. Colorado law as of September 2026; we update this page as the rules change. Read more in Is psilocybin therapy legal in Colorado? and Is psilocybin therapy safe?
Sources
Every claim on this page about licensing comes from the state’s published rules and lookup tools. We link them so you can read them yourself.
- Colorado Office of Natural Medicine Licensure, Rules and Regulations, 4 CCR 755-1: Rule 2.2 (Facilitator), Rule 2.5 (Clinical Facilitator), Rule 6.16 (safety screening and clearance). dpo.colorado.gov/NaturalMedicine
- Rule text as published by Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute: 4 CCR 755-1-2, Licensure
- DORA facilitator license lookup: apps.colorado.gov/dora/licensing
- Department of Revenue, Natural Medicine Division, healing center verification: codor.mylicense.com/NMD_Verification
- Numia Healing Center license: NMHC-00022.
For how the medicine works and what the trials measured, read The science behind psilocybin therapy.
Therapist-Led, in Three Formats
Private Sessions
$3,800all sessions and medicine includedYour own journey, one-on-one with your therapist, scheduled around your life. Most people come to Numia for this.
Couples Protocol
$6,000per couple, all sessions and medicine includedA shared journey for partners or any close pair, with one therapist in the room for both of you, and preparation and integration both together and one-on-one. How the Couples Protocol works.
Group Retreat
From $4,000per person, lodging and gourmet meals includedA few times each year we bring a small group of six to eight together in a private home in the Colorado foothills. How group psilocybin therapy works, or see current dates.
Every format is guided by licensed therapists, in the clinical facilitator therapist model. Preparation and integration sessions can happen by video, so your time in Denver can be as short as two or three days, and our concierge team is glad to help with partner hotel rates and transportation once you arrive. See full pricing.
Common Questions
Is a facilitator the same as a therapist in Colorado?
No. A facilitator license is a stand-alone credential from the Department of Regulatory Agencies that requires state-approved training, a supervised practicum, and consultation hours, but no clinical license. A clinical facilitator holds a Colorado license to diagnose and treat behavioral health conditions and has also completed facilitator training. Both may legally guide a journey at a licensed healing center. Numia is built around clinical facilitator therapists.
What is a clinical facilitator therapist?
A licensed mental health professional, such as an LCSW, LPC, PsyD, or LMFT, who also holds Colorado’s clinical facilitator license (NMCF) under Rule 2.5 of 4 CCR 755-1. The license allows them to provide psilocybin services for the purpose of treating behavioral health conditions within their clinical scope, so preparation, the journey, and integration can be held as one continuous course of therapy by one person. It is the model Numia Healing Center is built around.
Can a facilitator provide psychotherapy during or after a psilocybin session?
Not independently. Colorado’s rules state that a facilitator may not independently practice medicine or psychotherapy. Preparation and integration sessions with a facilitator are supportive conversations, and many are excellent, but they are not therapy unless the person holding them is a licensed clinician working within their scope.
Does a therapist-led journey cost more?
At Numia, no. A private protocol is $3,800, a couples protocol is $6,000 per couple, and group retreats begin at $4,000 per person with lodging and meals included. Every price covers the medicine and all preparation and integration sessions with your licensed therapist, with nothing to pay on journey day. Full details are on our pricing page.
I already have a therapist. Do I have to stop seeing them?
No, and we would rather you did not. With your permission, your Numia therapist can coordinate with your existing therapist or prescriber, so preparation and integration become part of the care you already have. Many clients bring what came up in their journey back to their own therapist.
What if my screening turns up something that needs clearance?
Some conditions and medications mean psilocybin is not a safe fit, and some simply need a conversation with your prescriber first. Because our therapists are licensed clinicians, that review happens inside your care rather than as a hand-off, and when a prescriber’s clearance is needed we help you get it. If this is not the right path for you, we will tell you honestly.
Can I verify who will be guiding me?
Yes. Ask for your guide’s facilitator license number and look it up on the DORA license lookup, and check the healing center on the Natural Medicine Division lookup. Numia’s healing center license is NMHC-00022, and each of our therapists is listed on our therapists page with their credentials.
How do I get started?
Book a free 15-minute consultation. It is an unhurried conversation about what is bringing you here, with no obligation to continue. If it feels right, we match you with a therapist for a complimentary fit call, and the two of you take it from there. Book your consultation or read our full FAQ.
Whenever You Are Ready
If you would like to talk through whether therapist-led psilocybin therapy fits your life right now, we would love to meet you in a free consultation. There is nothing to decide on the call, just a conversation.
Book Your Free ConsultationFeatured by ABC News, The New York Times, and 9News Denver. Over 200 legal psilocybin sessions guided as the second licensed psilocybin healing center in Denver.
What to Expect in Your Free Call
This is a 15-minute consultation to see whether in-person private psilocybin-assisted therapy, and small group retreats in Denver, are the right fit for you. You will meet with a member of our team to cover:
- Safety and medications at a high level
- How the protocol works
- Pricing and logistics
- Next steps and timing
