Welcome. 👋🏼 I’m so glad you’re here.
I’m Miriam Kaiyo—a mother, human development specialist, trauma-informed educator, and community weaver. With a doctorate in Human Development and Social Policy from the University of Utah, my work and passion centers around optimizing the conditions for human transformation and thriving.
About my doctoral research: To support innovative approaches to mental health, I conducted original research in the emerging field of psychedelic therapy and facilitation. Through in-depth interviews with 27 facilitators representing diverse lineages and modalities, I explored their backgrounds, philosophies, and methods of practice. From these interviews, I developed a biopsychosocial-spiritual model that highlights best practices in screening, preparation, in-session support, and integration. My work offers a grounded, systems-level understanding of how facilitators cultivate safety, meaning, and transformation—insights that can inform ethical practice, training, and program development.
As an educator: For nearly a decade, I’ve taught hundreds of university students in courses on trauma, diversity, relationships, and family. I love designing and offering dynamic online learning experiences that students consistently describe as engaging, impactful, and even life-changing.
As a researcher: I’m passionate about research and ensuring that the practices we use to improve our lives are grounded in evidence, blending academic insight with real-world application. Currently, I am a collaborating co-investigator on a groundbreaking multi-site clinical trial assessing the safety and feasibility of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for young adults with treatment-resistant anorexia nervosa. Led by research teams at the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London, this study explores MDMA’s potential to support healing in a population with the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder. My involvement reflects a deep commitment to advancing novel, ethically grounded approaches to mental health.
As a community organizer: I organize community through event planning and building efficient systems, processes, and internal rituals that support coherence and impact. Currently, I serve as a curriculum developer for Somos Sanctuary, a nonprofit ceremonial community committed to ethical, trauma-informed, and spiritually grounded plant medicine work. I also have co-created the Medicine Circle Collective to bring community together. Whether it’s supporting facilitators or entheogenic churches, developing training programs, or designing protocols, I bring my warmth, precision, and deep reverence for the human spirit.
As a lover of humans and wild magician and heart: My greatest joy is creating safe, efficient, and meaningful spaces and ongoing community initiatives that invite people into their power—discovering their own medicine and magic and working towards their own mastery. ✨
Whether I’m deep in research, leading a retreat, or dancing through a new idea, my work is rooted in one purpose: to support human thriving through the conscious crafting of our lives and ecosystems.
Take a look around, and feel free to connect. I'd love to hear from you!
Learn more about my publications, research, and work as the Chief Impact Officer at Pneuma Science, an independent research lab specializing in psychedelics.
We are a growing community of healers & medicine workers gathering regularly to learn, experience and support one another as we step into our divine selves & co-create the world we wish to see.
Learn more about my doctoral research to understand underground psychedelic facilitation practices in the United States, and how we can best utilize psychedelics for healing.