535 E Hyman Ave, Aspen, CO 81611, USA
Up to 12 in group
Sep 10 - 15, 2026
About this Retreat
Skippy Mesirow - SANCTUM Facilitator + Owner
Skippy Mesirow is a public-service leader and strategist with more than 20 years of experience spanning presidential campaigns, statewide races, nonprofit leadership, and elected office
He is the creator of The COURAGE Method™, a whole-human leadership framework that has trained more than 1,000 public leaders nationwide, and the host of the top-10% global Civic Courage Lab Podcast, featuring guests such as Byron Katie, David Allen, and Rick Doblin.
A psychedelic healing retreat in 2019 changed his life as he witnessed these treatments transform and even save others.
Determined not to wait for federal action, he helped establish the nation’s first municipal therapeutic model in Aspen and later served on Colorado’s Natural Medicine Advisory Board, shaping the framework SANCTUM now operates under.
At SANCTUM, Skippy focuses on guests seeking leadership development, peak performance, and team optimization.
He holds the strategic vision and relational gravity that enable SANCTUM to achieve peak excellence, creating a field of connection, coherence and transformation aligned with the Aspen Idea.
Dr. David Rabin is a board-certified psychiatrist and neuroscientist who has spent more than two decades studying the biology of stress, trauma, and human resilience.
As the co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Apollo Neuroscience and the Executive Director of The Board of Medicine, he is a leading architect of evidence-based psychedelic standards and ethical clinical practice worldwide.
Dr. Rabin turned toward psychedelic medicine after years of watching conventional treatments fall short for those carrying deep trauma — recognizing that these medicines may finally offer the consciousness shift required to move from managing symptoms to achieving true cures.
At SANCTUM, he oversees our medical and safety architecture — including tapering and screening frameworks — and guides our science-based research and continuous learning process. His leadership ensures that every protocol, outcome, and experience is studied, refined, and elevated, keeping SANCTUM at the forefront of safe, effective, and ever-evolving psychedelic-assisted transformation.
Details of this retreat
SIGNATURE for Leadership Optimization - A 5-Day Executive Retreat to Achieve Your Arête (Your Highest Potential) in Leadership
SIGNATURE for Leadership Optimization is for executives already performing at a high level and ready to go beyond it. Arête is the ancient Greek concept of your highest embodied potential in service. This retreat is designed to help you access it.
Through a combination of executive coaching, psychotherapy, and the intentional use of psilocybin, we create the conditions for accelerated growth and transformation. A growing body of research shows that psychedelic compounds temporarily down-regulate the brain’s default mode network, quieting habitual patterns and opening a window of heightened neuroplasticity and synaptogenesis.
In this state, the brain forms new connections, often accompanied by a surge in creative ideation, insight, and breakthrough thinking. With the right structure, coaching, and integration, these shifts can translate into meaningful, sustained changes in how you think, lead, and perform.
This is not about recovery. It is about expansion.
Over five days, you will:
Increase clarity, decision velocity, and strategic precision
Expand creativity and breakthrough thinking
Enhance emotional intelligence and leadership capacity
Identify high-leverage opportunities for personal and business growth
Strengthen alignment, resilience, and sustained performance
You will do this alongside a small group of high-performing peers, leaders who operate at a high level and are committed to pushing beyond it. This is not a typical psychedelic retreat. In Aspen, on the Aspen Meadows campus of the Aspen Institute, you are immersed in an environment designed for the world’s top leaders to think, build, and evolve at the highest level, supported by world-class coaches, pristine nature, and five-star accommodations. There is nothing else like it.
Eligibility & Screening
All executives are welcome to apply.
Following your application, you will complete a live virtual medical and safety screening with Dr. Westergaard to ensure the experience is appropriate for you and to support your safety and outcomes.
Final confirmation of your placement will be provided after this assessment.
Important: For your well-being, this program is not suitable for individuals with Bipolar I, schizophrenia, or related schizoaffective conditions.
Note: This retreat needs a minimum of 2 participants to run. If we don’t reach that number, or if something unexpected comes up and we need to cancel, you’ll be able to choose either a full refund of what you’ve paid or to move your spot to another available date.