Psychedelic Executive Coaching
and
the Awake Forward Method

A revolutionary new approach to leadership development

Executive coaching in conjunction with therapeutic psychedelic sessions produces extraordinary results, fast.

Program Overview

Our 6-month program weaves together executive coaching with neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) sessions, and in-home ketamine-assisted therapy sessions, provided by Mindbloom.com

Your 6-Month Coaching Program Includes: 
  • A master executive coach: Your coach will help you achieve your professional development goals and leverage the results of your NLP and psychedelic-therapy sessions.
  • A master neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) practitioner: You will benefit from two NLP sessions with a master level NLP practitioner that will help you  change the deeply ingrained bad habits and limiting beliefs that are holding you back.
  • Psychedelic-assisted therapy sessions: You will have up to four at-home ketamine therapy sessions provided by Mindbloom’s guides under supervision by Mindbloom’s medical professionals.  Other forms of psychedelic-assisted therapy are available where legal.

 

galaxy view from road

The most effective way for business leaders to
think different and evolve their talent

The 6-month Ketamine Program Overview

Month 1: Rapport & Diagnostics
Address your most urgent issues, run a 360-review process, and build trust.

Month 2: Goal and Strategy Alignment
Refine goals and KPIs based on the 360 results. Identify core limiting beliefs that are holding you back.

Month 3: 1st & 2nd Ketamine-Assisted Therapy Sessions
Coaching continues while Mindboom provides two at-home ketamine sessions focused on relaxing the limiting beliefs that are holding you back from operating at your full potential.

Month 4: Two NLP Sessions with a Master NLP Practitioner
Coaching continues while you work with an NLP expert. Similar to hypnosis, NLP techniques are very effective at supporting you to change the deeply ingrained limiting beliefs that are holding you back. Combined with the increase in neuroplasticity provided by psychedelic therapy, NLP is extra effective!

Month 5: 3rd & 4th Ketamine-Assisted Therapy Sessions
Coaching continues while Mindboom provides two more at-home ketamine sessions focused on relaxing the limiting beliefs that are holding you back from operating at your full potential.

Month 6th: Celebrate Wins, Set New Goals, Continue with the Coaching
Coaching continues while you benchmark your success against the KPIs we started with and celebrate the wins. Create goals for the next 6-month cycle and execute!

Frequently Asked Questions

Is psychedelic-assisted therapy legal?
Yes. There are organizations who can provide legitimate psychedelic-assisted therapy in the US. 

Which psychedelics are available?
Ketamine is the safest, most reliable, and legal psychedelic currently available. We have thoroughly vetted two therapeutic ketamine providers, Mindbloom and Polaris. Mindbloom provides at-home guided ketamine sessions with video support. Super convenient, effective and affordable! Alternatively, if you want to work one-on-one with an experienced therapist via a video or in person, we recommend you work with Polaris.

MDMA, Psilocybin, and any other psychedelic you can think of are, for all intents and purposes, still illegal in the United States. For clients who want to work with these substances, we have affiliations with highly vetted providers in locations where these substances have been decriminalized. If you’re willing to take the trip, you’ll get the experience of a lifetime!

Ayahuasca I’ve been leading groups of entrepreneurs to Peru for private ayahuasca retreats since 2010 through my company, Entrepreneurs Awakening. If you’re interested in working with ayahuasca, as part of your coaching program, I will connect you with a highly reputable retreat center in Costa Rica or Peru. I myself will be leading my next retreat when COVID allows. 


Is it physically and psychologically safe for me to engage with PaEC?
The provider you choose is responsible for your safety. They will thoroughly screen you for the physical, pharmaceutical, and psychological conditions that would exclude you from working with them. As long as you’re honest during the intake, the risk is minimal.


But I can’t have the company pay for something as controversial as psychedelic therapy, right?
For those who still feel that the use of psychedelics under the supervision of a professional for therapeutic reasons is controversial, we suggest the following strategy: The company pays for the 6-month executive coaching program, and you pay for your work with your psychedelic provider out of pocket.


Will psychedelic therapy cause me to make abrupt changes that I will later regret?
Both your coach and the professional guide who will lead you through your psychedelic therapy session will support you in making wise decisions. In fact, one of our explicit agreements upfront is that you can’t make a life-changing decision during the 10 days following your psychedelic experience. While working with around 70 clients since 2010, I can’t think of a single case where someone made a rash decision they regretted.


Is the psychedelic session a group session or one-on-one?
The psychedelic session is done one-on-one.

Should I wait until I am less busy and stressed?
As you know, when you are a leader, there appears to never be a good time to take a mental or physical break from your duties. Over the years, we have supported clients who were in the middle of a fundraiser, experiencing company-threatening conflicts with the board or a co-founder, or going through a divorce. We have also led clients through the process while they were on sabbatical between companies, and the results weren’t better than those who engaged while on the front line of a firefight. The truth is, there is never a bad time to engage in a psychological reset, emotional healing and spiritual awakening, especially when it only takes a day!


Will I have to miss work?
No. Your experience typically lasts from 2 to 8 hours, depending on the substance.

What’s the difference between Psychedelic-assisted Executive Coaching (PaEC) and the Awake Forward Method?
Psychedelic-assisted Executive Coaching is a name I coined to describe any form of executive coaching that coincides with the use of psychedelics in a therapeutic context. The Awake Forward Method is the specific programmatic approach to PaEC that my team and I provide to ensure that you get the most out of your experience. 


Who Benefits the Most from the Awake Forward Method?
Whereas conventional coaching methods struggle to help individuals with the below issues, the Awake Forward Method is exceptionally effective.

When you want to make a personality-level change. For example:

  • When you need to change your leadership style from a command-and-control to a delegate-and-empower approach
  • When you need to delegate and trust your team to learn from their mistakes, but you are struggling to do so

When distrust or impatience are negatively affecting your decision making. For example:

  • When frustration and resentment is impacting your relationship with your co-founders or the board
  • When you’re forced to give the CEO role to someone else and then must support the new CEO 110% even if you’re not happy with the change

When your ego is preventing you from doing what is best for the company. For example:

  • When your sense of personal identity is tied to your title at the company, and the board or your co-founder wants you to change your role

For significant personal reasons. For example:

  • When you are burned out but don’t have time for the kind of vacation that would truly refresh you
  • When issues in your personal life are distracting you from being your best at work
  • When you feel off course and want to reconnect with your life purpose


Tell me more about Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP)
NLP is a communication toolkit that provides the ability to discover, utilize, and change our programmed thoughts and behaviors, assisting us in having new experiences in life that are more satisfying, fulfilling, and enjoyable. In this short video Carl Bushheit, the founder of the Transformational branch of NLP, explains NLP.

Michael Costuros coaching session

Psychedelic-assisted Executive Coaching with master executive coach, Michael

Michael here. Through my executive coaching firm Thriving Founders, I have clocked more than 10,000 hours as an executive coach to some of Silicon Valley’s most talented entrepreneurs.

Over the years I discovered that breakthrough awakening experiences brought on by psychedelics in a therapeutic setting combined with executive coaching enabled my clients to achieve their professional and personal development goals much faster . Since 2012 I have been refining my process into a method that gets reliably predictable results. I call it The Awake Forward Method.

The Awake Forward Method uses the achievement of short-term professional goals as milestones that keep you winning the outer game while we work on taking your inner game to the next level.

-Michael 

From those I’ve worked with…

Bertram Meyer
Bertram Meyer
CEO and Co-Founder of Taulia and One Dome

As CEO of a startup in hyper-growth, I feared the time away would hurt my business. Now I am very glad I went. What I discovered was the perspective that came with distance, a better understanding of what I want to achieve, my core values and who I am as a human, as well as the insights gained in conversation with fellow participants, lead to a greater positive impact on my business than if I had stayed home and worked.

Eric Neuner
Eric Neuner
CEO of Health Coach Institute

I am so grateful for my experience. It was the pinnacle of experiential learning for me. I found it profound and healing, both physically and emotionally. Previously I had self-doubt around what I should be doing professionally and personally. Today that is no longer the case!

Craig Clemens
Craig Clemens
Co-Founder, Golden Hippo Media

I wasn’t totally clear on what I wanted, I just felt I needed to go. It turns out my intuition was correct – the experience showed me exactly what was holding me back in both my business and personal life. Within just one month after returning I’d used what I’d learned to deep my relationships with my family, then later, with my business partners and staff, which surely was a factor in us having our most successful year ever. Now a year later I am dating the girl of my dreams (after being single for 3 long years!) I can say with certainty I would not be where I am today without the lessons learned in Peru under Michael’s guidance.

Scroll to Top