SERGIO RODRIGUEZ-CASTILLO, PhD, LMFT, JD
Marriage and Family Therapist
Sacramento CA
Life is supposed to be happy, but for different reasons, often is not. Change can be hard (and sometimes painful), and it helps to have someone on your side when you go to those difficult places. I join my clients in their journey to learn to live, love, and work more passionately.
I am a soul debbuger.
I’m a relationships expert. I help people to be in relationship, wih themselves, others, the world and Spirit.
I help people rediscover who they really are.
I have over 18 years of experience in psychedelic-assisted therapy. I hold a Mexican JD and a UK LLM, and I practiced law for 12 years. My training in psycho-spirituality took place in India at the Sadhana Institute, Osho’s ashram, and the Ramakrishna Mission. I also apprenticed with a Mazatec curandera for over 10 years.
I earned two master’s degrees, one in Integral Counseling and another in East-West Psychology, and a Ph.D. in East-West Psychology at CIIS, writing my dissertation on the training of psychedelic-assisted therapists. I serve as core faculty at CIIS, the Center for Consciousness Medicine, and AMPYDET’s Transpersonal Master’s program.
I’ve mentored students in CIIS’ Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research certificate program and actively contribute to the field by facilitating, teaching, developing curricula, and mentoring guides. I am also a MAPS MDMA-Assisted Therapy Practitioner, a licensed MFT in private practice, and a lead psychedelic facilitator at Beckley Retreats, where I focus on healing, existential growth, and consciousness expansion.
My roots run deep into the rich soil of Mexican healing traditions, where curanderos trained me in the sacred use of plants for healing and growth. This background has fueled over 15 years of training and mentoring psychedelic-assisted therapists and guides. As a Mestizo Mexican, I carry a profound awareness of the painful history of Western appropriation of Indigenous wisdom. It’s a consciousness that shapes my approach when I lead groups to Mexico. Careful not to exoticize or romanticize indigenous teachings, I strive to engage with these traditions respectfully. In these pilgrimages, we take the time to learn about the contexts in which sacred plants are used, to understand the struggles of these communities, and to explore collaborative ways to support them. My aim is not to extract what is generously offered but to foster alliances where learning and teaching flow both ways in a relationship marked by respect, mutuality, and reciprocity.
I regularly offer lectures and presentations on topics connected with psychotherapy, self-realization, self-transcendence, spirituality, and happiness.