Our Plant Medicine Retreat Practitioners and Facilitators
Clinical, Ceremonial, and Holistic Care for Deep Transformation
The Alquimia Sanctuary team brings together plant medicine retreat facilitators, clinical professionals, ceremonial guides, founders, lineage carriers, and nourishment specialists to hold a private transformation container in Valle de Bravo, Mexico.
This work requires more than good intentions. It requires maturity, discernment, clinical awareness, ceremonial depth, nutritional care, and lived experience. Each team member supports a different part of the process so participants are held before, during, and after the immersion.
A Team Built to Hold the Whole Process
Deep transformation cannot be held by one person alone. It requires a coordinated team. At Alquimia, clinical professionals, ceremonial practitioners, integration guides, nourishment specialists, and founders work together to support the full arc of transformation: preparation, screening, immersion, ceremony, food, rest, emotional processing, and integration.
Trust Markers
Clinical screening and medical review Psychological support and integration Traditional ceremonial guidance Ancestral lineage support Trauma-informed care Ceremonial nutrition Private sanctuary setting Small-group container Founder presence on-site Holistic support before, during, and after the immersion
The Alquimia Philosophy of Care
Clinical Integrity Meets Ancestral Wisdom
Alquimia’s care model is built on the understanding that real transformation is not one-dimensional.
The body, mind, nervous system, emotional history, spiritual life, food, environment, and daily habits all matter.
That is why our team brings together medical screening, clinical psychology, somatic support, ancestral ceremony, conscious nourishment, and integration. The goal is not only to create a powerful experience. The goal is to help participants return to life more grounded, clear, and aligned.
Leadership and Vision
Pablo Vázquez
Visionary Founder of Alquimia Sanctuary:
Pablo Vázquez is the visionary founder of Alquimia Sanctuary. His work is rooted in lived transformation, personal healing, and a deep commitment to creating a sanctuary where others can safely enter serious inner work.
Pablo shaped the 70-hectare sanctuary with close attention to beauty, harmony, land, architecture, and emotional safety. He lives on the property and remains closely connected to the container, offering a steady and grounded presence throughout the experience.
Dean Taraborelli, B.A.
Founding Partner:
Dean Taraborelli is a pioneer in holistic trauma recovery and integrated mental health. As founder of The Sanctuary at Sedona, Dean has spent more than two decades developing a non-12-step, whole-person model for deep healing. His work is grounded in lived recovery, practical experience, and a long-term commitment to resolving root patterns rather than simply managing symptoms.
Dean brings decades of direct, on-site experience supporting people through addiction, anxiety, depression, trauma, and deep personal transformation.
Kelley Alexander, J.D.
Program Supervisor:
Kelley Alexander brings a rare blend of legal training, psychological study, spiritual practice, and hands-on experience inside transformational healing environments.
Her work is rooted in compassion, discernment, and lived experience. She has spent more than two decades supporting individuals and families through complex mental health challenges, trauma patterns, codependency, and the process of returning to vitality. At Alquimia, Kelley serves as a steady anchor for participants moving through deep emotional and personal change.
Medical and Clinical Support
Dr. Samuel López Barrón
Internal Medicine Physician and Medical Support:
Dr. Samuel López Barrón brings more than 30 years of experience as an internal medicine physician. At Alquimia, he supports medical screening, pharmaceutical review, contraindication assessment, and clinical safety considerations before and during the process. His role helps participants enter the work with greater clarity, appropriate screening, and a more responsible safety structure.
Claudia Winckelmann
Clinical Psychologist and Addiction Specialist:
Claudia Winckelmann is a clinical psychologist with a psychoanalytic background and specialized certification in addiction treatment recognized by CAADAC. She brings more than 20 years of clinical experience in prevention, treatment, institutional development, and psychological support. At Alquimia, Claudia contributes clinical discernment, emotional steadiness, and integration support so participants can process their experience with greater clarity and care.
Ceremonial Guides and Lineage Support
Paola Saad
Ceremonial Practitioner and Energetic Healing Guide:
Paola Saad has walked a dedicated path through ancestral traditions, contemplative practice, yoga, Tibetan Bön Shamanism, Tibetan Buddhism, Kabbalah, and energetic healing for nearly three decades. She brings ceremonial presence, sensitivity, and depth to the Alquimia container. Her work supports participants through energetic sessions, ritual practices, Inner Dance, and a grounded approach to sacred space.
Germán Virguez and Lupita Castro
Ceremonial Guides:
Germán Virguez and Lupita Castro bring more than 20 years of shared experience rooted in Amazonian, Andean, and Eastern wisdom traditions.
Their work is centered on prayer, sacred song, presence, and relational support.
At Alquimia, they help create a warm, respectful, and deeply held ceremonial environment for participants moving through intense inner work.
Haske Yilnayah
Traditional Medicine Man and Lineage Support:
Haske Yilnayah serves as a bridge to ancestral lineage at Alquimia.
Born into a long line of traditional healers, he brings sacred songs, prayers, and traditional wisdom into the ceremonial container. His presence helps ensure that the work remains reverent, culturally grounded, and aligned with the traditions that have preserved these sacred practices across generations.
Andean and Amazonian Wisdom Support
Kike Pinto and Lourdes Pinto
Ceremonial, Cultural, and Ancestral Wisdom Guides:
Kike Pinto and Lourdes Pinto come from Peru and have dedicated much of their lives to preserving and sharing the ancestral wisdom, music, spirituality, and ceremonial traditions of the Andes and the Amazon.For decades, they lived and worked in the Sacred Valley of Peru, cultivating a life centered around community, ritual, education, sacred arts, and intercultural bridge-building. Kike is an ethnomusicologist, composer, educator, and founder of the TAKI Museum and cultural project in Cusco, an initiative devoted to protecting ancestral musical instruments, indigenous traditions, and ceremonial knowledge.
Nourishment and Culinary Care
Begoña
Guardian of Nourishment and Nutrition:
Begoña serves as the guardian of nourishment and nutrition at Alquimia Sanctuary.
Raised in a Buddhist home, she took bodhisattva vows at a young age and grew up surrounded by holistic teachings, crystal therapy, herbal wisdom, and the subtle language of the energetic body. Her relationship with plant medicine deepened her understanding of interconnection and helped shape the path she walks today.
For Begoña, food has always been medicine. She carries the memory of meals prepared with love as a source of comfort, care, and healing. At Alquimia, she brings that same devotion to the kitchen, overseeing nourishment and nutrition as part of the retreat container.She believes that ingredients grown, harvested, and prepared with love nourish the body and feed the soul.
Begin Your Private Review
Spaces within each group are tightly restricted to preserve elite clinical attention and absolute group trust. Your application initiates the formal review process without any outside pressure, ensuring we find the right fit, the right timing, and the right container for your life stage.