Plant Medicine University
Dr. Courtni Hale, Ph.D.
Psychologist. Ceremonial practitioner. Life navigator. Fifteen years at the intersection of Indigenous wisdom, modern psychology, and the science of human transformation.
Origin
The Path That Led Here
Dr. Courtni Hale did not arrive at this work through a weekend workshop or a single transformative experience. She arrived through fifteen years of sustained practice, study, and relationship — with the medicines, with the lineages that carry them, and with the people who come to her seeking a way through.
Her formal training is in psychology — she holds a Ph.D. and brings a rigorous, evidence-informed lens to everything she does. But she has always known that the map of human experience extends well beyond what Western psychology alone can hold. That knowing sent her into the Amazon, into ceremony, and into a seven-year apprenticeship with one of the most respected ceremonial lineage holders working today.
She has worked with Kambo for approximately fifteen years, having been taught through an Indigenous lineage. She has studied Ayahuasca under Tata Patricio Dominguez — a reservation-born Medicine Man of Tiwa heritage from the Mesilla Valley of New Mexico, and an international organizer of Indigenous peoples. The Ayahuasca tradition Tata Patricio carries was transmitted to him by Taita Paulinho, an Inga Taita from Colombia and one of the great living keepers of the lineage. That transmission is the root of the ceremonial work Dr. Courtni offers. She has also trained in HeartMath biofeedback and heart rate variability science, and developed Compass Keys — a life navigation framework rooted in Medicine Wheel philosophy — as a bridge between the ceremonial world and the demands of contemporary life.
She works primarily in the Rehoboth Beach, Delaware area, and serves clients across the country through the Concierge offering. She has a particular commitment to veterans, first responders, and those who have carried the weight of service — people for whom conventional approaches have helped but not healed.
Training & Credentials
Ph.D. in Psychology
Formal doctoral training in psychology, with a focus on human development, consciousness, and the mechanisms of lasting change.
15 Years Kambo Practice
Trained through an Indigenous lineage. Approximately fifteen years of practice as a Kambo facilitator, with deep knowledge of preparation, safety, contraindications, and integration.
7 Years Under Tata Patricio Dominguez
Seven years of study and apprenticeship under Tata Patricio Dominguez — a reservation-born Tiwa Medicine Man from the Mesilla Valley of New Mexico and international organizer of Indigenous peoples, who carries the Ayahuasca tradition transmitted to him by Inga Taita Paulinho of Colombia.
HeartMath Certified
Trained in HeartMath biofeedback and heart rate variability science — a research-backed approach to developing physiological coherence, emotional regulation, and resilience.
Compass Keys Developer
Creator of the Compass Keys life navigation framework — a synthesis of Medicine Wheel philosophy, modern psychology, and somatic practice for contemporary life navigation.
Cape Gazette MasterClass Instructor
Featured educator in the Cape Gazette MasterClass series on plant medicine, science, symbolism, ceremony, and practical healing.
Community & Lineage
Bringing Indigenous Wisdom Into Community
As Executive Director of the Center for Natural and Traditional Knowledge (CNTK) in Albuquerque, Dr. Courtni helped students at the International School at Mesa del Sol build a traditional Mayan "Ak Ka'an" (Skywalker) labyrinth — guided by native Mayan teacher Ac Tah.
This work — bridging Indigenous knowledge systems with modern educational and community contexts — has been at the heart of her practice for over two decades. The labyrinth is not a metaphor. It is a lived technology for orientation, reflection, and return.
Featured in the Albuquerque Journal, April 2013.
The Tools of the Work
Sacred Instruments of Ceremony
The hand drum and carved flute are not props — they are living instruments that have been part of Indigenous ceremonial practice for centuries. Sound, rhythm, and breath are among the oldest technologies for shifting the nervous system, opening the heart, and creating the conditions for genuine healing.
Dr. Courtni integrates these instruments into ceremony as part of a lineage-rooted practice — not as performance, but as invitation. The drum holds the heartbeat. The flute carries what words cannot.
Philosophy
How She Works
Dr. Courtni does not offer plant medicine as an experience. She offers it as a practice — one that begins long before the ceremony night and continues long after. Preparation is not a formality. Integration is not optional. The container she holds is built from fifteen years of relationship with the medicines, the lineages, and the people who come to this work.
She brings both the rigor of her psychological training and the depth of her ceremonial practice to every session. She is not a therapist who dabbles in plant medicine, and she is not a ceremonial practitioner who ignores the psychological dimension. She is both — and the synthesis is the point.
She works with people who are serious. People who have done the work — therapy, medication, self-help — and know that something more is being asked of them. People who are ready to go deeper, not because it is fashionable, but because they have run out of reasons not to.
Begin with a Conversation
The first step is a complimentary diagnostic call — a chance to ask questions, share your history, and determine together whether this work, and which offering, is right for where you are.