We hold the space.
The medicine and the tradition do the rest.
OUR TEAM
ETÉREO is held by a multidisciplinary team of ceremonial facilitators, medical professionals, therapists, and support staff who work together to steward safe, intentional, and deeply held retreat experiences. Our team brings experience from ceremonial lineages, trauma-informed care, medical settings, and land-based facilitation, allowing us to support the full arc of the work with depth and responsibility.
Each member of our team is selected not only for their professional background, but for their capacity to hold presence, discernment, and care within high-responsibility ceremonial environments.
Our Philosophy
The team at ETÉREO is made up of experienced space-holders, ceremonial facilitators, medical and therapeutic professionals, and support staff who work together to steward safe, intentional retreat environments. Each member of our team arrived on this path through their own lineage of study and practice, including ancestral traditions, trauma-informed care, somatic work, spiritual apprenticeship, and clinical experience.
What we share is a commitment to the integrity of the work itself. Healing is not something we impose or deliver. It is something we protect, support, and make space for while it unfolds. Our role is to listen, to remain present, and to tend the conditions that allow transformation to occur safely and organically.
This team came together slowly and with discernment, through years of shared ceremony, collaboration, and relationship. We value trust, timing, and alignment over speed or scale. We do not position ourselves above the community or the work. We are part of it, accountable to both the people we serve and the traditions we honor.
As our founder Fletcher often says, “We are here to hold space, not to fill it.”
Our philosophy reflects this orientation. We work from the edges rather than the center, staying attentive to physical safety, emotional regulation, and the subtle movements of the process itself. This kind of work requires steadiness, humility, and restraint. The deepest wisdom does not come from us alone.
It emerges through the container we hold together.
-

Paije West
ETÉREO Founder
Bwiti Initiate -

Fletcher Burdick
ETÉREO Co-Founder
Q’ero Initiate -

Amanda Szopinski
PharmD
Medical Consultant -

Violet Sarosi
LCSW, IFS Trauma Therapist
Medicine Provider -

Bri McCurdy
Assistant & Hospitality
Ceremonial Apprentice -

Milton Samuel
Ceremonial Apprentice
General Support -

Chef Paul Barbosa
Retreat Chef + Nourishment
Fermentation & Extraction -
BCS Bomberos
Local Firefighters
First Responders -

Auggie "Yote"
Ceremonial Assistant
Guardian of the Physical -

Chris Brewer
Ceremonial Apprentice
Ceremony Support -

Christina Brewer
Ceremonial Assistant
Hospitality & Support -

Kristin Nuttall
Massage Therapist
Craniosacral + Doula -

Christina Faidas
IFS Therapist
Preparation & Integration -

Rachel Rose
Somatic Experiencing
Breathwork Facilitator -

JOIN OUR TEAM
EXPERIENCE, CARE,
RESPONSIBILITY
Working with powerful ceremonial medicines and intensive retreat formats requires discernment, preparation, and humility. ETÉREO’s team is committed to ongoing learning, collaboration, and reflection as part of holding this work responsibly.
From medical screening and on-site care to ceremonial facilitation and post-retreat integration, our team operates within clearly defined ethical and safety frameworks. We believe trust is built through transparency, consistency, and care, and we approach each retreat with the seriousness this work deserves.