Nick Baker

More than a coach!

ER Nurse. Psychedelic Guide. Adventure Travel Guide. Event Designer. Perpetual Student of Life.

I’m a Bay Area native who studied design at UC Davis then realized I wanted to live out of a backpack for 8 years. For the majority of my 20's I worked as an adventure travel guide, leading hiking and cycling vacations all over the world.

Personal travels brought me to all seven continents with highlights including: teaching art in Russia, playing basketball in Scotland, and 5 months washing dishes at a research station in Antarctica.

Recognizing a calling to be of deeper service to the world, in 2010 I began my career as an Emergency Room Nurse. I was able to combine nursing with my love for travel by accepting a volunteer position in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, working at a rural clinic in Tanzania, and serving as the nurse at a technology-free "adult summer camp" in California.

In 2017 I completed Life Coach training through the internationally recognized Coach Training Institute (CTI).

THE GOLDEN THREAD WOVEN THROUGH EACH SECTION OF MY LIFE IS THE IMPORTANCE I PLACE ON PEOPLE.

After 10 years of working in the ER I felt disillusioned and burnt out. Life Coaching was closer to my true calling but wasn't hitting the bullseye. I tried Hospice nursing. I worked at San Quentin State Prison.

Still searching for something that truly aligned with my values, I began working at a Ketamine clinic providing IV therapy to treat patients with severe, treatment resistant depression.

BULLSEYE.

I treated a patient with chronic depression who told me she was now able to keep a job for the first time in 10 years.

I cared for a patient with a history of multiple suicide attempts who told me how remarkable it was that he didn’t even consider that option anymore.

Compared to the hustle and chaos of the ER, it was refreshing to care for people in ways I had always wanted to—and it was refreshing to see people get better!

I worked with patients one-on-one. There was time for meaningful connection. I knew the exact number of blankets each patient wanted, what music they listened to, and their preferred arrangement of pillows.

My natural ability to act as a host—to show empathy and extend genuine compassion—now had a venue where it was welcomed, supported and appreciated in full.

It was such deep relief to feel my work responsibilities matching my core values.

I found myself in conversations with patients about things that mattered to me: desert fasts, silent meditation retreats, spirituality and breathwork.

Finally, my lifetime of inner work through therapy, coaching and countless books on personal development and spirituality felt integrated with my profession.

THIS WAS A TRUE TURNING POINT.

In 2020 I was accepted into the "Psychedelic Therapy and Research Program" at the California Institute for Integral Studies (CIIS).

Here, I joined other nurses, doctors, psychologists, lawyers, counselors and clergy who are committed to the responsible, therapeutic and legal use of psychedelic medicines. We immersed ourselves in the history and science of psychedelics, the art of facilitating high-dose sessions within a legal context and the post-journey integration process.

While at CIIS I trained in Ketamine assisted therapy, MDMA assisted therapy and the use of high-dose psilocybin therapy. I also studied a lineage of psychotherapy called "Internal Family Systems" (sometimes known as "parts" work.)

After graduation I began working as part of a professional team facilitating group retreats at a legal psilocybin retreat center in Jamaica.

Beyond psychedelic therapy and integration coaching, my great loves include my wife, Britt, road trips in our Chevy Astro adventure van, cooking restaurant-quality meals at home, trail running, throwing a Frisbee, plunging in cold water, hosting barn parties at my childhood home and producing small scale concerts in unique venues.

Wherever you are on your path I'm excited to join you in the discovery of what your true heart authentically desires—It's an exciting and rewarding process.

I'm honored to be a part of your journey.