Meet Our Faculty & Leadership

Learn More: Psychosynthesis Coach Certification

Psychospiritual Institute is a global community committed to cultivating wholeness, purpose, and deep self-connection. Our mission is to integrate the deepest aspects of human psychology with spirituality, deep ecology, life coaching, and business.

Rose gold icon of a lotus flower and sun Psychospiritual Institute.

Inspiring and Supporting

We inspire and support individuals in their journey towards psychospiritual wholeness and cultivating a deeper connection to Self through individual and group coaching sessions, transformative workshops, engaging events, and comprehensive certified coaching programs. Through these offerings, we aim to empower people to explore and understand their own psychospiritual growth, fostering personal development and facilitating a deeper sense of self-awareness and fulfillment.

Psychospiritual Institute The Call of Self

Training and Nurturing

We train and nurture future generations of Psychosynthesis Coaches and contribute to the ongoing development of this transpersonal and holistic framework. We are dedicated to providing comprehensive training programs that not only equip aspiring coaches with the necessary skills and knowledge to start their own coaching businesses, but also instill a deep understanding of the principles and practices of Psychosynthesis. By nurturing individuals in this transformative field, we aim to create a ripple effect, where our graduates go on to make meaningful contributions to the growth and advancement of Psychosynthesis, ultimately benefiting individuals and communities worldwide.

Spiral representing community growth and expansion.

Building Community

We are committed to building a nurturing community that fosters personal growth through the practice of psychosynthesis and empowers individuals to build successful coaching practices on a global scale. We are dedicated to supporting each other in our personal journeys, cultivating holistic well-being, and fostering thriving coaching expertise. Together, we strive to create an environment that encourages self-discovery, promotes genuine connections, and unlocks the potential for transformative growth in all aspects of life.

Caring hands around a heart representing diversity and inclusion - inclusivity and universal synthesis.

Inclusivity and Celebrating Diversity

Psychosynthesis is holistic, global, and inclusive. At Psychospiritual Institute, we highly value and respect the diversity among individuals. We welcome all races, languages, genders, sexual orientations, all shapes and sizes, faiths, religious traditions, not belonging to a tradition, agnostics, atheists, seekers, healers, people with disabilities/different abilities (visible or invisible), and more. Promoting diversity and awareness is crucial for authentic personal and collective growth. Our goal is to be an organization that fosters understanding, embraces inclusivity, and works towards universal synthesis. We are committed to creating an environment where everyone can reach their fullest potential by embracing unique perspectives and celebrating diversity.

Meet the Psychospiritual Institute Team

We are authors, creators, master coaches, deep ecologists, activists, doctors, artists, counselors, healers, entrepreneurs, and educators with over 65 years of combined experience in psychosynthesis.

Val Silidker Cofounder of Psychospiritual Institute

Val Silidker, MS, BCC
Co-founder, Director, Senior Instructor, Board Certified Coach

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Co-founder, Director, Senior Instructor, Board Certified Coach

Val Silidker M.S., BCC (Board Certified Coach) is the co-founder and director of Psychospiritual Institute, as well as a lead trainer. She is a board certified coach and has been coaching individuals and facilitating groups for over 20 years, specializing in transpersonal psychology, deep ecology, eco-therapy, authentic connection work, and holistic business coaching, as well as mindset and leadership skills. Val is also an international speaker, author of “Call of the Ecological Self", and has been featured multiple times on Hay House Radio, NBC, and USA Today, as well as numerous publications.

Val works with change-makers, emerging leaders and mission-driven entrepreneurs to inspire the highest level of mindset, purpose and action in their lives. Over the past two decades, she has produced close to one hundred large-scale mindful-living events, retreats, and workshops, and gratefully inspired the transformation of thousands of people world-wide.

Val is passionate about psychological and spiritual maturity, personal and global leadership, nature and the human psyche, and rewilding our hearts. Her greater purpose is to remind us of who we are so we can show up more fully in our lives and contribute wholeheartedly to our world.

Alyssa Whitehouse, MBA, BCC
Co-founder, Director of Business Development, Operations & Marketing, Board Certified Coach

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Co-founder, Director of Business Development, Operations & Marketing, Board Certified Coach

Alyssa Whitehouse, MBA, BCC is co-founder of Psychospiritual Institute, a Board Certified Coach (BCC) and Psychosynthesis Life Coach (PLC) with certifications in holistic health & wellness, integral coaching, soul process art, and dreamwork. Her educational background includes a bachelor's degree in computer science and graphic design with a minor in psychology, and a master's in business and marketing.

One of Alyssa’s passions is building conscious businesses. With expertise in operations, technology, marketing, financial systems, branding, graphic design, and website design, she has played a significant role in the growth of over 50 businesses and nonprofits.

As an educator, Alyssa has taught branding at Lynn University. At Unity School she developed and led innovative integrative programs for children pre-K to the 8th grade. These programs integrate psychosynthesis, Nonviolent Communication (NVC), meditation, somatic practices, art process, and community service leadership.

Alyssa, a devoted mother, is deeply committed to supporting other moms. She offers private coaching supporting mothers to understand and navigate their triggers, be more present with themselves and their children, and develop deeper connections. She is currently developing an online, self-led program specifically for conscious parents.

Jon Schottland, Board Certified Coach BCC Psychospiritual Institute

Jon Schottland MA, BCC
Senior Instructor, Board Certified Coach

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Senior Instructor, Board Certified Coach

Jon Schottland MA, LMHC, BCC is the founder and director of Synthesis Northeast and a senior trainer at Psychospiritual Institute. Jon was a senior trainer at the Synthesis Center in Amherst, MA for 15 years and previously taught in the graduate psychology programs at Sofia University and American International College for master’s and doctoral level students. He has provided extensive trainings for life coaches and corporate coaches across the U.S. and internationally. Jon holds an advanced degree in developmental psychology and is both a nationally Board Certified Coach (BCC) and Psychosynthesis Life Coach (PLC). He maintains a private practice where he specializes in working with teenagers and young adults. The focus of his work is cultivating deep presence and attention to promote healing, self expression, wholeness and optimal personal development.

Vienna Jasmin Certified Psychosynthesis Life Coach, Lead Instructor, and Mentor Director at Psychospiritual Institute

Vienna Jasmin, PLC
Lead Instructor, Lead Mentor, Psychosynthesis Life Coach

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Lead Instructor, Lead Mentor, Psychosynthesis Life Coach

Vienna is a Certified Psychosynthesis Coach and Trainer, Transpersonal Guide and Ritual Practitioner. She has a background in Emotional Mastery, Qigong, Reiki, and Indigenous forms of Traditional Healing and Somatic Work. Her intimate experience with the healing of trauma, both in herself and others, provides a unique, in-depth perspective on the human psyche, and the ability we possess to transcend the programming and stories of our past. This understanding has fueled her work in Psychosynthesis for nearly 7 years.

Vienna became a Ceremonial and Ritual Practitioner via the studies of indigenous cultures and the journey of reconnection to her own native lineage. Apprenticeships to Medicine Men and Women from North and South American Traditions have since led her to facilitate transformational gatherings around the US and abroad. Currently residing in the desert of Joshua Tree, Vienna's vision of a more connected planet is the driving force behind her enthusiasm for personal development. She believes it is through radical self-care, authentic reconnection, and deep inquiry that we are able to co-create a more holistic world and embody the change that we wish to see.

Ariana Vallejo Psychosynthesis Life Coach - Psychospiritual Institute

Ariana Vallejo, CCH, PLC
Lead Instructor, Student Mentor, Psychosynthesis Life Coach

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Instructor, Student Mentor, Psychosynthesis Life Coach

Ariana is a Certified Psychosynthesis Life Coach, Coach-Trainer at Psychospiritual Institute, and Certified Vitalist Herbalist devoted to the art of feminine soul work.

Founder of Liberated Essence, she guides women through threshold moments of their lives—those seasons of initiation, unraveling, and fierce longing to come home to the deeper truth within.

Drawing from her Persian lineage, her path as a mother, wife, dancer, herbalist, and facilitator, Ariana creates sacred spaces where women can soften, integrate old and constricted ways of being, and reconnect to the wisdom of their body, emotions, and intuition. Her work blends somatic practice, ritual, and deep psychospiritual process to help women integrate primal wounds and reclaim the medicine of their true feminine nature.

With reverence for the mystery and he cyclical nature of becoming, Ariana’s work is a powerful invitation to remember, reclaim, and rise into the radiant fullness of who you are.

Mark Maclean, PLC
Instructor, Student Mentor, Psychosynthesis Life Coach

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Instructor, Student Mentor, Psychosynthesis Life Coach

Mark is a Soul Purpose & Conscious Leadership Coach. He is a certified Psychosynthesis Life Coach (PLC) and holds certifications in Mindful-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Organization and Relationship Systems Coaching (ORSC), and Peak States therapy techniques. Mark also facilitates the relational practice "Circling" and facilitates with leadership teams, helping them achieve deeper alignment, improve relational intelligence, overcome relational blocks, and connect to a shared sense of purpose. He also brings a variety of other modalities in working with his clients including relational life therapy, authentic relating, systems theory, Gene Keys, Human Design, and Eastern wisdom traditions.

With over 10 years of experience in IT consulting and leadership, Mark has helped organizations navigate complex challenges and drive digital transformation. He combines his expertise in business with a passion for personal and spiritual growth, guiding individuals to transform their inner worlds, careers, and relationships.

Mark specializes in working with high achievers who have “checked all the boxes” of success yet still feel unfulfilled. He helps them connect with their higher purpose and break through the blocks keeping them from a deeply meaningful and fulfilling life.

His work includes guiding individuals through deep healing, career transitions, spiritual awakenings, and opening their hearts to more meaningful relationships. He also partners with corporate leaders, helping them cultivate self-awareness, relational intelligence, and presence—enhancing their leadership effectiveness and impact.

Mark is deeply committed to helping you reconnect with your soul’s purpose, heal inner blocks, and step into a life of fulfillment and authenticity. Through his guidance, you’ll uncover your true self and create lasting change, both personally and professionally.

Erin Ryan, Student Services and Business Manager for Psychospiritual Institute

Erin Ryan
Student Services Manager, Business Manager

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Student Services and Business Manager

Erin Ryan is a certified somatic sex coach / therapeutic yoni massage practitioner, healer, & artist. Her mission is to help women remember their primal essence and power through raw, unfiltered self-reflection and self-responsibility. She believes by aligning the body, mind, heart, and spirit through pleasure, expression, and embodiment; you uncover safety within, healing the heart and yoni, and establishing deeper intimacy with self and others along the way.

After an epiphany during university she chose to pack up all her things and travel the world. Through 5 years of living an international nomadic life, doing multiple Yoga teacher trainings in India and Byron Bay, Australia, and completing her somatic sexology training, she rediscovered herself. Erin found her love of ritual, devotion to living a heart-led existence, and a desire to support those in their path to sacred remembering.

She believes through honoring the full spectrum of our emotions and loving all parts of ourselves we find liberation and freedom. Erin feels your life is your masterpiece and to approach every moment through the lens of the artist creates a wildly robust human experience. She deeply desires a world where humans feel empowered in their voice and stay curious about their unique individual blueprint.

Erin celebrates her paradoxical and cyclic nature by leaning into the mysteries of life, inviting in the changing of seasons with wide open arms, and committing to leading through the deepest integrity.

Dr. Didi Firman, Board Certified Psychosynthesis Life Coach, Guest Master Instructor at Psychospiritual Institute

Dr. Didi Firman, Ed.D., LMHC, BCC
Guest Instructor

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Guest Instructor

Dr. Firman has worked in the field of psychology and counseling for over thirty years and has traveled and taught nationally and internationally. Her specialties include: psychosynthesis, a spiritual psychology; coaching & counseling towards meaning and purpose in life; and speaking, teaching & consulting with a focus on personal and spiritual empowerment.

She is a licensed mental health counselor, psychotherapist, life coach and is co-founder of the Synthesis Center in Amherst, Massachusetts. She was a professor at American International College in the department of Graduate Psychology and Counseling. Her scholarly writing has appeared in Counseling in a Complex Society and Counseling With Confidence as well as in a variety of other venues.

Dr. Firman is often a keynote speaker, consultant and workshop presenter, as well as a guest instructor in the Psychosynthesis Life Coach and Leadership Certification Program at Psychospiritual Institute. She has also been a speaker/presenter at the Young President’s Organization, The Omega Institute for over twenty years, at Esalen, the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology, at many hospitals and colleges, at conferences in the United States and Italy, and many more.

She is the New York Times bestselling co-author of Chicken Soup for the Mother and Daughter Soul as well as Chicken Soup for the Soul, Celebrating Mothers and Daughters and Chicken Soup for the Father and Son Soul. She is also the author of Daughters and Mothers: Making it Work, and co-authored with Kevin Quirk, Brace for Impact: Miracle on the Hudson Survivors Share their Stories of Near Death and Hope for New Life. Coming on the anniversary of the miracle landing of flight 1549 on the Hudson River, the book celebrates the call to living lives of meaning and purpose that passengers and first responders have experienced after this near death experience. Her books have been translated into many languages.

Dr. Firman and her books have been featured on many TV and radio shows, including Oprah, Fox News, New Morning, Wisdom Television, Nightbeat, Eldervision, Time for Spirit and the CBS special Family 2 Family, among others. She works in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband of forty years. She has three grown children and four granddaughters. Didi is a practitioner of Iaido, a Japanese martial art, and holds a black belt. Her life is defined by an ongoing inclination to listen for the call of Self—and then to answer.

Kenneth Sørensen
Guest Instructor

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Guest Instructor

Kenneth is the CEO of JiveYou, which offers an online identity profile assessment tool based on the insights of the Seven Types and Psychosynthesis. He is a guest instructor in the Psychosynthesis Life Coach and Leadership Certification Program at Psychospiritual Institute and he is also the author of six books. His most recent are The Soul of Psychosynthesis (2015), Integral Meditation (2016), and The Seven Types (2019).

"I took this program completely online from Australia and it was hands down the BEST program I have ever taken... I cannot recommend this course highly enough."

Anjani Amriit

Claudia Pacitti Psychosynthesis Life Coach

"The 9-month Psychosynthesis Coaching Training was truly an incredible experience. The curriculum, teachers, exercises, depth of knowledge shared and the way the program is structured and delivered were beyond my expectations. I had been looking for a Transpersonal Coaching Program for many years and I was extremely pleased to found this one."

Claudia Urdaneta-Pacitti