Samantha Retrosi, Director of Retreats at Soltara, holds a Ph.D in Sociology from George Mason University, specializing in the intersection of human consciousness and social structure. Her sociological work emphasizes the relationship between psychospiritual illness and contemporary systems of power which inform the emergence of suffering in individual life contexts. Though she has been working in Costa Rica since 2021, her research interests initially took her to Peru, where she spent five years learning directly from the master plants in the Amazonian context. During this time she trained to assist and support the work of Shipibo curanderos engaged in service to the increasing influx of those seeking healing through ceremonial ayahuasca practices. At Soltara, she works within and alongside a globally diverse support staff to provide retreat guests with a safe container within which to access profound and meaningful healing experiences. She is also a student of astrology and provides integration services which utilize astrological methodologies to contextualize the work involved in plant medicine centered healing processes.