About a year ago, we launched the Althea directory (list.withalthea.com) to help clients find licensed psilocybin facilitators in Oregon and Colorado. And it worked! We heard anecdotes like "I got my first clients from the directory," or "you should join - I have gotten a lot of messages," etc.
Facilitators got visibility, clients found care, and we learned a lot about what people are actually looking for when they take this step. The directory's job was always to give someone a snapshot: a name, a location, a way to get in touch. That was useful, but it left a lot of the work (figuring out if this facilitator is the right fit, what a session actually costs, what to expect before and after) to a phone call or email exchange that often never happened. It also had a lot of visibility gaps on our end. We couldn't tell you exactly how many people found psychedelic healing and booked a journey.
Enter the marketplace: be.withalthea.com, our answer to those gaps. In addition to a profile, we built marketplace experiences to give clients a full picture: your approach, what a session feels like, what to expect, pricing, and real reviews. Clients can imagine themselves in the experience before they ever reach out, which means the people who do reach out are more informed, more ready, and a better fit from the start.
The marketplace also does something the directory never could: it handles the whole path from first click to session day in one place. Clients can browse, message, book, and pay without leaving Althea. You get built-in payment processing, session and client management, and placement in the discovery feed where we're actively directing our marketing, SEO, and paid traffic.
The marketplace also gives our team more visibility into where potential customers are dropping off. With that information, we can better understand a customer's path and provide you with details on how to better book clients.
Practically, this means we're consolidating two systems into one. Rather than maintaining a directory listing and a marketplace profile separately, everything moves under the marketplace: one profile, one place for reviews, one place bookings and payments happen. It's less for you to manage, and a meaningfully better experience for the people trying to book you.
Our plan is to build this marketplace into a marketing machine that helps seekers find and book services. We want you to be a part of it! We know a lot of people could use psychedelic healing, and we want to give them the information and tools they need to make that happen.