Our team
Innate is founded and run by clinicians – medical and psychological professionals – who care deeply about the work we do. We combine our skill and experience to bring safe, compassionate, patient-centric ketamine therapy to Marin County. We look forward to accompanying you on your journey to wellbeing.
Carl Spitzer MD
Carl is a board-certified emergency physician who spent decades caring for his neighbors at MarinHealth Medical Center’s emergency department. He retired from that practice in 2023 to focus full-time on the practice of ketamine therapy.
In 2018, Carl completed a yearlong training at the California Institute for Integral Studies Certificate Program in Psychedelic Therapy and Research, and subsequently received additional specialized training in ketamine-assisted therapy (KAT) and Internal Family Systems (IFS). He has since worked with hundreds of clients facilitating thousands of KAT sessions, and has facilitated trainings and group retreats for medical and mental health professionals learning to work with therapeutic ketamine.
Carl is the founder of Big Tent Ketamine, an online community of over 2,000 medical and mental health professionals who work with therapeutic ketamine. He has an international reputation in this work.
Tia Mallette RN BSN
Tia Mallette, RN BSN has been a bedside nurse for over two decades at the University of California in San Francisco. She comes from a background in obstetrics, where she has provided expert care and calm, supporting countless people in their transition to parenthood. Tia has accompanied people during their highest highs, and held them through unimaginable tragedy. She is skilled at sitting with people in vulnerable situations, and is excited to apply her many years of bedside experience and expert clinical skills in this cutting edge field.
Virginia Wade RN BSN PMH-BC
Virginia Wade, RN BSN PMH-BC is a psychiatric mental health nurse with years of experience in acute settings and a board-certified Nurse Life Coach. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley’s Psychedelic Facilitation Certificate Program (interview with Virginia here). Virginia has been a dedicated Ashtanga yogi and meditator in the Theravada Buddhist tradition for over 30 years. Her compassionate, grounded approach draws on decades of work supporting individuals in recovery from addiction, alcoholism, and family dysfunction.
Scott Barshack MD
Scott Barshack, MD is a board certified psychiatrist who has been practicing in Marin County for over 30 years. After spending about 20 years as the Medical Director of Psychiatry at Marin General Hospital, he then devoted himself full time to the private practice of psychopharmacology. Over the past 5 years, he has also served as the Medical Director of Paradigm San Francisco, a residential treatment program for teens and young adults. Scott is very excited about the potential benefits of ketamine especially in patients who have failed to respond to standard psychopharmacology.