Our Team
We are grounded in equity; tended with integrity; thriving on trust and transparency.
Gwen Pelfini
Founder and Executive Clinical Director
LMHC #010972, LPCC #13835, NCC #1511235, PATP, ACS
Welcome to Rooted Ethos!
I’m Gwen.
I’m an integrative, multi-licensed psychotherapist, certified approved clinical supervisor, adjunct professor, and certified psychedelic-assisted therapy provider and advocate; here for your healing journey.
With clients, I weave together therapeutic modalities and allies to help facilitate, strengthen and celebrate the relationship with your Inner Healing Intelligence; living a life more deeply rooted into that innate knowing.
To me, Rooted Ethos, represents the balanced spirit of living in that knowing - grounded in equity; tended with integrity; thriving on trust and transparency. I see this space as a canopy, under which many branches of offerings are made accessible. As a group psychotherapy practice, we are a collective of conscious clinicians, dedicated to providing innovative, integrative psychotherapy to our clients, supervision & consultation to fellow clinicians and devoted support to our community.
Associate Psychotherapists
Robin Dogrucu
Associate Psychotherapist
I am a passionate catalyst for helping people discover their own way to live more fully. We often get stuck, held back, and disconnected from experiencing life with a feeling of wholeness. The stories and beliefs we have carried for decades about ourselves and the world around us play a role in that experience. In a therapeutic relationship, we can create new meaning from past experiences and change the way we go on living in the present. My therapeutic approach is to help you make direct contact with the knowledge in your body through what is called the felt sense. By helping you set aside old narratives and cultivate a relationship with your felt sense, change arises freshly from the body. A real change is a shift in the bodily felt way you experience yourself in the world; a coming forward of your whole person.
Lindsay Caspi
Associate Psychotherapist, AMFT#163395
My style is warm, collaborative, direct, and grounded. I believe meaningful therapeutic change begins with creating a space where each person feels genuinely seen, heard, and understood, yet I also believe therapy can ask something of us. I take an active role in the therapeutic process, helping clients identify patterns, explore what may be keeping them stuck, and consider new ways of understanding and relating to themselves and others. My approach is individualized and holistic, recognizing that our emotions, bodies, relationships, histories, and environments all contribute to how we experience ourselves and the world around us. My work is informed by family systems, attachment, trauma-informed care, and somatic perspectives.
Medical Partners
Kwasi Adusei
DNP - Medical Partner
Dr. Kwasi Adusei is a compassionate and inquisitive psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner Ghanaian native who has dedicated his career to exploring the intersections of community and wellbeing. Dr. Adusei co-founded the Psychedelic Society of Western New York and established the Sanctuary Project, a grassroots organization focused on psychedelic risk reduction. His extensive involvement in the psychedelic field includes serving as a consultant to Usona, and on boards such as the Psychedelic Research and Training Institute, Reconsider, the Source Research Foundation, and the Psychedelic Medicine Association, as well as adjunct faculty for the California Institute of Integral Studies, Vital Psychedelic Training, Soundmind Institute, and more..
Motivated by his personal experiences with the war on drugs and community mental health, both as a patient and clinician, he served as a participant in the Diversity Working Group for MAPS and continues to further his commitment to fostering inclusivity and diversity in mental health and psychedelic research. His background as an educator and community organizer, combined with his clinical expertise, allows him to make notable contributions to these fields while continually striving for innovative approaches to healthcare and community well-being.
Journey Clinical is a platform for licensed psychotherapists to incorporate science-based psychedelic therapies in their practice safely and effectively, starting with Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP). Journey Clinical’s in-house medical team takes on patient eligibility, prescriptions and outcome monitoring, while I take on the therapy. Their collaborative care model is designed to deliver personalized treatment plans to meet your individual needs and improve long-term outcomes.
Associate Paw-tner🐾
Lucy joined Rooted Ethos in December 2024, after her original owners passed and Gwen adopted her. She is now thriving and living her best city life - attending conferences and gatherings, training as a therapy apprentice. She is a registered Service Dog (ID #113141874) with USA Service Dogs, and a registered Therapy Animal (US-SAR-179526928) with US Service Animal Registrar. Her cuddles are top-notch, and her favorite toy is her squeaky turtle. When she’s not playing in the grass or sand, she is likely on Gwen’s lap, napping or taking notes.
Lucy G
Associate Therapy Pawtner 🐾
