Healing Beyond the Clinic. Community Beyond the Uniform.
Aether San Diego is a nonprofit initiative that represents the founding vision and deeper mission that inspired the creation of Aether Brain Health.
Founded by Dr. Ida Babakhanyan, Aether San Diego reflects a long-standing commitment to advancing brain health for veterans and first responders—individuals who have served in high-risk, high-responsibility roles and often face unique cognitive, psychological, and neurological challenges. Drawing on expertise in neuropsychology, traumatic brain injury, and emerging therapeutic frameworks to include psychedelic assisted therapy, this initiative is dedicated to elevating standards of care while addressing stigma surrounding brain and mental health within these communities.
High-functioning individuals in mission-critical roles face unique experiences shaped by occupational exposures, constant performance demands, and busy lives where personal well-being often takes a back seat. Those with unique occupational specialties may routinely be exposed to environmental toxins, heightened risk of neurological injury (including blast-related impacts, traumatic brain injury), sleep and ongoing psychological stressors. These stressors may include moral dilemmas tied to duty (moral injury), exposure to traumatic events, family and relational stressors, mood changes, cognitive changes (for example memory, thinking, learning).
While these professions are the pillars of safety in our communities, they also place individuals at increased risk for both cognitive and psychological effects. At Aether San Diego, we recognize these unique risks and provide specialized, holistic care to serve the very individuals who serve us.
Current Status
Aether San Diego is currently in the development phase and has not yet been formally launched. Dr. Babakhanyan is actively working through required compliance and conflict-of-interest reviews related to her government role to ensure that the nonprofit is established with full transparency and ethical integrity. It is her intention to formally stand up Aether San Diego once all appropriate approvals and structural requirements have been satisfied.
A dedicated website for AetherSD.org is currently under development and will serve as the primary platform for information related specifically to the nonprofit initiative as it formally takes shape.
Individuals or organizations interested in future collaboration, research partnerships, or philanthropic support are welcome to reach out to express interest once the nonprofit is formally established. We are currently accepting private donations for the nonprofit initiative. Please email info@aethersd.org for more information.
A Purpose-Built Approach for Those Who Serve
Aether San Diego is focused on the development of a comprehensive treatment program designed specifically for veterans and first responders. The goal is to thoughtfully integrate evidence-based clinical practices with complementary mind–body approaches, creating a program that emphasize measurable, real-world impact rather than short-term or isolated interventions.
This initiative seeks to bridge the gap between science and lived experience—supporting brain health in ways that translate into daily functioning, long-term resilience, and meaningful quality of life improvements.
More Than a Program—A Long-Term Commitment
Aether San Diego (our non-profit initiative) is envisioned as more than a treatment model. It is a research-informed, community-centered effort aimed at advancing how brain health care is conceptualized and delivered for specialized populations. Planned programs emphasize continuity of care, integration, and ongoing monitoring across different stages of service, transition, and post-service life.
Our mission is to empower those who serve by providing the highest standard of care for brain health and connecting with a community that understands the unique experiences that come with high-stakes careers. We are planning to execute a program that is:
- More than treatment that only impacts you — by utilizing a research pathway to elevate the standard of care currently accessible to unique populations.
- More than psychedelic treatment — by integrating foundational holistic interventions and evidence based effective therapies.
- More than a weekend retreat — by providing monitoring and optimization across one’s career or retirement trajectory through ongoing support and integration.
- More than neuropsychology — by integrating psychological health into the brain health model of care.
- More than a neuropsychological evaluation — by assessment results into treatment and providing monitoring overtime.
Whether you’re recovering from trauma, optimizing your performance, or seeking a deeper sense of connection, we are aiming to provide support to get you to the best version of you. You’ve dedicated your life to serving others. We want to serve you.
Rather than a single intervention or retreat-style experience, Aether San Diego is committed to developing sustainable frameworks that support long-term optimization, recovery, and growth.
Expanding treatment horizons: Offering psychedelic medicine healing with ongoing support for integration and real-life application.
Serving Those Who Have Served
Those who dedicate their lives to protecting others deserve care that understands the weight of that service, the highs and the lows, the pride and the guilt, the impact on the family and the complexity of it all. Aether San Diego exists to meet that responsibility with respect, rigor, and privacy.
You have served with commitment. Our mission is to serve you with the same care.
Aether San Diego is a separate nonprofit initiative and does not provide insurance-based services through Aether Brain Health.
Aether San Diego Program
Aether San Diego is designed as a two-series, in-person clinical research program tailored for veterans and first responders. Our program is built on a research foundation, with all participants either recruited or self-referred. Each individual consents to their de-identified data being used to advance our mission: connecting mind-body practices, advancing medicine, and increasing access to innovative treatments for those who serve and protect our communities, often at great personal risk.
Series 1: Intensive Healing Foundation
The first series is a five-day in-person intensive program that provides comprehensive care. Participants receive a comprehensive cognitive evaluation, engage in individual and group sessions with providers specializing in neuropsychology, psychiatry, mental health, and cognitive health, as well as physical therapy. This foundation is enriched with holistic practices such as yoga, meditation, sound healing, and breathwork. Series 1 establishes the groundwork for deeper healing and prepares participants for the next stage of the program.
Series 2: Psychedelic Medicine (Research-Based)
One month after completing Series 1, participants have the option to enter Series 2, which integrates psychedelic medicine within the structure of a clinical research study. This series includes both individual and group sessions and may involve the use of psilocybin, 5-MeO-DMT, and/or MDMA, administered safely and ethically under professional guidance. The combination of evidence-based clinical care, holistic practices, and psychedelic-assisted therapy offers a comprehensive approach to brain health and transformative healing.
In-between and After
Following Series 1, integration begins right away—we don’t wait for medicine work to start supporting change. Between Series 1 and Series 2, participants receive weekly virtual individual therapy with the same therapist they began with, along with a weekly group meditation session and a process group therapy supporting the unique needs of the community. This structure provides one hour of individual therapy, one hour of meditation, and one hour of group work each week, maintaining continuity of care and supporting gradual integration. After Series 2, this framework continues with the addition of specialized integration sessions focused on personal goals and on applying the insights gained through medicine and treatment experiences into daily life.
Brain health is not just test scores. Wellness is not limited to talk therapy. True healing is found in a deeper connection—with self, with life, and with others. We believe this wholeheartedly and aim to support this mission.
