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Category: Podcast

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Rethinking Addiction and Treatment Models: Is the Recovery Community Ready for Psychedelics?

Psychedelics are going mainstream, but society’s views on addiction and recovery models are still behind. Is the recovery community ready for psychedelics?

In this episode, Joe interviews Dan Ronken: licensed professional counselor and addiction counselor with a private practice in Boulder, CO, called Inclusion Recovery, and lead trainer and facilitator for the Integrative Psychiatry Institute (IPI).

He tells his story of going from a sponsored BMX racer to three stints in rehab before the age of 14, and what he’s learned from his experiences in recovery over the years: that there is a wide range of what ‘in recovery’ actually means, that abstinence-only and 12-step models don’t work for many, that connection and community – and consistency in both – are enormous parts of what actually leads to overcoming an addiction, and more. As recovery communities cautiously begin to talk about psychedelics, he highlights the importance of nuance in understanding addiction, the need for open-mindedness toward new therapeutic approaches, and the need for diverse support networks that welcome discussions around psychedelics.

He talks about::

  • Inducing alcohol cravings before an intramuscular ketamine shot as a way of using neuroplasticity to rewire the brain’s relationship with alcohol
  • How Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, benefitted greatly from LSD in the 50s, and how Ronken originally scoffed at such a concept
  • The growing visibility of psychedelics in popular media, as seen in shows like “Loudermilk” and “Ted Lasso”
  • The benefits of sober communities coming together for active and healthy activities

and more!

Links

Inclusionrecovery.com

Nature.com: Ketamine can reduce harmful drinking by pharmacologically rewriting drinking memories

Psychedelics and Addiction Recovery: Microdosing and Redefining the Path to Sobriety, featuring: Danielle Nova

Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transendence in Psychotherapy (Suny Series in Transpersonal & Humanistic Psychology), by Stanislav Grof

Hazeldenbettyford.org

Alcoholics Anonymous: The Big Book

Saving Normal: An Insider’s Revolt against Out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of Ordinary Life, by Allen Frances, M.D.

Psychedelicsinrecovery.org

Imdb.com: Loudermilk

Imdb.com: Ted Lasso

Thephoenix.org

Lucid.news: Bill Wilson, LSD and the Secret Psychedelic History of Alcoholics Anonymous

Distilled Spirits: Getting High, Then Sober, with a Famous Writer, a Forgotten Philosopher, and a Hopeless Drunk, by Don Lattin

YouTube: Bill W. (2012 documentary)

The Rose Of Paracelsus: On Secrets & Sacraments, by William Leonard Pickard

Pubmed: Percentage of Heavy Drinking Days Following Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy vs Placebo in the Treatment of Adult Patients With Alcohol Use Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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The Mystical Roots of Psychedelics: Exploring Dreams and the Liminal State

What can we learn from the mystical roots of psychedelics? And what can we learn from dreams?

In this episode, Joe interviews Shauheen Etminan, Ph.D.: co-founder of VCENNA, a drug discovery and development company, and Magi Ancestral Supplements, which sells nootropics inspired by ancient Eastern traditions.

He discusses his journey into the world of plant extraction, how he first discovered compounds like Haoma and Harmaline, and why he decided to bring Iranian tradition to the psychedelic renaissance. He explores the similarities between psychedelics and experiences found in mystical traditions, and how that historical context can inform modern psychedelic practice. He sees this exemplified most with dream recollection, attending to the emotions found within dreams, and the concept of wakeful dreaming, where one can access unconscious insights consciously, through the liminal (or hypnagogic) state between dreaming and wakefulness. 

He discusses:

  • Zoroastrianism and how the teachings of Zarathustra on understanding morality have inspired him
  • Syrian Rue in Iranian culture, and how it compares to the Banisteriopsis Caapi vine: Is it actually stronger than ayahuasca?
  • Henry Corbin’s practice of embodied imagination and Jung’s concept of active imagination
  • Other less-discussed compounds he’s interested in, like Ephedra and Saffron

and more!

Links

Vcenna.com

Ancestralmagi.com

Ancestral Magi linktree

PT465 – Beta-carbolines, Haoma, and Syrian Rue: Rediscovering Ancestral Knowledge, featuring: Shauheen Etminan, Ph.D. & Jonathan Lu

Haoma and Harmaline: The Botanical Identity of the Indo-iranian Sacred Hallucinogen Somo and Its Legacy in Religion, Language, and Middle Eastern Folklore, by David Stophlet Flattery & Martin Schwartz

Wikipedia.org: Zoroaster

Wikipedia.org: Ephedra

Wikipedia.org: Hypnagogia

Gettherapybirmingham.com: Henry Corbin: Visionary of the Imaginal Realm

Let Your Body Interpret Your Dreams, by Eugene T. Gendlin, Ph.D.

Jungiancenter.org: Jung on Active Imagination: Features, Methods and Warnings

Thealchemistskitchen.com

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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Transpersonal Connections, the Body’s Memory, and the Collaborative Nature of Consciousness

In this episode, Joe interviews Paul Grof: research psychiatrist, clinician, author, brother of Stanislav, professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto, and director of the Ottawa Mood Disorders Center.

He talks about his extensive career in psychiatry, and how trying to understand the cause of mood disorders led him to focusing on the very nature of consciousness. He believes that consciousness is a collaborative creation between the brain, body, and external fields, and that the key to connecting with the mechanistic side of academia is through talking about the unexplainable – near death experiences, pre-cognition, remote viewing – and of course, them having positive non-ordinary experiences through psychedelics or other means. He talks about how much we’re connected, how much our bodies remember, and how much society could change for the better if enough people experience the transpersonal.

He also discusses:

  • His thoughts on legal frameworks, education, integration, and whether or not psychedelics will get stuck in psychiatry
  • The importance of new study designs in research, as double blinding doesn’t make sense for psychedelics
  • Concerns over spiritual emergence and emergencies: How much is the responsibility of the therapist or facilitator?
  • The global rise in depression and addiction, especially in the younger generation, and the need for techniques for people to help themselves
  • The work he’s doing with remote healing circles, using strong intention, positive emotions, and visualized healing

and more!

Links

Researchgate.net: Sources of Human Psychological Differences: The Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart

Sciencealert.com: Eerie Personality Changes Sometimes Happen After Organ Transplants

The Holographic Universe: The Revolutionary Theory of Reality, by Michael Talbot

Zimbardo.com: Life and Legacy of Psychologist Karl Lashley

Nasa.gov: What Is the Spooky Science of Quantum Entanglement?

Thelaszloinstitute.com: The Akashic Field with Ervin Laszlo – Higher Self Expo

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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The War on Drugs: The DEA’s Attempt to Schedule DOI & DOC and the Fight for Sensible Policy

Whether you’re a drug user or not, society as a whole has been hurt tremendously by the War on Drugs. Can we win the battle with education and sensible policy?

In this episode, Joe interviews Kat Murti: executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), the largest nationwide network of students fighting to replace the War on Drugs with policies rooted in evidence, compassion, and human rights.

She talks about how she became interested in drug policy, which not surprisingly aligns with the many problems of The War on Drugs: how it’s a war on people, personal liberty, and our communities; how laws are not effective in enforcing morality; and how getting in trouble with the law often incentivizes more illegal activity. We all know that our current system doesn’t work and that the drug war no longer appeals to most reasonable people, but how can we move towards sensible policy? She discusses previous successes (both at SSDP and before), and some of their current projects, from the work they’re doing with fentanyl strip training and distribution, to education work at festivals and their program, “Just Say Know.”

She talks about:

  • How drug policy isn’t going to look the same everywhere and shouldn’t: How do we effectively use different models in different places together for the benefit of everyone?
  • The dangers of forcing drug users through drug courts and treatment centers
  • The repealing of Oregon’s Measure 110 and how it’s unfair to blame its failure on problems that already existed in the state
  • Their new focus on how the War on Drugs specifically affects women and reproductive rights, inspired by Louisiana recently scheduling Mifepristone and Misoprostol

and much more.

The SSDP’s biggest battle now is fighting the DEA’s attempted scheduling of DOI and DOC, two compounds that have been used in research for decades and pose no real threat to safety – which would drastically derail a ton of research. They just completed a 10-day hearing with the DEA. Watch Joe and Hamilton Morris’ breakdown here, and stay tuned to SSDP and PT for updates. 

Links

SSDP.org

SSDP.org: Donate

Cato.org: Jeffrey Singer

Studentsforliberty.org

Lastprisonerproject.org: 420 Unity Day of Action

North Carolina Psychedelic Policy Coalition

PT427 – The Philosophy of Law Enforcement, The Criminalization of Self-Directed Behavior, and Transformative Care for Police, featuring: Sarko Gergerian, MS, MHC, CARC

Lawenforcementactionpartnership.org

Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town, by Jon Krakauer

Learnaboutsam.org: Smart Approaches to Marijuana

Koin.com: Oregon Senate passes bill to end Measure 110, recriminalize hard drugs

SSDP:org: “Just Say Know” Drug Education

Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, by Johann Hari

Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear, by Dr. Carl L. Hart

YouTube: PT Live: Joe Moore & Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) Discuss the DEA’s Hearing on DOI & DOC

YouTube: PT Live: Joe Moore and Hamilton Morris Discuss the DEA’s Attempt to Schedule DOI & DOC, and Why

SSDP.org: Stop the DEA from Scheduling DOI & DOC!

NPR.org: A new Louisiana law will re-classify misoprostol as a dangerous controlled substance

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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The Potential of Buprenorphine, the Risks of Ketamine, and How Psychedelics Could Prevent Nuclear War

In this episode, Joe interviews Howard Kornfeld, MD: renowned pain medicine expert, addiction specialist, early pioneer in psychedelic medicine, and currently the director of recovery medicine at Recovery Without Walls.

As a leader in the utilization of buprenorphine, he talks about how it came about as a treatment for addiction and chronic pain, its similarities to MDMA, and how its fast-tracked FDA approval could give us clues on how to get MDMA approved. He also dives into the history of ketamine, its unique effects compared to other substances, its potential for abuse, and what can happen with overuse. And he talks a lot about the connection he sees between psychedelics and the prevention of nuclear war, inspired by Sasha Shulgin’s opinion that nothing changes minds faster than psychedelics. He points out that when there is darkness, there is light: Albert Hofmann’s famed bicycle trip on acid happened 3 months after the nuclear chain reaction was invented. Can the growing use of psychedelics inspire the kind of change we need to save the world?

He also discusses:

  • The need for new study designs as we come to terms with the fact that double-blind studies don’t really work with psychedelics
  • Criticisms of the FDA’s denial of MDMA: Was the process unfair?
  • His predictions that advocates will begin pushing to decriminalize MDMA at the state level
  • The books, Tripping on Utopia and Drugged
  • How he played a part in prisons ending the practice of killing prisoners with cyanide gas

and more! 

Links

Recoverywithoutwalls.com

Ippnw.org: International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

What do Alien Abduction and Psychedelic Experiences have in Common? Let Dr. John E. Mack’s Work Explain

Atlasobscura.com: How a Famed New Age Retreat Center Helped End the Cold War

Trackii.com

Thebulletin.org: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Wikipedia.org: Buprenorphine

Omnimagazine.com: John Lilly on Dolphin Consciousness

National Library of Medicine: Ketamine bladder syndrome: an important differential diagnosis when assessing a patient with persistent lower urinary tract symptoms

Cghjournal.org: Liver Injury Is Common Among Chronic Abusers of Ketamine

United Nations’ Treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons

How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence, by Michael Pollan

The Nature of Drugs Vol. 1: History, Pharmacology, and Social Impact, by Alexander Shulgin

Tripping on Utopia: Margaret Mead, the Cold War, and the Troubled Birth of Psychedelic Science, by Benjamin Breen

Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind, by Mike Jay

Drugged: The Science and Culture Behind Psychotropic Drugs, Richard J. Miller

Nytimes.com: At the Brink: A Series About the Threat of Nuclear Weapons in an Unstable World

Scientificamerican.com: Inside the $1.5-Trillion Nuclear Weapons Program You’ve Never Heard Of

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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Regulation, Decriminalization, and Religious Freedom: Prop 122’s Challenges and Opportunities

In this episode, Joe interviews Veronica Lightning Horse Perez: therapist, speaker, author, activist, and co-chief proponent for the Natural Medicine Health Act of 2022 (Prop 122); and Sean McAllister: attorney specializing in the regulatory, health care, business, and religious freedom aspects of psychedelic medicines, and one of the drafters of Prop 122.

This episode was recorded live at the Plant Medicine Cafe in Denver, CO – which served as an unofficial Prop 122 headquarters – and cohosted by Meaghan Len, co-founder of the U.S.’ first ayahuasca church, Sanctuary of the Sovereign Heart.

They dive into the details of Prop 122 and discuss why it’s the most freeing legislation we’ve seen, but also very complicated in the clash between an expensive regulated side and a risky and ambiguous decrim side. While the implementation process continues, they’ve learned that there is still a huge need for public education, and that one of the most important tasks now is to be hyper aware of how legislators will try to change what people already agreed on.

They discuss:

  • The Federal vs. state legality issues we still see even after such sweeping legislation
  • The huge gap in understanding why Indigenous communities are upset and why they need to be included in all discussions
  • The Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the complications of religion when many of us simply feel spiritual
  • The natural vs. synthetic fallacy and the future of churches offering a synthetic sacrament
  • The ontological shock many have after a big experience and why churches and community are needed to help guide people

and more! 

Links

Lhthehealingground.com

Mcallisterlawoffice.com

Sean McAllister – The Successful Psilocybin Mushroom Decriminalization Initiative in Denver

Plantmagiccafe.com

Plant Magic Cafe instagram

Magicdoctress.com (Meaghan Len)

Caught in the Act: A Chemist’s Battle Against Felony Drug Charges

Churchofeagleandcondor.org

The Way of the Shaman, by Michael Harner

Zendoproject.org

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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How Family Healing Shapes Veteran Recovery

In this episode, Joe interviews two members of the Heroic Hearts Project: Founder and President, Jesse Gould; and Director of Development and Head of Family Relations, Allison Wilson.

Gould gives a background of Heroic Hearts Project and discusses their current projects and future goals, and Wilson talks about her nonprofit, The Hope Project, and its recent merger with HHP to bring more of a focus to the other side of veteran healing: the families of veterans. While Heroic Hearts and other veteran-aligned organizations have been an answer to many vets unable to find help otherwise (and frustrated with the inconsistencies of the VA), they talk a lot about that missing piece – how crucial it is to have family involved in a veteran’s reintegration, and how that healing can impact future generations.

The Veteran’s Guide to Psychedelics: A Preparation and Integration Workbook was recently released, with all proceeds going to HHP, and they are hosting their first Gala event, “Operation: Freedom To Heal,” this week, December 5, in Los Angeles. The goal of the event is to fundraise, gather community, and recognize the supporters who have gotten Heroic Hearts to where it is today, and will feature live and silent auctions and a performance by Melissa Etheridge. Email Allison@heroicheartsproject.org if you’d like to attend.

Links

Heroicheartsproject.org

Thehope-project.org

Jesse Gould – Healing PTSD Veterans through Ayahuasca Retreat Opportunities

PT372 – The Heroic Hearts Project: Veterans and The Impact of Storytelling, featuring: Jesse Gould & Zach Riggle

The Other Side of Veteran Healing: Secondary PTSD and Post-Retreat Family Dynamics, featuring: Allison Wilson & Dr. Grace Blest-Hople

Sealff.org

The Veteran’s Guide to Psychedelics: A Preparation and Integration Workbook, by MSc Matt Zemon

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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Is Cannabis a Psychedelic? Exploring the Science of Indoles, Interprening, and Intention

Most cannabis enthusiasts have experienced the wide range of possible effects, from a subtle happy high to one that floors you. The question must be asked: Is cannabis a psychedelic? And how can we make it more so?

In this episode, Victoria interviews Max Montrose: Founder of the Trichome Institute, a company offering online courses and certifications on cannabis.

Montrose explores the scientific and sensory aspects of cannabis, diving into the role of the aromatic compound, indole, and how the fresher and more aromatic (usually pungent) the flower is, the higher chance for having a more psychedelic experience. He dives into ways to maximize the psychedelic nature of cannabis, largely through “interprening,” which is his method for learning about a plant’s effects from smelling buds, measuring your sense of sensation and where you feel the smell is hitting you. And he talks a lot about intention and how the power of a cannabis experience can be determined by the reverence you have for the plant and the intention you put behind each inhale: It is a “total reflection of how much you care.”

He also discusses:

  • The range of cannabis effects: how it can be just weed – something mindlessly smoked all day with a slight numbing effect – or an incredibly powerful, life-changing experience
  • The importance of skillset being added to the concept of set and setting: the skills you have (and can practice) for helping you create your own setting to get through a tough time
  • Issues with the legal cannabis industry about accuracy of strains, shelf life, and the ability to smell the product
  • The lack of money in cannabis research: Why is no one funding research into indole chemistry?
  • Why indica and sativa are not accurate terms, and how aroma is more of a factor than we realize

and more! 

If you’re curious about interprening or the Trichome Institute’s other offerings, head to the site and use code psy25 for 25% off anything. And if you’re thinking of going to the reMind Psychedelic Business Forum in Las Vegas next week, use code rempsychtoday10 for 10% off your ticket, and come visit our table!

Links

Trichomeinstitute.com

Is Cannabis Psychedelic? Examining the Scientific Evidence

Npr.org: Does Beaver Tush Flavor Your Strawberry Shortcake? We Go Myth Busting

Abstraxtech.com

Trichome Institute YouTube: Why Strain Names Don’t Matter Anymore!

Trichomeinstitute.com: Unlocking the Power of Terpenes Through Aromatic Training: Engaging Your Trigeminal Nerve for a Deeper Cannabis Experience

reMind Psychedelic Business Forum: Dec. 3, 2024, Las Vegas Convention Center (use code: rempsychtoday10 for 10% off)

NEW REPORT: Psychedelics at Work – Mapping the Path of the Field

Vitalpsychedelictraining.com

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The 3-Axis Framework: A New Model for Psychedelic Work

New ways of looking at non-ordinary experiences and integration are always being conceived. What is the 3-axis framework?

In this episode, Kyle interviews Pierre Bouchard, LPC, LM: therapist, minister, and former professional vinyl DJ specializing in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and ministry.

Bouchard introduces his 3-axis framework for psychedelic integration, which looks at the personal, the transpersonal, and, with time, seeing how the lessons learned from non-ordinary experiences and personal work are expressing to the world: How can we use what we’ve learned to show up better? How can we use our gifts to be of service to others? What is stopping us? He also talks about the importance of building a foundation for holding the experience of a psychedelic journey – that you have to first build an ego to later dissolve it – but recognizes the tricky balance of not strengthening an ego so much that it gets in the way.

He discusses:

  • The broad scope of what someone can mean when they say “psychedelic healing”
  • The importance of keeping the 3 axes in harmony – that you should always be attending to each
  • Why someone beginning a healing journey needs to be smart, curious, and desperate
  • The challenge of discerning between an entity or a projection: How do we know what to take from that experience?
  • Why practitioners and therapists need to find a balance between being confident and humble

and more! 

Links

Pierrebouchardcounseling.com

Sacredpractices.org

PT248 – Pierre Bouchard – Somatic Therapy, Trauma, and the Nervous System

Exploring Somatic Practices and Psychedelics, featuring: Pierre Bouchard, LPC & Kara Tremain, ACC

Deep-psychology.com: Ken Wilber Fundamentals: The Four Quadrants For Newbies

The Emerald podcast: Guardians and Protectors!

Intention, Making Space for Integration, and Finding Joy in the Mundane, featuring: Lana Pribic, M.Sc, CPC

The Emerald podcast: Oh Justice

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Sex and Psychedelics: Healing Through Altered States

Can erotic energy be as transformative as a psychedelic experience?

In this episode, Joe interviews Bria Tavakoli, LPCC, MA, MS: a therapist specializing in relational and sex therapy, with a focus on helping clients integrate psychedelic experiences.

She shares her personal journey with psychedelics and how they unlocked deep trauma, allowing her to develop a level of comfort with intimacy, love, and her sexuality. She talks about the parallels between psychedelic journeys and sexual experiences, and how both can be gateways to unexplored parts of ourselves, as well as catalysts for healing and transformation. She discusses society’s cultural shame surrounding our sexuality, why we need to view sexuality from a wellness-based model, and how psychedelics can help couples grow together, and at times, really challenge their relational structures. When asked how to combine sex and psychedelics, she answers, “very carefully.”

She also discusses:

  • The immense importance of creating a safe space for couples discussing their intimacy
  • How clients reporting sexual concerns is usually a cheat code to determining what their real issues are
  • Ethical and practical considerations for combining psychedelics and sex therapy, related to stories of concerning sexual behavior in the space
  • Why humor and lightness is so important in this work
  • The importance of honoring individual capacity and being true to yourself when exploring new experiences

and more! 

Links

Embodywithbria.net

Embodywithbria.net: Share your story

Ancestralmagi.com

YouTube: PT Live: Joe Moore and Tommaso Barba Discuss Sex and Psychedelics

Nature.com: Psychedelics and sexual functioning: a mixed-methods study

Europeansexology.com

Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence, by Esther Perel

Laura Northrup – Healing Sexual Trauma with Psychedelics and Entheogens

Integrativesextherapyinstitute.com

Polysecure: Attachment, Trauma and Consensual Nonmonogamy, by Jessica Fern

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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Standards, Ethics, and Integration: Rebuilding Trust in the Ketamine Industry

While the psychedelic industry is facing intense growing pains, the ketamine industry has been allowed to grow, largely unchecked. How did we get here, and how does the ketamine space rebuild trust?

In this episode, Kyle interviews Juan Pablo Cappello: co-founder and former CEO of Nue Life Health, whose assets were subsequently acquired by Beckley Waves.

Cappello discusses the current challenges and controversies facing a ketamine industry that has moved much faster than anyone anticipated, and stresses the need to create industry-wide standards – especially for at-home ketamine – before the government imposes its own standards on us. Citing the Matthew Perry case and other bad behavior from providers, he talks about the risks of overpromising and underdelivering, the lack of integration in the majority of ketamine frameworks, and how profit-driven, subscription model motives have overshadowed patient care and ethical practices.

He also discusses:

  • The complications from personal perspectives and passions shifting after a psychedelic experience, and how that can change over time
  • The FDA’s recent rejection of MDMA: What would have happened to MDMA if it had been approved?
  • Hope for more Native American churches, and what they can learn from the DEA’s denial of Soul Quest
  • The story of a bump of cocaine ruining the hope for cannabis to be decriminalized under the Carter administration
  • Our current Wild West of gas station CBD, Delta-8, and barely-regulated vapes

and more! 

Links

PT274 – Juan Pablo Cappello – Nue Life: Using Digital Phenotyping to Personalize Healthcare

PT496 – Maintenance Doses and Recurring Revenue: The Ethics of At-Home Ketamine Therapy, featuring: Juan Pablo Cappello

How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence, by Michael Pollan

Why Did the FDA Reject MDMA-Assisted Therapy for PTSD?, featuring: Ingmar Gorman, Ph.D.

Nytimes.com: How Psychedelic Research Got High on Its Own Supply

Marciamoorestory.com

One Year podcast: 1977: Mr. Marijuana and the Drug Czar

Wikipedia.org: Cole Memorandum

Nbcnews.com: Off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot said he took ‘magic mushrooms’ 48 hours before allegedly trying to shut down plane engines

Churchofeagleandcondor.org

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit’s Non-Argument Calendar against Soul Quest

Psychedelics, Religion, and the DEA’s Quest for Soul

Ketamine and Trauma Treatment

Psychedelic Education Center: Black Friday deals are open now!

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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From Individualism to Connection: How Psychedelics and Group Therapy Can Heal Our Collective Crisis

It becomes more apparent every day how much isolation and focusing so much on the individual is hurting us. Can psychedelics – and specifically, group therapy – be the answer to our crisis of individualism?

In this episode, Kyle interviews Geoff Bathje, Ph.D.: licensed psychologist, researcher, former Full Professor, and co-founder of Sana Healing Collective, a Chicago-based non-profit focusing on ketamine-assisted therapy and psychedelic integration.

He talks about what he feels is one of the largest factors in our mental health crisis: the individualistic and neoliberal lens Western culture has placed on mental health and how it neglects the massive systemic and relational factors that are affecting us all. He digs into how we got so alienated and how psychedelics and non-ordinary states of consciousness can not only help us think critically and solve problems, but also move us out of this individualistic framework of healing and more into a collective one. How do we use psychedelics to fix our relationships and find our community?

He discusses:

  • The challenge of knowing when to work for relationships and when to just end them, especially in the afterglow of a big experience
  • Group ketamine experience vs. individual, how groups can help facilitators find patterns, and how ketamine works with somatic therapy
  • His paper, “Psychedelic integration: An analysis of the concept and its practice” and his visual model of integration showing the different domains of our personal experience
  • What he thinks will happen next in drug development: Will therapy be left out after Lykos’ failure with MDMA?
  • The importance of moving beyond aggressive criticism and moving into world building

and more! 

Links

Sanahealingcollective.org

OSF Reprints: A Qualitative Study of Intention and Impact of Ayahuasca Use by Westerners

Frontiersin.org: Psychedelic integration: An analysis of the concept and its practice

Harm Reduction Journal: Ethical and legal issues in psychedelic harm reduction and integration therapy

The Emerald podcast: The Revolution Will Not Be Psychologized

Researchgate.net: Relationships, Not Boundaries

Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, by Robert D. Putnam

Chacruna.net: The Unbelievable Claims of Psymposia about MAPS and MDMA-Assisted Therapy

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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How Safe is Ibogaine Therapy? The Delicate Balance of Risk and Efficacy

There is a delicate balance between risk and efficacy with any psychedelic intervention, but especially with ibogaine. Just how safe is ibogaine therapy?

In this episode, Joe interviews Thomas Feegel: co-founder of Beond Ibogaine, an ibogaine treatment and research facility in Cancún, Mexico.

When Feegel first heard of ibogaine 16 years ago, he found that people were having great success, but nobody could recommend where to go for treatment. So he worked to create what was needed: a combination of a hospital, mental health treatment facility, retreat center, and resort, with the proper infrastructure in place, employees with ICU experience, exhaustive HIPAA-compliant admission criteria, regular data collection, and a major focus on safety.

Addressing the recent Rolling Stone article about the tragic death of a patient at Beond in 2022 (interestingly, 2 days after his initial dose), he discusses what he feels was inaccurate, largely related to what could be perceived as a suggestion that there wasn’t enough screening or that corners were cut. With no official reason given for the patient’s death, it brings into question just how safe one can be, especially with people whose bodies and hearts have been through so much. How much hidden harm is created by the stress of PTSD and addiction?

He discusses:

  • The complexity of journalism and drawing conclusions from limited information
  • The limitations of conventional addiction treatments and the sad numbers around how many people stick with rehab
  • The importance of collecting as much data as possible about each patient, at regular intervals, prior to, during, and after the experience
  • The need for a regulating group to create standards around admission and administration procedures for ibogaine

and more! 

We’re releasing this episode on Veterans Day because Beond’s program was co-developed by veterans, military medical personnel, and active-duty law enforcement officers who have seen how much ibogaine can help. Make sure to check out some of our past Veterans Day episodes with Joel Lambert, Tommy Aceto, Matthew ‘Whiz’ Buckley, Allison Wilson & Dr. Grace Blest-Hopley, Jesse Gould & Zach Riggle, and a very powerful episode with three anonymous vets.

Links

Beondibogaine.com

Rollingstone.com: He Took a Psychedelic to Cure His Addiction. It Was His Last Trip

Beondibogaine.com: A Clinical Summary

Cdc.gov: Drug Overdose Deaths in the U.S. Top 100,000 Annually

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Why Psychedelic Research is Booming: Current Trends and Hurdles

There is more psychedelic research happening today than ever before, but is anyone collecting it all into one place? And can we find trends in all that data?

In this episode, David interviews Floris Wolswijk: senior project manager at Delphi; co-founder of FLO coaching; and founder of Blossom, an online informational hub collecting psychedelic courses, trials, companies, and over 2000 categorized research articles.

When Wolswijk began Blossom, he was barely able to fill a weekly newsletter, and now he’s adding a new study nearly every day, perfectly illustrating the exponential growth in psychedelic research. He talks about why so much research is happening (and why more isn’t), the trends he’s seen, the benefit in research changing people’s minds, and what he hopes for in the future. What can the research community learn from existing real world evidence, and how can retreat centers and underground communities contribute?

He also discusses:

  • What culture is like in the Netherlands, where psilocybin truffles are legal
  • Drug development and the possibilities of adjusting existing molecules
  • What we can learn from the Lykos and FDA situation
  • The economics of psychedelics and how insurance will likely be the next big conversation
  • His work with FLO coaching, and how coaching, acceptance and commitment therapy, and psilocybin can work together

and more! 

Links

Blossomanalysis.com

Delphi-circle.com

Flocoaching.nl

YouTube: Psychedelic Research: The Current Landscape & Future Directions, with Floris Wolswijk (a PT webinar)

QRI.org

Why Did the FDA Reject MDMA-Assisted Therapy for PTSD?, featuring: Ingmar Gorman, Ph.D.

Painscience.com: A fascinating landmark study of placebo surgery for knee osteoarthritis

Psychedelicalpha.com: The Psychedelic Drug Development Pipeline Bullseye Chart

The Economics of Psychedelics, featuring: Elliot Marseille, DrPH, MPP

Thelancet.com: Effect of psilocybin versus escitalopram on depression symptom severity in patients with moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder: observational 6-month follow-up of a phase 2, double-blind, randomised, controlled trial

Microdosinginstitute.com

Bbrfoundation.org: Small Preliminary Trial of Psychoactive Drug Ibogaine Yields ‘Initial Evidence’ for Powerful Therapeutic Potential in Traumatic Brain Injury

Psychologytoday.com: David Drapkin, LCSW

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Ketamine-Assisted Therapy at Work? The Future of Employee Benefits

As the mainstreaming of psychedelics continues, ketamine-assisted therapy at work (well, through one’s employer) is no longer a pipe dream. What does the future of employee benefits look like?

In this episode, Joe interviews Jessica Tracy: head of sales & partnerships at Enthea, a company that works with employers, unions, and employee assistance programs to be able to offer ketamine-assisted therapy (and psilocybin where it’s legal) to employees.

She talks about her path to psychedelics and how the shifts in her life led her to want to help others, finding Enthea and using her 15 years of experience in healthcare to make an immediate difference. She explains how the process works for an employee of a company Enthea works with, and the importance of evidence-based medical policy and rigorous screening to make sure people are getting the best intervention possible. One of Enthea’s largest clients is Dr. Bronner’s, who reported incredible improvements after employees used the benefit, with a 65% improvement in depression scores and an 86% improvement in PTSD.

She also discusses:

  • How psychedelics bring awareness to what we need to work on
  • Less-discussed treatment modalities, like electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and stellate ganglion block (SGB)
  • The inefficiency of traditional talk therapy: 50% of people only see really good benefits after 20 sessions
  • The importance of viewing mental health as individualized care: What else can we offer to people who haven’t been helped by traditional methods?
  • The research that she wants to see, like measures in how present or productive people are before and after experiences

and more! 

Links

Enthea.com

Thesagecollective.co

PT376 – Ketamine and Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy as Employee Benefits, featuring: Sherry Rais

The Economics of Psychedelics, featuring: Elliot Marseille, DrPH, MPP

Unlimitedsciences.org: Ayahuasca for immigrants and refugees

Skylightpsychedelics.com

Healthline.com: What You Need to Know About Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Therapy

Clevelandclinic.org: Stellate Ganglion Block

Nationalacademies.org: Suicide and Mental Health Challenges in the Construction Industry

Building a Unified Psychedelic Future: Ethics, Standards, and a Path to Affordable Access, featuring: Lia Mix, LMFT, CPTR

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Psychedelics Lately – Massachusetts’ Question 4 and Updates in Psychedelics and Chronic Pain

In this episode, Joe and Kyle finally meet up again for the first episode of Psychedelics Lately: the updated version of the much-missed Psychedelics Weekly, where they’ll meet each month to talk about the most interesting stories in psychedelics.

The main story this month is the fate of Massachusetts’ Question 4: Regulated Access to Psychedelic Substances Initiative (The Natural Psychedelic Substances Act). They discuss what they like about the bill, its opposition, and its support, including actress Eliza Dushku Palandjian, who went from a diagnosis of PTSD and an in-the-psychedelic-closet underground experience to becoming a very public, soon-to-be certified psychedelic facilitator. If you live in Massachusetts, make sure to read about the bill and get out and vote this Tuesday (or now, if you’re registered for early voting).

They also discuss:

  • Joe’s recent east coast travels to Harvard and the PhilaDelic conference
  • Alfred North Whitehead and Process Philosophy
  • The Psychedelics and Pain Association, and Court Wing’s involvement in the first published case report of complex regional pain syndrome being treated with psilocybin
  • The scientific community needing to embrace more experientially-based approaches and practices
  • The challenge of making meaning out of the mystical

and more! 

Links

Boston.com: Question 4: What to know about the proposal to legalize some psychedelics

Bostonmagazine.com: Massachusetts Question 4 on Psychedelics: What You Need to Know

What You Need to Know About Massachusetts’ Question 4 and the Natural Psychedelic Substances Act, featuring: Graham Moore & Jamie Morey

Bostonmagazine.com: Eliza Dushku’s Bold New Journey

Holistictherapeutix.com

Plantmagiccafe.com

Tatteredcover.com

Psychedelic Revival: Toward a New Paradigm of Healing, by Sean Lawlor

Cooking with Magic: The Psilocybin Cookbook, by David Connell

A Century of Process Thought: Commemorating Whitehead’s Legacy at Harvard and Beyond

Philosophy and Psychedelics: Can Metaphysics Bring Meaning to Non-Ordinary States?, featuring: Dr. Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes

From the Eleusinian Mysteries to Modern Mysticism: The Role of Religion in the Psychedelic Experience, featuring: Charles Stang

John B. Cobb Jr. – How Exceptional Experience Can Help Save the World

The Holographic Universe: The Revolutionary Theory of Reality, by Michael Talbot

Philadelic.org

The Penn Psychedelics Collaborative and the Power of Interdisciplinary Connections, featuring: Taylor Andrews Flatt, PMHNP, Victor Pablo Acero, Ph.D., Jackie Tileston, & Michael Baime, MD

Glow-wacky.com (David Glowacki)

Psychedelicsandpain.org

Introduction to Psychedelics for Chronic Pain

Chronic Pain and Inducing Neuroplasticity With Psychedelics, featuring: Lynn Watkins, Retired USAF & C.J. Spotswood, PMHNP

Wiley.com: Refractory CRPS pain treated with psilocybin: A case report

Eduardo Schenberg’s tweet

Oxford Academic: Breathwork-induced psychedelic experiences modulate neural dynamics

The Blind Spot: Why Science Cannot Ignore Human Experience, by Adam Frank, Marcelo Gleiser, and Evan Thompson

Spotify: Hyphae Leaks season 1

Spotify: Bum Bag – “Another White Boy With a Podcast”

Heroicheartsproject.org

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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Philosophy and Psychedelics: Can Metaphysics Bring Meaning to Non-Ordinary States?

While the science of psychedelics is regularly discussed, the intersection of philosophy and psychedelics isn’t as much. Can an understanding of metaphysics bring more meaning to non-ordinary states?

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes: philosopher, lecturer at the University of Exeter, co-director of the Breaking Convention conference, and author who most recently co-edited Philosophy and Psychedelics: Frameworks for Exceptional Experience.

He discusses how the work of William James and an early psilocybin experience led him to an interest in philosophy and psychedelics, and he dives deep into several philosophical concepts: panpsychism, pantheism, ethical pluralism, teleology, process theology, Whitehead’s fallacy of misplaced concreteness, and more. He believes that science has lost touch with metaphysics – the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality – and that studying metaphysics will lead to more beneficial experiences with the non-ordinary: If you can understand and frame the experience, you’ll have a much better chance of being able to integrate its lessons.

He discusses:

  • The complexity of ethics and the need to ask more philosophical questions
  • His book, Neo-Nihilism, which argued that there are no shared objective morals
  • The West’s’ obsession with scientism and believing only what can be reducible to matter: Is science honest if it ignores the ineffable?
  • The connections between philosophical frameworks and religion: Would studying comparative religion help us better understand each other?
  • The need for more experiential research

and more! 

Sjöstedt-Hughes is the co-lead on Exeter’s 12-month postgraduate certificate course, “Psychedelics: Mind, Medicine, and Culture,” and is finalizing his next book, a manual on psychedelics and metaphysics.

Links

Philosopher.eu

PGCert Psychedelics: Mind, Medicine, and Culture (Online)

Breakingconvention.co.uk

RIPPLES of Hope: Psychedelics as a Tool for Peacebuilding and Collective Healing, featuring: Sami Awad & Leor Roseman, Ph.D.

PT419 – Ketamine-Assisted Therapy for Severe Alcohol Use Disorder, featuring: Professor Celia Morgan, Ph.D.

Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom, by Andy Letcher

YouTube: Consciousness and psychedelics | Peter Sjostedt-H | TEDxTruro

The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature, by William James

Philosophyofpsychedelics.com

Philosophy and Psychedelics: Frameworks for Exceptional Experience, Edited by Christine Hauskeller & Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes

Stanford.edu: Russellian Monism

The Blind Spot: Why Science Cannot Ignore Human Experience, by Adam Frank, Marcelo Gleiser, and Evan Thompson

Journalpsyche.org: Panexperientialism, Cognition, and the Nature of Experience

Neo-Nihilism: The Philosophy of Power, by Peter Sjöstedt-H

Comicbooknews.co.uk: Warren Ellis ushers Karnak into the Marvel Universe

Wikipedia.org: Teleology

The Center for Process Studies

Frontiersin.org: On the need for metaphysics in psychedelic therapy and research

The Holographic Universe: The Revolutionary Theory of Reality, by Michael Talbot

LSD Psychotherapy: The Healing Potential of Psychedelic Medicine, by Stanislav Grof, M.D.

Beckleypsytech.com: First patient dosed in Beckley Psytech’s Phase IIa study of BPL-003 in combination with SSRIs for Treatment Resistant Depression

PT492 – Alien Abductions and Parallel Realities: How Do You Validate the Radically Ineffable?, featuring: Elizabeth Anglin

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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The Penn Psychedelics Collaborative and the Power of Interdisciplinary Connections

As the spectrum of interest in psychedelics broadens more every day, interdisciplinary connections become more important than ever. What is the Penn Psychedelics Collaborative?

In this episode, Joe interviews 4 members of the team: Co-Founder, Taylor Andrews Flatt, PMHNP; Associate Director, Victor Pablo Acero, Ph.D.; Professor in Fine Arts and Co-Director of the Weitzman School of Design, Jackie Tileston; and Executive Director and Director of the Penn Program for Mindfulness, Michael Baime, MD.

Recorded earlier this month at the PhilaDelic conference – one of the primary initiatives of the PPC – they discuss their paths to psychedelics and why this transdisciplinary collection of faculty, researchers, and clinicians at the University of Pennsylvania was so necessary. Viewing psychedelics from different perspectives (Flatt from nursing, Acero from bioengineering, Tileston from the art and mysticism side of things, and Baime from a more mindfulness point of view), their group is a case study in collaboration – a place where connections can be catalyzed and shared goals can be addressed from different angles. How far can we go when different groups start working together?

They discuss:

  • The concept of psychedelics not just being used to treat conditions, but to make us healthier
  • Psychedelic art and the idea of the art itself being psychoactive rather than just representations of trips
  • The work of David Glowacki and bringing about non-ordinary states of consciousness through VR
  • Research into salvia being used to alleviate stroke symptoms
  • How a lack of funding can really create focus

and more! 

Links

Pennpsychedelicscollaborative.org

Philadelic.org

Jackietileston.com

Upenn.edu: Mystics and visionaries: A fine arts seminar

Glow-wacky.com (David Glowacki)

Qualiacomputing.com

Muttermuseum.org

Nih.gov: Therapeutic Potential of Salvinorin A and Its Analogues in Various Neurological Disorders

Neurokor.com

Pictureacolorfulworld.com: We are the Medicine

Psychedelicmedicinecoalition.org

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What You Need to Know About Massachusetts’ Question 4 and the Natural Psychedelic Substances Act

With the passing of the Natural Psychedelic Substances Act (Question 4), Massachusetts could be the next state to follow in Colorado and Oregon’s footsteps and legalize and regulate natural psychedelics.

In this episode, Joe interviews two people on the frontlines of the campaign, Graham Moore and Community Engagement Director, Jamie Morey.

They discuss the specifics of the initiative, listed on the ballot as the “Limited Legalization and Regulation of Certain Natural Psychedelic Substances,” including the removal of criminal penalties for limited personal use, and the establishment of a regulatory agency that will provide therapeutic access to any of five natural psychedelics (psilocybin, psilocin, DMT, mescaline, and ibogaine). They tell their stories of how they discovered the power of psychedelics, and discuss the work they’re doing, educating a fairly interested – but still very hesitant – public about the bill and the importance of it passing this November.

They talk about:

  • The significance of this happening in Massachusetts, especially with the amount of biomedical research happening in Boston
  • The story of a member of Baystaters creating a fraudulent persona in a veterans advocacy group to fight against legalization efforts
  • The challenge of getting people to publicly support initiatives that deal with illegal substances
  • The power of small steps in legislation: Before this bill, MA had the most local measures in the U.S.
  • How data collection should be handled at service centers

and more! 

If you live in Massachusetts, learn about the bill here, check your voter registration status here, and make sure to get out and cast your vote in November.

Links

MAformentalhealth.org: Vote Yes on Question 4 to bring healing to Massachusetts

Heroicheartsproject.org

Hopeprojectusa.org

Facebook.com: Parents for Plant Medicine

Talkingjointsmemo.com: Psychedelics Opposition Alliance Forms In Mass, Further Divides Grassroots Coalition

Talkingjointsmemo.com: “Stolen Valor” Situation Rocks Massachusetts Psychedelics Community

PT Live: Joe Moore and Jack Gorsline Discuss Psychedelic Policy in Massachusetts

Clusterbusters.org

Psychedelicsandpain.org

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Psychedelic Education Through a Healing Justice Lens

What is healing justice? And what does psychedelic education look like through the lens of healing justice and anti-oppression?

In this episode, Joe interviews Diana Quinn, ND: naturopathic doctor, healing justice practitioner, and director of clinical education at the Naropa Center for Psychedelic Studies, where she directs their Psilocybin Facilitator Training certificate program.

She discusses her path from anthropology to naturopathy, and eventually to psychedelics and activism, finding a framework for psychedelic education grounded in healing justice, which recognizes the impact of collective trauma on all of us, seeks to reclaim lost or stolen models of healing, focuses on equity and accessibility, and brings an anti-oppression lens to training programs to give students a greater capacity for culturally responsive care. She encourages seeing things from an anti-capitalist viewpoint, and recognizes the huge clash between using such powerful and mystical medicines inside structures so embedded with problematic human qualities. How can you build inside of these Western systems without being affected by that capitalist energy?

She discusses:

  • The importance of respecting plants from other cultures – that no healing or consciousness expansion is justifiable when it threatens an entire species
  • The challenge of integrating the weirdest parts of non-ordinary states into education: How does a Western framework come to terms with the ineffable?
  • How colonialism and the culture born from it has hurt us all
  • The importance of finding your own lineage and what is sacred to you
  • The work of Rick Tarnas and the amazing patterns we can find in astrology

and more! 

Naropa is running the third cohort of their 8-month psychedelic-assisted therapy certificate program, they’re launching a psilocybin facilitator program, and they hope to have their own healing center up and running sometime in 2025.

Links

Naropa.edu: Naropa Center For Psychedelic Studies

Thresholdmedicine.com

PT292 – Sam Gandy – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

PT341 – Racism, Trauma, Research, and Psychedelics, featuring: Monnica Williams, Ph.D.

PT236 – Drugs: Honesty, Responsibility, and Logic, featuring: Dr. Carl Hart

YouTube: Horizons 2019: CARL HART, PH.D. “Dispelling Lies the Psychedelic Community Believes About Drugs”

Kaalogii.com (Belinda Eriacho)

Whitesupremacyculture.info (Tema Okun)

Anti-Oppressive Psychotherapeutic Practice, by Florie St. Aime

Psyche Unbound: Essays in Honor of Stanislav Grof, Edited by Richard Tarnas and Sean Kelly

PT291 – Rick Tarnas & Sean Kelly, Ph.D. – The Impact of Stanislav Grof, Ego Death, and The Psyche Unbound

Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View, by Richard Tarnas

Changingofthegods.com

YouTube: The Cosmic Weather Report – Episode 10 – April 2022 Forecast, with Renn Butler and Chad Harris

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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The FDA, MDMA, and Public Perception: Was the FDA Fair to Lykos?

The psychedelic space was dealt a huge blow when the FDA decided not to approve MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD under Lykos’ proposal. Was the FDA fair to Lykos? And what are the next steps for Lykos and MAPS?

In this episode, Joe interviews Rick Doblin, Ph.D.: founder and president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and former board member at Lykos Therapeutics, MAPS’ public benefit subsidiary.

Doblin tells his side of the story: that the FDA’s concerns with double blinding not working had been fully addressed ahead of time, that they had negotiated agreements that were no longer agreed to when new FDA employees came on board, that there was a lot of confusion from going back and forth with the FDA on how Phase 3 studies should be designed, and more. He believes that Lykos made a massive mistake in assuming that provable science was more important than public opinion, and that ignoring critics who were saying whatever they wanted caused them to lose control of the narrative – which clearly influenced the advisory committee. While Lykos figures out their next steps with the FDA, MAPS is focusing their attention on what they feel is most important in light of this ruling: better public education and drug policy.

He talks about:

  • How there’s a bias at the FDA to be harsh: Does automatically saying no just make it look like you’re being rigorous?
  • The work of the Dutch government in researching MDMA, and Lykos’ odd decision to not highlight any of it
  • Massachusetts’ Legalization and Regulation of Psychedelic Substances initiative, and the huge opportunity for progress at the local level
  • Why federal agents at Burning Man work so hard to give tickets to attendees for smoking cannabis
  • Why sharing stories of your positive experiences with psychedelics is so important

and more! 

MAPS has announced that 2025’s Psychedelic Science conference will be in Denver, June 16-20, and will have experiential opportunities before and after. If you’d like to donate to MAPS, please do so here.

Links

Maps.org

PT327 – Rick Doblin, Ph.D. – Confronting Abuse in Clinical Trials and the Future of Psychedelic Medicine

Icer.org: Institute for Clinical and Economic Review Releases Draft Evidence Report on Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

MAPS Podcast- Episode 33: Matthew Baggott – Beyond Fear – MDMA and Emotion

Maps.org: MAPS Statement on FDA Complete Response Letter on MDMA-Assisted Therapy for PTSD New Drug Application

Psychedelicalpha.com: Exclusive: David Hough on Lykos’ Path to Resubmission

Imdb.com: Of Night and Light: The Story of Iboga and Ibogaine

Bostonmagazine.com: Eliza Dushku’s Bold New Journey

Maps.org: Mark your calendar for the next Psychedelic Science conference: June 16-20, 2025 Denver, Colorado

Donate to MAPS

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Protecting Indigenous Wisdom: Rethinking Psychedelic Legalization

While legislators in several states are crafting their own psychedelic legalization bills, are Indigenous communities being included?

In this episode, Kyle interviews Gabriela Galindo: program coordinator of FLOWS (Foundations for Leaders Organizing for Water and Sustainability), an organization working towards social and environmental justice, ecosystem restoration, community building, and the preservation and protection of Indigenous medicines.

She discusses her entry point to psychedelics and how she got involved with Colorado’s Natural Medicine Health Act (Prop 122) when she saw a complete absence of Indigenous representation in the legislature. The narrative that we all have a right to healing and that these medicines belong to everyone is pretty common today, but Galindo argues that this is not fair: that each plant has its own history, and that each is protected by its own culture. Shouldn’t the communities that have stewarded these medicines for centuries have a say in whether their medicine is going to be shared and legislated at the state level? Shouldn’t they have the ability to consent to these new proposals?

She talks about:

  • Why she likes using ‘movement’ instead of ‘renaissance’ when discussing our psychedelic culture
  • What we could learn from Indigenous people’s harmony with nature as we face an ongoing climate crisis
  • The balancing act of pleasing everyone: Would decriminalization be as supported if Indigenous communities wanted to keep some of these substances criminalized for the protection of their culture and their ecosystems?
  • How psychedelic communities should evolve to include community work into their routines: What do local communities need and how can you help?
  • The importance of knowing when to step aside and truly center a community voice

and more! 

Links

Weareflows.org

Imdb.com: “What the Health”

Herbsandarts.com

Psychedelicpassage.com: Colorado Prop 122: A Complete Guide to Legal Psychedelic Therapy

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The Hero’s Journey: Finding Your Story in Psychedelic Healing

Telling our stories of psychedelic healing is more important than ever, but sometimes, those stories aren’t so clear cut. Can applying the classic archetype of the Hero’s Journey to your narrative help you find your story?

In this episode, Joe interviews Mareesa Stertz: lead of strategy/communications at the Global Psychedelic Society, co-founder of Lucid News, and filmmaker, currently finalizing her second feature film, “Confessions of a Psychonaut.”

She discusses her path to wanting to create the film: how she always felt like something was wrong with her but didn’t know exactly how to start her healing path, how seven ayahuasca trips didn’t give her the breakthrough experience she wanted, and how she realized over time that she didn’t have a hidden moment of trauma to overcome, but rather, lots of “little t” trauma – something that a lot of us have, without necessarily knowing it. She saw the true power of people sharing their stories of becoming healthier, and has found that aligning our stories to the classic framework of the Hero’s Journey and Carl Jung’s concept of individuation is the perfect formula for self-awareness, growth, and finding more meaning in life.

She talks about:

  • How the Hero’s Journey makes sense of the abyss, and how the abyss helps us to see how much we’ve been programmed
  • Her formula for a good story: who you were before the event, the event, and how it changed you
  • Her Sphinx project, where she aims to bring giant sphinxes (from “The NeverEnding Story”) to Burning Man, as a way for people to determine if they are “worthy”
  • Her “Talk Box” art installation, which involves strangers meeting in a confession booth to engage in meaningful conversations based on a wheel of questions
  • The power of group coherence and how much stronger a healing container can become over time

and more! 

Stertz is passionate about creating a culture that celebrates healing, and believes the biggest thing we can all do is to share our stories. She’s offering a course on finding where the Hero’s Journey is in each of our lives: “Emerge: A Journey of Self-Authorship” begins on October 29. Click here for more info.

Links

Yourstoryiseverything.com

Upcoming storytelling course: Emerge: A Journey of Self-Authorship

”Confessions of a Psychonaut” trailer

Indiegogo.com: Help bring “Confessions of a Psychonaut” to the big screen

Thesphinxgate.com

Gaia.com: Mareesa Stertz

Lucid.news: Adventures of the Psyche

Researchsquare.com: The Temporal Trajectory of the Psychedelic Mushroom Experience Mimics the Narrative Arc of the Hero’s Journey

Azquotes.com: Albert Camus’ suicide quote

Socratic-method.com: Pliny the Elder’s “depth of darkness” quote

Globalpsychedelic.org

PT476 – Reinventing Organizations, Lessons From Burning Man, and Batman & The Joker, featuring: Mike Margolies

PT398 – Lost Civilizations, DMT Entities, & Altered States of Consciousness and Early Religion, featuring: Graham Hancock

Templarhistory.com: Eliphas Levi: The Man Behind Baphomet

Landinstitute.org

Psychedelicscience.org: PS2023: The Virtual Trip

Instagram: @bigkrabcar

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Healing Psychedelics: Where Science Meets Spirit

Does combining the knowledge from Indigenous traditions with more research-backed Western frameworks land us in the sweet spot where science meets spirit?

In this episode, Joe interviews Micah Stover: certified psychedelic somatic therapist and author of the upcoming book, Healing Psychedelics: Innovative Therapies for Trauma and Transformation; and Craig Heacock, MD: adolescent, adult, and addiction psychiatrist, and host of the Back from the Abyss podcast.

Stover discusses the inspiration for the book: the ancestral voices she started hearing after she had children, being featured on Heacock’s podcast and becoming fascinated with people’s healing stories, and her move to Mexico, where she learned the beauty of a less complicated and more connected life. She learned that the village you surround yourself with is really the medicine, and that existing in the mysteries of life can be much more beneficial than trying to solve everything. Combining her Western training with more Indigenous perspectives, she wondered: Where do science and spirit meet? And how can they dance together?

They discuss:

  • Stover’s early days of offering medicine journeys in Mexico, and how much leaning on elders from all backgrounds matters
  • The importance of discernment in non-ordinary states: Is spiritual bypassing just the absence of discernment?
  • How finding a village can be just connecting to the earth: How much of our trauma is from a “nature deficit disorder”?
  • The power of transference and the relationship between therapists/facilitators and clients
  • The idea that modern psychology has fallen short because we’ve sterilized love out of the room, and the challenge of bringing love back as part of a safe container

and more! 

The book, which is laid out somewhat like a workbook (and which Heacock wrote the foreward to) comes out on November 4 and is available for pre-order now.

Links

Micahstoverconsulting.com

Healing Psychedelics: Innovative Therapies for Trauma and Transformation, by Micah Stover

Craigheacockmd.com

Spotify: Back from the Abyss: Psychiatry in Stories, with Craig Heacock MD

PTSF 34 (with Craig Heacock)

Spotify: Back from the Abyss: Psychiatry in Stories – From Beauty Queen to Psychedelic Guide

PT292 – Sam Gandy – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief, by Francis Weller

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, by Robin Wall Kimmerer

From the Eleusinian Mysteries to Modern Mysticism: The Role of Religion in the Psychedelic Experience, featuring: Charles Stang

Rational Mysticism: Spirituality Meets Science in the Search for Enlightenment, by John Horgan

Spotify: Back from the Abyss: Psychiatry in Stories – How do you learn to do psychotherapy? An exploration with Dr. Erin Jacklin

Wikipedia.org: Ina May Gaskin

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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The Globalization of Ayahuasca, Psychedelic Parenting, and the Power of Ceremony

Is the globalization of ayahuasca hurting tradition and taking ayahuasca further away from its Indigenous roots? Or is it spreading its culture to the people who need it most?

In this episode, David interviews Glauber Assis, Ph.D.: research associate at the Interdisciplinary Group for Psychoactive Studies, director of the Psychedelic Parenthood community, Vital instructor, and leader of Jornadas de Kura, a plant medicine center in Brazil.

He talks about growing up in Brazil in the shadows of colonialism, and how he felt his early experiences with ayahuasca and the Santo Daime church decolonized his mind, changing his relationship with himself and his family, and eventually leading him to start his own church: Céu da Divina Estrela. He believes that to truly know ourselves, we need to experience other cultures, and to truly see the commonalities between each other, we need to recognize just how different we all are. He feels that true growth is not found in the substance or experience, but in the relationships we have with others, and our ability to change.

He discusses:

  • How ayahuasca becoming a global phenomenon is revitalizing traditions that may have otherwise been lost
  • His first travels to the U.S. and why we need to stop romanticizing other cultures
  • The power of live music in a ceremonial group setting
  • The birth of his third child in a car, and what psychedelic parenthood really means
  • The importance of understanding multiple different frameworks and being able to use them together

and more! 

Bonus: This episode features the first live performance in PT podcast history – a song Assis wrote in the Santo Daime tradition.

Links

YouTube: Ayahuasca Traditions Abroad: Forest Medicine in the International Diaspora, with Dr. Glauber Loures de Assis

Maps.org: Psychedelic Parenthood: A New Ancestral Way of Raising a Family

Chacruna.net: Glauber Loures de Assis, Ph.D.

Aapaonline.org: Remembering Bruno Latour and His Contributions to Philosophy

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Tripped: The Connection Between LSD, Nazi Germany, and MKUltra

Researching the true history of substances deemed illegal can lead to surprising results. In the case of LSD, does its history include a connection between Nazi Germany, the CIA, and the roots of MKUltra?

In this episode, Joe interviews award-winning novelist and screenwriter, Norman Ohler.

Following in the footsteps of Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich, his newest book, Tripped: Nazi Germany, the CIA, and the Dawn of the Psychedelic Age, tells the story of how the Nazi’s passion for methamphetamine turned into a curiosity about LSD, and how their experiments with trying to harness LSD as a truth drug eventually led to the CIA continuing their research under their MKUltra program. The book came about from trying to understand why LSD never became medicine – a question posed by his father, when discussing how LSD could help with his wife’s progressing Alzheimer’s symptoms.

He discusses:

  • His path to becoming a “gonzo historian” and how his early psychedelic research was inspired by a friend’s discovery of methamphetamine tablets from the 40s
  • Henry Beecher’s LSD experiments with students at Harvard, and how researchers often didn’t know they were contributing to MKUltra
  • His recent appearances on The Joe Rogan Experience and Jesse Watters Primetime
  • His mother’s experience with microdosing LSD and why police showed up at his father’s door with a warrant
  • Why he believes psychedelics will be legalized in the U.S. in the next 10 years

and more! 

Links

Normanohler.de

Normanohler.de: Tripped: Nazi Germany, the CIA, and Dawn of the Psychedelic Age (LSD for Mom)

Wikipedia.org: Henry K. Beecher

Wikipedia.org: Alsos Mission

Jesse Waters Primetime: Author takes a close look at America’s complicated history with LSD

The Joe Rogan Experience #2183: Norman Ohler

YouTube: Lex Fridman Podcast #442 | Donald Trump Interview

Benzinga.com: American Medical Association Officially Endorses Drug Decriminalization: We Need ‘Something That Actually Works’

Bbc.com: Alcohol ‘more harmful than heroin’ says Prof David Nutt

reMIND Psychedelic Business Forum: Dec. 3, 2024, Las Vegas Convention Center

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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Intention, Making Space for Integration, and Finding Joy in the Mundane

With so much attention being placed on the psychedelic experience itself, too many people are getting stuck in patterns of chasing the experience without making space for integration.

In this episode, Kyle interviews Lana Pribic, M.Sc: host of the Modern Psychedelics podcast, certified professional life coach, and founder of Kanna Wellness.

She talks about her early days of rave culture and MDMA, to exploring other substances, to where she is today: finding joy in the simple things in life, embracing recreational psychedelics, and continuously working on herself while understanding that psychedelic experiences are not the be-all, end-all medicine, and that taking space to integrate learned lessons is where the true potential lies. She recognizes that many of us set out to heal trauma or work on something specific, but often get caught in a “healing trap,” where a victim energy ends up holding us back – and keeps us coming back. When is the healing done? When do these experiences become a habit or escape? What are we not integrating?

She discusses:

  • The “7 levels of energy” framework she uses with clients
  • How she works with clients who return to unhealthy patterns after a big experience
  • The judgment of the psychedelic space, both for people who stop using psychedelics and for people who return to the well perhaps too often
  • Her relationship with her mother and how her mother’s cancer treatment inspired her to create Kanna Wellness
  • How much of a factor acceptance is in finding joy in the mundane

and more! 

Serving Canada (for now), Kannawellness.com just launched, and features kanna extract eight times more potent than what is on the market today. If you’re curious, use code PT10 at checkout for 10% off your order!

Links

Modernpsychedelics.net

Modern Psychedelics on Spotify

Kannawellness.com

Modern Psychedelics #104 | Psychedelics + Society: Safe Cultural Containers, Psychedelic Underground & Facing Global Challenges w/Psychedelic Solutions (Joe Moore)

PT308 – Dr. Ido Cohen, PsyD – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Ipeccoaching.com: Unpacking the 7 Levels of Energy: A Path to Deeper Self-Awareness

PT271 – Jeremy Narby, Ph.D. – Anthropology, Ayahuasca, and Plant Teachers

After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path, by Jack Kornfield

You Were Never Broken, by Jeff Foster

Myss.com (Caroline Myss)

Psychedeliceducationcenter.com

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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Why Did the FDA Reject MDMA-Assisted Therapy for PTSD?

After years of work, MAPS/Lykos was finally able to present MDMA to the FDA as a possible tool in the fight against PTSD, only to be denied in devastating fashion. Just why did the FDA reject MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD?

In this episode, Joe interviews Ingmar Gorman, Ph.D.: clinical psychologist and co-founder and CEO of Fluence, a psychedelic education company.

Gorman served as a co-principal investigator and study therapist on MAPS’ Phase II and III clinical trials for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, and works with drug sponsors: training, developing the components for clinical trials, and designing therapy manuals. With his insider’s perspective, he discusses the reasons why he believes the FDA rejected MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD: from ICER’s 2.1 section of the report giving legitimacy to allegations they don’t have the authority to research, to Lykos not being able to defend some accusations due to confidentiality, to the damage caused over time (which likely influenced the decision) from attacks against Lykos from dissenters.

He discusses:

  • How, despite abuse claims, the main allegations in the report were actually about the mishandling of data or influence of investigators on participants
  • The complications of needing to follow study frameworks: Should your adverse experience be in the report if it happened outside the study window?
  • How easily opposition can attack and demonize a faceless company, while forgetting the humanity of the people behind it
  • Inner healing intelligence and the proposition that people have been indoctrinated into this concept by MAPS
  • The need for journalists to research more and not just jump on a narrative

and more! 

 

Links

Fluencetraining.com

Journals.sagepub.com: Scaling Up: Multisite Open-Label Clinical Trials of MDMA-Assisted Therapy for Severe Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Frontiersin.org: Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration: A Transtheoretical Model for Clinical Practice

Ingmar Gorman – MDMA Psychotherapy and how to get Involved with Psychedelic research

Elizabeth Nielson and Ingmar Gorman – The Importance of Psychedelic Integration Training for Therapists

Icer:org: Institute for Clinical and Economic Review Releases Draft Evidence Report on Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Lykospbc.com: Lykos Therapeutics Statement on FDA Advisory Committee Meeting

Psychedelicalpha.com: Exclusive: Therapists and Trialists from Lykos’ Phase 3 MDMA-Assisted Therapy Studies Push Back on ICER’s Critical Draft Report

An Inside Look at the FDA and Early Drug Development, featuring: Dr. Amanda Holley

MAPS Podcast: Episode 33: Matthew Baggott – Beyond Fear – MDMA and Emotion

Researchgate.net: Preliminary evidence for the importance of therapeutic alliance in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder

Tactogen.com

YouTube: Breaking Points: OPEN WAR As FDA BLOCKS MDMA Therapy For Vets

Secondhallway.com: A Brief Statement on My Resignation from Psymposia

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Finding Your Soul’s Purpose: Harnessing Psychedelic Insights for Professional Growth

Psychedelic experiences can be a key drivers toward finding your soul’s purpose. But how can the insights learned lead to professional growth or a completely new career?

In this episode, Kyle interviews Beth Weinstein: spiritual business coach, host of the “Medicine For These Times” podcast, and founder of the Psychedelics, Sacred Medicines, Soul’s Purpose & Business summit.

She talks about a pattern she noticed of people working with psychedelics and seeing progress on what they set out to heal, but with a short-lived afterglow, as they remained in unfulfilling jobs without making any changes. She wondered: What if they applied the lessons they learned during their experience to their careers? What small steps could they start taking to either improve their current job, or find their true soul’s purpose and carve out a new path? Weinstein’s path has led her to combine practical business action plans with more spiritual and traditionally psychedelic modalities to help people grow in their careers and become their most authentic selves – especially if they’re trying to enter into the psychedelic space.

She discusses:

  • The importance of making time to talk things out with a coach, integration circle, or friends – especially in a culture that only gets more distracting and chaotic every day
  • The challenge of differentiating between guidance: Is it your soul’s true purpose, or a trick of your ego?
  • The weirdly taboo topic of money in psychedelics, and the delicate balance of aligning with charitable values while making a living
  • The mystical aspects to how life can change with new energy: Maybe that layoff happened at the perfect time?
  • The power of positivity and small steps toward change, and how working on something outside of work can transform how you show up at work

and more! 

Weinstein’s newest course begins early next year: The True Path Entrepreneur Group Business Coaching Mastermind Program, which is a 12-month live coaching course designed to reprogram limiting patterns and beliefs and help move people into alignment with their true path. Click here for more info and to apply.

Links

Bethaweinstein.com

Free course: Integrating Psychedelics & Sacred Medicines Into a Transformational Business

Free course: Clarity to Clients: 3 Steps to Start & Grow a Transformational Coaching, Healing or Psychedelic Business

The True Path Entrepreneur Group Business Coaching Mastermind Program

Apple podcasts: “Medicine for These Times” with Beth Weinstein

Psychedelicsoulsummit.com

PT229 – Dr. Matthew Johnson – What is Consciousness?

Coyote Medicine: Lessons from Native American, by Lewis Mehl-Madrona, M.D.

Imdb.com: Office Space

Rose Dieta: Group Plant Spirit Immersion (begins Oct. 7)

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale.

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Coaching, Fractal Inquiry, and How to Create Your Own Psychedelic Integration Circle

As more people have experiences with non-ordinary states, integration becomes more important than ever. But if there isn’t one in your area, how can you create your own psychedelic integration circle?

In this episode, David interviews Daniel Shankin: psychedelic integration coach, Vital instructor, and founder and director of Tam Integration.

He talks about the underrated importance of integration circles, how he created Tam Integration out of a personal need for them, how simple it can be for people to create their own groups, and how open-ended newly formed groups can be. He also discusses his “fractal inquiry” coaching method, and how the best coaching involves simply asking questions that lead clients to their own realizations and wisdom. He is offering courses that teach both of these skills: a course called Creating Community Psychedelic Integration Circles, and the newly-launched, year-long Mt. Tam Psychedelic Integration Coaching Program, beginning in October.

He discusses:

  • The importance of learning how to focus on your breath, especially during a tough experience
  • Hugging the Hindu spiritual leader, Amma (Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi), and the special energy that some people have
  • The benefits of knowing when a mind path isn’t worth exploring
  • The difference between judgment and curiosity
  • The weirdness of psychonauts, and how maybe getting a little weirder is what’s needed for your healing

and more! 

Links

Tamintegration.com

Tam Integration’s Psychedelic Integration Coach Training

Tamintegration.com: Creating Community Psychedelic Integration Circles: An Online Course

Tam Integration circles

Daniel Shankin – Leadership Coaching and The Psilocybin Summit

Spotify: “Hair” soundtrack

Be Here Now, by Ram Dass

Chris Bache – LSD and the Mind of the Universe: Diamonds from Heaven

After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path, by Jack Kornfield

Amma.org

Early Research, Psychedelics in Palliative Care, and the Intersection of Science and the Sacred, featuring: William Richards, STM, Ph.D.

Palousemindfulness.com: “In the Service of Life,” by Rachel Naomi Remen

YouTube: Mos Def- “Umi Says”

Tam.zone

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale.

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Psychedelic Outlaws: Cluster Headaches, Citizen Science, and the Story of ClusterBusters

Cluster headaches are considered to be the most severe pain a person can experience. With scarce research and no funding, citizen-led science has taken over, and sufferers may have discovered the answer: psychedelics.

In this episode, Joe interviews Joanna Kempner, Ph.D.: associate professor in the Department of Sociology at Rutgers University and author of the recently released, Psychedelic Outlaws: The Movement Revolutionizing Modern Medicine.

The book profiles the history and groundbreaking work of ClusterBusters, a nonprofit researching and spreading awareness about what someone named Flash discovered decades ago: that for some people, psilocybin and LSD could stop cluster headaches from coming on. Through early internet message board posts and email exchanges between Bob Wold, Rick Doblin, and others, Kempner pieced together their story. And through attending ClusterBusters meetings, she discovered that a lot of the true healing lies in the bonds formed and the hope people find when seeing something new work for a pain for which science has no answer.

She discusses:

  • The lack of political will behind something so debilitating: Why is there no funding for this?
  • The importance of patient advocacy and the role of the internet in sharing novel information
  • The difficulty in studying a disease so unpredictable: How do you run a randomized trial when you don’t know when a cluster is going to happen?
  • Why the headache community clashes with psychology
  • Concerns over how to ethically combine underground and Indigenous knowledge with above-ground University research

and more! 

Links

Joannakempner.com

Psychedelic Outlaws: The Movement Revolutionizing Modern Medicine, by Joanna Kempner, PhD

Clusterbusters.org

Psychedelicsandpain.org

Not Tonight: Migraine and the Politics of Gender and Health, by Johanna Kempner

Nih.gov: Response of cluster headache to psilocybin and LSD

Allianceforheadacheadvocacy.org: Headache on the Hill

How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence, by Michael Pollan

Portasophia.org

PT336 – Sisi Li, Ph.D. – Porta Sophia: Psychedelic Prior Art

ClusterBusters Inc. YouTube: Psychedelic Outlaws Book Club – Week 1

Philadelic.org

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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Breathwork, Holding Space, and the Healing Power of Connection: Documenting the Dreamshadow Community

Breathwork can be a powerful tool for addressing trauma and supporting growth, but the community formed around it seems to prove where the true magic lies: the healing power of connection.

In this episode, Kyle interviews Mustapha Khan: Emmy Award-winning director with over 100 film and television credits, who has worked with clients such as Coca-Cola and Honda, and celebrities ranging from Maya Angelou to Snoop Dogg.

Khan is finalizing a film about Lenny and Elizabeth Gibson and their ongoing work at Dreamshadow – the people and community responsible for Joe and Kyle meeting and the creation of Psychedelics Today. He talks about meeting the Gibsons, being welcomed into their community (instead of his proposed “fly on the wall” role), how centered and happy he felt after his first breathwork session, and what he has learned through the process: that breathwork can be an incredibly healing modality, but the magic he has found has been more in the community surrounding it, and the responsibility (and honor) of being a sitter for someone else.

He discusses:

  • The first time his breathwork went psychedelic, and speaking with his recently deceased Mother
  • How he got into filmmaking and why he wants to tell stories about people like the Gibsons
  • The beauty of breathwork not having a dogma or doctrine attached to it
  • The power in holding space for someone else, even if it’s just being present
  • The importance of taking action that aligns with psychedelic ethos: What can you do to contribute to your community?

and more! 

Khan is planning to release the documentary, “Life and Breath,” in October. In addition to a screening at Dreamshadow, PT will likely do a virtual one as well, so stay tuned for updates!

Links

Mustaphakhan.com

Jethrowaters.com

Dreamshadow.com

PT316 – Lenny Gibson, Ph.D. – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Bicycle Day Reflections, Quantum Mechanics, and the Value in Studying Philosophy to Understand Psychedelic Experiences, featuring: Lenny Gibson, Ph.D.

Children of Crisis, by Robert Coles

Solidarity Fridays – Week 10 with Kwasi Adusei

RIPPLES of Hope: Psychedelics as a Tool for Peacebuilding and Collective Healing, featuring: Sami Awad & Leor Roseman, Ph.D.

Amazon Prime: “Song for Our People”

Amazon Prime: “Rocksteady”

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Psychedelics and Addiction Recovery: Microdosing and Redefining the Path to Sobriety

While the concept is often unfairly reduced to replacing one drug with another, many people struggling with addictions are proving that there’s a positive link between the use of psychedelics and addiction recovery. Can microdosing be a factor?

In this episode, Joe interviews Danielle Nova: founder of Psychedelic Recovery, founding team member of Decriminalize Nature Oakland, and Executive Director of the San Francisco Psychedelic Society.

As a recovering addict, Nova discusses how working with psychedelics helped her find her way to recovery, and how she’s spreading that knowledge to others through her Psychedelic Recovery program, which focuses more on ‘targeted abstinence,’ instead of the total abstinence model of Psychedelics In Recovery (which works alongside AA’s 12-step program). She believes that it’s extremely important to reframe addiction as a life process or temporary state of consciousness (rather than a life sentence you can’t escape), and that beating addiction is not about constantly being afraid of a relapse, but about evolving to a state of empowerment: that you can overcome it, and that actually, a horrific addiction may have saved you and brought you to where you’re supposed to be.

She discusses:

  • The complications of Western medicine and the impact of conflicting medications that are nearly impossible to stop taking
  • How self-regulation of tough emotions with outside stimuli (be it drugs, pornography, or even video games) trains people to rely on external forces rather than themselves
  • How addicts end up programing themselves with ‘addict consciousness,’ and the power of changing one’s mind state to view suffering as the fuel for a new purpose
  • How, over time, we will likely start viewing microdosing as a regular dose, and the large doses we’re used to will be seen as overdosing

and more!

She has co-created Microdosing Facilitator Training with Adam Bramlage of Flow State Micro: a first-of-its-kind 4-month program teaching clinicians, facilitators, and coaches about microdosing and how to safely guide others through the practice. The next cohort launches in January 2025.

Links

Microdosingfacilitatortraining.com

Psychedelicsocietysf.org

Psychedelicrecovery.org

Daniellenova.com

Campsite.bio: Danielle Nova

Microdosing Masterclass: Your Complete Guide to Understanding and Integrating the Best Practices for Effective Microdosing

Sage Journals: A low dose of lysergic acid diethylamide decreases pain perception in healthy volunteers

Nature.com: Low doses of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) increase reward-related brain activity

Nature.com: Neural complexity is increased after low doses of LSD, but not moderate to high doses of oral THC or methamphetamine

PT375 – Microdosing & Citizen Science: Introducing the World’s First Take-Home EEG Microdosing Study, featuring: James Fadiman, Ph.D., Adam Bramlage, & Conor Murray, Ph.D.

PT303 – Adam Bramlage – Cannabis, Microdosing, and Our Evolutionary Connection to Psychedelics

How Long Does A Microdose Last? by Elena Schmidt

Nih.gov: Valvular Heart Disease with the Use of Fenfluramine-Phentermine

Los Angeles Psychedelic Science Symposium

Earthstarfestival.com

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Empathy and Agency: Why Psychedelic Practitioners Need to be Trauma-Informed

Modern Western culture has conditioned us to suppress our feelings and bury negativity, exacerbating any existing trauma and often creating more. With the rise in popularity of psychedelic-assisted therapy, just how important is it for practitioners to be trauma-informed?

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Deanna Rogers: Registered Clinical Counselor and Vital instructor.

She discusses how trauma grows in our bodies, and the importance of practitioners and facilitators becoming trauma-informed before working with clients. She stresses the need to create the right conditions for clients to be able to work with trauma – to bring compassion to the different parts of their self and build a relationship with the uncomfortable ones, to interrupt negative narratives, and to learn how to exist in a place where they can embrace their window of tolerance and explore discomfort in a safe way. What is the specific container and pace each client needs? How flexible is their nervous system to be able to work with these states? What can be done to bring out the empathetic witness in themselves? And most importantly, how can their sense of agency be improved so that they feel like they’re fully in control of how deep things go?

She discusses:

  • Her early ayahuasca experiences, and her path toward working with others, including working with Gabor Maté and Peter Levine
  • How psychedelics allow us to access our irrational, animal parts, and how this work is often a combination of sacred and messy
  • The need for facilitators to have a basic understanding of the nervous system and fight or flight reactions
  • Moving away from the idea of: “There’s something wrong with me.” What do these chronic narratives do to our bodies?
  • Working with clients to build out the capacity of their nervous system first, before working with any trauma

and more!

Rogers is one of our Vital instructors, featured in one of Vital 4’s new Specializations: Somatics & Trauma. This cohort begins on September 17, and the application deadline is next week, September 3, so apply today before it’s too late!

Links

Deannacrogers.com

Transforming Trauma: Community, Connection, and the Healing Power of Vulnerability, featuring: Peter A. Levine, Ph.D.

Templeofthewayoflight.org

Somethinkofvalue.com: 70 Gabor Maté Quotes About Trauma, Healing, and More

Goodreads.com: Peter Levine quote

PT302 – Dr. Adele Lafrance – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

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The Illinois CURE Act: Shaping the Future of Psychedelic Policy

While Oregon and Colorado make all the headlines around establishing legal frameworks for psychedelic use, much is happening behind the scenes in other states. One state is Illinois and what they hope to accomplish with the Illinois CURE Act.

In this episode, Joe interviews Jean Lacy: Executive Director of the Illinois Psychedelic Society; and La Shawn K. Ford: 17-year member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 8th District.

Together, they are working on the CURE (Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens) Act, which aims to decriminalize plant medicines and bring a state-regulated model for psychedelic use to Illinois. Similar to Oregon’s model – but with hopefully a more cohesive ecosystem – it would include service centers, different license types, the removal of psilocybin and psilocin from the controlled substances list, and a percentage of taxes allocated to the education of first responders and law enforcement. Guided by the mistakes of cannabis legalization, they’re putting a lot of focus on accessibility – not just for consumers, but for people trying to get licenses and open businesses. What does equity and inclusion look like in a psychedelic service model?

They discuss:

  • The need to educate lawmakers about psychedelics and shine a light on the myths and lies of the Drug War
  • The importance of understanding the process when working with lawmakers: When it’s done right, democracy can actually happen
  • Why conversations about accessibility and certain provisions need to happen up front, as bills are being written
  • The impact of bipartisan support, and how bipartisan psychedelics are starting to become
  • The overwhelming support for the CURE Act that Rep. Ford has seen, from people of all walks of life

and more!

If you want to help, please sign their petition and/or make a donation. And if you want to help on a larger scale, get out there and have those conversations: Tell your story, and tell it to lawmakers. Your voice can make a bigger difference than you realize. 

Links

Lashawnkford.com

Illinoispsychedelicsociety.org

Illinoispsychedelicsociety.org: CURE Act

Donate: Supporting the Compassionate Use and Research of Psilocybin in Illinois

Senatorventura.com

Senatorwilcox.com

PT223 – Daniel Carcillo – Life After Sports

Psychedelicmedicinecoalition.org

PT213 – Dr. Matt Brown – Osteopathy and Exploring Energy

Meetup.com: Psychedelics and the Future of Psychiatry

Sanahealingcollective.org

Lawenforcementactionpartnership.org

PT427 – The Philosophy of Law Enforcement, The Criminalization of Self-Directed Behavior, and Transformative Care for Police, featuring: Sarko Gergerian, MS, MHC, CARC

Aspenpublicradio.org: APS2024: First to Respond: Cultivating Compassion and Resilience in Law Enforcement Communities

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Regenerative Economics and Psychedelics: Creating More Connected Leadership

It’s no secret that psychedelic experiences can make people think differently, resulting in more open-mindedness and connection. How can that concept be applied to corporate culture to create more connected leadership?

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Rachelle Sampson, Ph.D.: researcher and founder of Blue Prism Coaching; and Bennet Zelner, Ph.D.: researcher, speaker, and creator of the Pollination Approach. They are both Vital instructors and Associate Professors at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland.

Based on a passion for regenerative economics (how we might be able to apply patterns of nature to socioeconomic systems), they are co-leading the Connected Leadership Study, a research project tracking how psychedelic experiences can facilitate change in people in leadership positions. They believe that a shift from a mechanistic attunement to a more synergistic recognition of our interconnectedness should lead to new ways of thinking, resulting in more creative leaders with better decision-making and team-building skills, and corporate culture caring more about values, regenerative models, equity, and sustainability – all while still being successful. They wonder: Can psychedelic experiences create better leaders? Can capitalism become more conscious?

They discuss:

  • The structure of the study, what they learned in the first cohort, and why they track participants for a year
  • How change happens over time, and why they believe it to needs to happen from the bottom up
  • The concept of emergence and emergent change illustrated by the shifts in movement of a flock of birds
  • How synergistic attunement can be traced back to the cellular level
  • The challenge of balancing the therapeutic aspect of psychedelics with the more corporate strategy/professional side

and more!

The study’s next cohort begins in October, so if you’re a business leader interested in being a participant, head to Leaders.study for more info. And if you’d like to learn more about these concepts, the new Regenerative Business and Leadership specialization path in this year’s cohort of Vital digs deep into this world. And we’ve just extended the applications to Sept. 2, so you still have time to apply!

Links

Leaders.study

Blueprismcoaching.com

Rhsmith.umd.edu: Rachelle Sampson

Rhsmith.umd.edu: Bennet Zelner

PT221 – Bennet Zelner – The Pollination Approach

PT399 – Vital Psychedelic Conversations, featuring: Bennet Zelner, Ph.D. & Giles Hayward

Goodreads.com: Margaret Mead quote

Kiyumi.org: Connected Leadership Program

Mypersonality.net: Myers-Bbriggs personality test

Visuallysimplified.com: Goleman’s Six Leadership Styles

Mindtools.com: Six Thinking Hats

Conscious.is: 15 commitments of conscious leadership

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Ancestral Teachings for the Psychedelic Renaissance

As the psychedelic renaissance continues to spread throughout the West, we learn more about these substances and experiences every day. But are we losing the important ancestral teachings and Indigenous knowledge that got us here?

In this episode, Kyle interviews Alonso Del Río: author, musician, filmmaker, founder of the Center for Healing and Consciousness Studies (Ayahuasca Ayllu), and facilitator with 45 years of experience largely under the framework of the Shipibo tradition.

Together with translator, Francisco Rivarola, they have developed a course called “Ancestral Teachings for the Psychedelic Renaissance,” which aims to be both an honoring of knowledge that has safeguarded these traditions, and a bridge between that wisdom and our Western frameworks, teaching ancestral traditions (largely Shipibo and Incan-Peruvian), the roles and function of dietas, the less talked-about dangers of brujeria (witchcraft), holistic frameworks for dealing with mystical experiences, and the connection between spirituality and responsibility towards nature. The course features 20 hours of Del Río’s teachings (with subtitles) and is the first time they’ve been made available to the general public.

He talks about:

  • The importance of following guidelines when working with ayahuasca, and how Westerners often don’t respect the rigor required to do it right
  • The different types of healers in the Shipibo tradition, from good and bad to the “Ascended Master,” who transcends physical limits and is incapable of causing harm
  • The potential for ayahuasca to be weaponized, how often this happens, and the risks for Westerners who aren’t aware
  • How the consciousness level of a person can be related to the emotions that that person allows themselves to have
  • How the expansion of consciousness is healing in itself

and more!

Ancestral Teachings for the Psychedelic Renaissance is a self-paced course that can be taken at any time, so if you’re interested, take advantage of early bird pricing and check it out in the Psychedelic Education Center now!

Links

Ancestral Teachings for the Psychedelic Renaissance

The Center for Healing and Consciousness Studies

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Buddhist Philosophy, Shadow Work, and Integrating a Psychedelic Experience

There are many different aspects to consider when integrating a psychedelic experience, and many tools to help, like engaging in shadow work, practicing meditation, and even applying teachings from Buddhist philosophy.

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Vital instructor, Diego Pinzon hosts his first podcast, interviewing Vital graduate and clinically-trained psychologist, “The Kinki Buddhist”: Kate Amy.

As Amy’s interest in psychedelics grew, she began to see a clear intersection between psychedelic states and the non-ordinary states she’d reached through years of meditation practice, as well as lessons from Buddhism that could help in better understanding psychedelic journeys. She talks about the importance of really understanding what it is one is seeking when looking to have a psychedelic experience, and the significance of integration – no matter how long it takes. While she has tips that have worked for clients, she feels that the psychedelic space has a long way to go in establishing best practices for the most effective integration.

She discusses:

  • Why she uses the name, “The Kinki Buddhist”
  • How she frames the psychedelic experience as taking an evolutionary substance (and/or receiving a software upgrade)
  • The necessity of having a positive relationship with your Self before a big trip
  • The continuous process of patients and facilitators both engaging in shadow work, and ways of discovering our different hidden parts
  • The rigidity many of us prescribe to certain healing frameworks, and how beneficial it can be to view strict rules as guidelines for exploration instead

and of course, her experience with Vital!

The deadline for submitting your application is next week, August 23, so make sure to get your application in today.

Links

Thekinkibuddhist.com

Mindworks.org: The 5 Precepts Of Buddhism And Why They Matter

Dhammawiki.com: 9 Jhanas

Vitalpsychedelictraining.com

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Rumination, the Default Mode Network, and How Neuroplasticity Changes Over Time

Rumination, or repetitive self-focused thought that’s typically critical and/or negative, is at the heart of many psychiatric disorders. Could psychedelics and psychedelic-assisted therapy help?

In this episode, Chris Koddermann interviews two members of the Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics at Mass General Hospital: founding director, author, and co-founder of three drug development companies, Dr. Jerry Rosenbaum; and psychiatrist and associate director and director of cognitive neuroscience, Sharmin Ghaznavi, MD, Ph.D.

Rosenbaum and Ghaznavi bonded over an interest in rumination, and wondered: How could the plasticity-inducing effects of psychedelics change these negative loops people find themselves in? How important is the ability to break out of those loops – and learn new patterns – when our concept of self is so central to who we are? Ghaznavi is studying the effects of psilocybin on rumination and scanning patients at multiple times throughout the process to track data we still don’t really have: how psychedelic-induced neuroplasticity changes over time, and why.

They discuss:

  • How much of a role the default mode network takes in the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics: Is it overblown?
  • Hyperscanning, which involves scanning two individuals at the same time, looking for potential concordance in signal and/or an increased alliance between the therapist and patient
  • The Schultes Legacy Project and the work of Stephen Haggarty to explore the potential of largely unstudied psychoactive plants
  • Critiques of the recent ruling on Lykos and MDMA-assisted therapy and the clash between the FDA and the advisory committee: Were they really on the same page?
  • The false dichotomy of neuroscience vs. patient experience: Does the subjective experience actually increase plasticity and other measurable benefits?

and more!

Links

The Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics

Sheppardpratt.org: First-Ever Psilocybin Clinical Trial for Treatment of Bipolar II Depression Conducted at Sheppard Pratt Reveals Promising Results

Psypost.org: Therapeutic alliance plays a key role in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD

Mghcme.org: Psychedelics and Pain: Understanding the Roles of Psychedelics and Clinicians in Facilitating Brain Change

Haggartylab.org

Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers, by Richard Evans Schultes, Albert Hofmann, Christian Rätsch

Psythx.com

Sensorium.bio

Entheoslabs.com

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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Microdosing at Work: How Psychedelics are Creating Better Leaders

microdosing at work

A recent report estimated that four million people in the U.S. started microdosing in the last year, with many microdosing at work to improve their leadership skills. But most people start their practice alone, which leads to the question: How much do preparation and peer support change the microdosing experience?

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Tiffany Hurd: microdosing coach, speaker, business leadership advisor, and student in our current cohort of Vital.

After 15 years in the corporate healthcare industry and several years on antidepressants, she started microdosing psilocybin and saw an immediate change in her life, tapering off antidepressants within a few months. She realized that she could blend her background in business development and strategy with microdosing, helping companies (and specifically company leadership) become more vulnerable, heart-centered, and innovative. She has found that the changes in people have (not surprisingly) led to improved employee mental health, better team relationships, and more open-mindedness and authenticity, and likely, a large reason for that is not the microdosing itself, but the increased attention to preparation and integration – two huge factors often not discussed with microdosing.

She talks about:

  • Why mentorship/coaching has not been seen as an integral part of a microdosing practice, and why it should be
  • Her drive to normalize the use of low-dose psychedelics, especially in our Western ‘go all in’ culture
  • The benefits of pairing microdosing with other healing modalities, and how microdosing can help you embrace more of them
  • Why she signed up for vital and how she feels about the course half way through
  • How she deals with the illegality of substances in the corporate world

and more!

Microdosing is one of the new specialization tracks featured in our next cohort of Vital, beginning September 16. If you want to know more, send us an email or attend one of the next Vital Q+As!

Links

Tiffanyhurd.com

Microdosing as a Coaching Tool: Navigating the Path to Inner Truth, with Tiffany Hurd (A PT webinar)

Positivepsychology.com: The Philosophy of Ikigai: 3 Examples About Finding Purpose

Microdosingcollective.org

Rand.org: Magic Mushrooms Are Most-Used Psychedelic Drug; As States Change Laws, Federal Policymakers Face Urgent Questions

PT473 – Microdosing for Healing: The Importance of Journaling and Group Process, featuring: Kayse Gehret

PT444 – A Glimpse Into the Psychedelic Neuroscience Landscape, featuring: Melanie Pincus, Ph.D. & Manesh Girn, Ph.D.

Vitalpsychedelictraining.com

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Psychedelics and Creativity, Endo-Tripping, and the Origins of Life on Earth

The path of the psychedelic renaissance has largely touched on the aspects of therapy, personal growth, and initiation rites, but now, the relationship between psychedelics and creativity is being studied more and more. Can psychedelics really increase intellect, novelty, and problem solving?

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Bruce Damer: astrobiologist with a long history of work at NASA, and now the president and co-founder of the Center for MINDS, a new nonprofit researching the best ways to improve creativity and problem solving.

He talks about how we’re losing our best creative minds to hyper-specialization, and while there is lots of research pointing to psychedelics as creativity-enhancers, we need to develop frameworks and protocols to be able to measure exactly how that works, and the best ways to encourage better results. The Center for MINDS is sponsoring research while running its own three year project studying creativity in a naturalistic setting, and aims to answer: How do we unlock more genius? What’s the main driver for novel thinking?

He discusses:

  • His path to psychedelics, including his time with ‘endo-tripping’: training his mind to trip without any external substances
  • The importance of adding ‘set up’ to set and setting, representing one’s intentions and preparatory work up until that point
  • The tale of his extraordinary ayahuasca experience where he journeyed together with Mama Ayahuasca all the way to the beginning of life on earth
  • His theory on the real origin of life, and why the ‘survival of the fittest’ framework shouldn’t be our North Star
  • The absolute necessity of mentorship from elders

and more!

The steps the Center for MINDS will take in studying psychedelics and creativity will largely be steered by people’s personal stories, so please share yours with them by filling out their survey. What has worked for you? What is your personal protocol?

Links

Centerforminds.org

Biota.org

Lucid.news: Downloads from the Modern Dawn of Psychedelics

Psychedelicsalon.com: Bruce Damer

Psychedelic Prophets: The Letters of Aldous Huxley and Humphry Osmond, edited by Cynthia Carson Bisbee, Paul Bisbee, Erika Dyck, etc.

The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell, by Aldous Huxley

PT444 – A Glimpse Into the Psychedelic Neuroscience Landscape, featuring: Melanie Pincus, Ph.D. & Manesh Girn, Ph.D.

Healthline.com: What Is Hypnagogia, the State Between Wakefulness and Sleep?

Sagepub.com: Psychedelic Agents in Creative Problem-Solving: A Pilot Study

Lucid.news: A Psychedelic Journey to the Origin of Life

Scientificamerican.com: Life on Earth Came from a Hot Volcanic Pool, Not the Sea, New Evidence Suggests

YouTube: ESPD ’55 Dr. Bruce Damer presents It’s High Time For Science (5/25/2022)

Nature.com: Papers and patents are becoming less disruptive over time

PT256 – Matthew D. Segall, Ph.D. – Consciousness, Capitalism, and Philosophy

Footnotes2plato.com: The Cosmological Context of the Origin of Life: Process Philosophy and the Hot Spring Hypothesis

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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Jungian Psychology, Psychedelics, and the Multiplicity of Self

Jungian psychology takes a fascinating look at the relationship between the conscious and unconscious parts of our minds. How is this framework brought more to the forefront through psychedelics and an understanding of our many parts?

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Johanna interviews Jung experts and Vital instructors: Maria Papaspyrou, psychotherapist and co-founder and director of the Institute of Psychedelic Therapy (IPT); and Dr. Ido Cohen, clinical psychologist and founder of The Integration Circle.

They talk about the experiences that helped them first understand the concept of multiple different parts making up their being, and dive into what it is about psychedelics that allows us to discover and work with these different parts: how the protector parts of our psyche work overtime to keep parts away from us, and how psychedelics can dissolve them, leading to a better understanding of ourselves. How much of our persona is based on who we feel we’re supposed to be? What shadow parts are stopping us from being our true selves? And what amazing parts of ourselves have yet to be discovered?

They discuss:

  • The idea of self as a unified entity: Does this concept make sense anymore?
  • Risks in understanding how different parts work together, from justifying behaviors to inflating defensive structures
  • The need to move away from solution-based to more process-focused frameworks, and the power in treating healing and growth as an ongoing process
  • The rejection of the shadow and the archetypal (and impossible) wish to extinguish all suffering
  • The large discrepancy between what people think being a psychedelic facilitator is vs. the reality

and more!

If you really want to dig into Jungian ideas, Jungian psychology is one of the new specialization tracks featured in the next cohort of Vital, beginning September 16. If you want to know more, send us an email or attend one of the next Vital Q+As.

Links

Instituteofpsychedelictherapy.org

Towardswholeness.co.uk

Theintegrationcircle.com

Psychedelics and The Shadow: The Shadow Side of Psychedelia: Exploring the dark and golden shadow of psychedelia

PT390 – Vital Psychedelic Conversations, featuring: Mackenzie Amara & Dr. Ido Cohen

PT450 – Dreams, Psychedelics, Symbolism, and Cockroaches, featuring: Mackenzie Amara & Dr. Ido Cohen

Lithub.com: The Heteronymous Identities of Fernando Pessoa

The Red Book, by C. G. Jung

My Self, My Many Selves, by J.W.T. Redfearn

Vitalpsychedelictraining.com

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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Exploring the Fungal Kingdom: Cultivation, Connection, and the Potential of Permaculture

As many mushroom enthusiasts will attest: the more you learn about the fungal kingdom, the more you see how important mushrooms are to every ecosystem they’re a part of – and how life-changing a relationship with them can be.

In this episode, Joe interviews Jasper Degenaars: mycologist, educator, and the Hyphae Headmaster at Fungi Academy, offering retreats, communal living, and online courses to teach people how to grow mushrooms and form a deeper connection with them.

Degenaars tells of his path to Guatemala and the Fungi Academy, from foraging to cultivation, to the impact psychedelic experiences have had on his life. He believes that mushrooms show up where people like to live; that they are integral to ecosystems, and that they are the masters of death and life – and of ego death and rebirth. The Fungi Academy has several several in-person events for which they just opened up registration, self-paced courses you can enroll in now, and their next Sacred Mycology Summit takes place Feb. 23 – 25, 2025.

He discusses:

  • The importance in studying the entire organism rather than just specific compounds
  • The stoned ape theory and possible new evidence
  • Why he prefers the term ‘magic mushrooms’ to the reductionist way of only talking about psilocybin
  • The clash between clinical Western approaches and Indigenous tradition
  • The Iron law of prohibition and how MDMA has gotten stronger and stronger
  • His desire to move more into permaculture, including courses teaching it alongside the fundamentals of psychedelics: How can they work in tandem?

and more!

Links

Fungiacademy.com

Erowid.org

Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World, by Paul Stamets

Wikipedia.org: Stoned ape theory

Academic.oup.com: A role for the serotonin 2A receptor in the expansion and functioning of human transmodal cortex

Gwellamushrooms.com: Enigma Mushrooms – What Are They?

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Psychedelics in Palliative Care: Screening, Safety Measures, and Experiences With the Divine

Psychedelics in palliative care has become an exciting new framework for people looking to ease anxiety and embrace spirituality, but the concept is not as simple as just providing a substance.

In this episode, Joe interviews Livi Joy: Director of Health and Safety, Existential Palliative Ministry Lead Facilitator, and more at Sacred Garden Community (SGC).

As she screens applicants for SGC (and Beckley Retreats), she talks a lot about the process and the safety measures that are absolutely necessary when using psychedelics in palliative care – especially under the framework of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Does the patient have at least one strong support person? Do they need to start or increase therapy? Does their home need to be rearranged due to possible fall risks? How will certain medications muffle their experience? Are they truly physically healthy enough to be able to handle a powerful journey? And also, is the sacrament always necessary?

She discusses:

  • How preparation questions for a journey are often in line with preparation for death
  • Why it’s important to provide these experiences for people far from the dying process itself
  • What Sacred Garden’s core tenant of faith that everyone can have a direct experience of the divine in this lifetime means to her
  • Atheism and the complications that arise when discussing spirituality and consciousness: Who’s really in charge?
  • How psychedelics can help with understanding and preparing for death, but our culture is too death-phobic too embrace it

and more!

Links

Livijoy.com

Sacredgarden.life

Bioneers.org

Fantasticfungi.com

Psychedelics Weekly – AIMS vs. the DEA: An Update on the Fight to Reschedule Psilocybin

Wikipedia.org: Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Sacredgarden.life: Workshops

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Understanding Bad Trips: The Power and Potential of Adverse Psychedelic Experiences

What are bad trips, or adverse, negative, or challenging experiences? Can a definition truly define the power they have to create intense distress and sometimes life-defining moments? Why do they happen, and how do you deal with them?

In this episode, Joe interviews Erica Rex, MA: award-winning journalist, past guest, thought leader on psychedelic medicine, and participant in one of the first clinical trials using psilocybin to treat cancer-related depression.

She tells the story of her recent harrowing experience, brought on by 6 times the amount of Syrian rue that was recommended: from entities threatening her, to a sense of terror she was going to die, to finding her way out of it with time, and most importantly, context to process and a strong support system. She and Joe emphasize the reality that bad trips can happen at any time, with any dose, for any reason, and that – if you can make your way through the experience without being traumatized – you can learn a lot about yourself during those states.

Her book, “The Heroine’s Journey: a woman’s quest for sanity in the psychedelic age” will be published by She Writes Press in the spring of 2026.

She discusses:

  • Methods to help others having a bad experience
  • Her skepticism about psychedelic therapy being in a medical context at all
  • Her thoughts on the recent ICER recommendation against approving MDMA and the multiple topics not addressed
  • Possible complications from MDMA use nobody talks about, from cytotoxic effects to even sudden-onset psychosis
  • The pathologizing of anything outside the ordinary, to the point that we’re trying to suppress natural human emotions and reactions

and more!

Links

Psychedelicrenaissance.substack.com

National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute: A Breast Cancer Patient’s Perspectives on the Uses of Psychedelics in Medicine (Erica’s talk starts at 1:04:41 and lasts about 44 minutes)

PT273 – Erica Rex – Clinical Trials and Spontaneous Mystical Experiences

PT409 – Pathology, The DSM, and The Ontological Shock of Psychedelic Experiences, featuring: Erica Rex & Mona Sobhani, Ph.D.

YouTube: PT Live: Joe Moore, Erica Rex, and Vincent Verroust Discuss French Psychedelic History and More

Could the Sonoran Desert Toad Cure Narcissism? by Erica Rex

Chacruna.net: DEA Denies Soul Quest’s Religious Exemption: Impacts on the Ayahuasca Community

An Inside Look at the FDA and Early Drug Development, featuring: Dr. Amanda Holley

Icer.org: Institute for Clinical and Economic Review Releases Draft Evidence Report on Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Lykospbc.com: Lykos Therapeutics Statement on FDA Advisory Committee Meeting

Springer.com: Evaluation of Cytotoxic, Necrotic, Apoptotic, and Autophagic Effects of Methamphetamine and 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine on U-87 MG (Glial) and B104-1–1 (Neuronal) Cell Lines

Nih.gov: Persistent Psychosis After a Single Ingestion of “Ecstasy” (MDMA)

Goodreads.com: Albert Camus’ quote about suicide

Castaliafoundation.com: MDMA Solo

Firesideproject.org

Imdb.com: Get Him to the Greek

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Ecopsychology, Plant Dietas, and Plant Consciousness: Building a Relationship with Nature

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Johanna interviews Monica Nieto: Vital graduate, psychedelic facilitator and integration coach, and founder of Holistic TherapeutiX, a retreat center offering cannabis and breathwork retreats; and Jordana Ma: past Vital instructor and psychological counselor who runs retreats in Peru following the Asháninkan tradition of traditional Amazonian medicine.

They discuss their similar paths to psychedelics and healing, the power of plant dietas and fully immersing yourself into nature, and learning to hear your true teacher: the inner healer. They highlight how we’ve lost the connection to the ecological consciousness within our bodies, and how the plants – perhaps in a self-serving way – have become allies, trying to teach us to heal the web we’re a part of and reconnect to nature and ourselves.

They discuss:

  • The importance of combining traditional perspectives and Western psychotherapy into a spiritual practice
  • The similarities between yoga and traditional Amazonian medicine
  • Singing as a somatic (and breathwork) practice
  • How things are meant to work in synergy, and the problem with science trying to extract compounds rather than respecting the power of the whole plant
  • Their role models who have inspired them and informed their work

and more!

The Vital Early Bird discount ($2000 off!) ends on July 22, so make sure to apply today!

Links

Vitalpsychedelictraining.com

Holistictherapeutix.com

Jordanama.one

Hakomiinstitute.com: Ron Kurtz

Joannamacy.net

Joanhalifax.org

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Meditation, Exploring Spiritual Traditions, and the Wisdom of Plant Medicine

In this episode, Joe interviews Jon Reiss: critically acclaimed filmmaker, author, and host of the Plantscendence podcast, which tells people’s psychedelic stories and is beginning its second season soon.

He talks about his early days of directing Nine Inch Nails and Type O Negative videos, and how Plantscendence was born after he realized that the conversations he was having with people about their most transformative experiences were perfect for a podcast. He discusses his first psychedelic experience with ayahuasca, how microdosing is helping him today, and his realization that people can get to these big experiences in many different ways.

He discusses:

  • The two episodes of Plantscendence that stand out the most to him
  • Using the term, ‘plant medicine’
  • His 30 years of meditation practice and how it likely helped him to integrate his first psychedelic experiences
  • The concept of plant intelligence and how plants can stop you from being a “consciousness tourist”
  • Kabbalah, Kashmir Shaivism, non-duality, and his Shaktipat experience

and more!

Links

Plantscendence.com

Jonreiss.com

8above.com

Apple Podcasts: Plantscendence

Spotify: Plantscendence

YouTube: Type O Negative – Christian Woman (Official video)

Imdb.com: Have a Good Trip

How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence, by Michael Pollan

Goodreads.com: Alan Watts’ quote

The Ethical and Ecological Considerations of Inhaling Bufotoxins from Incilius Alvarius, by Malin Vedøy Uthaug

Oneacreproject.org

Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics, by Gary Zukav

Wikipedia.org: Kashmir Shaivism

Wikipedia.org: Shaktipata

Plantscendence: #1 Vera Sola: Iboga Unlocks Musicianship

Plantscendence: #7 Doris La Frenais A Life Transformed

Wikipedia.org: Mark Pauline

PT443 – Swimming in the Sacred: The Wisdom of Underground Female Elders, featuring: Rachel Harris, Ph.D.

Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia, Revised and Expanded: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings, by Rob Brezsny

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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Difficult Conversations, the Need for Culturally Competent Care, and Why Representation Matters

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Sara Reed: Vital instructor, lecturer, and lead psychedelic research therapist at Imperial College London; and Alex H. Robinson: Vital student, integration coach and psilocybin facilitator for Heroic Hearts Project, and distinguished Army SOF combat Veteran with a decade of active duty service.

Reed has worked with MAPS to make clinical trial populations more diverse and is creating culturally sensitive Clinical Research Forms for future research trials, and Robinson spearheaded her unit’s Cultural Support Team program and contributed to policy changes to help place women into traditionally male-centric Special Operations roles. Representing marginalized groups themselves, they’re both passionate about making psychedelic therapy more inclusive and representative of the general population, and getting more practitioners up to speed to be able to deliver culturally competent care.

They discuss:

  • The importance of having difficult conversations and calling out bad behavior
  • The fallacy of zero-sum thinking: Doing something special for a smaller community doesn’t take away from the main goal; it adds to it
  • The benefit of being able to self-reflect and personalize content when most psychedelic education consists of one-sided lectures
  • The challenge of getting people who don’t feel represented to enroll in clinical trials, and how personal stories go a long way

and more!

Links

Sarajreed.info

Akjournals.com: Culturally informed research design issues in a study for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder

Psychedelics Today: Sara Reed – Ketamine Therapy Through a Culturally Responsible Lens 

Alex-robinson.org

Heroicheartsproject.org

YouTube: PT Live: Joe Moore and Alex H. Robinson Discuss the Heroic Hearts Project

PT341 – Racism, Trauma, Research, and Psychedelics, featuring: Monnica Williams, Ph.D.

PT372 – The Heroic Hearts Project: Veterans and The Impact of Storytelling, featuring: Jesse Gould & Zach Riggle

Atableofourown.org

PT278 – Ayize Jama-Everett, Courtney Watson, Leticia Brown, and Kufikiri Imara – A Table of Our Own

Researchgate.net: The Cultural Genogram: Key to Training Culturally Competent Family Therapists

Vitalpsychedelictraining.com

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Chronic Pain and Inducing Neuroplasticity With Psychedelics

In this episode, Joe and REMAP Therapeutics Founder, Court Wing, host Lynn Watkins: medically retired USAF JAG & Ops Resource Mgmt Specialist; and C.J. Spotswood, PMHNP: principle psychiatric clinician at REMAP Therapeutics, and author of The Microdosing Guidebook: A Step-by-Step Manual to Improve Your Physical and Mental Health through Psychedelic Medicine.

Watkins tells her story of 20+ years of chronic pain: from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome brought on by a severed nerve to multiple foot surgeries, chest pains, cognitive issues, the inability to move her toes, burning mouth syndrome, and more, which unsurprisingly resulted in depression, anxiety, and being unable to work. Wing and Spotswood talk about their initial assessment, how they figured out how to work with her and her multitude of medications, and the incredible success they saw when combining practiced techniques, neuromodulation, and regular assessments with neuroplastic windows brought on by psilocybin.

They discuss:

  • How much preparation was done before introducing psychedelics, and the importance of realizing that they were dealing with PTSD
  • How often a history of chronic pain is related to a history of trauma, whether the patient realizes it or not
  • Consequences and complications of medications, specifically Clonazepam in Watkins’ case
  • The cascade of ailments and side effects that can happen from just one injury

and more!

Links

Psychedelicsandpain.org

Remaptherapeutics.com

Entheonurse.com

The Microdosing Guidebook: A Step-by-Step Manual to Improve Your Physical and Mental Health through Psychedelic Medicine, by C. J. Spotswood

PT380 – Microdosing, Talking to Physicians About Psychedelics, and Nurses as the Scalability Solution, featuring: C.J. Spotswood, PMHNP-BC

Mayoclinic.org: Complex regional pain syndrome

Mayoclinic.org: Burning mouth syndrome

PT369 – Chronic Pain and Phantom Limb Pain: Could Psilocybin Be the Answer? featuring: Timothy Furnish, MD & Joel Castellanos, MD

Nih.gov: Chronic pain and psychedelics: a review and proposed mechanism of action

PT322 – Kimberly Juroviesky, Capt., USAF, Retired – Ketamine and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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Symptoms as Signals: Trauma and the Role of Inner Healing Intelligence

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Casey Paleos, MD: Vital instructor, researcher, psychiatrist with a private practice offering ketamine infusion therapy and KAP, and co-founder of Nautilus Sanctuary, a non-profit psychedelic research, education, and advocacy organization. 

Paleos talks about how stress creates trauma, and how the symptoms Western medicine tries to silence are actually signals – a quality assurance mechanism sending an alert that something is wrong, and that when symptoms are labeled as ‘treatment-resistant,’ is it actually a case of one’s own inner healing intelligence outsmarting a medication to make sure that that message is delivered?  

He discusses:

  • MAPS’ recent advisory board ruling, past ethical violations, and how training should be done
  • How consent in a therapeutic relationship is an ongoing process of checking in 
  • How psychedelic-assisted therapy (and maybe all therapy) is simply removing obstacles so one’s own inner healing intelligence can do its job
  • The importance of a culture (and training) that celebrates all therapeutic modalities as complementary: There’s a lot of uniqueness in this world, so we should embrace that  

and more!

Links

Drpaleos.com

Nautilussanctuary.org

Verywellmind.com: What Is the Diathesis-Stress Model?

Lykospbc.com: Lykos Therapeutics Statement on FDA Advisory Committee Meeting

Cbc.ca: Footage of therapists spooning and pinning down patient in B.C. trial for MDMA therapy prompts review

PT464 – Bodywork, Somatic Literacy, and Understanding Trauma: The Mind and Body Connection, featuring: Bessel van der Kolk, MD

Nautilussanctuary.org: The Dana Paleos Fund

Mymodernmet.com: Kintsugi: The Centuries-Old Art of Repairing Broken Pottery with Gold

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Transforming Trauma: Community, Connection, and the Healing Power of Vulnerability

In this episode, Kyle interviews Peter A. Levine, Ph.D.: developer of Somatic Experiencing®, educator, and author of several best-selling books on trauma.

His most recent book, An Autobiography of Trauma: A Healing Journey, is exactly that: a change from more scholarly writing into an extremely vulnerable telling of his early childhood trauma and how he has healed over the years. He talks about how his unconscious convinced him to write the book, how trauma can move into the body, and how he needed a student to identify how his trauma was affecting him. He believes that we all have wounding, but it’s how we carry these wounds and tell our truth that matters.

He discusses:

  • The need to allow space for both Indigenous traditions and evidence-based Western frameworks
  • The power of having even just one distinct moment of feeling cared for and loved
  • How Colin Turnbull saw healing differently after living with an African tribe for three years
  • Why he suggests 15-20 sober experiences with non-ordinary states for each drug experience
  • Why not having a community or empathetic other makes us more vulnerable to trauma

and more!

Links

Somaticexperiencing.com

An Autobiography of Trauma: A Healing Journey, by Peter A. Levine

Ted.com: How to live passionately—no matter your age

Wikipedia.org: Colin Turnbull

YouTube.com: The Moth Presents Andrew Solomon: Notes on an Exorcism

YouTube.com: Marvin Gaye – It Takes Two

Imdb.com: The Last Shaman

PT464 – Bodywork, Somatic Literacy, and Understanding Trauma: The Mind and Body Connection, featuring: Bessel van der Kolk, MD

Vitalpsychedelictraining.com

Navigating Psychedelics: Australia – 9-Week Certificate Program in Psychedelic-Informed Practice

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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Women and Psychedelics: History’s Untold Stories

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Johanna interviews Erika Dyck: author, professor, historian, Vital instructor, and research chair in the History of Health & Social Justice at the University of Saskatchewan.

Dyck talks about the book she co-edited: Women and Psychedelics: Uncovering Invisible Voices, which was released in March as a Chacruna anthology, and collects pieces from several different authors highlighting the untold or lesser known stories from women throughout psychedelic history. Albert Hofmann was the first person to intentionally ingest LSD, but who was the first woman to do so? Who were the women assisting in research or sitting with experiencers in the early days who never got the credit for their contributions? Who were the women supporting some of the biggest psychedelic names in history?

She talks about:

  • The contrast in societal attitudes towards psychedelic exploration based on traditional gender roles
  • Some of her favorite stories from the book, including a woman diagnosed with manic depression becoming one of the first guides in LSD trials
  • The use of psychedelics in pregnancy and birthing practices across other cultures
  • Traditional gender attributes: Are women more wired to care for others? Is there something about the psychedelic experience that’s inherently feminine?
  • The importance of moving past the gender binary and implementing more diversity in research – with the challenge of needing to universalize medicine at the same time

and more!

Links

Chacruna.net: Women

Women and Psychedelics: Uncovering Invisible Voices (Chacruna Anthologies), Edited by Erika Dyck, Beatriz C. Labate, and more

PT457 – Rites of Passage, Psychedelic History, and Rediscovering Our Hearts, featuring: Erika Dyck & Jono Remington-Hobbs

PT217 – Erika Dyck – Canadian Psychedelic History

Chacruna.net: Susi’s Tram Ride: Recognizing the First Woman to Take LSD

Globalearthrepairfoundation.org: Dr. Nancy Turner

PT498 – Traversing the Psychedelic Landscape: From Esalen and Millbrook to the Future of Shulgin Farm, featuring: Maria Mangini, Ph.D., FNP

Womensvisionarycongress.org

Chacruna.net: How Music Therapists Helped Build Psychedelic Therapy

Concordia.ca: Nora E. Jaffary, PhD

PT499 – Mesoamerican Psychedelics, Decolonization, and the Concept of an Ontological Turn, featuring: Osiris González Romero

Chacruna.net: Dream and Ecstasy in Mesoamerican Worldview: An Interview with Mercedes de la Garza

Orthomolecular.org: Abram Hoffer’s 60 Years of Research and Discovery of the Orthomolecular Approach to Psychiatry

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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Building a Unified Psychedelic Future: Ethics, Standards, and a Path to Affordable Access

In this episode, Joe interviews Lia Mix, LMFT, CPTR: founder and CEO of Delphi, a consulting firm dedicated to the healthy growth of the psychedelic movement.

After many years of working in community mental health and 15 years in the commercial health insurance industry (where she helped to establish coverage for autism), Mix was one of the first graduates of CIIS’s training program, and after a very distinct MDMA-assisted therapy session, she wondered: “How can I be of service?” She’s since helped to launch The Board of Psychedelic Medicines and Therapies, the American Psychedelic Practitioners Association, and Enthea, and is working every day toward a more unified and uniform psychedelic space, with healthcare frameworks, official boards and certifications, consumer protections, and a general consensus that this is our responsibility to manage – not some outside regulator’s. So how can we, as a scattered psychedelic community, come together?

She discusses:

  • Her path to psychedelics and how nobody was talking about how to bring psychedelics into healthcare
  • The need for a unified code of ethics for any practitioner of psychedelic therapy
  • The FDA, Lykos Therapeutics, and how the recent advisory committee’s recommendations on MDMA-assisted psychotherapy were largely based on fear
  • How there actually is a lot of financial possibility if we can all agree on what is absolutely essential right now

and more!

Links

Delphi-circle.com

Board of Psychedelic Medicine and Therapies

American Psychedelic Practitioners Association

Enthea.com

National Psychedelic Association

Psychedelic Medicine Association

Matthew Remski – Cultic Mechanisms and After Effects of High Demand Group Life

Psychedelicalpha.com: Exclusive: Therapists and Trialists from Lykos’ Phase 3 MDMA-Assisted Therapy Studies Push Back on ICER’s Critical Draft Report

Lykospbc.com: Lykos Therapeutics Statement on FDA Advisory Committee Meeting

MAPS Podcast: Episode 33: Matthew Baggott – Beyond Fear – MDMA and Emotion

Rocky Mountain Poison & Drug Safety

PT438 – The Psychedelic Medicine Association and Managing Medical Risk in Patients Seeking Psilocybin Therapy, featuring: Lynn Marie Morski, MD, JD

Mymodernmet.com: Kintsugi: The Centuries-Old Art of Repairing Broken Pottery with Gold

Psychedelics and The Shadow: The Shadow Side of Psychedelia: Exploring the dark and golden shadow of psychedelia

Psychedelic Pharmacists Association

Sandor Iron Rope

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Self-Care, Destabilization, and the Holistic Nature of Psychedelics

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Kaitlin Roberson: Vital graduate and co-founder and CEO of Cacti Therapeutics, a psychedelic biotech company developing novel therapies for chronic pain; and Dr. Michele Cox, DO: current Vital student, veteran, physician, and co-founder of LifeBloom, a brand new company focusing on bringing community and connection into women’s healthcare.

They talk about their work: Roberson’s research on trauma and chronic pain, and why she feels that working in the pharma industry is a calling; and Cox’s framework as an osteopath, the value she’s found in touch and connection, and how she explains to clients what to expect when undergoing ketamine treatment.

They discuss:

  • Why psychedelics are such useful interventions
  • The body’s ability to tell us what’s wrong, as long we’re listening
  • The destabilization that can occur after a big experience: If you don’t have a good support system, is it really the right time?
  • Self-care and our tendency to never feel like we’re good enough
  • How there is energy in everything and we should all recognize that more

And, as Vital students, they talk about what they hoped to get out of Vital and how it delivered more than expected. If you’re just discovering Vital, be sure to check out the website and fill out an application. Secure your spot and take advantage of the Early Bird discount!

Links

Traumaresearchfoundation.org

Cactitherapeutics.com

PT464 – Bodywork, Somatic Literacy, and Understanding Trauma: The Mind and Body Connection, featuring: Bessel van der Kolk, MD

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Bessel van der Kolk M.D.

National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine’s infograph

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An Inside Look at the FDA and Early Drug Development

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Amanda Holley: pharmacologist and regulatory consultant in nonclinical drug development, and previously a nonclinical pharmacology/toxicology reviewer at the FDA.

With Lykos Therapeutics working towards FDA approval of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, ICER (Institute for Clinical and Economic Review) recently published its draft evidence report, concluding that they couldn’t endorse this modality. While disappointing to the psychedelic space, this report doesn’t determine the FDA’s official stance, and also really highlights a lot about how the FDA works, the knowledge gap between consumers and regulators, and how clinical studies should be designed in the future. Holley talks about the FDA’s dedication to safety and data, and how, essentially, drug development comes down to a risk/benefit analysis. 

She discusses:

  • Misconceptions about the FDA, especially related to psychedelics
  • The path of a substance in early drug development and how breakthrough designation works
  • The complications with blinding psychedelics, the placebo effect, and how much therapy is a factor
  • The contrast between productization and harm reduction: Should we be concerned with creating products, or understanding these substances better?
  • How changing one molecule really does create a different drug

and more!

Links

Icer.org: Institute for Clinical and Economic Review Releases Draft Evidence Report on Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine Assisted Psychotherapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Draft Evidence Report

Psychedelicalpha.com: Exclusive: Therapists and Trialists from Lykos’ Phase 3 MDMA-Assisted Therapy Studies Push Back on ICER’s Critical Draft Report

Lykospbc.com: Lykos Therapeutics Statement on FDA Advisory Committee Meeting

Marijuanaindex.com: Delta 8 vs Delta 9 THC: Understanding the Differences and Effects

David Nutt’s drug harm scale

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Community, Group Process, and Co-Creation: How to Build a Successful Retreat

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Kyle interviews two Vital graduates: Alice Dommert: certified breathwork facilitator and co-founder of retreat company, The Infinite Center; and Kara Tremain, ACC: somatic practitioner and growth and development coach.

A huge part of Vital is the experiential aspect of attending a retreat. Students report that being part of a group process, feeling the power of the proper set and setting, taking a journey as both a sitter and experiencer, and separating from the world and connecting with each other has been one of the best parts of the program – even life-changing. With Dommert behind 13 Vital retreats to date, she and Kyle dive into what they’ve learned in how to run a successful retreat.

They discuss:

  • Facilitator humility and how important it is for everyone to be on the same page
  • How much additional activities can add to the experience (tea ceremonies, CrossFit, chanting, fireside chats)
  • The importance of allowing enough time and space for everything, from personal time with facilitators to possible issues
  • Co-creation and openness: What can facilitators and people coming to the retreat build together? How do we create the most meaningful time together?

If you’re interested in Vital, applications are now open with an Early Bird discount! And if you want to attend a Vital retreat, we have a few spots left in two: a transpersonal breathwork retreat in Pennsylvania, July 9-14, and a cannabis + breathwork retreat in Agoura Hills, CA in October. Head to the Infinite Center’s website for details.

Links

Vital Psychedelic Training

Theinfinitecenter.org

Karatremain.com

The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters, by Priya Parker

The Neuroscience of Human Relationships: Attachment And the Developing Social Brain, by Louis Cozolino

July 9 – 14: Transpersonal Breathwork Retreat at River Mountain Retreat Center, PA

October 20 – 25: Psychedelic Cannabis + Transpersonal Breathwork Retreat at Holistic TherapeutiX Center, CA

Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale.

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From the Eleusinian Mysteries to Modern Mysticism: The Role of Religion in the Psychedelic Experience

In this episode, Joe interviews Charles Stang: Professor of Early Christian Thought and the Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School.

The Center was created to gain a better understanding of world religions by bringing scholars from their respective countries to study and live alongside Divinity School students. As students and Stang started to become interested in psychedelics, a zoom series, “Psychedelics and the Future of Religion,” began, and the school just hosted their second conference, “Psychedelic Intersections: Cross Cultural Manifestations of the Sacred.” Next year’s Psychedelics and Spirituality conference will take place February 15, 2025.

He discusses:

  • Harvard’s psychedelic history, and why it’s important to not erase the past out of the interest of presumed legitimacy
  • How people are consistently having extraordinary experiences with psychedelics, but not always with religion: Are people becoming less (or more) religious?
  • The Immortality Key, the Eleusinian mysteries, and psychedelic enthusiasts’ need to connect Christianity with psychedelics
  • Psychedelics and other mystery religions, like Hermeticism and Mithraism
  • Why religion is important to so many people, and how it helps us understand the “more-than-human”

and much more!

Links

Harvard Divinity School: Center for the Study of World Religions

Psychedelics and the Future of Religion Zoom series

Spirituality and Psychedelics conference: 2025

Wikipedia.org: Theosophy

Celestial India: Madame Blavatsky and the Birth of Indian Nationalism, by Isaac Lubelsky

Secret Drugs of Buddhism: Psychedelic Sacraments and the Origins of the Vajrayana, by Mike Crowley

The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name, by Brian C. Muraresku

Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear, by Dr. Carl L. Hart

PT236 – Drugs: Honesty, Responsibility, and Logic, featuring: Dr. Carl Hart

The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America, by Don Lattin

Spotify: Harvard Psychedelic Walking Tour

Outside Looking In: A Novel, by T.C. Boyle

How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence, by Michael Pollan

A Theological Reckoning with ‘Bad Trips’ by Rachael Petersen

The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries, by R. Gordon Wasson, Albert Hofmann, & Carl A. P. Ruck

Hermetic Spirituality and the Historical Imagination: Altered States of Knowledge in Late Antiquity, by Wouter J. Hanegraaff

Ancientegyptonline.co.uk: Kyphi

Worldhistory.org: Mithraism

Harvard: The Study of Psychedelics in Society and Culture

Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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Exploring Somatic Practices and Psychedelics

In this episode – the first in the 2024 series of Vital Psychedelic Conversations – David interviews Pierre Bouchard, LPC: Vital instructor and lead trainer for the Congregation for Sacred Practices; and Kara Tremain, ACC: recent Vital graduate-turned-instructor, somatic practitioner, and growth and development coach.

In this series, we pair up a Vital instructor with a current or previous student as a way of showcasing different (and aligned) perspectives on what they feel is most vital for the psychedelic space to be discussing, while also highlighting their experiences with Vital, our 12-month training program. The next cohort begins September 17 and we’re accepting applications now!

As they are both are passionate about somatic work, they discuss:

  • The power of somatics in showing people how much our bodies and nervous systems matter, and how our thoughts are often not the main driver
  • How ketamine or MDMA can help with somatic work
  • How somatic sound can be, through music for journeys, sound bowls, or tuning forks: Can just the right frequency create magic?
  • How somatic work is not solely about resolving trauma, but also about learning to conduct energy and use one’s body as a tuning apparatus

and more!

Links

Vitalpsychedelictraining.com

Pierrebouchardcounseling.com

Sacredpractices.org

Karatremain.com

Somaticexperiencing.com: Peter A. Levine, Ph.D.

Spotify.com: Pierre’s public playlists

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The EMBARK Model of Psychedelic Therapy

In this episode, Kyle interviews Alex Belser, Ph.D. and Bill Brennan, Ph.D.: psychologists, psychedelic researchers, authors, and co-creators of the EMBARK model, a framework for psychedelic therapy.

When Belser and Brennan worked together at Cybin, they canvassed the field of psychedelic research and saw very little reporting (if any) of the manuals researchers were using. So, they created the EMBARK model as a “big tent” framework – a way to understand what patients were going through from the perspective of six different clinical domains, where the clinician can go deeper into whichever domain is needed based on their specific skill set. The EMBARK model has been used in two randomized controlled trials to date, and its corresponding book, EMBARK Psychedelic Therapy for Depression: A New Approach for the Whole Person (which they co-authored), was released in April through Oxford University Press.

They discuss:

  • The six domains and four ethical care cornerstones that make up EMBARK, as well as the many proposed change mechanisms that come into play
  • Concerns over facilitators stepping aside and letting the medicine do the work: How much of a factor is someone’s presence in the room?
  • How much smaller, “little t” traumas can affect people – trauma doesn’t always come from a single hallmark event
  • The need for facilitators to be trained well (and trauma-informed), as it’s nearly impossible to tell when an adverse outcome is coming

and more!

Links

EMBARK Psychedelic Therapy for Depression: A New Approach for the Whole Person, by Bill Brennan & Alex Belser

EMBARKapproach.com

Alexbelser.com

Centerforbreakthroughs.com

@BillBrennanPhD Linktree

Embarkapproach.com: Open Access

PT413 – Queering Psychedelics, The Dark History of Conversion Therapy, and The EMBARK Approach, featuring Alex Belser, Ph.D.

PT464 – Bodywork, Somatic Literacy, and Understanding Trauma: The Mind and Body Connection, featuring: Bessel van der Kolk, MD

Fluencetraining.com: Jeffrey Guss, MD

PT290 – Kylea Taylor, M.S., LMFT – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

PT302 – Dr. Adele Lafrance – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Early Research, Psychedelics in Palliative Care, and the Intersection of Science and the Sacred, featuring: William Richards, STM, Ph.D.

Pathwaysvermont.org: Soteria House

Models of Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: A Contemporary Assessment and an Introduction to EMBARK, a Transdiagnostic, Trans-Drug Model

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Long COVID and Psychedelics

In this episode, special guest host Court Wing interviews Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, MD: professor and chair of rehabilitation medicine at UT Health San Antonio; Joel Castellanos, MD: co-founder and associate medical director of the Center for Psychedelic Research at UC San Diego; and MaryAnn Welke Lesage: a long COVID survivor who reports experiencing drastic improvement in symptoms after MDMA and psilocybin therapy.

As the world slowly recovers from COVID, many people are seeing continued or new symptoms, and while much is still not understood, these symptoms are being categorized as long COVID: essentially a persistent viral inflammation causing brain fog, headaches, depression, and other hard-to-diagnose symptoms. With estimations of as many as 18% of people in the U.S. experiencing this at one point and 6.8% currently dealing with it, could psychedelics – which can decrease inflammation and reset neural networks – help alleviate these symptoms?

They discuss:

  • How long COVID fits into what we already know about psychedelics, pain, and inflammatory medicine
  • How MDMA or psilocybin therapy, specifically, could help
  • The importance of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) and the myriad of tools these physicians have learned to work with
  • Why anecdotal evidence matters towards future research

and more!

For more info, read Lesage’s article, “How Psychedelics Became Key to My Long COVID Recovery,” as well as the official paper: “Long-COVID symptoms improved after MDMA and psilocybin therapy: A case report.”

Links

Long-COVID symptoms improved after MDMA and psilocybin therapy: A case report

Time.com: The Latest Promising Long COVID Treatment? Psychedelic Drugs

PT369 – Chronic Pain and Phantom Limb Pain: Could Psilocybin Be the Answer? Featuring: Timothy Furnish, MD & Joel Castellanos, MD

BMJ Journals: Chronic pain and psychedelics: a review and proposed mechanism of action

Uthscsa.edu: Long COVID: A syndrome wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma

Uthscsa.edu: Dr. Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez discusses long-COVID disability before House subcommittee

Clusterbusters.org

Psychologytoday.com: Is Serotonin a Cause of Long COVID Brain Fog?

National Library of Medicine: The relationship between the serotonergic system and COVID-19 disease: A review

National Library of Medicine: Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia is Associated with Increased Plasma Immunoglobulin G Agonist Autoantibodies Targeting the 5-Hydroxytryptamine 2A Receptor

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Embracing the Mystery: Making Psychedelic Literature Engaging

In this episode, Joe interviews Sean Lawlor: writer and therapist specializing in ketamine-assisted therapy at Reflective Healing in Fort Collins, CO.

His first book, Psychedelic Revival: Toward a New Paradigm of Healing, will be released on June 4. Written as somewhat of a primer for psychedelics and psychedelic therapy, he talks about how he decided to write the book, how Michael Pollan was an influence, and the importance of making psychedelic literature not boring: Research and statistics are important, but how does one relate to data points when trying to understand something so rich and weird?

He discusses:

  • Studying philosophy, from Nietzsche and Freud to Jung and William James
  • When a clinical frame or license is important (but can you always trust a license?)
  • How context and interwoven culture matter when differentiating between plant medicines and man-made psychedelics
  • Brian Muraresku’s The Immortality Key and research into ancient Greeks using psychedelics: Why do we place so much importance on proving this?
  • The importance of community, rituals, shared meanings, mythology, and rites of passage

and more!

Links

Seanplawlor.com

Pre-order Psychedelic Revival: Toward a New Paradigm of Healing

Enter to win a copy of Psychedelic Revival: Toward a New Paradigm of Healing

Reflectivehealing.com

The Ethics of Caring: Finding Right Relationship With Clients for Profound Transformative Work in Our Professional Healing Relationships, by Kylea Taylor

Therooster.com

Psychedelic Exceptionalism and Reframing Drug Narratives: An Interview with Dr. Carl Hart

Psychedelictimes.com: Benefit Enhancement Strategies Correlated With Positive 5-MeO-DMT Experiences, by Sean Lawlor

Woodycreektavern.com

Aspen Psychedelic Symposiu

IPCI.life: Sandor Iron Rope

How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence, by Michael Pollan

This Is Your Mind on Plants, by Michael Pollan

The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name, by Brian C. Muraresku

The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries, by R. Gordon Wasson, Albert Hofmann, and Carl A. P. Ruck

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The Economics of Psychedelics

In this episode, Joe interviews Elliot Marseille, DrPH, MPP: founding director of UC Berkeley’s Collaborative for the Economics of Psychedelics (CEP), a network of health economists and researchers analyzing the economics behind emerging psychedelic-assisted therapies.

In the early days of drug research, efficacy was the leading factor in decision making, but as time has gone on, people are looking much more into the economics of everything: If a government is granted X amount of money, what should they spend it on that will be the most beneficial to the most people? How do you create models for future research and regulations based on the data we have now? Can there be a time in the near future when someone sits before Congress and says, “This is the exact societal cost of not making psychedelic therapy accessible”?

He discusses:

  • His early work with the SEVA Foundation, studying at the economics behind HIV/AIDS treatments in developing countries
  • His experiences working with Ram Dass and having a big psychedelic journey with Leo Zeff
  • His issues with the recent ICER (Institute for Clinical and Economic Review) report which said they couldn’t endorse MDMA-assisted psychotherapy
  • Why we need more studies tracking people for long periods after psychedelic therapy, specifically analyzing their healthcare utilization over time

and more!

Links

Center for Global Health: Delivery, Diplomacy & Economics

SEVA Foundation

Pieter Bruegel’s “The Peasant Dance”

University of California San Francisco: James G. Khan, MD, MPH

ICER.org

NPR.org: Transformation or trouble? Research into MDMA plagued with allegations of misconduct

Psychedelicalpha.com: Exclusive: Therapists and Trialists from Lykos’ Phase 3 MDMA-Assisted Therapy Studies Push Back on ICER’s Critical Draft Report

Hopkinsmedicine.org: Johns Hopkins Receives Grant for Psilocybin Research in Smoking Cessation

PT431 – The Concept of Integration and the Need for Evolving Protocols of Psychedelic Therapy, featuring: Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D.

The Psychedelic Health Equity Initiative

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Breaking Through Bureaucracy: Can D.C. Embrace Evidence-Based Drug Policy?

In this episode, Joe interviews two members of The Daschle Group: Founder and CEO, Senator Tom Daschle; and Public Policy Advisor, Charlie Panfil.

As Senator Daschle served in the House of Representatives for eight years (starting in 1978) and the Senate for 21, he was deep in the War on Drugs at its peak, and thankfully, as seen with so many of his constituents in recent years, the data and personal stories of so many healed people has broken through the propaganda and made him a strong advocate for psychedelic-assisted therapy. While minds are changing, and progress is happening before our eyes (the majority of substances the FDA is currently researching for psychiatric indications contain some form of psychedelic ingredient), government bureaucracy, a severe lack of communication between the FDA and DEA, and decades of lies are still massive roadblocks. How do we address all of this while advancing research?

They discuss:

  • The need to develop a partnership between the public and private sectors, mostly for the cost of treatments
  • The DEA’s place in all of this: If they’re essentially a law enforcement agency, why are they involved in the safety and efficacy of medical treatments?
  • The STATES Act, the Breakthrough Therapies Act, and how they can affect research
  • Why we need to move past relying on opioids, and instead, embrace a science-based drug policy

and more!

Links

Daschlegroup.com

VA.gov: The PACT Act and your VA benefits

Psychedelicreview.com: The Chemistry of DOI

DAV.org

IAVA.org

Legion.org

Woundedwarriorproject.org

Congress.gov: S.5123 – Breakthrough Therapies Act

PT488 – The Cost of War: Veterans’ Mental Health and Government Responsibility, featuring: Matthew ‘Whiz’ Buckley

Cato.org: STATES Act 2.0 Would Make the Federal Government More In Sync with the States and the People on Marijuana

Lykospbc.com

The Summit on Breakthrough Therapies for Addiction

PPA: Psychedelics and Pain Association

Gilgameshpharmaceutical.com

Abbvie.com: AbbVie and Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals Announce Collaboration and Option-to-License Agreement to Develop Next-Generation Therapies for Psychiatric Disorders

APPA-us.org

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Depth Psychology, Archetypal Energies, and How Psychedelics Reveal the Soul

In this episode, Kyle interviews Simon Yugler: psychedelic-assisted therapist, educator, and author of the book, Psychedelics & the Soul: A Mythic Guide to Psychedelic Healing, Depth Psychology, and Cultural Repair, which comes out this fall.

He digs into depth psychology and why it’s a beneficial framework for navigating non-ordinary experiences – a practice he believes will be the next focus in psychedelic education and understanding, alongside more analysis into the archetypes and myths that reside within (and all around) us. In an age of hyper-individualism and isolation, the stories and archetypal energies we share (which can be brought more to the forefront with psychedelics) can be incredibly healing and connecting.

He discusses:

  • The challenges of reintegrating to reality after the classic Hero’s Journey, and how some people don’t want to
  • The time he ate 7 grams of strong mushrooms and nothing happened, confirming to him the omnipresence of trickster energies
  • Jung’s theory on individuation, and how true individuation actually creates deeper engagement with the world
  • How myths offer windows into deeper realms, and a breakdown of his Mythopoetic Integration Method
  • How psychedelics show us our souls, and how so much of the chaos in the world can be related to a denial of the soul

and more!

Links

Simonyugler.com

Simonyugler.substack.com

Pre-order Psychedelics and the Soul: A Mythic Guide to Psychedelic Healing, Depth Psychology, and Cultural Repair, by Simon Yugler

What Is Depth Psychology and How Does It Relate to Psychedelics? by Simon Yugler

What Is the ‘Collective Unconscious’ and How Can It Help Us Understand Psychedelic Experiences? by Simon Yugler

PT291 – Rick Tarnas & Sean Kelly, Ph.D. – The Impact of Stanislav Grof, Ego Death, and The Psyche Unbound

PT293 – Stanislav & Brigitte Grof – The Evolution of Breathwork and The Psychology of the Future

Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View, by Richard Tarnas

The Origins of Creativity, by Edward O. Wilson

*Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale

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RIPPLES of Hope: Psychedelics as a Tool for Peacebuilding and Collective Healing

In this episode, David interviews Sami Awad: Palestinian peace and nonviolent activist and founder of Holy Land Trust in Bethlehem; and Leor Roseman, Ph.D.: Israeli neuroscientist, researcher, and senior lecturer at the University of Exeter.

They talk about Roseman’s 2021 paper, “Relational Processes in Ayahuasca Groups of Palestinians and Israelis,” which looked at what happened when people with fiercely different opinions moved beyond fear, anger, and othering, and sat together in a safe container and drank ayahuasca with the purpose of healing collective trauma. When the focus of the participants moved toward understanding each other, Roseman and Awad saw a unity that gave them a lot of hope, leading to the creation of their nonprofit, RIPPLES, which is focused on using psychedelics for peacebuilding – first in the Middle East, and hopefully soon, everywhere. As Awad says, “If it can happen here, it can happen almost anywhere.”

They discuss:

  • The efficacy of psychedelics as a tool for nonviolent activism, building peace, and recognizing – and healing – collective trauma
  • The balance between the idealistic and the practical, or ‘the irony of harmony’ – if you focus too much on the connectivity of psychedelics, do you actually exclude voices?
  • The concept of “my liberation depends on your healing and your liberation depends on mine”
  • The challenge in doing something with the hope and enthusiasm that comes after a powerful experience: How do you make sure that wave of hope continues rippling through choppy waters?

Links

RIPPLESsalliance.com

YouTube: Sami Awad & Leor Roseman: ayahuasca as a peace-making tool among Palestinians and Israelis (PS23-MAPS)

University of Exeter: Dr. Leor Roseman

Frontiersin.org: Relational Processes in Ayahuasca Groups of Palestinians and Israelis

Frontiersin.org: On Revelations and Revolutions: Drinking Ayahuasca Among Palestinians Under Israeli Occupation

Maps.org: Oneness, Liberation, and Revolutionary Revelations Observational Research on Ayahuasca Rituals of Israelis and Palestinians

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The Other Side of Veteran Healing: Secondary PTSD and Post-Retreat Family Dynamics

In this episode, Joe interviews two members of the Heroic Hearts Project team: Director of Donor Development and founder of The Hope Project, Allison Wilson; and Director of Research and founder of Hystelica, Dr. Grace Blest-Hopley.

They discuss how The Hope Project – a nonprofit that supports spouses of veterans, Gold Star Wives, and female veterans with scholarships to psychedelic healing retreats, integration, community, etc. – merged with Heroic Hearts Project, and why this is such a necessary part of the veteran healing story: How does a family hold space for a vet returning to a suddenly alien civilian life (especially after a psychedelic journey)? How does a spouse deal with their own trauma from constant worry and isolation? Wilson and Blest-Hopley are learning that, for many spouses, having their own experience (and with other spouses) has been incredibly beneficial.

They talk about:

  • The concept of secondary PTSD (often referred to as ‘compassion fatigue’) and the many ways it can manifest
  • How Heroic Hearts is working with Imperial College London to use veteran retreats as real-world observational research
  • The importance of involving family in the healing process, and how positive outcomes can trickle down to children
  • The need for more research into how PTSD and the effects of psychedelics are different in women based on their unique physiology (as most studies have focused on men)

and more!

Links

Heroicheartsproject.org

Thehope-project.org

Hystelica.com

Lucid.news: Vets Group Moves Psychedelic Therapy Research Outside the Clinic

Cnn.com: Largest study of brains of athletes younger than 30 finds early signs of CTE even in amateur players

YouTube: PT Live: Joe Moore & Alex Horton Discuss the Heroic Hearts Project

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Early Research, Psychedelics in Palliative Care, and the Intersection of Science and the Sacred

In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview William Richards, STM, Ph.D.: senior advisor at Sunstone Therapies, psychologist at the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, contributor to Vital, and author of Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics & Religious Experiences.

He talks about the first time he experienced psilocybin in a research study in 1963, his early studies on the psychology of religion, working with Abraham Maslow, how he became one of the early psychedelic therapists, and what it was like for all of that to disappear when Nixon came into office and shut everything down. He discusses his move into psychedelics and end-of-life care after seeing patients’ fear of death completely disappear, and contemplates whether psychedelics could help people prepare for death – how would we live if we no longer feared death?

He also discusses:

  • How the integration of psychedelics into palliative care should be a huge step in cultural acceptance
  • How psychedelics could be used for education and boosting creativity, problem solving, and even new perspectives on history and classic works
  • The study of comparative religion and the potential for psychedelics to find the connections and commonality between seemingly disparate religions
  • The impact of psychedelic experiences on the perception of the sacred
  • How fascinating it is that the same substance, dose, and set and setting can create such incredibly different experiences

and more!

Links

Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences, by William A. Richards

The Psychology of Science: A Reconnaissance, by Abraham H. Maslow

The Divine Comedy: The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso, by Dante Alighieri, translated by John Ciardi

Clinicaltrials.gov: Psilocybin

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Music for Psychedelic Exploration, and the First ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ Album

In this episode, Joe interviews Shahar Amit: psytrance musician who has created what may be the world’s first modular album for psychedelic exploration under his project, Held By Sound.

He talks about his background in the rave and festival scene, the moment he realized he wanted to make music, and the realization that he could create soundscapes specifically for journeys into non-ordinary states. And he digs into the ‘choose your own adventure’ framework of the free album: how he actually recorded 3 different albums and figured out how to transition into different moods based on which direction the listener wants to go – from more still to more expansive, to darker or more bittersweet. He has also created music for DMT trials in the UK, and talks a lot about the potential in extended-state DMT experiences.

He also discusses:

  • How he came up with the flow of the album related to phases of the trip
  • How much of a catalyst and safe container music can be, with or without a complimentary substance
  • How psychedelics in a fun, festival experience with lots of laughter can be extremely beneficial – you don’t need to do them the ‘correct’ way
  • Graham Hancock, Donald Hoffman, and the concept of consciousness as the building block of all reality
  • Psytrance, classical music, traditional Bwiti music, Lady Gaga, and what music he feels is best for exploration

and more!

Links

Heldbysound.com

Soundcloud.com: Held by Sound

Bandcamp.com: Held by Sound

Bandcamp.com: Papadosio

Dillonamp.com

Liquidbloom.com

Wavepaths.com

Pitchblack Playback: Jon Hopkins’ Music For Psychedelic Therapy

Wikipedia.org: Psychoacoustics

Algernonpharmaceuticals.com

PT381 – DMT, Hierarchies of Complexity, and Reality Switch Technologies, featuring Dr. Andrew R. Gallimore

Vice.com: Scientists Developed a Way to Make DMT Trips Last Longer Than Ever

Dmtx.org

Psychedelics Today: DMTx Psychonaut Training Webinar

Cyberdelicsociety.com

PT398 – Lost Civilizations, DMT Entities, & Altered States of Consciousness and Early Religion, featuring: Graham Hancock

Visionary: The Mysterious Origins of Human Consciousness, by Graham Hancock

The Case Against Reality: How Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes, by Donald D. Hoffman

PT436 – The Power of Sound: The Magic in Live Performances, Imperfections, and Music Curated Specifically for Journeys, featuring: East Forest

LSD Psychotherapy: The Healing Potential of Psychedelic Medicine, by Stanislav Grof, M.D.

Book links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale.

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The Veteran Community and Operator Syndrome: Psychedelics and Redefining Pain Management

In this episode, Joe and special guest, Court Wing, interview Tommy Aceto: former Navy Seal and trauma medic, NCAA athlete, Michigan State Champion Wrestler, and now, psychedelic advocate and ambassador for the Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition.

He discusses his journey from childhood to wanting to become a SEAL, and the toll that military life and its programming can take on a person: how a life built on high levels of endurance, deprivation, and constantly surviving in a fight-or-flight mindset often manifests in Operator Syndrome, chronic pain, depression, and addiction. Veterans are seeing the potential of psychedelics to rewire their brains and allow them to process pain differently, by allowing them to feel emotions they were trained to turn off: “You’ve got to feel to heal.”

Aceto discusses:

  • The affirmation and approval many who join the military seek, and how that often translates into needing to stay at certain levels of risk to truly feel alive
  • The similarities between soldiers and professional athletes and high performers
  • Dealing with chronic pain, and how forcing movement is often the best tactic
  • The Controlled Substances Act and how opioids became a business
  • Why the most important thing vets can do today is to tell their healing stories

and more!

Links

Givetogivefoundation.org

Vmhlc.org

Imdb.com: Vision Quest

YouTube: Journey – Only the Young

Martinpolancomd.com

The Breakthrough Therapies Act

Royalsreview.com: Remembering Mike Sweeney

The Controlled Substances Act

Holotropic Breathwork: A New Approach to Self-Exploration and Therapy, by Stanislav Grof & Christina Grof

Psychedelicsandpain.org

Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, by Johann Hari

Si.com: The Ugly End of an All-Pro Career, the Uglier Start of a Life After Football

Dolenlab.org

PT311 – William Leonard Pickard – LSD, Fentanyl, Prison, and the Greatest Gift of All: The Natural Mind

The Rose Of Paracelsus: On Secrets & Sacraments, by William Leonard Pickard

Humboldt.edu: Sue Sisley

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Psychedelic Education: Insights, Advice, and Where to Start

In this episode, Kyle and Johanna catch up, interviewing each other about psychedelic education and what they’ve learned, the biggest challenges, and what advice they would give to anyone looking to get involved in the psychedelic field.

They discuss:

  • How sometimes it’s not about the substance: If you want to be a psychedelic therapist, do you see yourself doing therapy without the psychedelics?
  • How no part of education is exempt, and becoming truly psychedelically-competent can involve studying psychology, neuroscience, somatics, religion, history, etc.
  • How people’s experiences are evidence – it doesn’t have to come from a research study to be valid
  • The importance of figuring out what your gifts are and how you could best contribute to progress, and then finding the job that matches it

and more!

The next round of our year-long training program, Vital, begins in September, but for those who feel that may be too much of a commitment, our most popular course – the 9-week Navigating Psychedelics for Clinicians and Wellness Practitioners, LIVE – begins on May 8. Head to the Psychedelic Education Center for more details!

Links

Navigating Psychedelics For Clinicians and Wellness Practitioners: Live

Vitalpsychedelictraining.com

Bicycle Day Giveaway

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Decolonization, Difficult Conversations, and the Challenge of Merging Spirituality and Science

In this episode, Joe interviews Philip Wolf: writer, member of Rolling Stone’s Culture Council, founder of Cultivating Spirits (the first company in the U.S. to offer legal culinary cannabis experiences), and founder of CashoM, an education company offering a certificate in cannabis stewardship.

He discusses his recent Rolling Stone article about the need to divorce ourselves from the colonial mindset that pervades the psychedelic movement, and he talks about the difficult conversation that came about when he asked a very critical group of psychedelic leaders how they felt about the article, and how it taught him just how powerful having these difficult conversations can be. 

He also discusses:

  • The importance of asking questions and not making assumptions
  • Why we may need to abandon the “no justice, no peace” attitude if we ever want to move forward
  • The idea that instead of endlessly battling the establishment, maybe it makes more sense to change our consumer mindset and allow capitalism to do its thing
  • The importance of reaching out to local Indigenous tribes and allocating resources to go to them, not make them come to you
  • The challenge of merging spirituality and science, especially for a regulatory model focused on profit

and more!

Links

Cultivatingspirits.com

Cashom.substack.com

Praying With Plants podcast

PT325 – Philip Wolf – Cannabis: The Early Days of Legality, Elevated Dining, and the Need for Education

Rollingstone.com: Awakening From Self-Centric Paradigms in Cannabis and Psychedelics

Cashom.substack.com: A Beautiful Engagement

From Beirut to Jerusalem, by Thomas L. Friedman

Psychedelics Today: Harming While Healing?: The Oppressive Nature of Psychedelic-Centric Drug Policy

Jameslovelock.org

How Soon is Now?: A Handbook for Global Change, by Daniel Pinchbeck

Psychedelics Today: Is Cannabis a Psychedelic?

Bicycle Day Navigating Psychedelics giveaway

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Bicycle Day Reflections, Quantum Mechanics, and the Value in Studying Philosophy to Understand Psychedelic Experiences

In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview Lenny Gibson, Ph.D.: philosopher, Grof-certified Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator, 20-year professor of transpersonal psychology at Burlington College, and the reason Joe and Kyle met many years ago.

He talks about his early LSD experiences and how his interest in the philosophy of Plato and Alfred North Whitehead provided a framework and language for understanding a new mystical world where time and space were abstractions. He believes that while culture sees the benefits of psychedelics in economic terms, the biggest takeaway from non-ordinary states is learning that value is the essence of everything. And as this is being released on Bicycle Day, he discusses Albert Hofmann’s discovery and whether or not it’s fair to say that Hofmann intentionally had the experience he did on that fateful day.

He also discusses:

  • The end of Cartesian thinking and the need for a new understanding of reality that incorporates the insights of quantum mechanics
  • How philosophy has been taught as an intellectual endeavor, and how we need to embrace the practical and conceptual side of life
  • John Dewey and quantitative thinking, William James and pragmatism, and was Aristotle a Platonist?
  • The novelty of the creation of LSD, and how it gave us a path to a mystical experience that wasn’t culturally bound

and more!

Links

Dreamshadow.com

Breathwork.com

PT316 – Lenny Gibson, Ph.D. – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Channelmcgilchrist.com

Science and the Modern World, by Alfred North Whitehead

PT499 – Mesoamerican Psychedelics, Decolonization, and the Concept of an Ontological Turn, featuring: Osiris González Romero

LSD: My Problem Child – Reflections on Sacred Drugs, Mysticism and Science, by Albert Hofmann Ph.D.

The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell, by Aldous Huxley

The Metaphysics, by Aristotle

Wikipedia.org: Stephen Pepper

Shadow Culture: Psychology and Spirituality in America, by Eugene Taylor

Book links are affiliate links, meaning that Psychedelics Today will receive a percentage of the sale.

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Rethinking Drug Education: From D.A.R.E. Scare Tactics to an Evidence-Based Approach

In this episode, Joe interviews Joey Lichter, Ph.D.: professor in the Chemistry & Biochemistry department at Miami’s Florida International University, and one of the few professors in the U.S. teaching a course about psychedelics at the collegiate level.

He talks about his path towards the course, the challenge of creating a curriculum that covers everything in a few months, and the importance of teaching young minds about psychedelics the right away; shifting drug education from the “Just say no!” D.A.R.E. model to a more balanced, honest, and evidence-based approach. He aims for his students to think critically, ignore the hype, and see all possible angles with a fairly simple approach: Present the full story.

He discusses:

  • The importance of teaching history, from Stan Grof to MKUltra
  • The work of David Nichols, David Nutt’s drug harm scale, and the greatest lesson William Leonard Pickard took from LSD
  • The representation of Spravato as a new drug, and his concerns with the over-medicalization of psychedelics
  • Teaching about the complexities of Timothy Leary: Was he a positive or negative force?
  • Decriminalization, legalization, and how he gets students to think about drug policy

and more!

Links

PT304 – Jerry B. Brown, Ph.D. – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Mindapps: Multistate Theory and Tools for Mind Design, by Thomas B. Roberts Ph.D.

Imdb.com: Dirty Pictures

American Trip: Set, Setting, and the Psychedelic Experience in the Twentieth Century, by Ido Hartogsohn

David Nutt’s drug harm chart

PT334 – Prof. David Nutt – The Human Brain, Addiction, and Telling the Truth About Drugs

The Rose Of Paracelsus: On Secrets & Sacraments, by William Leonard Pickard

PT311 – William Leonard Pickard – LSD, Fentanyl, Prison, and the Greatest Gift of All: The Natural Mind

Psychedelics Today: Dr. David Nichols – A Rich and Historical Overview of Psychedelic Chemistry

Mindmed.co: MindMed Collaborators Announce Positive Topline Data from Phase 2 Trial Evaluating LSD in Anxiety Disorders

Nejm.org: Trial of Psilocybin versus Escitalopram for Depression

PT471 – The Evolution of LSD Psychotherapy, the Power of Breathwork, and Why We Should be Taking Archetypal Astrology More Seriously, featuring: Stanislav & Brigitte Grof

Psychedelicreview.com: Walter Pahnke

Npr.org: The CIA’s Secret Quest For Mind Control: Torture, LSD And A ‘Poisoner In Chief’

YouTube: Spravato Commercial (2023)

Open-foundation.org


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Updates from MAPS: Current Initiatives, Psychedelic Science 2025, and Music as a Bridge

In this episode, Joe interviews Devon Phillips: Community & Partnerships officer for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

Phillips works on strategies to tackle the questions: How do we responsibly mainstream psychedelics? And how do we get culture engaged? He’s focusing on being the bridge to psychedelics outside of research, facilitating workshops and psychedelic coming-out stories at music festivals and conferences. He talks about harm reduction and drug checking at festivals, the concept of training big names to become trustworthy resources, the differences found in a hop hop crowd compared to EDM, and the power in using psychedelics for pleasure and celebration – not just healing and growth. 

He also discusses:

  • MAPS’ involvement with the NFL for their ‘My Cause, My Cleats’ campaign, and how the San Francisco 49ers’ Jon Feliciano is bringing awareness to psychedelic healing
  • Details about MAPS’ first responders training, fiscal sponsorship program, international therapist education program, and upcoming membership program (launching in June)
  • The success of MAPS’ Psychedelic Science and his hopes for the 2025 edition, taking place June 16 – 20 at the Denver Convention Center
  • Dr. Carl Hart, drug exceptionalism, and the importance of creating safe containers and inclusive drug policy 

and more!

Links

Maps.org

Maps.org: 49ers’ Jon Feliciano supports MAPS as part of the 2023 NFL “My Cleats, My Cause” campaign

Maps.org: MAPS Provides Psychedelic Crisis Assessment and Intervention Training to Denver’s First Responders

Maps.org: MAPS Unveils Improved Fiscal Sponsorship Program, Empowering Innovators in the Psychedelic Movement

Maps.org: Psychedelic Science 2025 – the Fifth and Largest Psychedelic Conference in History – Announced for June 16-20 2025 in Denver, Colorado

High Price: A Neuroscientist’s Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society, by Dr. Carl Hart

Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear, by Dr. Carl L. Hart

PT236 – Drugs: Honesty, Responsibility, and Logic featuring: Dr. Carl Hart

Atableofourown.org

PT278 – Ayize Jama-Everett, Courtney Watson, Leticia Brown, and Kufikiri Imara – A Table of Our Own

Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel, by Tom Wainwright

Texas Eclipse Festival

Wearetheloop.org

Dancesafe.org

Danalarsen.com

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Preserving Psychedelic Legacies: Shulgin Farm and the Shulgin Archive Project

In this episode, Joe interviews Keeper Trout: archivist, author, photographer, co-founder of the Cactus Conservation Institute, and creator of Trout’s Notes, a website compiling personal research and collected data to help ethnobotanical researchers.

From an interest in cactus taxonomy, Sasha Shulgin urged Trout to go through his files, resulting in a friendship, and eventually, an 8-year project of digitizing all of these files into the ever-evolving Shulgin Archive.

Trout discusses:

  • His relationship with Sasha and The Shulgin Farm project, which aims to make the farm a community resource for therapy, research, events, and more
  • The messiness of cactus taxonomy, and how he believes we’re nearing the end of being able to properly identify cacti
  • The perception of LSD as unnatural and why the natural vs. synthetic argument is largely political
  • Why repealing the Controlled Substances Act is the path we should take over decriminalization or legalization

and more!

Links

Cactusconservation.org

Troutsnotes.com

Shulginfarm.org

Shulginfoundation.org

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Women and Psychedelics, Microdosing, and the Challenges of Psychedelic Parenthood

In this episode, Alexa interviews April Pride: creative entrepreneur, veteran of the cannabis space, and now, founder of SetSet, an educational platform and podcast (picking up where The High Guide left off) for women curious about psychedelics.

With Alexa about to embark on the journey of motherhood, she asks many of the questions parents working with psychedelics have to consider: How do you overcome the stigmas of being a psychedelic parent? How do you talk to your children about drugs? How do you know if a substance is ok to use during pregnancy?

Pride discusses:

  • Being dubbed “the weed mom” and why she embraced the nickname
  • Parenting children around drug use and how parents lose credibility when they lie (the kids are going to know)
  • The need for more research into how substances interact with women’s cycles and changing hormones
  • Knowing when to trust your doctor and how more conversations lead to more knowledgeable doctors
  • Microdosing psilocybin and the developing SetSet protocol

and more!

Links

Getsetset.com

Thehigh.guide

Aprilpride.com

Oflikeminds.co

SetSet: The Psychedelic Card Game

Microdosing Masterclass: Your Complete Guide to Understanding and Integrating the Best Practices for Effective Microdosing

Vitalpsychedelictraining.com/

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Shulgin Farm and the Future of Psychedelic Drug Development

In this episode, Joe interviews Paul F. Daley, Ph.D., who worked with Sasha Shulgin in his lab for the last seven years of his life, helping him finish (and co-authoring) The Shulgin Index, Volume One: Psychedelic Phenethylamines and Related Compounds.

He is now the co-founder, Chief Science Officer, and Director of Analytical Science at the Alexander Shulgin Research Institute (ASRI), focusing on the discovery and development of novel psychedelic compounds. While Sasha was passionate about self-experimentation, the Institute is aiming for the next step for these drugs: FDA approval.

He discusses:

  • Meeting Sasha at the 2nd international conference on hallucinogenic mushrooms in Washington D.C.
  • Bonding with Sasha while reviewing the autopsy of researcher Robert van den Bosch for possible foul play
  • The two compounds ASRI is closest to being able to test in clinical trials
  • The 5-HT2B receptor, risk of valvular disease, and why we will likely be hearing more about this going forward
  • How AI and new technology can lead to better safety science

and more!

Links

Shulginresearch.net

Shulginfoundation.org

Shulginfarm.org

The Pesticide Conspiracy, by Robert van den Bosch

The Shulgin Index, Volume One: Psychedelic Phenethylamines and Related Compounds, by Alexander T. Shulgin, Tania Manning, Paul F. Daley

Drzee.org

Island, by Aldous Huxley

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PT499 – Mesoamerican Psychedelics, Decolonization, and the Concept of an Ontological Turn

In this episode, David interviews Osiris González Romero: philosopher and Postdoctoral researcher on cognitive freedom and psychedelic humanities at the University of Saskatchewan.

Romero believes that our weakest point of research is our knowledge of Indigenous languages, and is focused on highlighting different cultural uses of psychedelics to better inform future drug policy. He’s currently studying more than 100 documents (including one over 400 years old) to establish an honest understanding of why peyote was ever banned.

He discusses:

  • Mesoamerican psychedelics and their relevance to cognitive liberty and decolonization
  • How the War on Drugs is our main colonial legacy
  • The concepts of an ontological turn and ontological pluralism
  • The neocolonial, biomedical, and spiritual paradoxes found inside the ‘psychedelic renaissance’
  • How imagination is often viewed through a lens of illusion rather than problem solving or creativity

and more!

Links

University of Saskatchewan: Osiris Sinuhé González Romero

Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers, by Richard Evans Schultes, Albert Hofmann, & Christian Rätsch*

PT217 – Erika Dyck – Canadian Psychedelic History

Wikipedia.org: Xōchipilli

Wikipedia.org: Tláloc

Wiley.com: Indigenous Philosophies and the “Psychedelic Renaissance”

Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing, by Miranda Fricker*

Chacruna.net: Colonial Shadows in the Psychedelic Renaissance

Journals.sagepub.com: Decolonization is a Metaphor towards a Different Ethic. The Case from Psychedelic Studies

Academia.edu: Decolonizing the Philosophy of Psychedelics

Mescaline: A Global History of the First Psychedelic, by Mike Jay*

Lucid.news: Downloads from the Modern Dawn of Psychedelics

Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear, by Dr. Carl L. Hart*

Philosophy of Psychopharmacology, by Dan J. Stein*

Businessinsider.com: Top Nixon adviser reveals the racist reason he started the ‘war on drugs’ decades ago

Frontiersin.org: Cognitive liberty and the psychedelic humanities

Tandfonline.com: Decolonization is a metaphor towards a different ethic. The case from psychedelic studies

Women and Psychedelics: Uncovering Invisible Voices

Chacruna.net: Mazatec Shamanic Knowledge and Psilocybin Mushrooms

 

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PT498 – Traversing the Psychedelic Landscape: From Esalen and Millbrook to the Future of Shulgin Farm

In this episode, Joe interviews Maria Mangini, Ph.D., FNP: researcher, educator, and midwife who has worked closely with many psychedelic innovators and was part of the original social network at Shulgin Farm – where this episode was recorded. She traces her journey from the influence of pioneers like the Wassons, Shulgins, and Grofs, and historic places like Esalen and Millbrook.

She discusses:

  • Her early experiences with the Grofs at Esalen and how she met the Shulgins
  • Gregory Bateson guiding her to become a midwife
  • The similarities between midwifery and psychedelic facilitation
  • The unsung work of Denis Berry in saving the Timothy Leary archives
  • How the working relationship of the Shulgins is a perfect example of the coequality society should strive for

and more!

Notable Quotes

“There is a specific skill set that midwives, for the most part, actually have to possess because it’s the matter of what they do, that is identical or very, very similar to the skills that are needed for somebody who wants to be the ground control for somebody in an unusual state of consciousness [or] for somebody who wants to sit at the bedside of someone who’s actively dying. Those skills are the most difficult part of what we try to teach in those programs. You can’t really transmit that stuff very well in the classroom, but the midwives bring it. They already come with it.”

“Medicine really, at least the way it’s practiced in this country, is mostly about curing, whereas nursing is about caring. And there’s a bigger deficit for caring than there is for curing. We need nurses.”

“I think that the personal elements of the quality of the relationship that people who work side by side in that kind of co-equality can attain is inspiring for people, and it holds out a kind of hope for the ability to move in that direction. I think it’s very important and useful for us to think of the Shulgins as a couple.”

Links

Visionarycongress.org

Shulginfarm.org

Shulginfoundation.org

Joanhalifax.org

Batesoninstitute.org: Gregory Bateson

Ravenlang.com

Birth Book, by Raven Lang*

OPENurses.org

PT380 – Microdosing, Talking to Physicians About Psychedelics, and Nurses as the Scalability Solution, featuring: C.J. Spotswood, PMHNP-BC

Herb.co: Inside The Magical Drug Palace Where The Psychedelic 60s Was Born

Lucid.news: Leo Zeff and the Non-Directive Style of Being a Psychedelic Guide

Nypl.org: The New York Public Library Acquires The Archive Of Influential Psychologist And Writer Dr. Timothy Leary

Nytimes.com: Joanna Harcourt-Smith, 74, Dies; Lived a ‘Psychedelic Love Story’

Mushrooms, Russia, and history, by Valentina Pavlovna Wasson*

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PT497 – Reflections from Shulgin Farm: Psychedelics, Legacy, and the Spirit of Discovery

In this episode, released on Ann Shulgin’s birthday, Joe interviews Wendy Tucker: daughter of Ann and stepdaughter to Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin.

Recorded in Sasha’s old office, she recounts her formative years, giving an insider’s look into her Mother’s openness about psychedelics, working with Sasha in the lab, how the Shulgins made a perfect team, and watching a close-knit circle of self-experimenters start to form at Shulgin Farm – and keep coming back over the years.

She talks about the energy infused into the property from the decades of research and gatherings, and how she is trying to preserve it – not just to capture its history and the pioneering research that happened there, but as a beacon for future generations. She imagines weddings, conferences, other communal gatherings, and more. Imagine taking a chemistry course in Sasha Shulgin’s lab?

To learn more about the project and to donate, head to Shulginfarm.org.

Notable Quotes

“When I met Sasha, at first, he seemed a little– I didn’t get his sense of humor. He had such a dry sense of humor, I was like, ‘Who is this guy?’ And I felt a little protective of my Mom, honestly, at first. But soon, I really started to see who he was shining through. He was so good for her.”

“He’d say, ‘You never learn anything by things going right. You only learn when things go wrong.’ And so, that really stuck with me. What a great way to live life.” 

“He always left room for the mysterious, the unknown. It’s an interesting blend to be a scientist and yet have this deep knowledge that there’s something else going on. And we can’t really name it, but we feel it. We know it’s there. And that was Mom’s territory. It was really the spiritual, the psychological. That’s why they made such a great team.”

Links

Shulginfarm.org

Shulginfoundation.org

Transformpress.com

The Nature of Drugs Vol. 1: History, Pharmacology, and Social Impact, by Alexander Shulgin

Zendoproject.org

Synergeticpress.com

Quoteinvestigator.com: Puritanism quote

PIHKAL: A Chemical Love Story, by Alexander Shulgin & Ann Shulgin

Erowid.org

Hoverpictures.com

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PT496 – Maintenance Doses and Recurring Revenue: The Ethics of At-Home Ketamine Therapy

In this episode, Joe interviews Juan Pablo Cappello: co-founder and former CEO of Nue Life Health, whose assets were subsequently acquired by Beckley Waves.

Cappello digs into his recent article which has been making waves across the psychedelic community: “Profit Over Patients? A Critical Look at At-Home Ketamine Therapy.” He created Nue Life with the goal of helping a million people address the root cause of their anxiety, and while the company was successful, he began to see a problematic trend: that using ketamine while providing services of a mental health company is very expensive and resource-consuming, and as companies saw a large percentage of clients requiring maintenance doses, the most profitable business model became essentially slinging ketamine to patients without providing any real integration or aftercare. Are these companies promising healing but really only guaranteeing recurring revenue?

He talks about:

  • How this emerging model makes it harder for ethical practitioners to be able to provide their services
  • The tools they built at Nue Life for long-term benefit, and why these should be the main focus – not repeated ketamine
  • Matthew Perry’s death and how the media was quick to place the blame on ketamine
  • The need for companies and communities to come to gather and create ethical industry standards for the at-home ketamine model
  • How cannabis was almost decriminalized under the Carter administration

and more!

Notable Quotes

“There’s all sorts of ethical companies and practitioners who are doing the good work every day on the front lines, and we have to recognize that. We also have to be honest that it’s harder and harder for those ethical practitioners to make a living because of what unethical practitioners are doing every day in the trenches, which is slinging ketamine.”

“Do I think that it’s probably a good trade to take ketamine six times a year as opposed to taking an antidepressant every day? Yeah, that’s probably a good trade. But there’s a better trade. which is: Let’s address the root cause of your depression, anxiety, or trauma once and for all. Let’s do the hard work. Let’s use ketamine as a beautiful tool to help you reset and reboot, and let’s get you well. And let’s support you in your wellness journey going forward, rather than putting you on the cycle of feeling better, feeling worse, feeling better, feeling worse.”

“I absolutely believe the pharmaceutical companies are way too close to the regulators, absolutely. But what do we expect when getting a drug approved by the FDA is a billion dollar proposition? I mean, look at what MAPS has gone through. They’re still raising money, notwithstanding the amazing clinical results that they’ve had with MDMA. …[They’re] continuing to raise money for clinical trials of a drug that wasn’t made illegal until 1982. So it’s not as if, in terms of the safety profile of MDMA, we don’t have oodles and oodles of real life data prior to 1982. Nothing’s a better sign of how broken the system is than what MAPS has gone through.”

Links

Profit Over Patients? A Critical Look at At-Home Ketamine Therapy, by Juan Pablo Cappello

Response to Criticism of ‘Profit Over Patients? A Critical Look at At-Home Ketamine Therapy’, by Juan Pablo Cappello

PT274 – Juan Pablo Cappello – Nue Life: Using Digital Phenotyping to Personalize Healthcare

Lexology.com: Ketamine Clinics and Malpractice: Recent New York Litigation

One Year podcast: 1977: Mr. Marijuana and the Drug Czar

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PT495 – Self-Love, Narrative Therapy, and Post-Traumatic Growth

In this episode, David interviews Dr. 1Drea Pennington Wasio: integrative physician, psychedelic-assisted therapy facilitator and psilocybin retreat leader, international speaker, podcaster, and author of several books, including Sacred Medicine: Exploring The Psychedelic Hero’s Journey.

She discusses her personal metamorphosis and name change inspired by a powerful ayahuasca experience, and how that moved her into a life more inspired by authenticity and self-love. She gives the details of her retreats, explains her PRISM sessions, and talks in depth about the magic of resiliency: How can we not just return to baseline, but experience post-traumatic growth?

She talks about:

  • The power of tuning into creativity in times of depression
  • The efficacy of narrative therapy and writing in general
  • The universal themes of ‘The Hero’s Journey’ and how much agency matters
  • The importance of embracing nonfiction, and her upcoming book series, The Dreamweaver’s Legacy
  • The potential of microdosing psilocybin for menopause

and more!

Her new course on trauma-informed psychedelic therapy begins this month, and her next retreat begins May 10. Head to 1drea.com for details.

Notable Quotes

“On the fourth cup, I saw these visions and I heard a voice. And you know how it is. Yes, ayahuasca is a hallucinogen, but this voice was so powerful. And it basically was giving me an opportunity to make a shift. And the first time I heard it, I said no. The next night, I was in the same turmoil again, [and] by the time I got to my fourth cup, the voice came back and I said yes. And as soon as I said yes to this horrible question for me, I had to grab my bucket and I started to purge. And with that purge, I could see from me as a baby to that point, it was as if I was purging that timeline. What I realized is who I had become (because I grew up with so much trauma), I felt stuck. I felt like I couldn’t get out of the loop, even with this powerful medicine. And what she gave me was the opportunity to purge that. And by the third time I’m heaving over the bucket, I knew: I’m being reborn.”

“As a physician, I just recognize that without self-love – without true, unconditional self-acceptance, it’s really hard to be healthy.”

“I think everyone could benefit from just imagining: What would life be like if I had more magic, and I wasn’t so blocked and limited by my usual way of being or seeing things?”

“Many of us have wounding based on our family, or attachment wounds, so we need to heal and we need to recover in community. A lot of the people who do find success with 12-steps: they find that we recover together. I think there’s a certain magic that happens. A lot of my colleagues in this space say the group is the medicine. Yes, we take these magical molecules, but the group brings its own sort of medicine.”

Links

1drea.com

Psychedelic Preparation and Integration with Guided Meditations by Dr. DaeEss 1Drea (Special offer)

New course: Trauma-Informed Psychedelic Therapy: Supporting Clients with Preparation and Integration

The Hero with a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell

1drea.com: The Dreamweaver’s Legacy

PT384 – Vital Psychedelic Conversations, featuring: Dr. Dominique Morisano, CPsych & Jessika Lagarde

Drjillstocker.com

Researchgate.net: Microdosing Psychedelics for Menopausal Symptoms Easing Brain Fog, Low Mood, and Cognitive Decline

Six Thinking Hats, by Edward de Bono

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PT494 – Soul Retrieval, Moments of Awakening, and Uncovering the Language of Spirit

In this episode, David interviews Itzhak Beery: author, shamanic teacher, speaker, trip leader, and founder of ShamanPortal.org, an online community and resource for people who want to learn, practice, and teach shamanic traditions.

Beery shares his transformational journey, starting from his upbringing on a kibbutz in Israel, to his disillusioned advertising days in Manhattan, to the life-altering sweat lodge experience in Hawaii that eventually led him to write the book, Shamanic Transformations: True Stories of the Moment of Awakening, and realize his true purpose. He discusses the two major sides of trust: how to know when a healing path has truly become your life purpose, and how to know who to trust as a good healer in a world of self-initiated shamans.

He and David dig into:

  • How we all have the innate ability to be a shaman
  • How Westerners are often seeking healing too young, before they have the capacity to truly understand lessons they may receive
  • His upcoming book which attempts to teach practitioners how to create narratives out of symbols, The Language of Spirit
  • The importance in not denying the experiencer’s truth
  • His insights on palm reading and the concept of predetermined paths

and more!

Notable Quotes

“We are all shamans. Every human being is built– Their DNA is built in to be able to see, to vision, to dream, to dance, to sing, to hug, to drink, to hug, to make people feel comfortable. The ability to do the shamanic work is built in with every one of us, to take care of other people, for the well-being of the community.”

“The main problem that I see is that people from the West come to ayahuasca like a magic drink, but they don’t speak the language of spirit. They don’t speak the language of plants of the Amazon. Now, when you start drinking it from the age of six or eight, you are already understanding the intricate visions that [are] connected to your body and are connected to the whole world of spirit. So they have a context where they can hold what your body physically experienced and what they visually experienced. When we come from [a] digital world [with] zero connection to nature, and we just dumped ourselves into a world that is steeped in magic, we don’t know how to accept it. We don’t speak that language.”

“In our culture, we go to the Himalayas, we go to the Amazon, we go to the mountains, we go to who knows where, to the rivers, to wait for the moment that God will just hit us over the head and we’ll be enlightened. And the truth is that every moment of our life is a moment of awe, of enlightenment, and we have to really sit with it for a minute. We are always looking from the enlightenment outside of [ourselves], that somebody will give it to us. …How many people are going to all kinds of places around the world? But that moment that you are already looking for; it’s already happened. You just have to recognize it. …Every moment that we are alive is a moment of miracle. It’s a moment of enlightenment. And we have to live like that, in that awe, in that place; that every moment is a moment that you can transform your life. You don’t have to wait to take ayahuasca, yagé, nátem, all the other stuff, to experience the transformation.”

Links

Itzhakbeery.com

Spiritwalker: Messages from the Future, by Hank Wesselman

The World Is As You Dream It: Teachings from the Amazon and Andes, by John Perkins

Black Smoke: Healing and Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon, by Margaret De Wys

Shamanic Transformations: True Stories of the Moment of Awakening, by Itzhak Beery

Shamanportal.org

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PT493 – Sacred Sites, Ayahuasca, and Connecting With the Rhythms of the Earth

In this episode, Johanna interviews Laura Reeves: Glastonbury-based facilitator and medicine woman trained in craniosacral therapy, somatic experiencing, breathwork, and more, who holds retreats at sacred sites in the U.K. and Peruvian Amazon.

She tells of her journey from serendipitously booking a trip to Ecuador just as she first heard about ayahuasca, to the early ayahuasca experiences that showed her our true interconnectedness, to a heroic dose of psilocybin and a trip to the hospital, to being accepted into training with an Indigenous shaman in the Amazon. With a lifelong love of nature, paganism, and ancient traditions, she stresses the importance of connecting to the natural rhythms of the Earth and harnessing its energy.

She talks about:

  • Self-initiated shamans and the dangers that can come from bad actors operating out of integrity and respect for the lineage
  • Ayahuasca as a purgative and the power of energetic clearings
  • Her experience with shamans using Icaros to channel the sounds of plants
  • Shadow work and its role in personal growth and healing
  • The energy of Glastonbury, feeling deep connections to sacred places, and how ley lines inspire places of pilgrimage

and more!

Notable Quotes

“I just walked off on my own, and I remember just standing there. And I started hearing the entire symphony of the rainforest and it was like no sound was a mistake. It was like I could see and feel the interconnectedness of every single sound and every feeling of every sound, and I just was there in this orchestra of nature. I guess that was [my first]] experience of this interconnectedness, the energy that kind of weaves between everything.”

“It’s great that these plants are awakening to awaken us now. But what’s unfortunate is a lot of people are then using it as an opportunity to make money, to be the shaman at the front of the ceremony, and they’re not prepared to do the work to actually be in integrity with these sacred lineages.” 

“The way in which this other tradition works with the medicine is to drink ayahuasca without the DMT active substance (you still have visions, but it’s different), and then you drink warm water, and you’re literally just purging for about two hours. …And the way that I felt after this: It was like the medicine went down into the deepest parts of my body, into my cells, and just pulled out any toxins, any negative thoughts even, anything at all. And I felt completely clear and energized. My nervous system felt really reset at this point. …I was like: How can we create experiences just with the body where we can feel this depth of liberation and openness?” 

Links

Laurareeves.co.uk

Laura Reeves linktree

Friday, April 19 – Sunday, April 21, 2024: Mystical Spring Retreat, Glastonbury: Land Magic, Consciousness Expansion & Heart Opening, with Laura Reeves & Guests

YouTube: The War on Consciousness TEDxTalks Graham Hancock (The talk TED tried to hide/ban) 2013

Psychedelics Today: PT390 – Vital Psychedelic Conversations, featuring: Mackenzie Amara & Dr. Ido Cohen

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PT492 – Alien Abductions and Parallel Realities: How Do You Validate the Radically Ineffable?

In this episode, Joe and guest co-host Erica Rex interview Elizabeth Anglin: spirit medium, animal communicator, intuitive healer, alien abductee, and author of Experience: Memoirs of an Abducted Childhood.

She talks about her early abduction experiences, the time when she and her father realized they were both being abducted at the same time (from different locations), and the horrifying experience of six beings entering her apartment and realizing she knew one of them. These experiences led her to Budd Hopkins, and eventually John Mack (who did regression work with her) and the John E. Mack Institute, where she became a peer mentor for abductees. She talks about the validity of alien abductions, the concept of spiritual ecology, and the importance of listening to people: There’s so much we don’t know, so is it fair to label experiencers as schizophrenic just because we can’t replicate the experience?

She discusses:

  • The commonality of people from the same family being abducted and why some people are lifetime abductees while others are only taken once
  • The differences in abductions and how some seem to only be mental while others are physical and extremely painful
  • The story of Linda Napolitano and the famous Brooklyn Bridge abduction
  • Regressive hypnotherapy work: Are the memories you’re recovering accurate?
  • Quantum biology, the Penrose-Hameroff quantum theory of consciousness, parallel realities, time travel, and quantum jumping

and so much more! As the X-Files made famous: The truth is out there. And this episode is definitely pretty out there!

Notable Quotes

“I’m so sad about how our religions say that there’s only one being that can help you, because there are lots of beings that will help you. I’m not mad with the one being that our Western worldview says– I’m not mad with him at all, but, you know, there are lots of beings. You just have to not be afraid.”

“When you go through alien abduction stuff, especially when you first do it, the stuff that you remember is nothing that you could come up with from a movie or from your life or from what you know about life, and the physical stuff that happens is so painful that it’s nothing that you would want to come up with. It’s not like ‘I wanted to have this glorious experience.’ …How in the world could a movie make you come up with that stuff when there are no movies about it because there are no words for it and there’s no ontology for it? And it’s so incredibly painful, why would you do that?”

“We don’t understand our own minds, we don’t understand consciousness, [and] we have a religiosity around understanding what ego is. I grew up thinking that ego is this terrible thing, and now I’m like, no, it’s here to keep you in your body. …It’s all about being safe in your body. And when you work with your consciousness, it’s kind of not a thing because it doesn’t matter where your body is or if you even have one. At all these different levels of consciousness, you’re going to find bodies all over the place, and eventually, this one is just really a temporary meat sack. So, you know: Get over it, ego.”

Links

Realspiritmedium.com

Experience: Memoirs of an Abducted Childhood, by Elizabeth Anglin

Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind: A Reporter’s Notebook on Alien Abduction, UFOs, and the Conference at M.I.T., by C. D. B. Bryan

Imdb.com: The Point

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas S. Kuhn

YouTube: Jacques Vallee, Terrence McKenna, John Mack, Budd Hopkins on the Alien, UFO, Abduction phenomenon

Psychedelics Today: What do Alien Abduction and Psychedelic Experiences have in Common? Let Dr. John E. Mack’s Work Explain

Intruders: The Incredible Visitations at Copley Woods, by Budd Hopkins

Grunge.com: The Bizarre True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abduction

The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell, by Aldous Huxley

Physics.lbl.gov: The Penrose-Hameroff Approach

The Farsight Institute

Spiritual Ecology: Reading the Book of Nature and Reconnecting with the World, by Rudolf Steiner

Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge, by Jeremy Narby

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PT491 – Drug Development, The State of Biotech, and Exploring Non-Hallucinogenic Compounds

In this episode, Christopher Koddermann interviews Dr. Sam Banister: co-founder and chief scientific officer of Psylo, an Australian biotech company developing next-generation psychedelics.

Banister discusses how he got involved in drug development, how Psylo came about, and the hallucinogenic and non-hallucinogenic 5-HT2A agonists Psylo is working on. He talks about the compromise between immediate need and ambition, and the ethical considerations and possibilities behind developing non-hallucinogenic compounds: What can we take from the psychedelic experience for people who aren’t ideal candidates for one? Is the psychedelic experience truly necessary? And for what indications will these new Gen 3 compounds be most useful?

He discusses:

  • What we can infer about the volatility of biotech and the state of the psychedelic industry based on recent mergers and acquisitions
  • The long-term challenges of drug development and the scalability of treatment options
  • How the initial success of Spravato has played a role in allaying fears around new compounds
  • Head twitch response and concerns it’s not as accurate of a metric as we’ve believed
  • Australia’s decision to down-schedule psilocybin and MDMA, and the speed of implementation and licensing: How long will it be before people have easy access?
  • What he sees for the future and why we need to be careful with language around expectations

and more!

Notable Quotes

“I think the reality is, beyond any ethical consideration, there are just people who won’t want to have a psychedelic experience or are contraindicated because of other comorbidities, family history of psychoses, or other things. These are pretty challenging experiences for a lot of people, if you speak to participants in some of these trials. They’re not without risk. There are adverse events reported from these trials as well. So if we can see good efficacy for any given indication for some of these non-hallucinogenic agents, I absolutely think they will have value beyond whatever else is happening with psychedelic-assisted therapy.”

“Given the waiting times we have in the U.S., in parts of Europe, in Australia, and New Zealand as well, for psychiatrists, for psychotherapists; generally, I don’t see this as being something that will be resolved along the timelines that are needed for this to be a broadly accessible treatment for the numbers of patients who are going to need it. So I think that is probably the largest barrier, in my mind, to the broad deployment of these therapeutics.”

“I think this sort of unbridled enthusiasm needs a bit of a sense check, and I think people should be cautious in the language they use. …I think the communication to patients in this space needs to be done very carefully. These are not substances that are without risk. There are plenty of patients who can have very serious adverse events from psychedelics, and some of these can be persistent and quite problematic – more problematic than whatever disease they’re seeking to treat.”

Links

Psylo.bio

Tranquis.com

Quantum Psychology: How Brain Software Programs You and Your World, by Robert Anton Wilson

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, by Tom Wolfe

The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World, by Michael Pollan

National Library of Medicine: Ethical Issues Regarding Nonsubjective Psychedelics as Standard of Care

Pubs.acs.org: The Subjective Effects of Psychedelics May Not Be Necessary for Their Enduring Therapeutic Effects

Globenewswire.com: Compass Pathways enters into research collaboration agreement with Hackensack Meridian Health…

Nasdaq.com: Compass Pathways and Greenbrook TMS enter into three-year research collaboration agreement

Awjuliani.medium.com: A Phenomenological Report on the Novel Non-Hallucinogenic Psychedelic Tabernanthalog

Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind, by Mike Jay

Biorxiv.org: AlphaFold2 structures template ligand discovery

Prnewswire.com: Psylo Announces Sponsored Research Agreement With Daiichi Sankyo to Develop Non-Hallucinogenic Psychiatric Therapies

Finance.yahoo.com: Otsuka Pharmaceutical to Acquire Mindset Pharma

Finance.yahoo.com: Bristol Myers Squibb acquires Karuna Therapeutics for $14 billion, boosting neuroscience portfolio

Cerevel.com: AbbVie to Acquire Cerevel Therapeutics in Transformative Transaction to Strengthen Neuroscience Pipeline

Psychedelicalpha.com: Psychedelic Funding & Public Markets in 2023

Tga.gov.au: Prescribe an unapproved therapeutic good (health practitioners)

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PT490 – Plasticity, the Role of Set and Setting, and the Influence of Psychedelics

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris: founder and head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London, founding director of the Neuroscape Psychedelics Division at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and founder of the Carhart-Harris Lab.

A legendary researcher, he talks about his psychedelic origins: studying Freud, Jung, and eventually Stan Grof and depth psychology to try and better understand the unconscious. He discusses the growth of psychedelics and the cultural shifts he’s noticed (especially in the U.S.), as well as what he’s working on today: researching the influence of psychedelics on set and setting by studying experiences in both enriched and unenriched environments.

He also talks about:

  • Plasticity: how he defines it, how it relates to critical reopening periods, and how it’s a fundamental thing that transcends the metrics we use to measure it
  • Early LSD studies, the nervousness surrounding he and David Nutt dosing Ben Sessa, and the youthful energy that kept them going
  • How plasticity could be exploited to help relieve chronic pain
  • The potential of psychedelics to help with fibromyalgia and anorexia
  • How psychedelic-assisted therapy brought care back to health care

and more!

UCSF is seeking survey volunteers, so if you’ve had more than three experiences with ketamine, MDMA, and psilocybin (must have experiences with all three) and want to contribute, do so here.

Notable Quotes

“In my school of thought, that’s not the problem, that’s the opportunity. When something makes sense but it’s abstract, I’m more led by the fact that it makes sense. The abstraction is an opportunity. It’s a richness, a fertility, and we can really dig into that.” 

“You notice when people really put mindfulness to the aesthetic, and they lower the lights and with the music: it doesn’t take long and that much effort, really, before it starts to feel like really caring – like actively caring. And it is an intriguing thing to think that that’s absent in the default, you know? That’s a thing that a colleague said to me once; that she loved the fact that psychedelic therapy brought back care. As someone who went into the mental health care profession, she felt like she could care again, for the first time in a long time. And that was not just ok, that was really promoted and made easier in a sense by the paradigm.”

“There’s different hierarchical levels to these assumptions, but the assumptions are often the problem. They guide our experience of the world, but they can entrench us in certain ways, and that entrenchment can be really at the heart of a lot of psychopathology, a lot of mental illness.” 

“I guess one thing I’ve discovered, which is fantastic, is just seeing how broad the community is here around psychedelics, and generationally as well. In London, it was really just a young generation, but here, it really transcends generations, and I really appreciate that. There’s something very normalized about psychedelics here that I started noticing very early on; that it was a topic of polite conversation. …That felt like a glimpse of how it will be, not just here, but elsewhere in the future.”

Links

Carhartharrislab.com

Fill out UCSF’s survey (must have 3+ experiences with ketamine, MDMA, and psilocybin)

PT245 – Robin Carhart-Harris – Psychedelics, Entropy, and Plasticity

Psychedelics Today: Psilocybin for Depression: A Q&A between Robin Carhart-Harris & a Psilocybin Study Participant

The Dream Drugstore: Chemically Altered States of Consciousness, by J. Allan Hobson

Pnas.org: Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin

PT389 – The Art of Ecstasy: The 90’s British Club Scene and MDMA, featuring Rupert Alexander Scriven

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PT489 – Psychedelics, Art Therapy, and the Creative Process

In this episode, Joe interviews Alyssa Gursky, LPC: artist, research associate and study therapist at the Social Neuroscience and Psychotherapy (SNaP) lab, and founder of Psychedelic Art Therapy LLC, which pioneers ketamine-assisted art therapy.

She talks about her first mushroom experience and how her art and creative process instantly felt different – how the judgment and concern about where the art was going disappeared and was replaced by a freedom; a return to a more childlike way of being, where all that mattered was the fun of the creative process, and expressing her inner world in art. They realized how much the creative process related to true embodiment and the ability to be fully present, and how healing it can be to simply be with other people and create art. 

She talks about:

  • The power of being seen in a group, and how the bravery of one person can completely shift the group dynamic
  • The need for mentorship in the psychedelic space
  • The comfort and freedom found in affinity groups
  • The inspiring lives of Genesis P-Orridge and avant-garde filmmaker, Alejandro Jodorowsky
  • Rick Rubin’s ability to treat creativity as a spiritual act
  • and how attending a live wrestling event aligns with non-ordinary states.

Gursky is launching a virtual education and support group this March for anyone who wants to integrate art into client work or their own process. Visit her instagram for details.

Notable Quotes

“I used pastels pretty much the entirety of that whole first experience, and I was just so stunned at how much more freedom [I felt]. Like, there were concepts that I was learning, that your creative process is a reflection of your mind. And I felt like there was an observer really present, to where I remember drawing and there wasn’t this judgment of: ‘Well, what is this going to become?’ and ‘What am I doing with this?’ and ‘Should I have used that color?’ – this deep, neurotic, judgemental inner voice. But instead, it was just sensation.”

“When we’re not taking the time to process through what is in our bodies, we start to lose the ability to be present.”

“Psychedelics really help with this: helping people break through the veil of: just trust your impulses – that that artistic sublimation, the process of taking whatever is happening inside and allowing art to be a vehicle to have it on the outside: that is nervous system regulation. That is psychic healing, just to be like, ‘I kind of want to do that,’ and just trusting that. It seems like such a small act, but it’s such a big deal.” 

“Art is helping us create the map of our psyche, and psychedelics are giving us wider access to that landscape. It feels like a match made in Heaven for me.”

Links

Psychedelicarttherapy.com

Psychedelics Today: Alyssa Gursky – Ketamine and Transpersonal Art Therapies

PT Live: Joe Moore & Alyssa Gursky, LPC Discuss Art Therapy, Affinity Groups, and More

Imdb.com: The Holy Mountain

Npr.org: Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Provocateur And Industrial Co-Creator, Dead At 70

High Price: A Neuroscientist’s Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society, by Dr. Carl Hart

Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear, by Dr. Carl L. Hart

Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, by Johann Hari

Swimming in the Sacred: Wisdom from the Psychedelic Underground, by Rachel Harris

Almatraining.org

Maps.org: Dr. Oscar Janiger’s Pioneering LSD Research: A Forty Year Follow-up

The Creative Act: A Way of Being, by Rick Rubin

YouTube: May 1, 1969: Fred Rogers testifies before the Senate Subcommittee on Communications

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PT488 – The Cost of War: Veterans’ Mental Health and Government Responsibility

In this episode, Joe interviews Matthew ‘Whiz’ Buckley: former decorated US Navy F/A-18 Hornet fighter pilot and now, founder and CEO of No Fallen Heroes Foundation, a non-profit focused on healing veterans and first responders with psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Buckley met Joe in D.C. while they were both campaigning for psychedelic therapy to any lawmaker they could speak with. He talks about how the government is spending a fortune on the military, but not paying the total cost, since so much of that is externalized onto the soldiers themselves. He points out how many of them care more about making money than saving lives, and how we need “We the people” moments to wake them up or remove them from office.

He discusses:

  • His time in the Navy and his transition back to civilian life, coming to terms with trauma and realizing how much was physical (including tinnitus)
  • His life-changing experiences under ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT with the Mission Within
  • How we should be teaching veterans about various mental health options (including psychedelic-assisted therapy) as part of their transition process
  • The signing of the National Defense Authorization Act and the disappointing amount of money reserved for psychedelic research: Was it all just lip service?
  • The complications that arise when trying to get benefits from the VA while also trying to move on: When honesty about mental health isn’t incentivized, when do you tell the truth?
  • His experience operating legally in Colorado and how he plans to stay on top of Governor Desantis to bring psychedelics to Florida

and more!

Notable Quotes

“The military does an incredibly good job of turning us into human beings that are capable of doing some pretty horrific things to another fellow human being. And then when they’re done with us, they do a pretty shitty job of transitioning us back to being a human. They pay lip service to it, but there’s no return in it: ‘Hey man, you’re getting out. You’re not our problem anymore. We’ve got to focus on the next generation of killers.’”

“If we can get our first responders healed along with our military, I think this world would be a better place. …These medicines have the potential to turn warriors into peacemakers. And maybe that’s also why they’re illegal; they need little uniform killing machines that don’t do critical thinking.”

“Veterans: it’s interesting because it’s a tough community. We don’t listen to advertising or bullshit or anything; it needs to come from another vet for anything to have credibility. So you know, a Marcus Luttrell or a me or a JT looking a bro or a sister in the eye and going: ‘Hey man, this is what happened to me.’ Even in the back of their mind, if they’re like, ‘What the? That’s insane,’ there’s still a lot more of: ‘I trust this person. They would not steer me wrong.’”

Links

Nofallenheroesfoundation.org

MAX Afterburner podcast: Ep. 60 – Psychedelics Today Co- Founder Joe Moore

MAX Afterburner podcast: Ep. 84 – Healing Trauma from Columbine

HunterSeven Foundation

Militarytimes.com: First-ever provision for psychedelic studies included in defense bill

Psychedelics Today: PT427 – The Philosophy of Law Enforcement, The Criminalization of Self-Directed Behavior, and Transformative Care for Police, featuring: Sarko Gergerian, MS, MHC, CARC

Missionwithin.org

DoD TAP: Transition Assistance Program

Kranews.org: Can psychedelics combat prolonged grief? Dell Medical School launches study to find out

Psychedelics Today: PT432 – From NBA Dreams to Cultural Healing: Iboga and a Mission to Empower Gabon, featuring: Stéphane Lasme

Psychedelics Today: Could the Sonoran Desert Toad Cure Narcissism?

Tucsonherpsociety.org

Feb. 23 – 25: The Sacred Mycology Summit

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PT487 – Interoception, Healing Through Connection, and Learning to Trust Our Bodies

In this episode, David interviews Saga Briggs: freelance journalist and author of How to Change Your Body: The Science of Interoception and Healing Through Connection to Yourself and Others.

A collection of interviews, peer-reviewed research, and personal story; the book dives deep into the mind-body connection, how to become more embodied, and our need for social connection – which factors into mental and physical health far more than most of us realize. The nod to Michael Pollan’s book is also a challenge: Have we been focusing too much on our minds and now it’s time to pay more attention to our bodies? How much of the benefit of psychedelic experiences is related to truly experiencing our bodies?

She discusses:

  • How neuroscience is starting to look more at brain-body interactions, and the psychedelic space’s growing interest in somatics
  • The minimal and narrative selves: Do psychedelics make the minimal self traverse over the narrative self?
  • Flexible switching and applying interoception to a social context
  • Her concept of a ‘possibility space’ and new ways of perceiving
  • The benefit of adding embodiment practices to psychedelic assisted therapy – especially during preparation and integration

and more!

Notable Quotes

“I think people are familiar with the ways in which different compounds can influence the bodily self, so to speak. And it’s a really interesting idea that that, in and of itself (the modulation of your body or your experience of your body or how the body is represented by the brain): if that maps onto therapeutic outcomes, if that’s part of what’s so beneficial about these compounds – not just changing neural pathways in the brain, but actually giving you a different experience of yourself as an embodied organism in the world – I think this is a really interesting area to look into.”

“The minimal self is kind of just your basic feeling of being in a body, not necessarily tied to your identity. And the narrative self is like the story you tell yourself: who you are when you wake up in the morning, all of your memories, and kind of your life story. And it seems that there’s something going on with psychedelics where the minimal self: its influence sort of traverses over the narrative self, and we get an opportunity to be re-embodied in a way.”

“I don’t see a separation between a place of calmness within my body and the peace of the natural world. It’s the same quality to me. So if I’m standing, looking up at the stars at night in some beautiful remote place, that resonates inside me because it’s the same quality, if that makes sense. I feel it in my body so profoundly because it’s a reminder that my body is part of this greater profound stillness.”

Links

How to Change Your Body: The Science of Interoception & Healing Through Connection to Yourself & Others, by Saga Briggs

Sagabriggs.journoportfolio.com

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Bessel Van Der Kok, MD

Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA)

Mind-foundation.org: Social Interoception: The Case for Treating Mental Illnesses Through the Body, in a Social Setting

Biorxiv.orgThe entropic heart: Tracking the psychedelic state via heart rate dynamics

Frontiersin.org: Interoception and Social Connection

Biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com: Effective Connectivity of Functionally Anticorrelated Networks Under Lysergic Acid Diethylamide

Kelseyblackwell.com

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PT486 – 5-MeO-DMT, Somatic Release, and Creating Context for Spirituality

In this episode, Joe interviews Steve Rio: psychedelic guide, performance and transformation coach, musician, and co-founder of Enfold, a retreat center in BC, Canada.

While Enfold caters each experience to each client, they largely work with 5-MeO-DMT (which is unregulated in Canada); partly because of its power, and partly because Rio realized how much was missing in terms of safety and process when using the substance. They are trying to fill in the gaps, working with the University Health Network Centre for Mental Health to analyze measurements of mindfulness, DAS tests, the Brief Inventory of Thriving survey, and language used when describing experiences to collect as much qualitative data as possible. He discusses their screening process, why they work with synthetic 5-MeO-DMT, why they encourage everyone to go to a group session, and how 5-MeO seems to bypass psychological processes and largely be related to somatic release.

He talks about:

  • The power of 5-MeO and being humble and honest with yourself: Are you stable enough to handle the dysregulation?
  • 5-MeO bad actors and ‘Drive-by 5’ people who show up, do the drug, and leave
  • The plight of Sonoran Dessert toads and the need for more data around their declining populations
  • How 5-MeO seems to connect people with a higher power, and the need for the experiencer to find their own context for it
  • The importance of creating a clean and open container for spirituality and meeting the client where they are

and more!

Notable Quotes

“I think inserting any type of dogma is not really helpful in taking people through a psychedelic experience. I think there are some core basic principles around love, around compassion, around forgiveness, that I think everyone can agree with, but I think beyond that, it’s important for everybody to be able to contextualize their experience in the framing that feels right to them. …We try and create the clearest and simplest container for spirituality that allows for the depth of spirituality, but doesn’t necessarily try and say spirituality is one thing or another, because frankly, that’s a very personal choice.”

“These toads have quickly become close to extinct. And the whole region is in turmoil because of people coming to harvest toads. There’s cartel activities. I think there’s human safety risks, I think there’s animal safety risks. And once you work with synthetic, you realize that there’s so little difference between Bufo Alvarius and synthetic that it makes no sense to be working on healing, transformation, and consciousness expansion at the expense of this beautiful animal.”

“The more people can open up in a group setting, I think that’s an incredibly healing practice – to be able to be vulnerable, to be able to be heard, to hear other people’s stories and realize you’re not alone. To hear yourself in others is really powerful. I think, ultimately, the deepest healing does happen in community.”

Links

Enfold.org

Psychedelics Today: IG Live with Steve Rio

Psychedelics Today: PT377 – Integrative Medicine: Health, Wellness, and Psychedelics, featuring: Andrew Weil, M.D.

Tucsonherpsociety.org

Psychedelics Today: Could the Sonoran Desert Toad Cure Narcissism?

Drmalinvedoyuthaug.com: Publications

Vice: The Toad Venom That’s Stronger Than DMT: Bufo

Saving Normal: An Insider’s Revolt Against Out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of Ordinary Life, by Allen Frances, M.D.

UHN Psychedelic Psychotherapy Research Group

Brief Inventory of Thriving (BIT) Survey

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PT485 – Meeting People Where They Are: Why the Underground Will Always Thrive

In this episode, Joe interviews Ayize Jama-Everett: author, educator, filmmaker, and therapist with a long history of work in substance use and mental health services.

When Jama-Everett was last on the show, “A Table of Our Own” – a film focusing on healing, psychedelics, and bonds within the Black community – was still in its infancy. It’s now complete, and he and others behind the film are touring with it, with showings coming up in Detroit, LA, and Boston. A free follow-up discussion hosted by CIIS’ Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research is happening Feb. 15, and, from February 15-16 only, the film is available to rent online.

He gives his full origin story: growing up around substance use, how he got into therapy and healing people through journeys, how “A Table of Our Own” came about, and how it was influenced by mushrooms. Then he discusses a lot more, with a much-needed critical eye:

  • His experiences with some notorious bad actors in the facilitation space
  • Decriminalization and how we celebrate small wins while ignoring steps back
  • Drug exceptionalism, the Drug War, and the demonization of crack
  • Power dynamics and the dangerous concept of letting go
  • Why the Black community is so skeptical of psychedelics

And he talks about why it’s so important to meet people where they are – that what works for one person or one community won’t necessarily work for another, and the above-ground, corporatized, overly medicalized model will never work for everyone.

Notable Quotes

“I’m about to crawl back underground after this, I think. …This above ground shit is, by and large, for the birds. …There’s so many people now doing psychedelics and stuff, right? I would assume, given the promises, that there’d be more ethical people out there. There’d be more people with less ego. There’d be more women in charge, there’d be more queer people in charge, there’d be more people of color in charge. But it just seems like the same white corporate dudes. It’s like they’re talking about an app. …I want to just be of service to the people that need it and not deal with the rest of this bullshit.”

“The whole decrim thing in general: I feel like when decrim isn’t married with all substance use, then I don’t know what the hell we’re talking about.”

“When we talk about access, we’re talking about insurance. Dude, I barely have insurance. Insurance reimbursement? You want a revolution and you start with insurance reimbursement? What? How does that make any [sense]? Was Martin Luther King marching across that bridge in Selma, being like, ‘We are going to have insurance reimbursement for [everyone]?’ No. That is not where you meet people. That is the last fucking thing. That is the blip at the end. People are dying. People are killing themselves. …People who are seriously struggling don’t give a fuck about insurance.” 

“You’re sitting here, taking all of this stuff and you’re putting it in the context of pathology: Something has to be wrong in order for you to take this, so that it can be corrected. Actually, maybe things are alright, and this is the way of joining.”

Links

Ayizejamaeverett.com

Ayizeje.com

Atableofourown.org

Register for the free follow-up discussion hosted by CIIS’ Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research here

Rent “A Table of Our Own” here

Psychedelics Today: PT278 – Ayize Jama-Everett, Courtney Watson, Leticia Brown, and Kufikiri Imara – A Table of Our Own

Bbc.co.uk: The Lovecraft Investigations

Even the Rat Was White: A Historical View of Psychology, by Robert V. Guthrie

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, by Jonathan Haidt

Psychscenehub.com: David Nutt’s drug harm ranking scale

Register for the Sacred Mycology Summit here

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PT484 – Seeing Through the Smoke: The Importance of Telling the Truth About Cannabis

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Peter Grinspoon: primary care physician and cannabis specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, TedX speaker, certified physician life coach, and author of the new book, Seeing Through the Smoke: A Cannabis Expert Untangles the Truth about Marijuana.

He tells his story of growing up in a house where academics like John Mack and Carl Sagan regularly smoked cannabis, and being inspired by the groundbreaking books of his father, Lester Grinspoon. An outspoken advocate for drug policy reform and embracing different, non-AA paths to recovery, he talks about how he got there: his opiate addiction, fall from medicine, subsequent return, and learning just how deep the stigma against drugs goes, and how much the medical establishment is another arm of the Drug War. Seeing Through the Smoke aims to tell the truth about cannabis, especially on benefits and real and debunked harms. How can we get more physicians and lawmakers on our side if all they know is propaganda?

He discusses:

-The challenge in speaking honestly with physicians about drug use
-Why physicians are in support of researching psychedelics but not cannabis
-Stigmatized language and Drug War vibes in medical software
-The truth about cannabis, schizophrenia, and the risk of drug-induced psychosis
-Portugal and the ‘Rat Park’ model
-The importance of listening to what patients are saying – especially when we don’t have enough good data

and more!

Notable Quotes

“My dad got John Mack and Carl Sagan together so that Carl can convince John that UFOs aren’t actually real. And apparently, it got very heated, and John Mack yelled at Carl Sagan: ‘You’re being too cartesian!’ So I had a very weird childhood. I mean, all these people were smoking pot frequently in my house when I was growing up, and I grew to associate cannabis with intellectual discussion and very motivated people. I had a very different experience with it than I think it’s fair to say most people did.”

“Back then, the psychiatrists were all completely against psychedelics and people were not at all in favor of medical cannabis. I did my senior presentation as a resident on medical cannabis in the year 2000 (23 years ago), and everybody thought I was so eccentric. And they thought that this was the latest fad, like beta carotene or Omega-3 whatever. And now it’s fun because the same doctors who thought I was eccentric are referring patients to me.”

“94% of Americans support legal access to medical cannabis at this point. …Who’s against medical marijuana? I mean, come on, someone’s dying of cancer; give them some medical marijuana. And again, the AMA still puts it in derogatory quotation marks. So does the American Psychiatric Association. They put ‘medical marijuana’ in these derogatory quotation marks, like, ‘This is just something that only an ignorant patient would believe.’ …I wish they’d just have a little bit more humility and a little bit of interest in rethinking their positions.”

Links

Petergrinspoon.com

Time.com: Decriminalizing Opioids Will Save Countless Lives

Medpagetoday.com: Doobie No Harm: Doctors and the War on Drugs — An excerpt from Grinspoon’s new book, “Seeing Through the Smoke”

Dr. Peter Grinspoon substack

Marihuana Reconsidered, by Lester Grinspoon, M.D.

Psychedelic Drugs Reconsidered, by Lester Grinspoon and James B. Bakalar

Marihuana: The Forbidden Medicine, by Lester Grinspoon, M.D. and James B. Bakalar

Drugpolicy.org

Psychedelicmedicinecoalition.org

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PT483 – Traumatic Brain Injuries, the Gut Microbiome, and the Potential of Psychedelics as Anti-Inflammatory Agents

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Kate Pate: Ph.D. neurophysiologist; Founder and CEO of Coruna Medical; founding board member of the Psychedelic Medicine Association; and Founder of The Way Back, a company that will provide education and coaching services related to military, veteran, and first responder health – often in wilderness settings.

She talks about her introduction to psychedelics through the Heroic Hearts Project, where she later served as an integration coach and director of research, looking at psilocybin for traumatic brain injury symptoms, and how the gut microbiome changes after ingesting ayahuasca. She points out that gut health hasn’t been a focus of research, but it’s now emerging as a key indicator of physical and mental health. So, how do psychedelics, particularly plant-based ones, come into play? Are the long term shifts after an experience related to a change in the bacteria inside of us?

She breaks down what a microbiome is and how it changes based on diet; how inflammation is created and the inflammatory cascade that happens after a head injury; how toxins create a stress response similar to an allergic reaction; the frustrations of vets and the limited resources of the VA; the commonality of substance and alcohol use disorders in people coming home from service; the many nonprofits she’s worked with; and how important it is to increase science funding from the government.

Notable Quotes

“There’s a very clear shift in the microbiome population in the individuals who consumed ayahuasca, and it seems to be correlated with the improvements seen afterwards. …I do think that, especially with the psychedelics that are ingested and that come from plants, really, there’s a direct impact on the gut, and I think that can be really beneficial. …There’s an experience that lasts a certain period of time, but there are these long-term changes that persist. And what’s mediating that? Is it just the psychological experience, the spiritual experience? Is it physiology? Are we talking about shifts in the gut or other things controlling inflammation? My suspicion is that it’s all of the above, but we can’t negate the physiological component.”

“Gut health and the GI system used to be sort of like this thing that nobody really cared about. It was not the sexy, fun topic. It was sort of an afterthought of like, ‘It digests your food, that’s all it does.’ And now, it’s the star of the show. I mean, there’s so much to understand and learn there that regulates everything about our physical and mental health, that I think it’s really the target of research in the future.” 

“If you eat a Western diet and you drink a lot of alcohol, you’re likely going to have the type of bacteria that colonize the gut that thrive in those kind of conditions, which are more pro-inflammatory. So not only can the bacteria themselves signal the immune system directly, but the metabolites that they’re producing can be very inflammatory and toxic. And that can cause leaky gut, it can influence our nervous system, it can influence our immune system. And all of that can affect, ultimately, mental health, because mental health; all these anxiety and depression-like symptoms and disorders are very highly correlated with inflammatory conditions.”

Links

Thisisthewayback.com

Hunterseven.org

Heroicheartsproject.org

Sciencedirect.com: Psychedelics as potent anti-inflammatory therapeutics

Psychedelicmedicinecoalition.org

Talonsreachfoundation.org

PBabbate.org

Bigskybravery.org

Thestationfoundation.org

Warriorsandquietwaters.org

Confessions of a Hope Fiend, by Timothy Leary

Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, by Clay Shirky

Psychedelicsandpain.org

Psychedeliceducationcenter.com: Introduction to Psychedelics for Chronic Pain

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PT482 – Behind the Scenes: A Conversation on Psychedelic Business, Media, and Education

In this episode, Joe speaks with Paul F. Austin: Founder & CEO of Third Wave, Founder of Psychedelic Coaching Institute, and host of Third Wave’s The Psychedelic Podcast.

Recorded in-person at this year’s reMind conference, this episode – a shared release with Third Wave – is a rare glimpse into the inner workings of both Psychedelics Today and Third Wave, with Joe and Paul reconnecting after early podcast appearances and interviewing each other about where they’ve come from and where they’re going now that they’re so many years into this. Paul breaks down Third Wave’s history and new coaching training program, and Joe discusses Vital: Why he invested in Vital over an investment raise, what we’ve learned from the first two cohorts, how we’ve handled scholarships, and why sometimes losing money can be worth it if it’s for the greater good.

They talk about the challenge of keeping the lights on while trying to create something new; the balance of running a media company while building out an educational platform; the importance of staying focused and ignoring the noise; the relationship-building they’ve seen from their students; why we need to welcome the corporate types we may be inclined to dismiss; and why seeding good actors in as many roles and communities as possible is vital to the growth of psychedelics.

Notable Quotes

“What I find time and time again, is people need way less information than they think they need. They need way more courage and just a willingness to go out and make stuff happen. And so a lot of the relationships that are then formed in these cohorts that we have; people will then go out and start to collaborate and do things together out in the real world. They’ll start retreats together. And it’s fantastic.”

“The North Star of the program or the ethos or focus is: Inner transformation leads to external mastery. And what that means is: We can give you all the theory, we can teach you what we call the five key elements (assessment, prep, experience, integration, and microdosing), we can teach you different models, different frameworks; but if you don’t actually walk the path yourself, then you aren’t really being of full service to the clients you want to potentially work with.”

“There’s no prescription, right? We often want a prescription, just: ‘Tell me what to do; what’s the cookie cutter model? If I have a client, just give me– I want to do this, this, and this, and I’m good?” I’m like: No. You’ve got to learn yourself. You’ve got to know the different aspects and elements, but at the end of the day, this has to be yours – and only yours, and fully yours, because that’s the only way to really be a great practitioner or facilitator. There are no cookie cutter models when it comes to psychedelics.” 

Links

Thethirdwave.co

Psychedelic Coaching Institute: Coaching Certification Program 2024

Thethirdwave.co: The Psychedelic Podcast

The Psychedelic Podcast, episode 14: Psychedelics Today

Psychedelics Today: Paul Austin – Psychedelia and The Third Wave – Psychedelic Media

Psychedelics Today: Harming While Healing?: The Oppressive Nature of Psychedelic-Centric Drug Policy

Washingtonpost.com: Opinion | Please don’t self-medicate with psychedelic drugs

Third Wave Community

Pharmako/Gnosis: Plant Teachers and the Poison Path, by Dale Pendell

Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, by Steven Kotler & Jamie Wheal

The Path of Least Resistance for Artists: The Structure and Spirit of the Creative Process, by Robert Fritz

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PT481 – Kanna: The History, Science, and Potential of an Emerging Legal Alternative

In this episode, Joe interviews Ryan Latreille: Founder of Hearthstone Collective, which sells functional mushrooms and low-dose kanna designed for microdosing; and Kanna Extract Co., which is focused on offering high-potency kanna extracts more for ceremonial and recreational use.

He talks about how he found his way to kanna; his first psychedelic experience (kanna mixed with MDMA); how he worked with a Koi tribal leader to find high-alkaloid kanna; how they created the strain they use; and why so many people are interested in kanna and more people should try it, as he believes it’s not only a natural alternative to other substances and alcohol, but also a great entry point for people looking to experiment with microdosing.

If you want to learn a lot about kanna, this is the episode for you, as it is all discussed: How dosing should be done depending on what you’re looking for; whether or not it’s fair to say kanna is ‘MDMA-lite’; Indigenous history of usage; drug interactions and safety; the journey from seed to harvest; a breakdown of different grades of kanna; how the ratio of different alkaloids creates different experiences; and what could be possible by combining different alkaloids, different strains, and by pairing with different substances.

Notable Quotes

“When you take it, it is stimulating the release of more dopamine, more norepinephrine, more serotonin. And that on its own is going to at least contribute in part to this euphoric, empathogenic feeling that people have when they take it. So I don’t know if it’s fair to say that it’s like MDMA-lite. It definitely is an empathogen, you definitely feel a heart-opening, but it is, I would say, distinctly different.”

“A lot of people are really liking this as an alternative to alcohol; something that’s healthier when you are in a social, festive environment, and you want to feel more open, more connected, more happy and free. This is, I think, a really great alternative for people than other compounds that tend to not leave you feeling so good the next day.”

“Kanna is a very special plant. I mean, there’s 28 known alkaloids at this point, each that have distinct effects on the central nervous system. And with the right chemist, you can make really, really cool extracts with it.”

Links

Kannaextract.com

Hearthstonecollective.com

Vice.com: This Legal Supplement Made Me Roll Like I’d Taken MDMA

Sciencedirect.com: Sceletium tortuosum: A review on its phytochemistry, pharmacokinetics, biological and clinical activities

Kanna.health

Zembrin.com

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PT480 – Psychedelics and Consent: Power Dynamics, Boundaries, and the Concept of ‘Safe Enough’

In this episode, Kyle interviews Emma Knighton: Somatic trauma therapist, Vital instructor, and psychedelic integration therapist focusing on consciousness exploration, complex PTSD from childhood abuse, and queer identity development.

This episode is a bit of a masterclass on consent and boundaries within the client/practitioner relationship. She discusses power dynamics: how conflicts arise due to the breaking of established boundaries; safety, and embracing the idea of creating a container that is ‘safe enough’ to go into places that feel unsafe; and the importance of maintaining agreed-upon boundaries no matter how much the client may want to break them. They discuss ways to fulfill the need for touch when touch was not agreed upon, and the concept of practicing touch interactions before the experience – that playing out possible scenarios will create a somatic map so bodies remember what it feels like to be near each other while one body is deep in an experience.

And she talks about much more: What she’s learned from the kink and sex work community and their similarities with the psychedelic world; ways to handle consent in group settings; the clash between giving people agency but needing to step in and protect them; restorative justice models and how they could be used in a much-needed psychedelic practitioner accountability system; the need for practitioners to continue doing their own work; and how part of true consent is being honest about one’s own limitations or conflicts as a practitioner.

Notable Quotes

“We live in a compliance culture, not in a consent culture. So most of us have not actually learned what it feels like to be really attuned to consent in our bodies.”

“I don’t say, ‘This space is safe,’ I say, ‘We’re going to make this space safe enough’ – safe enough to do the thing, whatever the thing is. Safe enough to consent to the risk that is present. I don’t actually think that ‘safe, period’ exists for anybody anywhere. So it’s more about: What does ‘safe enough’ mean for each person? And that’s facilitators and clients, because facilitators: We have our own boundaries. And if we’re not attending to our boundaries and if we step over one of our boundaries in service of somebody else, that container is now out of consent, because we’ve crossed a boundary that we have. So we have to think about: What is safe enough for me to be in this setting and then, what does safe enough look like for the person or people I’m working with? And how do we create that?”

“I think part of the consent process and part of being an ethical and accountable practitioner is being really honest around: What do I know, what do I not know, and what do I not know that I don’t know?”

Links

Emmaknighton.com

American Psychedelic Practitioners Association

Bettymartin.org: The Wheel of Consent

Psychedelics Today: PT290 – Kylea Taylor, M.S., LMFT – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Integral Psychedelic Therapy: The Non-Ordinary Art of Psychospiritual Healing, edited by Jason A. Butler, Genesee Herzberg and Richard Louis Miller

Schoolofconsent.org

The Consent Academy

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PT479 – Psilocybin in the Midwest and the Need for Potency Testing

In this episode, Joe interviews Erik Vaughan: Co-Founder and Manager of Epiphany Mushroom, a mushroom and mental health company based in Akron, Ohio.

Epiphany mushrooms will initially be selling Lion’s Mane, Reishi, and Cordyceps, and they plan to expand into more functional mushrooms while also pursuing a license to operate healing centers in Colorado. Vaughan was involved in changing Colorado’s psilocybin legislation after lobbying to add a section that allows product testing labs to register and charge for their services – while voluntary and complementary to required testing, it allows growers to have an unlimited amount of product for testing purposes; adds an extra step in keeping the grower and lab in compliance with state law; and, as more states work on their own legislation, highlights the need for potency testing to let customers know exactly what they’re ingesting.

He discusses changing attitudes and how Michigan can lead the way for the midwest; why he’s excited about Colorado and what they got right; the enthusiasm of the mycology crowd; Rick Perry’s speech at Psychedelic Science 2023; the iron law of prohibition and mushroom products sold in Ohio; and the incredible inefficiency of the drug war (when viewed like it was not designed to do exactly what it’s doing).

Notable Quotes

“This is how we get to maximum access. There’s a lot of the population that wants a regulated, licensed program. But also, that is going to price out a lot of the population. And so, having access to all of these different delivery methods, all of these different programs, [all of the ways] you can do it, all of the different ranges of costs: I think this is how you allow responsible access to the most amount of people with the least amount of damage.”

“It’s just such an incredible inefficiency. We’re losing that war on every metric, and how is that good for anyone? …You don’t even have to care about the good that it does for the individual, you can just look at it purely from an economic standpoint: it creates this untaxed black market that has dangerous products. And how’s it going? That, again, is what excites me to see; that in 50 years, we’re going to look back and say, ‘Ok. Hey, we made it through that.’”

Links

Epiphanymushroom.com

Epiphanygardens.org

Courier-journal.com: Recreational marijuana is now legal in Ohio. Here’s what you need to know

Themushroomhunter.com

University of Michigan Psychedelic Center

Entheofest.org

Nbcnews.com: Could a little-known psychedelic drug treat opioid addiction? Kentucky wants to find out.

Vetsolutions.org: Stanford University Ibogaine Study

Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel, by Tom Wainwright

Psychedelics Today: PT427 – The Philosophy of Law Enforcement, The Criminalization of Self-Directed Behavior, and Transformative Care for Police, featuring: Sarko Gergerian, MS, MHC, CARC

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PT478 – Holotropic Breathwork as a Stepping Stone, Complementary Therapy, and Teacher

In this episode, Joe interviews Christine Calvert: Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and certified Holotropic Breathwork® facilitator.

She talks about how addiction led her to breathwork, how breathwork has helped her over the years, how breathwork can be a compliment to other self-work, and how becoming comfortable with breathwork first could be a very important stepping stone towards better understanding the psychedelic experience. She talks about how years of breathwork helped her navigate complicated states of consciousness, and the incredible benefit of learning to trust our body’s capacity to heal itself. 

She discusses using bodywork in sessions and the importance of having the experiencer be the one who requests it; how much a facilitator’s past relationship with touch affects how they use touch; the risk in meditation vs. the safety of breathwork; the concept of learning self-awareness; how profound it is to be witnessed in breathwork’s dyad model; and why researching and creating guidelines for this kind of work seems impossible.

Notable Quotes

“One of the things I love so much about breathwork vs. psychedelics is that it is endogenous medicine; this is coming from within me. And as somebody who had experienced the world in [a way that] felt like I really was surrounded in a culture and a society that was incredibly disempowering – to have a model that turns you back inside yourself over and over again is a true gift and an act of radical self-empowerment.”

“Obviously in counseling we get witnessed, but there is something really profound about the witnessing in the dyad setup model of holotropic breathwork where [we’re] being witnessed by somebody, and their job is only to do that: to literally sit [and] accompany me as I go internal. And then there’s just an immense amount of support. So for these parts that really didn’t have support and are holding a lot of the trauma of omission (the things we needed that we didn’t get); it’s incredibly powerful and poignant to have this kind of relational field surrounding us through that while that material is moving through us.”

“I feel like if we could do a stepping stone program, breathwork would be the first one, because I think if we can’t access and understand what and who we are with our own endogenous medicine; as explorers and facilitators or practitioners, I think we’re missing something.”

Links

Alchemicalnectar.com

Psychedelics Today: PT313 – Christine Calvert, LCDC – Holotropic Breathwork, Ethics, and Dying To Ourselves

The Thirst for Wholeness: Attachment, Addiction, and the Spiritual Path, by Christina Grof

Holotropic.com: Grof Transpersonal Training

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PT477 – Oregon Measure 109: The Possibilities of Service Centers & What Businesses Should Consider

In this episode, recorded in-person at the recent reMind conference, Joe interviews Kaci Hohmann and Dave Kopilak: business attorneys at Emerge Law Group and co-chairs of Emerge’s psychedelics practice group. Hohmann also serves as Chair of the Oregon State Bar’s Cannabis and Psychedelics Law Section.

They were both drafters of Oregon Measure 109 (with Kopilak as the primary drafter), so this episode goes deep into the details, legalities, and possibilities behind Measure 109. What licenses are involved? What does a business heading to Oregon need to prepare for? What do they think the feds will do and how does that relate to cannabis’ Cole Memorandum? What is tax code 280E and how can its effects be minimized? What do they see the future looking like?

They discuss what they do for clients at Emerge Law Group; the differences between the cannabis and psychedelics industries; why service centers are likely more important than the products; and how the psilocybin service center experience is more like a relationship with clients than anything in the cannabis world, which makes everything much more complicated – but also much safer.

Joe also highlights some recent news, including MAPS PBC rebranding to Lykos Therapeutics, symptoms from traumatic brain injuries being improved by the combination of ibogaine and magnesium, and more!

Notable Quotes

“Cannabis growers have different philosophies on indoor/outdoor, all kinds of stuff that a discerning customer may or may not be interested in. So I think that some facilitators, just like service centers, can have any type of look and feel they want. Facilitators can have their own style of facilitation, which could range from anything: Indigenous/shamanistic or not, or health-oriented or something. And the ceremony part of it could be meaningful to folks or maybe not (like ‘here, take a capsule,’ you know). It sort of depends on a lot of things, but I think that’s interesting because it allows the facilitators to kind of mold their own ways of doing things and the service centers to mold their way of doing things. And you mix them all together and every experience might be unique.” -Dave

“I think there’s a lot of negative talk around Oregon’s program, or misconceptions. And I think some are valid, but overall, I think that things are going to trend in a positive direction, and I think as the program matures, we’re going to see a real healthy, sustainable program in Oregon. So I’m excited about the future, and I really enjoy all the clients that we work with. Everyone seems to be in it for great reasons. And I think that’s awesome, as an attorney, to be able to represent businesses who are doing something right in the world.” -Kaci

“I’m really hoping that this is a new industry that can, years from now, just be sustainable, be profitable for folks. So I want folks to stay in business. That’s why I want folks to go in with good business plans, good legal advice, good CPA advice, good business advice, know what they’re doing, play defense a little bit, not get sued (that’s a big one), get insurance when it’s available, and set a good example for other states. And I think if it proliferates like cannabis [did], that’s a great, great thing for the country. And I think it will. So every state will do things a little differently, there’s always things that can be improved under any system, but it’s all an evolution. We’re at the beginning stages, we just have to keep going and surviving.” -Dave

Links

Emergelawgroup.com

Emergelawgroup.com: Kaci Hohmann

Emergelawgroup.com: Dave Kopilak

Weedmaps.com: What is the Cole Memorandum?

Jdsupra.com: Section 280E and The Taxation of Cannabis Businesses

Links from the intro:

Psychedelicalpha.com: MAPS PBC Closes $100m Series A, Rebrands to Lykos Therapeutics

Nature.com: Magnesium–ibogaine therapy in veterans with traumatic brain injuries

Tenthamendmentcenter.com: New Hampshire Bill Would Legalize Several Psychedelics for Medical Use Despite Federal Prohibition

Scientificamerican.com: This Powerful Psychedelic Shows Promise for Relieving Traumatic Brain Injury

Marijuanamoment.net: DEA Confirms That Psychedelic Mushroom Spores Are Federally Legal Prior To Germination

Rockthebells.com: George Clinton to be Honored With Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Nytimes.com: Breathing Their Way to an Altered State