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Category: Podcast

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PT467 – The Role of Religion, Psychedelic Chaplaincy, and Spiritual Care

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Johanna interviews Daan Keiman, MA: Buddhist, Psychedelic Chaplain, and Co-Founder of the psychedelic think-and-practice tank, Communitas Collective Foundation; Aura Ahuvia: Rabbi who served five years as President of the ALEPH (Alliance for Jewish Renewal) Board and is now the Founder of Psychedelic Rabbi; and Josh Harper: Consciousness Medicine Guide who works with Ligare, a Christian Psychedelic Society.

They dig deep into the intersection of psychedelics and spirituality, focusing largely on the concept of psychedelic chaplaincy: how they each define it and how spiritual caregivers are uniquely positioned to be of service to those coming out of powerful and unexplainable mystical experiences (whether they be psychedelic or not). They discuss why being grounded in a spiritual tradition is important, but how it’s often more important to be open to mystery and exploring that which is complex and difficult, even if that means someone questioning if their religion is truly right for them anymore.

Each tell their stories of struggling with and eventually embracing their religion and how psychedelics and spirituality became part of their lives, and discuss much more: Psychedelics in religious history and the slow embrace of mysticism in today’s renaissance; the importance of truly listening to individuals’ experiences and not dismissing life-changing experiences as ‘drug-induced’; how practice (no matter what kind) is a huge benefit of religion; and the need to eventually de-center psychedelics from the narrative – that the shared experience of coming together in community and asking big questions is where the healing truly lies.

Notable Quotes

“My approach personally to working with people outside of my Jewish tradition is to know that on the one hand, I am grounded in my own tradition, but on the other hand, I carry it lightly into that space because I’m aware that our connection in that moment is going to be: We are two fellow humans and there is no need for that which grounds me to be that which grounds somebody else.” -Aura

“The vocation of the church is to see people healed and whole, but it seems like the church is more interested in defending its own version of the truth than to see the healing and wholeness of people. And for any Christian Pastors or leaders out there who are listening to this, it’s very likely that you will have people in your congregations who are coming to you with these experiences, and you have the opportunity to listen to them, regardless of your own personal feelings of psychedelics. You have the opportunity to listen, to welcome them in. And I believe that the church, with that kind of openness, can be a great place for integration.” -Josh

“I think it can become potentially harmful, especially in the long run, if we start to see these places where people can come kind of exist over time; if the only way we have access to this is because we’re going to take a psychedelic substance. And I think the sooner we de-center psychedelics, the less risk we have, thinking that it’s about the experiences, and the more we start to realize it’s about the relationships that we maintain. And it’s not about the shared religion, it’s not about the shared experience, it’s about the fact that, as humans, we come together and ask ourselves: What does it mean to be alive right now? And in asking it in a community, we’re also partly living that answer.” -Daan

Links

Communitas.cc

Psychedelicrabbi.com

Ligare.org: A Christian Psychedelic Society

Psychedelics Today: PT282 – Rabbi Zac Kamenetz & The Rev. Hunt Priest – Judaism, Christianity, and Embracing Psychedelics

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PT466 – The Philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead: Understanding Reality and the Psychedelic Experience

In this episode, Kyle interviews John H. Buchanan, Ph.D.: certified Holotropic Breathwork practitioner; contributing co-editor for Rethinking Consciousness: Extraordinary Challenges for Contemporary Science; and author of the new book, Processing Reality: Finding Meaning in Death, Psychedelics, and Sobriety.

Recorded shortly after a week-long philosophy and breathwork conference which they both attended, they mostly dig into the challenging philosophical concepts of Alfred North Whitehead: how everything is made up of a feeling; how everything is relational and we all feel each other’s experiences; how Whitehead defined occasions and how moments of experience are accessing the totality of the past; and how neurology and the mind-brain interaction impacts human experience. This analysis leads to a lot of questions: Is the past constantly present, in that it is an active influencer on all our actions? When we relive a past event, where does that live in our minds vs. bodies? Are we tapping into a universal storehouse of past events, or are we tapping into past lives (or into others past lives)? When we sense that someone is looking at us, what is that?

He also discusses his realization that the experiential element of non-ordinary states of consciousness was the most important; his entry point into breathwork; why breathwork creates a perfect atmosphere for conversation; reincarnation and the idea of being reincarnated into other dimensions; the concept of objective immortality and how ripple effects from a single moment continue onward; and the fallacy of misplaced concreteness and psychoid experiences: Are they real beyond our psyche?

Notable Quotes

“One of the key moments for my studies was [when] I was tripping, walking through this room. Suddenly, I had this vision of three overlapping circles of psychology, philosophy, and religion, and in the middle was an experiential center that was all of them, where the experience of these questions and mysticism and psychological insight were sort of all flooding in there. And I thought: Wow, this is the insight people are talking about. I’ve got to find out what this is about.”

“Whitehead has a book called Religion in the Making and he says religious experience, a mystical experience is interesting and part of the picture, but you can’t build an entire religion or philosophy based on extraordinary experience of a few great men. But I think with psychedelics, opening up these realms to millions of people; it creates a much better foundation for doing something like that.”

“Everything’s alive, and I think we need to feel that again and to feel the depth dimensions that psychedelics reveal. …I think when we don’t feel the aliveness around us, we don’t feel alive.”

Links

Processingreality.com

Psychedelics Today: PT316 – Lenny Gibson, Ph.D. – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Psychedelics Today: John B. Cobb – Whitehead and Psychedelics

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

Whitehead Word Book: A Glossary with Alphabetical Index to Technical Terms in Process and Reality, by John B. Cobb Jr.

Parapsychology, Philosophy, and Spirituality: A Postmodern Exploration, by David Ray Griffin

Intensity: An Essay in Whiteheadian Ontology, by Judith a. Jones

Religion in the Making, by Alfred North Whitehead

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

Psychedelics Today: Psychedelics, Philosophy, Transhumanism and Peter Sjöstedt-H

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

Adventures of Ideas, by Alfred North Whitehead

Rethinking Consciousness: Extraordinary Challenges for Contemporary Science, edited by John H. Buchanan & Christopher M. Aanstoos

Quantum Mechanics and the Philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead, by Michael Epperson

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PT465 – Beta-carbolines, Haoma, and Syrian Rue: Rediscovering Ancestral Knowledge

In this episode, David interviews Shauheen Etminan, Ph.D. and Jonathan Lu: Co-Founders of Magi Ancestral Supplements.

Through studying ancient Zoroastrian writings and 2,000 year-old Chinese texts in search of compounds and formulations forgotten by history, Etminan and Lu co-founded drug discovery company VCENNA in 2019 to use extraction technology to isolate these compounds. This led to an understanding of the health properties behind beta-carbolines, which led to their nootropic company, Magi Ancestral Supplements. They talk about the early days and experimenting on themselves, how beta-carbolines create dream-like states, and how their research sent each of them further into their own heritage, and asking themselves: How do we remember what our ancestors knew? 

They discuss espand, haoma, Syrian rue, and how common Syrian rue is in both Iranian culture and psychedelic history; what is a drug vs. what is a supplement; common threads they’ve seen across different cultures and how we may be repeating some of their mistakes; Etminan’s recent ayahuasca experience with the Santo Daime church; and of course, some of Magi Ancestral Supplements’ products and their expected effects – from deep meditation to lucid dreaming to even mild hallucinations. You can get 10% off any product using code PT10 here.

Notable Quotes

“The journey started with basically experimenting with different alkaloid’s extracts. So we were able to extract these compounds from different plants. Specifically, the journey started with just doing some experimentation with psilocybin, looking into what are those alkaloids inside the psilocybin mushroom. And then basically, this story took us into our own heritage and trying to see what other plants are psychoactives but they’re less studied in the West.” -Shauheen

“This terminology you put between what is a supplement, what is a drug, what is food; even going back to what Andrew Weil talks about here, like, is caffeine a drug? Is nicotine a drug? …These words that we apply to what is a drug vs. what is a supplement are fairly arbitrary. We give the label of something as being a drug just because it’s gone through the medical establishment of a thousand people have tested it and based upon the evaluation of a guy wearing a white lab coat with a diploma on the wall, he said that more than 65% of them (or vs. those who were given a placebo) had a positive response, and therefore I can call it a drug now instead of a supplement and you can make a medical claim. But you know, the plants, the compounds: They don’t really care what we call them.” -Jon

“I am not very fascinated about psychedelics in general; I’m fascinated about the effect of psychedelics on human consciousness, because we are really behind our capacity, and I would love to see that we come together with good intention in a way that we can pave that way for fostering something that is serving everybody rather than just a group of people.” -Shauheen

Links

Ancestralmagi.com (Use code PT10 for 10% off)

Linktree: Ancestral Magi

Vcenna.com

YouTube: Chemically-Induced Otherworldly Experiences of Zoroastrians in Iran – Shauheen Etminan

Thethirdwave.co: Magi Review: Rediscovering a 4000 Year Old Spiritual Elixir

Researchsquare.com: Ritual revealed: psychotropic substances in a Ptolemaic Egyptian vase

YouTube: Ethnopharmacology of Psychedelic Substances in Chinese Culture – Jonathan Lu

Ancestralmagi.com: Haoma Revelation Aid

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PT464 – Bodywork, Somatic Literacy, and Understanding Trauma: The Mind and Body Connection

In this episode, Kyle interviews Bessel van der Kolk, MD: pioneer clinician, researcher, and educator on traumatic stress; Founder of the Trauma Research Foundation; Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University Medical School; Principal Investigator of the Boston site of MAPS’ MDMA-assisted psychotherapy study; and author of the #1 New York Times Science best seller, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Treatment of Trauma.

As of this recording, van der Kolk was publishing his last paper and closing down his laboratory, so he looks back on his past: being part of the group who put together the first PTSD diagnosis in the 80s; the early days of psychedelic research and how he discouraged Rick Doblin and Michael Mithoefer from pursuing MDMA research; how the DSM has no scientific validity and was never meant for the diagnosing it’s being used for; how science wasn’t seeing the whole picture and pushing us mindlessly from medication to medication; and how trauma research has evolved over the years as society learned more about how the mind actually works. 

He discusses the struggle to validate “softer” sciences; the impracticality and price of the MAPS protocol and the need for more group and sitter/experiencer frameworks; the efficacy of psychodrama and how that plays out in group sessions; his interest in using the Rorschach test more; how rolfing helped him; the problem with diagnosis and people becoming their illnesses; bodywork, somatic literacy, and how disconnected most people are from their bodies; and how, in all the healing frameworks he’s explored, he has never seen anything work as profoundly as psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Notable Quotes

“I have quite a few friends who are sort of major scientists. And I asked my friends, ‘So, did you take acid also in college?’ All my friends said, ‘Yes, I did.’ And I say, ‘So, how do you think it affected you?’ And my friends generally say, ‘Well, I think it really accounts from my having become a good scientist, because I got to appreciate that the reality that I hold inside of myself is just a small fragment of the overall reality that is.’”

“It was really very gratifying for me to be part of a psychedelic team the past 10 years or so, where we got to see the astounding transformations that people go through on psychedelics – more than anything else that I’ve seen in my career, and I’ve studied many different methods. I’ve studied other things that also turned out to be quite helpful like EMDR and Internal Family Systems therapy and theater and yoga, but the transformations on psychedelics were really astonishing and made me really hopeful that we may enter a much more complex era of thinking about mental functioning.”

“It’s delicate, but we keep running away from it. But the reality is that if you really feel upset, getting a hug from somebody who loves you makes all the difference in the world, of course. That’s still our primary way in which we feel calm. And touch by other people may also scare the shit out of you and send you into a tailspin. So doing that right is very delicate and fraught with danger, but that doesn’t mean we can just keep running away from it.”

Links

Besselvanderkolk.com

Traumaresearchfoundation.org

Neurosciencenews.com: Why Our Brains Prefer Symbols to Words

Wikipedia.org: Rolfing

Mangu.tv: From Shock To Awe: A journey of hope and transformation

Apollo Neuro: Click here to get $50 off an Apollo wearable!

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PT463 – Bringing Intention, Ceremony, and Inner Healing Intelligence to Modern Medicine

In this episode, Joe interviews Dana Lerman, MD: a decade-long infectious disease consultant who has since been trained in psychedelic-assisted therapy, ecotherapy, and Internal Family Systems, and is the Co-Founder of Skylight Psychedelics, where she prescribes IM ketamine and trains therapists who work with it.

Lerman tells her story: how working with kids with cancer made her want to learn medicine, what it was like working as an infectious disease expert during COVID, and how fascinating it has been to start with modern medicine and then fully embrace the traditional frameworks of ayahuasca ceremonies. She has realized that part of her role is to bring that intention, ceremony, and inner healing intelligence to modern medicine – that that will greatly benefit patients as well as clinicians who naturally want to be healers but are burnt out by the bureaucracy and distractions of the faulty container they find themselves in. Skylight Psychedelics is working on opening a clinical research division, researching psychedelics for Long COVID, and bringing in-person psychedelic peer support services to emergency rooms.

She also discusses intergenerational trauma and how psychedelics have affected her parenting; the impossibility of informed consent in psychedelics and why there should be disclaimers as well as instructions; accessibility, the need for insurance to cover psychedelic-assisted therapy, and why the price of these expensive treatments actually makes sense; why we should be sharing stories of mistakes and things going wrong during ceremonies; and why one of the biggest things we can do to further the cause is to educate our children and parents about psychedelics.

Notable Quotes

“What’s come to me recently in ayahuasca ceremony is that part of my role in this space is really to bring intention and to bring ceremony and the inner healing intelligence and that concept to the modern medicine space. I mean, there’s so many places for improvement in modern medicine, like even: We have a few minutes for a timeout so you can check to make sure that’s the right patient [and] it’s the right limb you’re going to amputate, but we don’t have a moment to talk about who this person is and the intention of this surgery and what we want for this person. We just have this disconnect, and this disconnect; obviously, it’s not just in medicine. It’s in everywhere. It’s our food. It’s our community. All systems.”

“I have three small children. A lot of why I went to ayahuasca was because I knew [beside wanting] to heal myself of all the stuff that I’ve been carrying around, I wanted to shift my parenting and to be a better parent, and I felt that if I carried my anxiety, my control, all the stuff: It just keeps getting passed down because the kids are just learning from us. But if you can address that, if you can address where does that come from, what is the work that has to be done around it, and do that work, your kids see it. My daughter: When I came home from ayahuasca (she was probably seven); she looked to me and she said, ‘Why didn’t you go there sooner?’”

“Anytime people are using these medicines, I think: There’s a huge disclaimer that should be coming with these medicines, like: ‘Your life will be changed forever. You will never look at anything the same way again, and there’s a possibility that you enter into a space where you are experiencing the vastness of the universe, and that may be very overwhelming for you when the journey is over. You need someone to talk about it with.’ The whole concept of integration is so important.”

Links

Skylightpsychedelics.com

Enthea.com

Vera.org: John Ehrlichman’s quote about the war on drugs

A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life, by Ayelet Waldman

Uthscsa.edu: Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, MD

Apollo Neuro: Click here to get $50 off an Apollo wearable!

reMind: Get 20% off tickets here using code REMPT20

Register for Activated: A reMind Afterparty here

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PT462 – Touch Therapy, Wearable Technology, and Treating Trauma with Safety

In this episode, Joe interviews neuroscientist, board-certified psychiatrist, health tech entrepreneur, inventor, and Co-Founder & Chief Medical Officer at Apollo Neuro: Dr. Dave Rabin, MD, Ph.D.

He talks about his path to psychiatry; his realization that trauma and chronic stress were primary themes at the root of most mental illness; and the creation, research and implementation of the Apollo wearable: the first scientifically-validated wearable technology designed to improve energy, focus, and relaxation based on touch therapy. The idea was born from Rabin asking himself: If we’re all starved for touch and constantly feeling unsafe, our bodies prefer a calm, soothed state, and MDMA seems to work by amplifying feelings of safety and essentially telling our brains, “you’re safe enough to heal now,” could a rhythmic vibration programmed to stimulate touch receptors and put our bodies into a meditative state fool our brains into the same perceived feeling of safety – especially if that stimulation is constant? Would our nervous systems be able to tell the difference? So far, the data seems to prove that this technology works.

He discusses what they learned from initial research about how people were using their Apollo wearables; heart rate variability and what changes it; MAPS’ Phase III MDMA-assisted psychotherapy results; the idea of the inner healer; using the Apollo in conjunction with ketamine and other psychedelics to ease pre-experience anxiety; and the concept of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as reverse trauma, the reality that it could stop epigenetic memory, and the question of whether or not the Apollo can do this on its own.

Apollo Neuro is continuing their research by running 14 different trials right now, and if you ever participated in a MAPS trial, you’re eligible for a free wearable. If you’re just curious about trying the Apollo, you can receive $50 off using this link.

Notable Quotes

“What we’ve learned through the study of all the work that came before us was that the body actually likes to be in that state. It likes to be in this calm, soothed state, and it’s just overwhelmed and overstimulated a lot of the time and that’s why it’s not in that state. So then the research question was: If we deliver the rhythm that our bodies like to breathe at when they’re at rest (which is like five to seven breaths per minute when we’re normally breathing at 12 to 24 breaths per minute, which is stress breathing), then would the body start to automatically breathe at its ideal rhythm on its own simply by receiving the right rhythm? Is that enough? Like, if you play the right dance beat, will people start dancing on their own or will they just sit in the chair?”

“The word ‘hallucination’ implies that what you’re experiencing is not real, and I hesitate to use that word in the context of psychedelic work because ‘psychedelic’ means to reveal the mind. And so, if we put out the understanding that the revelation of what’s underneath the surface of our consciousness in our minds is not real or hallucinatory, then we might be missing a lot of the meaning of what’s actually underneath the surface.”

“If we are able to show that other safety-based treatments, whether it’s MDMA or traditional ceremonial ayahuasca or other things, or ketamine therapy, or Apollo, or soothing touch: If any of these things are inducing similar changes to cortisol receptors that we saw in that MDMA trial, then we know it’s not the drug that is inducing the healing state. It’s the safety that is amplified by the drug that produces the healing response. And that will be really, really helpful to us as a field to understand what we actually need to heal. I think the theory is [that] we need to feel safe enough to heal. This would actually prove that.”

Links

Drdave.io

Apolloneuro.com

Apolloneuro.com: studies roundup

Boardofmedicine.org

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.

Thepsychedelic.report

The Psychedelic Report: Can MDMA-Assisted Therapy Repair our Epigenetics with Dr. Candace Lewis PhD

Your Brain Explained: Breaking Down Trauma w/ Dr. Gabor Maté & Dr. Rachel Yehuda

Apollo Neuro: Click here to get $50 off an Apollo wearable!

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PT461 – Holding Space, Hypnotherapy and Psychedelics, and the Importance of Courage

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David speaks with two current Vital students: Certified Depth Hypnosis Practitioner and Founder and Executive Director of Zoo Labs, Vinitha Watson, CHT; and artist and outdoorsman with decades of experience in bodywork, structural integration, and Vipassana meditation: Judson Frost.

They talk about their personal paths: Watson’s work educating musicians about the music business and their value with Zoo Labs and Frost’s work as an artist; as well as how their experience as parents has grounded them, and how they found Vital. They discuss the importance of integration, having a process, and recognizing how long that can take; being adequately prepared and learning mindfulness skills ahead of a journey; and bringing courage to the space (and as the space-holder, encouragement). They talk about how they hold space, and how one needs to view integration from a spiritually-open perspective to enable people to find their own meanings behind what they experienced. 

They discuss how Watson uses a combination of hypnotherapy, transpersonal psychology, and buddhism to create a slowed down mystical experience; how hypnotherapy can benefit a psychedelic experience; bodywork and how we can’t view the mind and body separately; and more. And since they’re nearing the end of their Vital experience, they discuss what they’ve gotten out of it, and reflect on something they didn’t expect: a collective feeling of regenerative healing inside their Vital community.

Notable Quotes

“There is a lot of harm that can be done when there’s no space for integration. As much as we may feel that it’s alleviating our pain, there has to be space in between to really look at the material, to look at the symbols of our psyches, and to really be able to get this intimate understanding of the symbols of our psyches and what they’re telling us. And so, I think it’s such a special place to go into integration after a psychedelic journey, and to really have a process and someone holding that space for you.” -Vinitha

“The first thing I bring to a space (and I encourage other people to bring to the space) is courage, and that bravery and that ability to kind of face the unknown, and face our fears and still move forward into them. I feel [that] to encourage someone is really important; like support and encourage them to take a step towards something they feel uncomfortable with. …We don’t usually have that support to really face that and to learn from it.” -Judson

“Thinking about culture and how a lot of it is in this disembodied state, and what the result is is disease, is pain, is sorrow. I think that’s why psychedelics and altered states are just so important, because it just gives you a state to come back to yourself, and a doorway in.” -Vinitha

Links

Unseenenergy.com

Zoolabs.org

Judsonfrost.com

Sacredstream.org

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PT460 – Psychedelics in Film, Drugs as Bases and Modifiers, and Ketamine With Friends

In this episode, Joe interviews internationally renowned musician, comedian, writer, and actor, Reggie Watts. Watts starred on “Comedy Bang! Bang!,” most recently was the bandleader on CBS’s “The Late Late Show with James Corden” for the last 8 seasons, and just released his memoir, Great Falls, MT.

Watts discusses his early days of LSD use and how he felt psychedelics and cannabis were useful (in contrast to alcohol); how movies and TV rarely get the psychedelic experience right (and is that because writers haven’t experienced it?); and how the Situationist Movement inspired his concept of being a “disinformationist,” which he uses to bring an instability and psychedelic nature to his shows. And he discusses ketamine: why he loves it (especially with other people), a party he recently attended where everyone was open to trying it together, and why the group collectively agreeing to go deeper is so important to the experience. 

He shares his thoughts on treating certain drugs as bases and others as modifiers, and how the wrong drugs are being treated as bases; the negative feedback loops some drugs (cocaine, nitrous oxide) send us into; psychedelic exceptionalism and the low quality, synthesized drugs created solely out of capitalistic greed; microdosing and the question of whether or not it’s become popular out of a fear of going deeper; what he wants to bring to to the psychedelic conversation; and why sometimes (in the right context), “going off the rails” can be a great thing.

Notable Quotes

“When I took LSD, just the whole universe opened up as one of the most absurdly humorous, funny things I’d ever experienced. …I wanted more. I wanted to explore more. It just was definitely one of those times when I thought, ‘I need to find out what else lies beyond what I’d already experienced.’”

“An unstable audience is my ideal state for an audience, because then they’re no longer in an expectational mindset. They’re more freed and open to whatever’s coming down the pike and happening in real time.”

“What I love about psychedelics, especially when you’re mindful about it, is: It’s an adventure. It’s an adventure into self-discovery, and from that, into worldview-understanding and your relationship to reality, and I think that that’s incredibly powerful and helpful and can help resolve a lot of conflicting issues that we have. It might not solve, but it’ll definitely soften and put you on a road to having a different relationship to trauma and a different relationship to ruts and cycles that you find not efficient for your lifestyle, and just create a greater connection to the whole of existence. And so I promote that at all costs. My message is: Reduce the fear of it, if you want to try – if you’re truly curious.”

“When you’re in the right context, going off the rails is awesome, because you need to break all of those patterns. You need to reassociate to the reasons why you want to keep living. And I think taking a psychedelic trip and allowing yourself to go wherever it is that you want to go and just keeping that thought in your mind that it’s a trip and it’s going to end at some point, and when it does end, you will be back on the rails, so here’s your opportunity to just go for it: I think that that’s just important for people to experience.”

Links

Linktree

Great Falls, MT, by Reggie Watts

EW.com: Exclusive: Read an excerpt from Reggie Watts’ memoir debut

Imdb.com: Bongwater

Levelexperience.com

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PT459 – Internal Family Systems Combined with Ketamine and Holotropic Breathwork

In this episode, Kyle interviews Ted Riskin, LCSW: psychotherapist running group KAP sessions and certified in Core Energetics, Internal Family Systems, and Holotropic Breathwork, which he has taught in various forms for 26 years.

He discusses group ketamine-assisted psychotherapy: how he runs sessions, why being welcomed and loved in a group seems to be a bigger factor than the psychedelic, how he came to combine IFS with ketamine or breathwork, and why exploring the parts work of IFS seems to work so well with non-ordinary states of consciousness. And he talks about two complications we often don’t think about with Group KAP: the challenge of getting our different parts to all truly consent to an experience (and how do you get them to?), and how very safe spaces can inspire oversharing, and sadly, subsequent shame.

He discusses knowing when to use a non-directive approach vs. intervening; how people often learn more about themselves as a sitter; using core energetics before experiences to move energy we’re often afraid to work with; the importance of embracing anger (when necessary); memory reconsolidation and bringing exiles from the past into the present; the concept of double bookkeeping; and finding the magic in realizing that sometimes, just being there (“being a useless person” as he says) is all that’s needed.

Notable Quotes

“I think people underestimate the power of breathwork. These days, a lot more, people are coming to do breathwork for the first time and they have done psychedelics. In the past, that was more the minority, now it’s probably the majority. And I’ll tell them, ‘The difference is, you’re used to riding a motorcycle, and now this is a bicycle. You’ve got to pedal this one.’ And yet they’re shocked sometimes how deep just the breathing takes them.”

“We’re realizing that there’s so many things happening that it’s impossible to tease it apart. We don’t know how much the ketamine increases self-leadership, we don’t know if it’s the IFS work that people are doing, but I suspect it’s a combination – that the ketamine seems to really lubricate the IFS work and invites protectors to relax so that people can do deeper, and the rearrangement of the techniques of IFS happens much more deeply.”

“We also think the group experience is as powerful as anything else that’s happening, especially when people are anxious or depressed. Often, they have assumptions about how they will be welcomed by other people, and to be in a loving group where people are vulnerable and find out, ‘I can say anything. I can talk about my shame and fears and people are just with me and accepting’: I sometimes wonder if that’s doing more than the medicine, even.”

Links

Tedriskin.com

Groupkap.com

IFSessentials.com

YouTube: Overview of our Group Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy program

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PT458 – When Science, Society, and Policy Collide

In this episode, Joe interviews Imran Khan: Executive Director of the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics.

Khan shares his journey into the world of science and policymaking, beginning with science journalism and inspired by David Nutt’s famous ‘Equasy’ paper and subsequent firing for telling the truth. Realizing how strong the disconnect was between political and science worlds, his goal became to represent science when it comes under attack; using campaigning, lobbying, advocacy work, etc., and essentially becoming a translator between science and society – bringing these overly complicated concepts down to a level every day culture can understand. At UC Berkeley, he’s focusing on research, training scientists to be better communicators, educating the public on the benefits of psychedelics, and trying to make research more trustworthy.

He discusses the word “science” and how it’s used to describe lots of things; the hard problem of consciousness; color constancy, perception, and the influence of priors; the risk of abuse in all therapies; trust and why people don’t always “trust the science”; the risks of putting too much faith in experience insights; the word “sacred”; and more. He concludes by discussing the findings of the first UC Berkeley psychedelic survey, which revealed public sentiments and attitudes towards psychedelics, and, while mostly positive, truly proved the need for people like Khan to be out there educating the public.

Notable Quotes

“They fired [David Nutt] from his role as Independent Advisor and Chair of this Advisory Council on Misuse of Drugs. So I’m sitting there as this 20 year-old that all I’m there to do is care about how science works, and how do we protect the voice of scientists in policy-making, and how do we ensure that policy is informed by the evidence rather than going in the face of it, and right in the middle of that, this very high profile scientist basically gets sacked by the government for basically just saying what the science says, which, as far as I can see, was all he was being asked to do.”

“It’s really hard to look at the experience of being human and this amazing, vivid, technicolor experience we have of walking around and doing everything from drinking coffee to walking a dog to looking at a sunrise, and not being totally bemused that that experience can be generated by this two pound lump of mostly water with a bit of fat and protein mixed in in our skulls. That just seems like an insane proposition to me. So I remember when I was learning about that in my undergraduate and kind of trying to figure out the basic principles of neuroscience, it just seemed like this amazing question of: How can this ever be possible? This doesn’t seem like it should compute.”

“Experiences with psychedelics later as well, I think lead you to a similar place in that if you disrupt ordinary waking consciousness, you can almost start to see the way in which your brain changes its production of consciousness. And the idea that that dramatic change can be induced by chemicals that we know the structure of and we can characterize and we can understand how they interact with the brain, again, just feels like an interesting kind of chink in that bigger question of: What is consciousness and who are we, and how do we relate to the rest of the world?”

Links

Psychedelics.berkeley.edu

Journals.sagepub.com: Equasy – An overlooked addiction with implications for the current debate on drug harms

Sciencecampaign.org.uk

Britishscienceassociation.org

Wellcome.org

Psychedelics.berkeley.edu: Psychedelics and the Mind: Deepening Understanding of the Science, History, and Culture of Psychedelic Substances

I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World, by Rachel Nuwer

Psychedelicmedicinecoalition.org

Apollo Neuro: Click here to get $50 off an Apollo wearable!

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PT457 – Rites of Passage, Psychedelic History, and Rediscovering Our Hearts

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Erika Dyck: Vital instructor, historian, professor, author, and editor of the new book, Expanding Mindscapes: A Global History of Psychedelics; and Jono Remington-Hobbs: graduate of the first cohort of Vital, coach, facilitator, and now, Co-Founder of Kaizn, an experiential wellness company with a strong focus on community, creating a feeling of safety, and modern rites of passage. 

They talk a lot about rites of passage and how they create liminal spaces to reflect on the deeper questions we need to ponder but our culture doesn’t allow time for. They talk about how categorization took us away from tradition; how so much of what we get out of these experiences isn’t related to psychedelics at all; why we struggle with connection in the digital age; the power of community as medicine and recognizing a kinship in others; and why we need to integrate our heads and hearts and live more heart-led lives.

They also dive into why cultures have always sought out non-ordinary states of consciousness; how our current state of needing to make sense of a chaotic world is similar to the mindstate of the 60s; psychedelics’ success in palliative care; coaching and why it should be attached to therapy; the creation of the word “psychedelic”; flow states and discovering the intrinsic calling we all have; and the Vital question that starts the podcast out: Are psychedelics the future, or will psychedelics just bring about a different way to think about the future?

Reminder that we’re accepting applications for Vital 2024 now until December 21! 

Notable Quotes

“I keep sort of wrestling with this question about whether the future of psychedelics is really about psychedelics or whether psychedelics are a tool for unlocking a different kind of future. …And to me, that’s really an exciting possibility for what this psychedelic renaissance holds: that it’s an opportunity to really take stock of what we want to revive about the past, whether it is psychedelic or not. It might be something more sacred, it might be a kind of humanity or a kind of way of thinking, that focusing on psychedelics allows us to think differently about how we want to organize those thoughts, those actions. And I think it’s a really exciting opportunity to invest in this kind of renaissance moment, to really blend these historical impulses with an opportunity to think about a different future.” -Erika

“The role of community with psychedelics: I think that we can occasionally get a little bit lost that it’s the psychedelics, the medicine. And the more I’m seeing is that the medicine is community and psychedelics are the implementation tool of that medicine.” -Jono

“Tolerance is a word that comes to mind as you were talking. I think that one of my hopes is that (and it doesn’t have to be everybody taking psychedelics) it can be just tolerance towards difference. I think psychedelics can help us to come into a place where we can appreciate that diversity is a strength, that difference is a strength, that sameness isn’t necessarily the strength or the goal that we should be striving towards.” -Erika 

“[Psychedelics] are an offsetting of an eternal balance between these two hemispheres. And we’ve gone so far one way with this worldview where we are also gamified by what we do. The amount of information that I know because an algorithm wants me to know; it terrifies me when I actually think about it, but on the other side, the amount of wisdom …that’s available from us, from these experiences that we’re having that help guide us back to this other way of being gives me radical hope – radical, radical hope that things haven’t gone too far. It’s just the pendulum has swung very far one way, and I think psychedelics are some of the momentum to take us back the other way and back to ourselves, each other, and Mother Nature.” -Jono

Links

Expanding Mindscapes: A Global History of Psychedelics, edited by Erika Dyck and Chris Elcock

Psychedelics: A Visual Odyssey, by Erika Dyck

Audible lecture series: The History of Psychedelics, by: Erika Dyck

Kaizn.co

YouTube: Introducing Kaizn

YouTube: Kaizn – Deep Nature Reset

Springer.com: Psilocybin in Palliative Care: An Update

Wikipedia.org: Teleology

Psychedelic Experience: Revealing the Mind, by Aidan Lyon

Apollo Neuro: Click here to get $50 off an Apollo wearable!

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PT456 – Moloch, Kairos, Extended-State DMT, and the Spider Queen

In this episode, David interviews Alexander Beiner: an Executive Director of Breaking Convention; writer of The Bigger Picture substack; and author of The Bigger Picture: How Psychedelics Can Help Us Make Sense of the World.

He tells his personal story and how his first psychedelic experience felt like a homecoming; discusses his Rebel Wisdom media platform, where, through interviews, he tried to make sense of social upheavals and conflicts through a more flexible, psychedelic way of thinking; and digs deep into the Greek concepts of Moloch and Kairos: how Moloch represents the winner-take-all, race to the bottom, sacrifice-your-values-to-appease-the-system game playing we all get stuck in, and Kairos represents the openness that comes from psychedelics – the transitional, seize-the-moment opportunities we need to take advantage of. And he discusses much more: the power of dialectic inquiry; the corporatization of psychedelics and how we’re really in a psychedelic enlightenment; how the medicalization of psychedelics is like a Trojan horse; and the concept of technology (and specifically the internet) mirroring the switching between realms that we think is so rare in psychedelics – aren’t we doing that every time we look at our phones? 

Beiner was recently part of Imperial College London’s initial trials on intravenous, extended-state DMT, testing correct dosages and speeds for the pump. He describes the details of the study, how he thought they were messing with him at first, and what he saw in his experiences: an outer space-like world of gigantic planet-like entities, and how a massive Spider Queen entity taught him about intimacy and how our metaphysical and personal worlds aren’t separate at all.

Notable Quotes

“There’s a particularly psychedelic way of thinking in my view. …I would define it as a flexibility in how we think and a looseness and a creativity and a playfulness with how we approach the world that psychedelics can open up in us. And I think that’s so deeply needed right now. So my hope is to kind of combine that ethos together with a lot of very practically important, interesting, sociological, psychological, scientific, and metaphysical insights, and use all of that to write a book that hopefully gives people new lenses in which to make sense of the world and psychedelics.” 

“The process of speaking to the truth of your lived experience in the moment is deeply transformative. And it’s also, in my experience and I think the experience of many people, it’s what psychedelics encourage us to do: They encourage us to be with the truth of our experience and go into what we’ve been hiding from and avoiding, and feel it – feel the truth of what’s actually going on. And that is so, so powerful culturally because so many of our cultural shadows and our polarization and our ‘at each other’s throats’ and our ideological fixations come from these unsaid things. So there’s so many practices, psychedelics included, that can open us up into the truth of what’s going on. And I think that is just the most transformative practice or approach that there is that I’m aware of.”

Links

Alexanderbeiner.com

The Bigger Picture: How Psychedelics Can Help Us Make Sense of the World, by Alexander Beiner

Beiner.substack.com

Breakingconvention.co.uk

Poetryfoundation.org: Howl, by Allen Ginsberg

Slatestarcodex.com: Meditations on Moloch, by Allen Ginsberg

YouTube: The Rise of Psychedelic Capitalism

No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model, by Richard Schwartz, Ph.D.

Alieninsect.substack.com: DMTx: The First Results…

DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research Into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, by Rick Strassman. M.D.

Nonordinary.com

Awakenthemedicinewithin.com: Upcoming retreats

Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge a Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution, by Terence McKenna

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PT455 – Psychedelics and Success: Conscious Leadership and Investing in Yourself

In this episode, Alexa interviews Dom Farnan: Founder of DotConnect; author of the best seller, “Now Here: A Journey from Toxic Boss to Conscious Connector”; and Founder and Chief Consciousness Connector of DoseConnect™, a first-of-its-kind company blending organizational strategy, systems thinking, and talent acquisition in the psychedelic space.

Farnan shares her personal journey with psychedelics, discussing her experiences with psilocybin, ayahuasca, and 5-MeO-DMT, and how the last few years of her life have been focused on slowing down and integrating those experiences. She discusses the current state of the psychedelic industry, including downsizing and company closures, but also opportunities from networking, community engagement, and volunteering. She believes that while options may not be clear now, they will be there in the future, and may be jobs we never anticipated. So get to know companies now, and pay close attention with good discernment – not everything is as it appears.

She discusses her experiences with mentors and coaches; how psychedelic journeys and integration build onto each other; the importance of journaling; the need for patience as the industry grows; her book and the concept of conscious leadership over toxic leadership; and the beauty of embracing the openness we experience after a psychedelic experience: Can we use what we’ve learned to reprogram what we’re taught about life, invest in ourselves, let go of dissenting and limiting voices, and truly redefine what success (and happiness) means to us?

Notable Quotes

“It’s not always about the substance or the plant medicine. It is underlying about the healing and being more conscious as a leader and as a human being and as a contributor to the community that we live in. And so, for me, that’s what all of this is really grounded in. As much as I’m an advocate, I’m also very much aware that not everyone can leverage these medicines, and a lot of people are still scared and don’t quite know and maybe they can’t handle it and all of that. And that’s totally fine. …I just look at life as being psychedelic, and there’s so many things that you can do in your daily life that create this beautiful experience that don’t require any other things to contribute to that.”

“When you do this exercise, the invitation is to give yourself full permission to let go of everything that you’ve ever heard from anybody else. So, like, get out of the shoulds or your parents say this or your partner thinks that, or your best friends think this or your boss says that. Let all that shit go and just drop into truly your own heart space. Like, what does success look and feel like to me? If money were not an option, what would I be doing? How would I be spending my days? And the energy that I want to feel and be in – less so even, like, the tasks and the doing stuff, but it’s like, how do you want to feel? Because that helps you to then think through opportunities that will be in alignment of you achieving that feeling every day.” 

“Understand the energetics, because if you’re going to be leading from a place of fear in your life, it’s only going to attract more of that stuff. If you’re really leading from a place of faith and looking at this as an opening for something new in your life, then that is when something new will show up. You have to be in that energetic vibe.”

Links

Domfarnan.com

Doseconnect.io

Dotconnectllc.com

Now Here: A Journey from Toxic Boss to Conscious Connector, by Dominique Farnan

Try Homecoming free for 90 days!

Visit remindmedia.com and use code REMPT20 for 20% off your registration.
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PT454 – The Shadow Aspects of the Psychedelic Movement: Is the Other Shoe About to Drop?

In this episode, Kyle interviews Jamie Wheal, author of Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex and Death In a World That’s Lost Its Mind; speaker; and Founder of the Flow Genome Project, which researches and trains on improved human performance.

This episode – the last of the many recorded at Psychedelic Science 2023 – may ruffle some feathers, as Wheal is very outspoken and opinionated, focusing on what he spoke about at the conference: the pitfalls of the psychedelic movement. While his outlook is negative, he speaks with humor, and these shadow aspects are issues we need to be talking about: how the nature of capitalism and returning profits to shareholders affects the concept of set and setting; how easy it is to prescribe ketamine and the puppy mill clinics popping up everywhere; how innovators are racing to the bottom to get ahead; the designer drug epidemic likely leading us to a Prozac Nation 2.0; digital narcissism, Instagram “Shamans,” and the dangers of cults; chemists trying to take the experience out of the drug; the overuse of psychedelics creating super egos; and much more.

While he believes the hype and excitement of the psychedelic renaissance is leading us towards a trough of dissolution and that people aren’t turning their amazing experiences into net positives anywhere near enough, he believes that fewer people using psychedelics less often and more intensely – with initiatory practices, intentions, integration, and honest self-reflection – will help us all climb out of our egos and move towards a healthier society. There is hope, but we need to honestly look at all the shadow aspects in order to move towards it.

Notable Quotes

“I think that ironically, the Prozac Nation 2.0 model, the medicalization of the psychedelic experience: on the one hand, it will absolutely wring most of the magic out of the experience that has been the whole point and premise from the Eleusinian mysteries, from ancient shamanistic traditions – the whole point was the magic. Prozac Nation 2.0 will defang that, will denature that, but on the other hand, it will protect it from some of its worst excesses and abuses. I think the bottom of the trough will be resolved for psychedelic cults. …It feels like there is a rush to fill the void of fundamentally fuckwit Instagram ‘Shamans’ thinking that they have some unique and profound message, and that their insights, their metaphysics, their cosmology, their practices are somehow worthy of instantiation and followers.”

“These days, the worst people are doing the best drugs. We have a bunch of entitled, upper middle class to ultra high net worth, bougie white folks wearing big dumb hats, tripping balls on the best, most sacred substances ever available to humans, and not changing their orientations or their attitudes one bit. And they’ve just become party favors. …It’s all the beautiful people, and I haven’t yet seen one empty their bank accounts, put on sackcloth, take up a begging bowl, rework their lives, dedicate them to charity. I’ve seen lots of: ‘We’re going to set up a VC fund,’ or ‘Where’s the next amazing party that we’re jetting or boating off to?’”

“After 5-MeO-DMT, we are out of bullets. If this isn’t enough to cause us to drop to our knees and weep with gratitude for the precious burden and blessing of our incarnated humanity, and then get the fuck back up and help the least of our brothers and sisters to figure this out without further distraction or delay, we don’t have anything else. We have used up all the silver bullets, because we’ve just been praying and spraying.”

Links

Flowgenomeproject.com

Recapturetherapture.com

Jamie Wheal Substack

Psychedelics Today: PT364 – Burning Man, Psychedelic Maturity, and Radical Hope, featuring Jamie Wheal

Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, by Steven Kotler & Jamie Wheal

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

Mycopreneur podcast, featuring Dennis Walker

Apollo Neuro: Click here to get $50 off an Apollo wearable!

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PT453 – Neuroplasticity, Individualized Integration, and Psychedelic Medicine – Israel 2024

In this episode, David interviews psychiatrist, main researcher behind the first US Phase II trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, and Senior Medical Director at MAPS Public Benefit Corporation: Dr. Michael Mithoefer; and Research Group Lead at the University of Zurich, and Principal Clinical Biomarker Lead at Boehringer Ingelheim, Katrin Preller, Ph.D.

Mithoefer, Preller (and David) are speakers at Psychedelic Medicine – Israel, which will now take place July 28 – 31, 2024, in Tel Aviv. They discuss the conference and their current research: Preller’s neuroimaging and work with psilocybin for alcohol use disorder, and Mithoefer (likely) being extremely close to seeing the FDA approve MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. He talks about how the therapeutic protocols for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy were created, what it’s like to be so close to legalization, and how the next challenges will be accessibility and not minimizing therapy in favor of faster turnover.

They discuss neuroplasticity and whether or not it actually translates into something in humans; the concept of performing brain scans before a psychedelic experience to look for trauma biomarkers (and how this could actually result in savings over time); the excitement of seeing clinical work and neuroscience progressing in parallel; why integration frameworks need to be individualized; and the importance of embracing different therapeutic approaches.

Notable Quotes

“We need to find ways to make it increase the cost effectiveness or the efficiency without losing the human connection and the inclusion of robust therapy in the process. So it’s a big challenge. But in the research, we’ve done everything we could think of to increase the chances of safety and success and efficacy. So we couldn’t individualize. So I think part of it will be figuring out: some people may need even more support than they had in the research, but some people may be able to do it in a more streamlined way, and also groups and things like that. So I think we need to be really creative about how to do it and also resist the pressures of minimizing the therapy and the human connection in favor of speed.” -Michael

“We’ve already shown in healthy participants that basically the way your brain is working without any substances on board is associated with the way your brain reacts to a psychedelic. And we’ve seen that across different brain metrics. That doesn’t tell us anything about clinical efficacy quite yet, but it tells us that there is something in your usual daily waking state that may have to do with how you react to a psychedelic. Now, the next step would then, of course be: well, can we close the gap on how you react to the psychedelic, whether that has something to do with whether or not you actually get better after psychedelic or MDMA-assisted therapy? So there are many gaps for sure at this point, but I think that doing this research, we may eventually be able to close these gaps and eventually maybe have an idea of who may benefit, who may not benefit, [or] whether MDMA is the correct or the most beneficial treatment versus psilocybin.” -Katrin

“One of the dangers I see if these drugs are approved is thinking you need more drug, you need higher doses, you need it more often or whatever, instead of: You need more integration.” -Michael

Links

Psychmedisrael.com

Pharmaco-Neuroimaging and Cognitive-Emotional Processing (PD Dr. K. Preller)

Novasupport.org

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

Crisis Support – Music Festival Victims in Israel- GoFundMe organized by Daniel McQueen and Kate Burleson

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PT452 – Metaplasticity, Reopening Critical Periods, and Octopuses on MDMA

In this episode, Melanie Pincus, Ph.D. and Manesh Girn, Ph.D. once again take over hosting duties, this time interviewing Gül Dölen, MD, Ph.D.: Associate professor of Neuroscience and Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, and head of the Dölen lab.

Dölen largely researches the neuroscience behind social behaviors and is most known for her work in establishing how psychedelics reopen critical periods of learning, and that the true benefit of psychedelics could be in learning how best to reopen those critical periods, how long they’re open for, and which therapeutic frameworks and integration practices could best take advantage of them. Her most recent research was giving MDMA to otherwise very asocial (and violent) octopuses to prove that a drastically different species would exhibit typical MDMA-inspired prosocial behavior. And, after discovering that all the classic psychedelics worked to reopen critical periods – that psychedelics are apparently the master key to opening these periods – she’s now researching why, through the PHATHOM project (Psychedelic Healing: Adjunct Therapy Harnessing Opened Malleability).

You will likely learn a ton in this episode: why critical periods close as we get older and what may impede them from opening more often; how plasticity and metaplasticity relate to each other and why increased neuroplasticity isn’t always a good thing; how the length of different psychedelic experiences relates to efficacy; why the different results of MAPS’ and Compass Pathways’ studies show the importance of therapy; how autism could be related to critical periods; why repeated psychedelic use may make it harder for one’s brain to reset; and how important context is in the ability to reopen critical periods – especially around social learning.

Notable Quotes

“I was at Johns Hopkins and I remember my department chair was like, ‘Gul, we hired you to cure autism. What the hell is this octopus MDMA [stuff]?’ And I was like, ‘Just wait, it’s going to be awesome. You’ll see.’”

“We were really surprised that they all reopened this critical period. And what it suggested to us is that what it feels like to reopen a critical period is just what it feels like to be in that altered state of consciousness that’s shared across all of the psychedelics.” 

“[Psychedelics] have this thing which all of the drug companies are seeing as a glitch, but I actually think is a feature, which is this context dependence. So, the fact that the drugs are context-dependent means that you’re only going to reorganize the extracellular matrix and the network of synaptic plasticity at these synapses within these circuits in the subset of circuits and synapses that are relevant to that particular context or that set of memories. And because you’re sort of fine-tuning it in that way, I think it somehow circumvents this problem of structural instability or amnesia. So we’re going to spend the next 10 years trying to figure out how the neurons know what context they’re in.”

“Really, the utility of psychedelics is pairing it with a therapy, and that the therapy is the principle and the psychedelic is just the adjunct therapy that makes that learning so much easier. And so, the way I would frame it is that right now, we’re at a kind of debate point between the biochemical model and the learning model of how not just depression, PTSD, but every disorder of the brain is, in some sense, a disruption in the learned pattern, and that if psychedelics are not just restoring a biochemical imbalance but enabling learning, then we can relearn. And that would really be a paradigm shift in our way of understanding why psychedelics are useful in so many different therapeutic contexts and what other diseases and non-diseases we might be able to use psychedelics to help treat.”

Links

Dolenlab.org

Pubmed: Oxytocin-dependent reopening of a social reward learning critical period with MDMA

​​Nature.com: Psychedelics reopen the social reward learning critical period

Maps.org: MAPS PBC Publishes Results of Successful Confirmatory Phase 3 Trial of MDMA-Assisted Therapy for PTSD

PHATHOM (Psychedelic Healing: Adjunct Therapy Harnessing Opened Malleability) – Stroke Project

Class begins November 1. Click here for more details.
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PT451 – ALPS Conference 2023: A Window Into Switzerland’s Psychedelic Scene

In this episode, Joe interviews Federico Seragnoli: coordinator of the ALPS Foundation, psychologist who works with patients undergoing compassionate use treatments with psychedelics, and Founder of the ALPS Conference.

This year, the ALPS Conference (which stands for Awareness Lectures on Psychedelic Science) takes place Oct. 27 – 29 at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices in Geneva – a prime location for a conference due to Switzerland’s legality around psychedelics, where any citizen can apply for psilocybin or LSD therapy if they fall into the category of ‘treatment-resistant.’ Seragnoli discusses how the conference was originally inspired by an article on the MAPS blog about how to be a psychedelic researcher; and talks about its humble beginnings, its new location, and why it’s moved across the country each year. The conference features names like Rick Doblin and Michael Mithoefer, but he’s most excited about the smaller size of the event and the panel discussions, which gives attendees a chance to ask questions and hear some real conversations. 

He discusses the vibrant field of psychedelic therapy and research in Switzerland; the importance of compassionate use and the criteria physicians need to be able to use it; the impact of students creating psychedelic associations at their universities; and Seragnoli’s new research: seeing if there is a link between cognitive science and a conceptualization of science – if you can model consciousness off neuroscience, can you model it off how you feel?

Notable Quotes

“When we deal with psychedelic therapy, with people coming as patients, we have to find ways to let them know what they are going to do and to let them integrate what happened in their own mind. So one thing that you actually do every time when you prepare people for that is to just straightaway try to understand how they perceive themselves as cognitive agents. In other terms, it would be like how do they feel about being a conscious human being? What is their narrative, what is the story that they tell themselves around what is their own consciousness, like their own naive definition of consciousness? And then basically, you try to get their own worldview on this, then you try to inform that worldview with more [pragmatic] and useful ways of seeing it so they can better use it to better regulate themselves.”

Links

ALPSconference.com

Pubmed: Safety and Efficacy of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide-Assisted Psychotherapy for Anxiety Associated With Life-threatening Diseases

I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World, by Rachel Nuwer

The History of MDMA, by Torsten Passie

MAPS.org: So You Want to be a Psychedelic Researcher? R. Andrew Sewell, MD Answers.

Psychedelicmedicinecoalition.org

Apollo Neuro: Click here to get $50 off an Apollo wearable!

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PT450 – Dreams, Psychedelics, Symbolism, and Cockroaches

In this episode, Johanna interviews Jungian analyst-in-training, writer, researcher, 5Rhythms® teacher, and Vital graduate: Mackenzie Amara; and Vital instructor, clinical psychologist, and creator of our new course, “Illuminating the Hidden Self: Navigating the Jungian Shadow with Psychedelics“: Dr. Ido Cohen.

This sequel to their fascinating discussion about shadow work earlier this year focuses on dreams, as Amara, while dreaming that she was having an acid trip and coming to the realization that dreams and LSD may be sending her to the same place, is researching the similarities between the odd worlds of dreams and psychedelic experiences: Is it the same place? Do the dreams we have after psychedelic experiences continue those visions and ‘Aha!’ moments? Can they answer questions for us (the concept of “sleep on it”)? Does dream analysis result in a greater feeling of integration? Can we use the dreams we have before experiences to help guide the experience itself?

The conversation goes a lot of places: the many aspects of Jungian psychology; the fluidity of Indigenous perspectives around visible and invisible worlds; how Jung wrote “The Red Book”; the concept of eros and reclaiming our relationship with aliveness; how nature is in constant equilibrium (as are we); how to build a relationship with your dreams; how to work with symbols in dreams; and much more. Ultimately, this episode is about the clash between the conscious and unconscious, the willed and the incidental, and waking life and other realities, and dream analysis and integration work is really tracking vitality in the human psyche: what is alive in us and how does it want to live out in our beings? What makes us come alive? Can our dreams tell us?

Notable Quotes

“I was inside my dream, analyzing my dream, and having the phenomenological experience of being on LSD, and it was like, ‘Holy shit, is this the same place?’” -Mackenzie

“When you sit with a dream image that maybe scares you or that you avoid: When you sit with it long enough for its purpose to be revealed, it’s like, ‘Man, cool, thank you for sending me that image.’ And you can start to trust that there’s something larger inside of you that has your back. And that level of trust, that level of existential secure attachment (is what I’ve been calling it lately) is un-fuck-with-able. Nobody can take that from you. Once you have that, you’re good. All the chaos can happen around you, but you’ve got something inside of you that nobody can touch.” -Mackenzie

“These are all experiences with the numinous. The numinous wears all the shapes. It’s only our human hubris that searches for it in particular shapes. If we kind of quiet that hubris a little bit and let the self, let the numinous talk in its own language for a second, we can all be humbled to see how vast its language is and how it can find us even in the most ridiculous images.” -Ido

“When we have these experiences, when we’re given this content from our unconscious, it’s an invitation to join the family, to join the life that is living through all things. And that to me, is just really, really hopeful, and I think it’s why I’m so inspired and passionate about psychedelics, is the possibility of them to alleviate that nihilistic thought pattern that says ‘I’m alone in this world.’ When we really, really feel into what’s happening for us, it’s collective. We’re in a collective experience, constantly, all the time. And that’s really beautiful and healing.” -Mackenzie

Links

Vitalpsychedelictraining.com

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

Illuminating the Hidden Self: Navigating the Jungian Shadow with Psychedelics

Imagination as Revelation: The Psychedelic Experience in the Light of Jungian Psychology – An Introduction to Psychedelics and Carl Jung

Mackenzieamara.com

Theintegrationcircle.com

The Red Book, by C. G. Jung

Kannaextract.com (Use code PT10 for 10% off!)

Vitalpsychedelictraining.com
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PT449 – “Fantastic Fungi” and “Gratitude Revealed”: How Psychedelics Inspired a Cinematic Exploration of the Invisible

In this episode, Joe interviews Louie Schwartzberg: renowned filmmaker known for the award-winning documentary, “Fantastic Fungi”; and now, director of the new film, “Gratitude Revealed.”

He talks about his path to photography and filmmaking and how psychedelics were a huge inspiration – how his techniques of slowing down, speeding up, and zooming in were ways to capture the invisible aspects of reality – that which is “too slow, too fast, too small, and too vast for the human eye,” but is always there. He discusses the premiere of “Fantastic Fungi” and the waves it spread through the psychedelic space; The Louie Channel, his new streaming channel that will feature all his work in 4k and the work of other curated artists and friends; and the clinical trial he’s involved in to see if participants have better results in the treatment of their alcohol use disorder by watching his imagery set to music on an 80-inch screen while on psilocybin – research that hopefully leads to the concept of being able to prescribe images and music to people based on specific criteria. 

He discusses his new film, “Gratitude Revealed,” which explores the power of gratitude: making it a daily practice (and especially a post-psychedelic integration practice), how resilience is one of the best benefits from practicing gratitude, and how easy it is to stop a rumination spiral by simply finding something to be grateful for. He also talks about the blessing of being a photographer and always thinking of beauty; how psychedelics make people more environmentally conscious; tripping with parents; how a shared love of nature could be the bridge between opposing sides; and how the best way to deal with the climate crisis is to start in your own yard.  

Notable Quotes

“We’re talking about psychedelics on your podcast, but the truth is, I think the imagery I want to create for your community, this community, is exactly the same as I would do for a four-year-old or a five-year-old. How beautiful is that? It’s about wonder and awe. It’s about being open-minded.”

“The politicians, they understand how to press that fear button. They go right to the cultural differences and press the abortion button or the gun thing or whatever it might be, and all the lies and all that. I don’t want to even spend another second talking about that, other than [to say] we have to be conscious that pressing the fear button is easy to do because that’s survival, and you get an immediate reaction. The films I’m trying to make and what we’re discussing here is making people laugh, making people cry, making people fall in love. That takes a little more talent than pointing a gun at you. …Beauty and love and gratitude is the emotional energy we can employ to overcome fear.”

“It’s a great tool. It’s not like we have to practice meditation, become a Yogi for like ten years or 20 years of practice. It’s something you can do immediately. It’s not like a meditation thing that you have to become an expert in. It’s like, how easy is it just to ask yourself in the moment: what can I be grateful for? Pretty easy.”

Links

Gratituderevealed.com

Gratitude Revealed: Film Screening and Q&A with Director Louie Schwartzberg

Movingart.com

The Louie Channel

Fantasticfungi.com

Ted.com: Louie Schwartzberg

Pacificneuroscienceinstitute.org: Pacific Neuroscience Institute Launches New Psychedelic-Assisted Clinical Trial

Swimming in the Sacred: Wisdom from the Psychedelic Underground, by Rachel Harris, Ph.D.

Purplemountainsfilm.com

Wonderella.com

Themartiancircus.com

Mybrilliantblends.com (Use code PT10 for 10% off)

Remindmedia.com (use code REMPSYCTODAY for 10% off your registration)

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PT448 – Ibogaine, Noribogaine, and the Challenges of Federal Drug Policy

In this episode, Joe interviews Deborah C. Mash, Ph.D.: neuroscientist; Professor Emerita of Neurology and Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine; and leading researcher in addiction and brain disorders for over 30 years.

She is also the CEO and Founder of DemeRx Inc., a clinical stage drug development company working to advance ibogaine and its active metabolite, noribogaine, for the treatment of opioid use disorder. She talks about the Federal and state complications behind ibogaine research, the need for partnerships between clinics and researchers, what needs to be done to collect much needed Phase II and III ibogaine data, and why this all has to be in partnership with the FDA. 

And she discusses much more: her story of how studying Cocaethylene led to her finding out about ibogaine; ibogaine and QTc-prolongation; deaths related to iboga and the amount of variables that aren’t considered; how the French were essentially using noribogaine in the 1930s; and, as this was recorded at Psychedelic Science 2023, her thoughts on the event and Rick Doblin’s opening statement.

Notable Quotes

“We can now study all of the neurons in the brain for the first time and genetically phenotype them. So now we know there are subclasses of GABA neurons, there are subclasses of glutamate neurons. I mean, this is profound. And so here we are. We’re at, again, another next wave of learning about the human brain. There’s more neurons and neural connections in the human brain than there are stars in the Milky Way galaxy. So it’s a complicated story.” 

“If anything, ibogaine is the hardest psychedelic to work with. But I’m here for the challenge.” 

Links

DemeRx.com

ATAI.life

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

IPCI.life

Fireflyvr.com

Try Homecoming free for 90 days!

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PT447 – Exile & Ecstasy: The Intersection of Jewish Culture, Spirituality, and Psychedelics

In this episode, David interviews Madison Margolin: NY-based, psychedelics and Judaism-focused journalist; host of the Set & Setting podcast; co-founder of DoubleBlind Magazine and the Jewish Psychedelic Summit; and author of the soon-to-be released, Exile & Ecstasy: Growing Up With Ram Dass and Coming of Age in the Jewish Psychedelic Underground.

They explore the relationship between Judaism and psychedelics, with Margolin sharing her experiences growing up in a Hindu-Jewish family; her personal journey with her Jewish identity; and how her use of psychedelics has deepened her life. She talks about the significance of Jewish holidays and how holiday traditions connect them to nature and themselves in a very psychedelic way; the importance of intentionality; the beauty in dancing through an uncomfortable ayahuasca experience; the Jewish Psychedelic Summit; whether or not ancestors were using substances (and does that matter?), and why being in Israel feels so different – and psychedelic. 

Margolin is an instructor in our new course, “Navigating Psychedelics: Jewish Informed Perspectives,” where she will be leading discussions on setting sacred time and space, particularly focusing on the significance of Shabbat and the energetic frequencies that are at play during certain holidays. The 9-week course begins next week – October 10 – so sign up now! 

Notable Quotes

“I don’t think set and setting has to only apply to doing a psychedelic trip. I think it really applies to life in general: like, what are you bringing to a situation and what’s the situation bringing to you?”

“The term, ‘Yisrael’ means to wrestle with God, and I think so much of the Jewish experience is this kind of complicated relationship with the creator. …I think that’s what it is to be Jewish, is to really be seeking out this relationship. …Psychedelics offer us this opportunity to really dig into ourselves and be seekers in this way, and I find that there’s a lot of spiritual journeying and impulse in the Jewish community.”

Links

Madisonmargolin.com

Exile & Ecstasy: Growing Up with Ram Dass and Coming of Age in the Jewish Psychedelic Underground, by Madison Margolin

Ayinpress.org: Ram Dass’s Jewish Legacy, By Madison Margolin

The Empty Chair: Finding Hope and Joy – Timeless Wisdom from a Hasidic Master, by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

Apollo Neuro: Click here to get $50 off!

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PT446 – Decolonization, Interconnection, and the Medicalization of Mysticism

In this episode – with the ​2024 edition of Vital​ announced and applications officially open – we’re launching another series of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, with David hosting Jasmine Virdi: Vital instructor, writer, educator, and activist who works at Synergetic Press and volunteers for Fireside Project; and Tabata Gerk: Vital student, psychotherapist, and facilitator.

As always, they discuss what they think the most vital conversation should be right now, largely expressing concerns over the medicalization of psychedelics and the idea of a ‘traumadelic culture,’ where psychedelics are often only seen as healers of trauma and not doorways to mysticism and new ideas. And they point out another concern: the romanticization of Indigenous culture and not recognizing that these are contemporary cultures that are affected by the same Western, capitalist paradigms that affect us all.

They also discuss the concept of epistemic injustice and needing to respect other ways of knowing; hyper-individualism and why we became so reductionist as a society; the role of money (who defines the problem and the solution?); concerns over who decides who is allowed to use these substances; the power of small steps of change; and, through talking about Gerk’s recent Amazonian ayahuasca experience, they dig into what it is about these experiences and surrounding communities that make them so special. Could we take some of that and effectively incorporate it into our Western models?

Notable Quotes

“In this day and age that we exist in, I think there’s a medicalization of psychedelics, and they’re really kind of honed in on for their ability to treat different mental health and behavioral disorders. And I think that they’re so much more than that.” -Jasmine

“I think that there’s a lot of romanticization of Indigenous cultures as well, and through that, there can be an active erasure of those cultures. Indigenous cultures have been evolving alongside Western, industrial, globalist culture, so they’re not peoples who are stuck in time, and I think that the Western mind, a lot of people want to perceive those cultures as kind of like, ‘Oh, they kept something pure, and we’re going to go back to these people because they have this purity that they’ve maintained over time.’ It’s like perpetuating this idea of ‘the noble savage.’ I think that Indigenous people also are contemporary, so I think it’s really important to recognize that. …These cultures have problems, these cultures are evolving, and these cultures are influenced by modern Western, industrialized, globalist culture, [and] capitalism as well.” -Jasmine

“Plant medicine was one of the things that brought me healing there. We have three ayahuasca ceremonies, we have Kambo ceremony. But it was not only that. Everything that I saw, every conversation that I have with them was a part of the healing I received there. Not to mystify the Indigenous community, [but] their healing doesn’t come only from plant medicine. It comes from daily basis. It comes from the way they work, they relate. They are connected on a daily basis.” -Tabata

Links

Vitalpsychedelictraining.com

Psychedelics Today: PT255 – Jasmine Virdi – Conservation, Covid, and Neurodivergence

Firesideproject.org

Instagram: @healingfromhealing

Medicalizing Mysticism: Religion in Contemporary Psychedelic Trials

Adriennemareebrown.net: Emergent Strategy

Try Homecoming free for 90 days!

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PT445 – The Drug War, Harm Reduction, and the Middle Ground Between Liberty and Regulation

In this episode, Joe interviews Ethan Nadelmann: author, speaker, Founder and former Executive Director of Drug Policy Alliance, host of the PSYCHOACTIVE podcast, and one of the leading voices in drug policy reform and harm reduction. 

Nadelmann shares his journey from Princeton University to founding Drug Policy Alliance, to working with George Soros, encouraging Gary Johnson to push cannabis legalization, and interacting with prominent figures like Milton Friedman and Grover Norquist. He explores the motivations behind the drug war, the massive growth of incarcerations it led to, why the US spread its war on drugs abroad even when it went against our best interests, and, thankfully, the progress made in fighting the drug war – particularly with cannabis and psychedelics.

And he discusses much more: the banning of drug testing kits; the damages of our slow learning curve against the idea of a safe supply; the risks of under-prescribing opioids for people who actually need them; how libertarians, the right, and left are all starting to become against the drug war for the same reasons; why cigarette smokers should all switch to vaping; the concept of needing to pass a test at the pharmacy to prove you understand (and won’t abuse) medication; and some strong arguments for decriminalization as an incremental step. And he asks some pretty important questions that we can all simmer on for a bit: how do we find a balance between helping people and not opening the rest of society up to harm? How do we challenge abuse in a way that doesn’t hurt future harm reduction efforts? And how do we incentivize people into acting in their own best interests? 

Notable Quotes

“The drug war resulted in the unnecessary arrests of tens of millions of Americans, the unnecessary incarceration of millions of Americans (oftentimes for very long periods of time), hundreds of thousands of people dying in this country with HIV/AIDS unnecessarily, tens of thousands dying of overdose unnecessarily. That was the drug war.”

“If I could snap my fingers and all of the 30, 35 million American cigarette smokers in the country today, or all of the 1.1 billion smokers around the world were to suddenly stop smoking cigarettes, and all of them were to take up vaping (the e cigarettes); …it would represent one of the greatest advances in public health in U.S. and global history, because the risks of smoking are so dramatically, dramatically greater than the risks of consuming nicotine in non-combustible forms.”

“You look at people pursuing that type of legal course of action where they claim it’s about helping bring attention, but in fact it’s having exactly the opposite results. Yes, it’s important to fix these things, but the methods and ways you go about it are incredibly important. It’s just like the same thing when you had that case involving the therapist in the MAPS training program who did stuff that was sexually inappropriate, etc. And on the one hand, you definitely need people to bring attention to that, and more credit to them for bringing attention to those abuses. On the other hand, one has to have the basic realization that that happens in all areas of psychotherapy. You can’t eliminate this stuff. It’s human nature, it’s humankind. You can minimize the incidence of it, you can bring attentions to the abuses, but make sure that what you’re advocating as the fix is not leading to doing more harm.”

Links

Drugpolicy.org

PSYCHOACTIVE podcast

Ted.com: Ethan Nadelmann: Why we need to end the War on Drugs

Researchgate.net: U.S. Drug Policy: A Bad Export, by Ethan A. Nadelmann

Studentsforliberty.org

Nationalpain.org

iceers.org

Nudge: The Final Edition (Revised), by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein

Visit remindmedia.com and use code REMPSYCTODAY for 10% off your registration.
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PT444 – A Glimpse Into the Psychedelic Neuroscience Landscape

In this special episode, Melanie Pincus, Ph.D. and Manesh Girn, Ph.D., who joined David in episode 403 to discuss the launch of their new course, essentially interview each other.

As the 2nd edition of their popular course, Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified, begins on November 1, we wanted to give them a chance to highlight some of the aspects of neuroscience students can expect to learn in the course, and what so many people who are interested in psychedelics don’t fully understand: What does neuroplasticity actually entail? Can one predict if a patient is more apt to have an experience with ego dissolution? How does the amygdala relate to mood disorders? When are critical periods of greater plasticity and socialization at their most beneficial? How does neuroplasticity relate to chronic stress?

They also discuss lessons they’ve received from their own journeys; why they created the course; serotonin; psychological flexibility; body-based versions of self vs. memory-based versions; psychedelics and re-encoding memories (and the potential for false memories); how psychedelic therapy is different from standard drug treatments; psychedelics and the default mode network (is the story oversimplified?), and much more. 

For more information on their course, and to sign up, click here!

Notable Quotes

“A major insight from my psychedelic journeys is just how dense and heavy thoughts and mental content can be. And we often feel the need to overanalyze and think about things and get lost in our concepts and internal dialogue as opposed to experiencing things in the moment, as they are, in a more deeper kind of intimate way – having a greater intimate relationship with our senses, with the immediacy of what’s happening. And my psychedelic experiences, whether it’s with psilocybin or 5-MeO-DMT or what have you, have allowed me to glimpse into states where that stuff is just totally removed, and I’m just immersed in the rawness of experience and just how beautifully vibrant and alive and spontaneously intelligent that is, and how superfluous a lot of our thinking really is, and it just weighs us down. I think my journeys have just allowed me to live with greater ease and hold on to my identity and my narratives much more lightly. So I see them, I acknowledge them, but I’m not totally lost in them. I don’t identify strongly with them.” -Manesh

“Perhaps what’s happening is that MDMA induces a super positive mood where you feel really socially connected, really empathogenic with your therapist or whoever’s around you, you feel so safe and supported. And so if challenging traumatic memories come up, there’s this mismatch between the emotional trace of the traumatic memory and the unique state you’re in with the MDMA on board. And so this mismatch drives the memory reconsolidation process so that your traumatic memory is amended with less fear to be more in line with your current way you’re feeling of being so safe and supported.” -Melanie

Links

Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified: How Psychedelics Alter Consciousness and Produce Therapeutic Effects

Opening Critical Periods with Psychedelics, by Melanie Pincus, Ph.D. & Manesh Girn, Ph.D.(c)

Frontiersin.org: Psychedelic-induced mystical experiences: An interdisciplinary discussion and critique

PT403 – Understanding the Brain: Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified, featuring: Melanie Pincus, Ph.D. & Manesh Girn

PT258 – Manesh Girn – Psychedelics and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and Creativity

The Psychedelic Scientist YouTube

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PT443 – Swimming in the Sacred: The Wisdom of Underground Female Elders

In this episode, Kyle interviews Rachel Harris, Ph.D.: Psychologist in private practice for over 40 years, researcher who has published more than 40 peer-reviewed studies, and author of the new book, Swimming in the Sacred: Wisdom from the Psychedelic Underground.

She talks about graduating college and going straight to Esalen, where she had little concern over therapy or integration, and how, after 20 years of ayahuasca experiences, she learned to see psychedelic-assisted therapy and ceremonial, transformational experiences as very different things. She discusses her ayahuasca journeys; a surprising MDMA experience; what having an ongoing relationship with the spirit of ayahuasca means; Ann Shulgin’s concerns over going through death’s door while in a journey; what true integration is; how psychedelics can help prepare for death, and more.

And she talks about her new book, Swimming in the Sacred, which collects the stories, unique perspectives, and wisdom of 15 female elders who have been working in the underground for at least 15 years each, and how their experience has led to a somatic-based intuition and ‘know it in their bones’ feeling that so many new practitioners and facilitators need – and can only come with time. 

Notable Quotes

“I kind of want to say to the newly-hatched psychedelic therapists: ‘Well, get this experience,’ but it’s very hard. And they’re not going to wait six years before practicing, so there’s such a need for them, and I can’t, in every podcast, (I mean, you’ll laugh at this), I can’t say, ‘Go do a lot of drugs,’ right? I’m trying to be more elegant about this, but that’s part of the elder women’s experience, is they really know the territory.”

“I know you’ve done a real apprenticeship, and I really respect that. And, yes, it’s very hard to find them, but that is the way people learn. So, what’s the best way to become a psychedelic therapist? It’s to be a patient with someone who’s a very experienced psychedelic therapist.”

“My priority was to work on myself and to grow and evolve. And so I always think of integration as part of a whole life: it’s not something that happens in a couple of sessions. But after these experiences, then what do we do with our lives and how do we live a more integrated life? And how do our lives unfold?”

Links

Swimminginthesacred.com

Buy Swimming in the Sacred on Amazon

Ayahuasca in My Blood: 25 Years of Medicine Dreaming, by Peter Gorman

The Secret Chief Revealed, by Myron J. Stolaroff

Pubmed: A study of ayahuasca use in North America

The Sacred Speaks podcast: 96: Rachel Harris – Swimming in the Sacred: Wisdom from the Psychedelic Underground

Lament of the Dead: Psychology After Jung’s Red Book, by James Hillman & Sonu Shamdasani

Eatfungies.com (Use code TODAY20 for 20% off at checkout)

New course starts October 10: Navigating Psychedelics: Jewish-Informed Perspectives on Psychedelics

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PT442 – Burning Questions About Burning Man: Mud, Ebola, and the Big Krab Car

Last year, Joe attended his first Burning Man, and sadly, we didn’t hear much about it. In this episode, recorded just a few days after Joe returned from his second outing of nearly 12 days on the playa, Victoria changes that, asking Joe all the burning questions we all want to know.

He talks about preparing for Burning Man and the numerous obstacles he and his partner, Ali, encountered on their very slow journey there; the media’s interpretation of the rain and mud vs. the reality of being there in the middle of it all; the bogus reports of an ebola outbreak and disaster zone surrounded by FEMA officials (and was that all a prank by Burners?); the debate over the environmental impact of such a massive event, and more.

And he talks about the many joys of Burning Man: how, despite the weather and needing to remain at camp more, the community, abundance, embracing of all that is weird, and passion to share and make the best of it all made this a better year for him in many ways. He learned the importance of patience, avoiding a frantic state, and fighting panic with positive vibes, which was made infinitely more easy with the Big Krab Car: the art car Ali built and they drove around, DJing on all week.

Notable Quotes

“We did some neighborhood block party/dance parties, we were just giving away some stuff, we had some amazing DJs. I think I, at one point, did a 5 and half hour DJ set from my phone through these gigantic sound systems, and people were over the moon about it. So it’s about: how do we fight that panic with positive, welcoming, generous vibes when we can? That’s how we did it. I know it was really hard for some people, but I’ve actually not seen anybody that I know that went that didn’t have the most amazing time at Burning Man. It was better for me this year than last year in a lot of ways.”

“That was actually the first thing I saw: the TMZ article. ‘Oh ok, this actually might make the news worldwide. Fascinating,’ which actually made the experience really interesting, to know that all the world’s eyes were on us. It made us want to show up better and do a better job.”

“Being held by a small community in your camp: if you find, luckily, a group of people that are just amazing to be with, like my camp, it’s just shocking and beautiful to be held and loved in that way and accepted in that way for a week and a half or however long it is. It’s life-shattering, life-changing, and so good. That was probably one of the biggest joys. And then just expanding your circles of friends after that’s your baseline, and you meet all their friends and it just balloons out to all these amazing new networks and connections.”

Links

Big Krab Car facebook

Big Krab Car instagram

APnews.com: Burning Man flooding triggers false claims of Ebola outbreak, ‘national emergency’

Theguardian.com: Burning Man attendees roadblocked by climate activists: ‘They have a privileged mindset’

Reddit.com: Have you ever contacted DoingItWrong@burningman.org?

Twitter.com: Andrew Gallimore’s thread on ayahuasca

Poloandpanmusic.com

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PT441 – The American Psychedelic Practitioners Association and the Mission to Integrate Psychedelics into U.S. Healthcare

In this episode, Kyle interviews General Stephen Xenakis, MD: an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist who retired from the U.S. Army in 1998 at the rank of Brigadier General and began a career starting up medical technology companies and clinical practice to support human rights and new methodologies of healthcare. 

In June, he became the new Executive Director of the American Psychedelic Practitioners Association (APPA), whose mission is to bring practitioners together as a community; develop the best training programs and practices; shift to a more patient-centered, integrated model of care; eventually accredit practitioners to practice with legal substances; and overall, help to make these new modalities more mainstream. 

He discusses their path to success, which began with their publishing of the first professional practice guidelines for psychedelic-assisted therapy practitioners, and will continue on with ethical guidelines and clinical practice guidelines in the future. And he talks about the idea of a safety net for people who have adverse effects from psychedelic journeys; what clinicians need to know about psychedelics; concerns over accessibility; and the importance of identifying the correct treatments for the correct patients, as each person’s path to healing will likely be drastically different.

Notable Quotes

“We live in a world of disease-centered treatments, and we want to shift to a patient-centered model. We want to know that we’re not just treating your symptoms, we’re not just treating the problems that you have; that what you’re getting out of this is, in fact, helping you live the life that you want to live. What do those outcomes look like? How do we know [what] they are? How do we collaborate with you? It’s a partnership, it’s a rapport. It’s an alliance between you and me so that you’re getting what you feel is most important and we’re doing our job in providing it. That’s a big shift in medicine.”

Links

Appa-us.org

Appa-us.org: Professional Practice Guidelines for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Practitioners

Globenewswire.com: American Psychedelic Practitioners Association Announces Appointment of Brigadier General (Ret.) Stephen N. Xenakis, MD as new Executive Director

Globenewswire.com: American Psychedelic Practitioners Association and BrainFutures Publish First Professional Practice Guidelines for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy

Globenewswire.com: American Psychedelic Practitioners Association Retains The Daschle Group as Government Affairs Counsel

Brilliant Blends (Use code PT10 for 10% off)

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PT440 – Coming Back to Stillness, Microdosing and Adaptogens, and What We Can Learn From Autism

In this episode, David interviews Dr. JoQueta Handy, Ph.D., IMD: speaker, author, educator, Natural Integrative Health Practitioner, and CEO and Chief Visionary of Brilliant Learning, Handy Wellness Center, and Brilliant Blends.

She shares childhood memories of growing up on her Grandparents’ farm, where she developed a deep appreciation for nature, staring at the stars, and the beauty in stillness, and how coming back to that stillness has been key in her life and psychedelic journeys. The conversation then shifts to all that she’s learned through her work with children on the autism spectrum: the problems of putting people into boxes; how autism affects everyone; the different ways people learn; the connection between autism and the gut microbiome; and how she has learned more from some of these children than any book could teach her – culminating in a story of discovering that a very challenged child people were ready to give up on could actually read and comprehend everything he was hearing.

She discusses her favorite adaptogens; the art of stacking adaptogens and different modalities; her multi-day coaching sessions; Internal Family Systems; quantum biofeedback; the use of supplements in microdosing; and Brilliant Blends, which sells blends of supplements designed to provide benefits as close to what psilocybin can provide (but legally) – inspired by the unique needs of autistic individuals. PT listeners can receive 10% off all purchases with code: PT10.

Notable Quotes

“If we look at Western medicine, we are masters at saving lives. We’re not so great at quality of life. And looking more toward Eastern medicine, European medicine: where body, mind and soul [is] more brought into play – healing, working on the mind, the emotional, the mind and the body for a complete healing… So that was really why I chose the path of natural integrative medicine because I did see that everything has a place. Everybody brings a talent to the table. …We, many times, need a village for healing.”

“I’ve had some wonderful mentors along the way, but being on the ground, so to speak – not just in a laboratory, formulating things – being hands-on with those children on a day-to-day basis: that was the greatest teacher of: how is this herb working? How is this adaptogen working? So when I went to formulate Brilliant Blends, I just knew it had to honor them because I was using that knowledge base. I use it on a daily basis with everyone. …Autistic children have taught us what we know from autism, and what we know from autism applies to everyone.”

“That’s the end game. That’s the bottom line in all of this work that we’re doing. That’s where the transformation and freedom is: to realize that this medicine is in all of us. Maybe we’re just using psychedelics to open that door to reveal it and show us the path how to anchor it, but this medicine is in all of us and always was. So if we can use these different pathways, these different approaches to lead us back home, then bravo.”

Links

Drjoquetahandy.com

Mybrilliantblends.com (use code PT10 to receive 10% off all purchases)

Drhandy.com

3cosevents.com

Brilliantlearningonline.com

Hemplucid.com (use code PSYCHEDELICS10 for 10% off all purchases)

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PT439 – Introducing Hyphae Leaks: Not Your Average Psychedelic Podcast

In the first-ever episode of Hyphae Leaks, Mary and Reggie sit down with Joe Moore and share their backgrounds, impetus for launching a psychedelic tell-all podcast, and what listeners can expect from the first season.

Want to dig in on some of the topics discussed today? Quick links:

Catch Season 1 of Hyphae Leaks streaming NOW wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every third Wednesday until Dec. 20. Rate, review, and subscribe!

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PT438 – The Psychedelic Medicine Association and Managing Medical Risk in Patients Seeking Psilocybin Therapy

In this episode, David interviews the President of the Psychedelic Medicine Association, host of the Psychedelic Medicine Podcast, and Psychedelics Today advisory board member and Vital contributor: Lynn Marie Morski, MD, JD.

She shares her journey with psychedelics and how they enabled her to leave a toxic job and pursue her passion for advocacy with vitality, and how important it is to focus your energy where it’s best used. She talks about where we find ourselves in the psychedelic space based on Psychedelic Science 2023, as well as her recent TV appearances and the responsibility of preaching to the non-choir. And she discusses the idea of perfectionism in today’s age; the need for psychedelic people to be involved in non-psychedelic conferences; the complications behind requiring physicians to experience psychedelics; the concept of it being malpractice for a physician to not mention psychedelic options; and the Psychedelic Medicine Association’s upcoming virtual conference: Sana Symposium 2023, which happens October 26-27. 

Morski talks a lot about the importance of educating healthcare professionals about psychedelics, debunking myths, and the need for standards in training therapists and primary care providers. She highlights how there is still no nationally-recognized certification for even ketamine providers, so how can people make informed decisions on who to trust? The Psychedelic Medicine Association is taking steps to improve this paradigm, offering a new course called “Managing Medical Risk in Patients Seeking Psilocybin Therapy,” which will work to help clinicians make risk assessments for patients seeking psilocybin therapy – something that is not really being done today.

Notable Quotes

“It was just so clear that this little microdose was showing me basically what my soul was doing all the time: like, your soul is just constantly crying about this terrible toxic job that you feel you can’t leave, etc. And wow, that turned things around for me, where I was like, ‘I need to get out.’ …I was giving all these talks to doctors about if your mental health is suffering, quit that doctor job, while the whole time, my mental health was suffering and I was still in that same job. I was not taking my own advice. And this was kind of like a little psychedelic gift saying like, ‘Hey, take your own advice, do whatever you need to do, get out.’”

“Right now, the big question is: is it malpractice for me to mention psychedelics to my patients? And I envision a future where it’s malpractice not to, where you are keeping that information. Like, imagine somebody comes to you as a psychiatrist and you’re depressed and they don’t mention antidepressants? …With these PTSD findings, Phase III proving what they have: imagine in ten years, somebody goes to their psychiatrist with severe PTSD, nothing else has worked, and that psychiatrist still doesn’t recommend MDMA (assuming that it is FDA approved), that’s going to have to be malpractice. That’s the future that I envision.”

Links

Psychedelicmedicineassociation.org

Managing Medical Risk in Patients Seeking Psilocybin Therapy

Dr. Lynn Marie Morski on Morning in America (News Nation)

Dr. Lynn Marie Morski on NewsNation

Quitting By Design, by Lynn Marie Morski, MD, Esq.

Sanasymposium.com

Psychedelic Medicine Podcast

Psychedelic Medicine Podcast: Psychedelics for Substance Use Disorder with Kevin Franciotti, MA

Psychedelics Today: PT216 – Dr. Lynn Marie Morski – The Psychedelic Medicine Association

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PT437 – Exploring Psychedelic Therapies: Iboga, CBD, and Cannabis Paired With Ketamine

In this episode, Alexa interviews Chase Hudson: Founder of HempLucid, a premium CBD wellness brand.

Hudson discusses his journey from being a firefighter to becoming involved in the cannabis and hemp industry, the origins of HempLucid, the restrictions they faced, and their current genetics and flagship water soluble tincture. He talks about the benefits of CBD and cannabis used in conjunction with psychedelic therapy – especially ketamine-assisted therapy, which he gives to his employees as a benefit. And he talks about Lamar Odom and the documentary he executive produced, “Lamar Odom Reborn,” which chronicles how Odom came back from rock bottom through high dose CBD, iboga, and ketamine therapy.

He also discusses the idea of cannabis as a gateway drug to healing; the need for insurance to cover psychedelic therapy; the changing landscape of Utah from religious ideology to psychedelics; ketamine as the bridge between old and new models of healthcare, and more. And they talk about their own journeys a lot, with Hudson telling the story of his powerful and life-changing ibogaine treatment, and Alexa sharing stories from her tragic car accident and recovery, as well as the ketamine sessions she recently began. The conversation ultimately becomes one about the need for education and conversation to help us all climb out from decades of drug war propaganda.

Notable Quotes

“We do a lot with kids with seizures. I also do a lot of work with children with autism, and we’ve seen great results over the years. We’ve been in business seven years, so we’ve been fortunate to just see the impact and the change that happens within people personally, but then also within their family. And it’s been the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.”

“There’s this whole frontier that is going to open up here. I mean, it’s opening now, but it’s going to be accelerated as this old guard starts to collapse. We’re living in a time where Babylon is really falling. These pillars of what reality has been structured on are failing because it’s been built on a bed of lies. Our government, our financial system, our healthcare system, our media: these structures of the matrix, essentially, are failing. And as it fails, there has to be something to kind of transition people into the new world, and that new world is everything that we’ve discussed and are doing. And it’s exciting to see, but as Terence McKenna says: we’re in the birth canal for sure, and there’s going to be blood, it’s going to be hard. But we’ll make it out, and humanity will turn into something beautiful on the other side of this.”

Links

Hemplucid.com

YouTube: “Lamar Odom Reborn”

Numinus.com

Taramind.com

Thankyoulife.org

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

In this episode, David interviews East Forest: Portland, OR-based producer, podcaster, ceremony guide, and musician, specializing in ambient, electronic, contemporary classical, and indie pop music largely to guide listeners through deep journeys.  

Forest discusses his live performances and influences; how his music pairs with journeys and specific psychedelics; the difference in the connection and vibe from a live performance vs. a recording; the difference between single-artist music created specifically for sessions vs. Spotify playlists; the inhumanity of generative music; his Journey Space online music and journey platform; and the challenges of making money in a time when music is more prevalent than ever, but also more in-the-background and diluted. 

He talks a lot about sound itself: the role of rhythm and sound in communication and personal transformation; how richer overtones and increased layers of sound increase effects; research into very low pulsating tones, and how more synthesized sound and the growth of AI has created a yearning for more authentic, imperfect sounds.  

His newest album was just released August 18: “Music For The Deck of The Titanic,” an homage to the musicians who spent their last few hours playing songs for passengers amidst the chaos and tragedy – an album Forest sees as an offering to the chaotic moment we’re all in.

Notable Quotes

“I’m trying to make music that is intended to come directly into the foreground and pass the foreground into the place where you merge with the music, and the music becomes the sonic architecture by which you are having an experience inside, and perhaps become it, synesthetically. So I want to go way beyond it being in the background. I actually want it to be even more than a guide. It’s almost like you synthesize with it as one: like who’s guiding who? There can be a magic to those experiences that’s far beyond anything I’ve ever experienced in anything else in life, and that’s really the North Star that I want to be in service to. I don’t think, even, that that’s something that I can concoct or conceive totally. It’s more opening myself up to some kind of magic that’s way beyond anything I could decide.”

“What I love about humans’ creativity is the fact that we can be creative and we can celebrate that by making things like art. When I’m surprised by art is the best feeling. And so giving people support to create: as of now, we can’t beat that. You’re just asking yourself: how far can we go in this celebration and in this experience? I have never experienced a generative experience that’s even anywhere close to where we can go with one person sharing their humanity in a way that’s beautiful. If it’s innovative, even better.”

Links

Eastforest.org

YouTube: Who is East Forest?

East Forest discography

Ten Laws with East Forest podcast

Soundcloud

YouTube

Spotify

Patreon

Ten Laws with east Forest podcast: Ivy Ross & Susan Magsamen – Your Brain on Art! (#253)

Journeyspace.com

Love Service Wisdom podcast, with Marisa Radha Weppner

Hajbotanics.com (Receive 10% off your order with code Honeydrip10)

Join us in the Netherlands for the Kiyumí Psilocybin Retreat & Vital Training: September 6-11, 2023. Click here to learn more and apply!
East Forest performing
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PT435 – The Federal Right to Try Act, The Farm Bill, and the Constant Balance Between Risk and Regulation

In this episode, Joe interviews Satya Thallam: Policy Advisor at the international law firm, Arnold & Porter; and longtime policy expert based in Washington, D.C. who previously served in senior roles at both the White House and the U.S. Senate.

Thallam was the lead author and negotiator of the Federal Right to Try Act, which grants terminally ill patients access to experimental therapies and substances that have completed Phase I testing but have not yet been approved by the FDA. He discusses its intricacies and benefits, how psychedelics were not a focus but were always obvious, whether or not it allows people to grow their own mushrooms, and more. He talks abut the implementation of the first Federal legalization of hemp under the Farm Bill in 2018, breaking down the history and detail of how it came to be, and why a difference of .3% in weight truly matters when establishing law.

He discusses the changing landscape of politicians and psychedelics; how local action creates a culture of inspiring Washington; the internal fight between different agencies and the endless lobbying it takes to get things done; how one needs to cater their argument by who is listening; risk assessment and judgment-proof operations; the concern over whether or not we got everything wrong with cannabis; and why we will likely begin seeing a lot of coalitions popping up in the psychedelic space.

Notable Quotes

“All of this, even just the traditional FDA regulatory rubric, is about a trade-off between type one and type two errors. And you can set policy in such a way that there’s 0% chance of any harm, but then you forgo any possible benefits from that. There is no drug anywhere that has 0% risk. Even Advil has risk, right? It’s all about dosage, it’s all about use, it’s about other conditions that you may have, it’s about tailoring it to the appropriate indication. …We make these trade-offs all the time, and I just happen to fall more in the camp that a greater degree of those trade-offs should be at an individual level to the degree possible than establishing a macro floor or ceiling that people have to respond to, because you may forego some incredible benefits like we’re seeing – especially in some of the psychedelics here.”

“I’m reminded of that Simpsons episode where Homer just says: ‘When will people learn democracy just doesn’t work?’ Like, this is the necessary mess of democratic institutions, right? They’re not structured to listen to the single smartest person in the room. That’s by design. That’s a feature, not a bug. But it also means progress can be slow, slower than we want it to be. …I’m newish. I’m sort of a noob to the psychedelics community, but I’m not new to policy. I think the folks that you talk to that are in your circle, that listen to this show, should be pretty encouraged. I think overwhelmingly, things are going in the direction that you would want them to.”

Links

Arnoldporter.com: Satya Thallam

Psychedelics Today: PT405 – The Psychedelic Medicine PAC: The Push for Federal Funding and Politicians Who Will Fight for Us, featuring Melissa Lavasani

Politico.com: K Street warms up to psychedelics

Join us in the Netherlands for the Kiyumí Psilocybin Retreat & Vital Training: September 6-11, 2023. Click here to learn more and apply!
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PT434 – Kiyumí Retreats, Building Somatic Literacy, and Navigating Group Facilitation Challenges

In this episode, Kyle interviews Lisa Wessing: Clinical Psychologist and facilitator specializing in harm reduction at Kiyumí retreats in The Netherlands. 

Wessing shares her personal journey and the shift from being uninspired with studying psychology to being a part of space-holding in Mexico and finding her true path. She dives into the world of Kiyumí retreats, discussing their holistic healing approach using psilocybin, somatic movement, dance expression, and other methods supporting their four pillars of embodiment, nature, mindfulness, and art. She discusses their more long-term program with Dr. Gabor Maté integrating his Compassionate Inquiry framework; their Equity Program, which offers partial or full funding for people who may not have the financial resources or who come from marginalized communities (e.g. BIPOC & Queer); and the importance of integration as a continuous process and checking in with people much later to build their “Kiyumíty.”

Much of this discussion covers the challenges of somatic psychology and facilitation in group containers: how most people are somatically illiterate and the challenging journey of becoming more somatic; what to do about someone laughing or singing in a group context; what moving into one’s body really means; and different ways of using art to integrate an experience.

As part of our Vital program, we are running a psilocybin retreat with Kiyumí from September 6-11, and we have some available spots left! If you like what you hear, you’ll be in The Netherlands in September, and want to have an amazing experience with us, click here for more info!

Notable Quotes

“Something really important is expression: self-expression and expression in community. So seeing and being seen is something also that we value. And that seeing and being seen can create awkwardness and strangeness, and it’s something that we really like to also go into, because once we break through that awkwardness, there’s so much potential of creativity amongst people.”

“It’s the fostering of allowing discomfort that is just generally important in this kind of work and in self-work itself. …We live in context in which it’s all about escaping the discomfort. We want to have a really comfortable home and a great job, and our vacation has to be as comfortable as possible. And also in medicine, it’s better to take just a pill that will do the job for me. Psychedelic work is often really uncomfortable, and so the group process reflects that discomfort. So I guess one of the main missions and one of the main challenges is to present that: like, yes, you will be uncomfortable. And let’s work with that.”

Links

Kiyumí.org

Hajbotanics.com (use code Honeydrip10 at checkout for 10& off!)

More upcoming events, including retreats in Jamaica and Portugal

Join us in the Netherlands for the Kiyumí Psilocybin Retreat & Vital Training: September 6-11, 2023. Click here to learn more and apply!
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PT433 – From Personal Healing to Public Policy: The Path to Psychedelic Decriminalization in Mexico

In this episode, recorded in-person at Psychedelic Science 2023, Kyle interviews Senator for the Mexican Green Party, Alejandra Lagunes.

Lagunes is the first Senator in Mexico to promote the use of psychedelics, and has been organizing open parliaments to foster collaboration between researchers, scientists, politicians, and Indigenous people, culminating in a groundbreaking decriminalization initiative to decriminalize psilocybin and psilocin from list 1 to list 3 (meaning they could be prescribed), create a new chapter for entheogens (and move mushrooms there), build an economically beneficial framework for Indigenous people, protect ancestor knowledge by law, and make big bioconservation moves with changes to environmental laws. 

She discusses her personal journey with depression, anxiety, and a life-saving ayahuasca journey; how Covid uncovered a crisis in meaning and an openness to talk about mental health; the need for accessibility and safety in psychedelics against challenges in politics and policy implementation; our mental health crisis and the need for innovation, education, and overcoming stigma; the influence of US drug control policies on international regulations; the power of storytelling; and why we need to go back to our origins.

Notable Quotes

“The world means to go back to the beginning, to the point of beginning. And I like to think that this psychedelic revolution or renaissance is actually going back to the beginning, to the essence. And that space: you have to talk about environment, you have to talk about the planet, you have to talk about ancestors and their relationship with the planet and with the community. …The revolution is going back to that space, outside and inside. It’s like going back to the origin.”

“The medicine is as important as the places they grow in. The medicine is in the ecosystem. You have heard about the mycelium. You can grow a mushroom in your house. That’s great. But the mycelium in those places: it’s for them, the medicine. The rain, the thunder, and the earth, the soil where the mushrooms are grown: it’s the medicine. So we have to protect those areas.”

“You know what I think all the countries should do? The World Health Organization (the WHO) has these lists of substances, and as countries, we can ask our governments to ask for a revision of those lists. So we have to start. Like, there are many ways we have to work the decriminalization. I mean, the psychedelics shouldn’t be in that list, and they are in an international list. So my question is why governments aren’t moving that list?”

Links

Alejandralagunes.mx

Join us in the Netherlands for the Kiyumí Psilocybin Retreat & Vital Training: September 6-11, 2023. Click here to learn more and apply!
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PT432 – From NBA Dreams to Cultural Healing: Iboga and a Mission to Empower Gabon

In this episode, Joe interviews Stéphane Lasme, a former professional basketball player from Gabon who is now a partner at SteddeCapital, a private markets investment platform investing long-term capital into U.S.- and Africa-based opportunities across sports ownership, infrastructure, technology and plant medicine.

Lasme speaks of his childhood, growing up in Gabon with more traditional Catholic values while journeying deep into the jungle to visit his Grandmother every summer. It was there that he embraced the cultural aspect of Gabon and community, and first learned of iboga, which he had a profound experience with at age 12, and would later revisit in his basketball days. He discusses the drive and passion that led him to become the first person from Gabon to play in the NBA, and the subsequent pressure, stress, cultural differences, and “ok, what now?” moments that came at the end. He talks about Gabonese traditions; how iboga improved his stress relief and mental focus; how embracing yoga and Buddhist methods of self-discovery improved his life; scientific reductionism vs. the magic of mystery and trying to define an experience; and more. 

While Gabon allows for the export of iboga, Lasme’s goal is to build a lab and treatment center in Gabon and share the power of Gabonese culture with people – so they can experience the medicine in its own country, with its traditional rituals and music. He has begun the fundraising process, and through his investment and facilitation work, is working to get African athletes to invest back into Africa and make Gabon a major destination for iboga.

Notable Quotes

“Deep inside, I wanted to be the first basketball player from Gabon to get drafted in the NBA. I never advertised this as a kid. I never advertised it to anyone. Even while I was at UMass, I never talked about it. But I know there is a relation between me going through that culture, that traditional experience, and me deciding to be that person. That’s why I say ‘me deciding who I want to be’; I think there is a big connection. And I can’t tell you or explain to you where the connection started, what triggered me thinking that way, but I just know it’s connected.”

“We have to believe in ourselves. Our stuff here, whatever we have in Gabon, is actually the shit. It’s actually the stuff that’s going to help everyone. Everyone is going to run towards us to look for solutions, so we should be prepared. We should be working on a better environment for people to come and just witness what kind of a great thing that we have going on in Gabon. This is the motivation I have today: really building this company, building this network, this ecosystem, this network of people in the states and in Gabon around this plant. That’s the main thing that motivates me.”

Links

Erbnworld.com

Steddecapital.com

NBA G League YouTube: Stephane Lasme posts 14 points & 10 rebounds vs. the Energy

NBA.com: Stéphane Lasme

Wonder-bags.com: Use code PSTODAY at checkout for 25% off!

Join us in the Netherlands for the Kiyumí Psilocybin Retreat & Vital Training: September 6-11, 2023. Click here to learn more and apply!
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PT431 – The Concept of Integration and the Need for Evolving Protocols of Psychedelic Therapy

In this episode, Kyle interviews The Susan Hill Ward Endowed Professor of Psychedelics and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins, and renowned researcher of nearly 20 years: Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D.

Recorded in-person at MAPS’ Psychedelic Science after running an 8-hour workshop on psychedelic therapy for addiction treatment, Johnson was still happy to sit down with PT to explore a wide range of topics: the under-researched concept of integration; how to best take advantage of optimal neuroplastic windows; why psycholytic therapy used to be more common; how our current protocols and research models are largely arbitrary; and his hopes for new, experimental, and flexible models of psychedelic therapy.

He also discusses his ongoing smoking cessation studies; the Oregon model (are we doing therapy or not?); misrepresentation in psychedelic therapy and knowing your lane; and the role of music in psychedelics: why shouldn’t people pick the music they know will give them goosebumps?

Notable Quotes

“How in the world could there be these beneficial effects that we can see in someone’s behavior (their substance use, their depression) 6 months, a year later from one, two, or three medication experiences that were time-limited? …People are changing the way they’re operating. And the more you start to do that, and that starts to become the new normal, so it’s not just ending at the psychedelic session or even in the explicit integration sessions where you talk about your psychedelic therapy or your psychedelic session; but then, if you put into practice – like actually changing the way you’re operating in the world and that becomes the new normal – I think that’s what’s happening to explain why we’re seeing these beneficial effects six months, a year later. It’s just kind of the causal nature of the therapeutic mechanisms unfolding over time in a kind of a living, organic way, because people are interfacing with reality in a different way, that can, if they’re doing it right, it can have a feed-forward effect, like, ‘Oh, this actually works. I feel better. I’m doing better in life when I do things more this way than the way I used to do them.’”

“The nice thing that’s probably going to happen once we get out of this phase, at least with, like, psilocybin and MDMA where it’s only in clinical approved research now, if they’re approved by the FDA for straight up treatment, FDA is not going to control what music you use or how you integrate and all these other things. And so there’s going to be this wave of naturalistic experimentation which is going to be really cool. And then hopefully people are safe, but hopefully there’s an integration of the communication of the art of the practice of medicine and psychology. It’s like just through that communication – like what tends to work, what tends not to work, people sharing ideas – I’m looking forward to that.”

Links

Hopkinsmedicine.org: Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D.

Psychedelics Today: PT229 – Dr. Matthew Johnson – What is Consciousness?

Join us in the Netherlands for the Kiyumí Psilocybin Retreat & Vital Training: September 6-11, 2023. Click here to learn more and apply!
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PT430 – Psychedelics for Eating Disorders, Davos’ House of Psychedelics, and The Future of the Synthesis Institute

In this episode, Joe interviews Maya Albert: Co-Founder of the Psyched conference, and Director of Operations at Tabula Rasa Ventures and the Synthesis Institute.

She shares her journey of how she became involved in the psychedelic space through her mother, and her personal experience as a patient in a clinical trial on psilocybin for the treatment of anorexia – a much more common and deadly affliction than most people realize. She discusses her involvement with the various psychedelic gatherings surrounding Davos and the World Economic Forum, as well as the work she’s doing with Tabula Rasa and some of their clients seeking to expand insurance coverage to psychedelic-assisted therapy. 

She discusses the Synthesis Institute’s recent struggles that shook up the psychedelic space, what they’re doing to save the company, how Retreat Guru has helped them, and the implications for the wider psychedelic movement. And she talks about much more: the legality and vetting process for training in Oregon and Colorado; truffles in the Netherlands vs. classic psilocybin; the idea of alcohol as poison and ‘Cali sober,’ and how can we all be more collaborative and not sling mud at each other?

Notable Quotes

“The limitations are really when you’ve been in therapy, you’ve seen a nutritionist for five, ten years; you have all the tools there, you know what you’re supposed to do (this can be applied to things like depression or anxiety or any other mental issue), but those neural pathways that have been connecting and forming with those negative thought patterns for decades: for people, they’re not going to undo themselves. It takes more motivation than I have ever had to break my cycles, and I really felt stuck. I don’t think I was going to ever get better than I was at the time without something like psychedelics.”

“It could set the temperature for a lot of other psychedelic organizations and movements to say, ‘This isn’t working and let me show you why. If this goes up in flames, then what else is possible?’ And the space is already greatly under-funded and financiers look at this and they’re like, ‘I’m not touching that with a ten foot pole. This is too early, or this is too risky, or X, Y, and Z.’ So that was really the scary part of the first few weeks of what this meant for the movement at large: if we can’t pull it off, then who can?”

“This whole thing has been like a great big psychedelic trip: use our learning towards being a facilitator, towards facilitating ourselves through this chaos. There has to be chaos within to give birth to a dancing star, I think is what Nietzsche said. We’ll be that dancing star.”

Links

Synthesisinstitute.com

Tabularasa.ventures

Psychedelicspotlight.com: Psychedelic Capitalism Takes a Trip to Davos

Enthea.com

Retreat.guru

Join Kyle and David on August 10th at 222 E 46th St, New York, NY, 7-10pm EST. Click here for tickets!
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PT429 – From Mycophobia to Fungi Fever: The Psychedelic Space’s Growing Interest in Functional Mushrooms

In this episode, Kyle interviews the Founder and CEO of FreshCap Mushrooms and host of The Mushroom Show on YouTube, Tony Shields.

He talks about how an early interest in lucid dreaming sent him down a psychedelic path, and how, as his interest in mushrooms has grown, he’s watched the culture shift from a narrative of mycophobia to one of appreciation and interest. With FreshCap Mushrooms and The Mushroom Show, he aims to provide much needed education around this vast and mysterious world of fungi.

He talks about the thriving psilocybin scene in Jamaica, and how, through filming a documentary there, he learned how much communities still don’t know about mushrooms, how much tourism supports the country, and how much of a special vibe Jamaica has for psilocybin retreats.

And he discusses much more: why lion’s mane should help with concussions and TBIs; indications mushrooms could heal, from long Covid to paralysis; concerns over over-medicalization; why Terence McKennas’ ideas weren’t as crazy as many thought; visiting mushroom shops in Canada; the secret language of mushrooms; where psychedelic people can start to learn about functional mushrooms; and why, if he could embody any mushroom, it’d be cordyceps.

Notable Quotes

“We draw these arbitrary lines as human beings between: psychedelic mushrooms are over here, functional mushrooms are over here, and poisonous mushrooms are over here. But the mushrooms don’t do that. It’s just a spectrum where they’re creating all these crazy compounds for all these different reasons and they just happen to interact with our bodies in different ways.”

“It’s not just that they change your consciousness or make you see colors or make you laugh or whatever; they do seem to have this ability to dig out very specific things or show you things in a different way that can have really profound impacts on your life afterwards. And that’s something I think we still haven’t figured out, is like: how the hell did mushrooms do that? How do they know how to find exactly what you might need to be dealing with? Not always, but they have this ability to be like, ‘Hey, here’s something you haven’t thought about in 20 years. This is important. You should look at this.’ I still can’t get over how amazing that is and how that works.”

“I thought, ‘Okay, the reason why people are going down here is just because they forgot to make it illegal and it just provided this weird niche opportunity in the world for people to go and experience mushrooms.’ But it’s way more than that. Jamaica is a very special, magical place. …The fact that they grow there, it’s just a vibe. It’s a whole thing, and I can see why. I can see why people would want to go there for psilocybin therapy or the psilocybin retreat experience, just because number one: it takes you away from your normal kind of day-to-day life, but there is something special about sitting in front of the ocean as the sun is going down in a beautiful location and feeling that profound impact of mushrooms at the same time. It’s a very special place.”

Links

Freshcap.com

YouTube: FreshCap Mushrooms

YouTube: Spreading Spores with Super-Soakers? (The Mushroom Show EP 9, with Kyle)

YouTube: Can Lion’s Mane Mushroom Grow Brain Cells (NEW Research)

Outsideonline.com: Jim Harris Was Paralyzed. Then He Ate Magic Mushrooms.

Traddcotter.com

Mycologypress.com

Psacredtherapeutics.com

Mycomeditations.com

Allthatsinteresting.com: New Study Shows Mushrooms Communicate With Each Other Using A Vocabulary Of 50 Words

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PT428 – The Promise of MAPS’ Phase III Data, Psychedelics and Adolescents, and the Need for Honest Drug Education

In this episode, recorded on the eve of MAPS’ Psychedelic Science 2023, Kyle interviews MAPS’ Founder and President, Rick Doblin, Ph.D.

He begins with an overview of the fast-approaching (and largest ever) psychedelics conference, emphasizing its significant growth, many features, and bipartisan opening ceremony, then discusses MAPS’ soon-to-be-released confirmatory Phase III data on MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD, which should set the stage for legal MDMA and the increasing need for trained psychedelic therapists. 

As the FDA is requiring studies on adolescents, he discusses this sensitive issue and questions why it’s so controversial, since teenage years are often closer to both trauma and a more malleable brain, Indigenous traditions certainly didn’t have age limits, and honest drug education – something that is absolutely necessary to fight the backlash against this quickly growing field – teaches us that it’s not the substance; it’s our relationship to it. Could not having these rites of passage be hurting us?

He also discusses the natural vs. synthetic conflict; breathwork; whether or not cannabis is truly damaging to young minds; Federal rescheduling vs. state rescheduling; why it’s controversial to give therapists MDMA in training; Gul Dolen’s work with reopening critical periods; psychedelics in couples therapy; and much more.

Notable Quotes

“We have been just astonished at the fact that we now have 11,500 people registered for this conference, and we, in our wildest dreams, thought maybe we’d get up to 10,000. But even that was just like a wild dream. The largest psychedelic conference that’s ever happened was our Psychedelic Science in 2017. …Now we’re almost four times as big. It’s a whole different cultural moment, and what I didn’t fully anticipate is how this conference would be like a magnet for the entire community.” 

“I think the proper training of psychedelic therapists is different than the proper training of psychiatrists to administer any kind of pharmacological drugs, because for psychiatry; when they give SSRIs or they give other kinds of medications or they give electroconvulsive therapy or whatever: those are meant to be the treatments. In our case, the treatment is really the human relationship – the therapy – and then the psychedelics make the therapy more effective. And so it makes the most sense for people that are interested in doing psychedelic therapy, for them to have the experience of the psychedelics themselves. As we start to scale, there’s a lot of experienced trauma therapists, but they might not be experienced psychonauts, and it’s hard to describe what a drug does.”

“When you think about these rites of passage, that when you’re an adolescent or early in college, those are the ripe times for people to sort of explore: who are they? Where do they fit into the larger world? I think in many Indigenous cultures, that’s the time of initiation for a lot of people, so I think we have hurt ourselves tremendously. Now, you hear this always about marijuana: ‘kids [have] developing brains and they shouldn’t ever try marijuana.’ And I think the thing is that overuse is a problem. Daily use before you go to school: all that is a problem. It makes it difficult to learn, things like that. But we tend to make sweeping statements like ‘never use.’”

Links

Maps.org

Psychedelicscience.org

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

Numinus.com

Numindhealth.com

Drugpolicy.org

Maps.org: MAPS Receives $5 Million Grant from the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation

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PT427 – The Philosophy of Law Enforcement, The Criminalization of Self-Directed Behavior, and Transformative Care for Police

In this episode, Joe interviews Sarko Gergerian, MS, MHC, CARC: a police peer support, community outreach, and health-fitness officer; founding member of the Community and Law Enforcement Assisted Recovery Program (C.L.E.A.R.); and psychotherapist trained in ketamine- and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.

Any regular listener of the show should be familiar with how passionately Joe is against the drug war and the resulting policing of what many of us feel should be legal, so this in-person conversation with a police officer who seems to mostly be on our side is pretty refreshing to hear. 

Gergerian discusses his entry into the force in his 30s, and what it was like to bring in a healthy “why is this illegal?” viewpoint on drug use and personal agency vs. the slow moving attitudes he saw in much of law enforcement. He talks about how working nightclub security taught him about safe spaces; the problems with officers not proactively moving on actionable information and building relationships with communities; and the very philosophy behind law enforcement: what do they hope to accomplish, do they want to make real change, and do they believe in the laws they’re enforcing? 

And they discuss so much more: the need for diversity, cultural competency, and broadness in perspective; the criminalization of self-directed behavior; the effect critical incidents have on officers; drug war paranoia, legitimate concerns over hotlines and sensitive data, and psychedelic culture’s relationships with police; creating a culture of harm reduction within law enforcement, and what it might look like for police officers to receive psychedelic therapy.

Notable Quotes

“I think we, as a country, are more powerful by being diverse, and that includes diverse ways of thinking and that includes diverse ways of coming at challenges. And the more diverse our police departments are – I believe this with all my heart – the stronger we are for it. The stronger policing is for it. And I’m talking all types of diversity. …If we can diversify not only ways of thinking in police, but have a diversity of education and background in policing, then we’ll see some magic happen. Then we’ll see some creativity in how we respond to these very human problems that we all experience.”

“Keeping people alive has to be primary. If you don’t have a person that’s alive, you don’t have the possibility of recovery. So we’re tasked with watching out for one another, making sure people are alive, and whatever relationship they have with intoxicating substances: that’s their personal story, and they’re going to get to their healing journey and their recovery from any out-of-balance relationship in due time – their time.”

“I’ve been trained in [ketamine] and I was able to access it, so I’ve experienced it [at] very low dose (intermuscular). Magical. Magical. And the after effect for a couple of weeks, the reprieve, the relaxed feeling: it was beautiful. It was beautiful. And why shouldn’t our officers who are getting dark be able to access that before they’re pegged with depression? …Why shouldn’t they be able to access that before they put the barrel of the gun in their mouth, by themselves in their police cruiser? Why? Because you need a diagnostic label to access self-care? It makes absolutely no sense to me.”

Links

Storiescreatingchange.com

YouTube: Psychedelics for the Frontlines: A Police Officer on the Healing Potential of MDMA for PTSD

Lawenforcementactionpartnership.org

PAARIusa.org

Neverusealone.com

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PT426 – Making the Impossible Possible: Flow Hacking and Peak Performance Aging

In this episode, Joe interviews one of the world’s leading experts on human performance: New York Times bestselling author and Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective, Steven Kotler.

Kotler’s work explores the neurobiology of peak human performance, flow states, and aging, and the concept of getting our biology to work for us rather than against us in our later years, by using the parts of our brains that expand in our 50s, combined with neuroplasticity, learning by play, and the biggest factor: working toward a very difficult – but not impossible – task. His 30-year exploration of the neurobiology behind people accomplishing ‘impossible’ feats led him to test his theories by teaching himself to park ski at 53 with resounding success, then using his protocol with people up to 70 years old the next season. The story is told in his newest book about challenging tired concepts of aging, Gnar Country. 

He discusses the power of flow states and how much flow actually amplifies productivity, motivation, wisdom, empathy, and more; why dynamic motion is a key activity for greater longevity and why skiing and similar action sports are some of the best examples; why dynamic activity in novel environments is even better; why changing one’s mindset may be the biggest factor toward change; why corporations are looking at flow training and where these concepts could go in the future; and of course, how this all relates to psychedelics. 

Notable Quotes

“If you study flow science, it turns out that flow is really great at helping us go from zero up to Superman. It’s also really great at helping us go from seriously subpar, ‘I’m completely broken and sick’ back to normal. And it turns out this combination is phenomenal in the second half of our lives. And flow sits at the heart of peak performance aging.”

“The only way I can go [from] A to B with this is to take everything I know about flow science and peak performance and see if I can use it to accomplish this so-called impossible task. So that’s what the book is. And yes, I was obviously very successful. I went 0 to 60, as I said, in a single season. It was the fastest I’ve ever actually learned anything.”

“The place you’ve got to begin is mindset. The mind-body connection gets tighter and tighter and tighter over time, and it plays a significant role in aging and peak performance aging. Mindset is the greatest example. …A positive mindset towards aging  – ‘I am thrilled with the second half of my life; my best days are ahead of me’ – translates to an additional eight years of healthy longevity. It’s wild. …You could be morbidly obese and have a shitty mindset towards aging. Change your mindset, you’ll live longer. Don’t lose weight. Change your mindset. It’s more important. In fact, changing your mindset is more important than quitting smoking for healthy longevity.”

Links

Stevenkotler.com

YouTube: Steven Kotler

Flowresearchcollective.com

Gnarcountry.com

When the Impossible Happens: Adventures in Non-Ordinary Realities, by Stanislav Grof

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas S. Kuhn

Getmoreflow.com

The Gnar Country experiment videos

YouTube: Danny Way vs The Great Wall 10 Years Later

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PT425 – The Transformative Potential of Psychedelics, Community, and Live Music

In this episode, David interviews Dr. Gabrielle Lehigh: Co-Founder and Managing Director of Psychedelic Grad, a web-based community serving as an educational and career hub for up-and-coming psychedelic professionals; and the host of the related podcast, “Curious to Serious,” where she speaks with students and professionals about the path they took to land in the psychedelic field. 

Lehigh recently earned her Ph.D. with research on something not many are looking at: the stories behind powerful and transformative psychedelic experiences specifically at music events, based on 38 interviews and over 500 surveys mostly collected at day-long festivals in the southern United States. While the goal was largely data collection in support of the clear potential for therapeutic benefit in using psychedelics in recreational settings (as many of us who have experienced this can attest), she was surprised to learn how many people still blindly trust dealers; how much festival security can affect safety; how the community often makes more of a difference than the music itself; and how many parallels exist between colder clinical models of psychedelic-assisted therapy and the completely open festival experience. 

She discusses how she found her way from environmental justice to psychedelics; what people are most looking for on Psychedelic Grad; why she chose to use the word “transformative” in her research; what music she has had her best experiences with; why psychonauts shouldn’t forget about Pink Floyd; and much more.

Notable Quotes

“I went to my advisor at the time and I said, ‘Listen, I want to change the direction that I’ve been going in.’ I’m like, ‘I either want to study the anthropology of space colonization,’ (which is so out there) ‘or I want to study psychedelics.’ And my advisor was like, ‘Neither one of those is anywhere near what you were studying before. What happened?’”

“I can be somewhat frustrated sometimes when, from the clinical setting, there’s this idea that recreational use has no benefit for people, because I’ve seen it from other people’s experiences, [and] there have been experiences that I’ve had in those types of recreational settings that have been incredibly beneficial for me. Even when I started taking psychedelics, even though I was taking them at home; it wasn’t clinical, it wasn’t medical, it wasn’t necessarily therapeutic as defined by ‘therapeutic,’ so it was still considered recreational. So I was just really frustrated in seeing repeated notions that recreational isn’t necessarily beneficial. And so I set out to be like: well, if it’s not beneficial, then maybe we should go check it out and see what’s really going on.”

“When we think about the clinical setting, when we look at the MAPS protocol and everything, music is a part of it. But in the interviews, people talked about the value of live music. There’s something special and something unique about music being created in the moment, and you, as a spectator, are part of the creation of that music, and there’s something really special going on there. …It’s the music, and it’s not just the music as the music, it’s this live production of the music. There’s some type of magic in it.”

Links

Psychedelicgrad.com

Curious to Serious podcast

Curious to Serious podcast: David Drapkin – Working In The Psychedelic Space

“Transformative Psychedelic Experiences at Music Events: Using Subjective Experience to Explore Chemosocial Assemblages of Culture,” by Gabrielle R. Lehigh (her full dissertation)

Prohibited Practice: Drug Use, Harm Reduction and Benefit Enhancement in Toronto Rave Culture, by Hilary Agro

Sciencedirect.com: The pleasure in context,” by Cameron Duff

Israeli Harm Reduction – A Real World Trip From Raves to Parliament (A Psychedelics Today webinar)

Bassdrive.com

YouTube: Grateful Dead – Terrapin Station (Anaheim, CA 7/26/87)

Spotify: Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon

Spotify: “Top 40 Hits from Gabby’s Trips” (the playlist she discussed at the end of the episode)

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PT424 – Psychedelic Spirituality: Religion, Mysticism, and the Psychedelic Experience

In this episode, Kyle interviews the Reverend Dr. Brian Rajcok, Lead Pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Avon, Connecticut, who recently completed his Ph.D. in pastoral counseling.

Rajcok dives into the intersection of spirituality, religion, mysticism, and how psychedelics bring these topics together, discussing a transformative peyote ceremony and the awe-inspiring moments of surrender, connection, and divine presence that left a lasting impact on him and deepened his connection to God. And he talks about his recently completed dissertation that was inspired by it all: “The Lived Experience of Professional Mental Health Clinicians With Spiritually Significant Psychedelic Experiences,” which he created to gauge the relationship between religious spiritual commitment, tolerance, and multicultural counselor competency. He shares stories from the study and reflections on how these experiences have changed the way involved clinicians work. 

And he discusses much more in the realm of psychedelics and religion: why he pursued pastoral counseling and how psychedelics come into play; the balance between tradition and reason and spiritual commitment and tolerance; the legal and regulatory considerations of religious psychedelic use; the concept of a faith quadrilateral; the need for psychedelic experiences in counseling training programs; the big question of ‘when is it religion and when is it mental health care?’; and how the future of psychedelic spirituality could be humanity’s biggest evolution.

Notable Quotes

“There were moments in the night where I felt like I was looking at the fire, having a feeling of being in Hell. And then there was this shift of when I said, ‘Okay, if I’m in Hell, accept that.’ And then I accepted that, and then there was this total emotional shift to like, ‘Wow, now I’m in Heaven!’ It was just this beautiful experience of accepting the worst, and then once that work was done, it shifted into this beautiful experience. That was a very profound moment for me.”

“People who are more religiously committed tend to have a reputation for being less tolerant, and people who are the most tolerant tend to have a reputation of being the least committed. But I think that what we see from people who have (whether it’s psychedelic experiences or naturally occurring) mystical experiences, there’s a level of religious spiritual commitment and tolerance at the same time that increases. So that was one thing that I wanted to explore.”

“That was another really profound one: people who experienced different spirit guides; experiences of the divine; encounters with deceased relatives was another one; there was someone who was not a Christian who had an experience with Jesus. So there’s a lot of these profound encounters. …And they’re so healing that it’s obvious that there’s something good going on here. It’s not just your imagination running wild, there’s a real [connection] to the spirit realm or to whatever other dimensions of reality, and it’s such a mystery, but it’s clear that there’s something real going on.”

Links

Stmatthewavon.org

Brian’s Dissertation: “The Lived Experience of Professional Mental Health Clinicians with Spiritually Significant Psychedelic Experiences”

YouTube: StMatthewAvon

Rickstrassman.com: Interview with The Rev. Brian R. Rajcok

PT231 – Dr. Hassan Tetteh – Human Care Over Health Care

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PT423 – The Watts Connectedness Scale, The Importance of Elders, and What We Can Learn From Trees

In this episode, David interviews Dr. Rosalind Watts: famed clinical psychologist, former clinical lead on Imperial College London’s first Psilocybin for Depression trial, and Founder of ACER Integration.

She discusses the awakening she had after having a child; her work at Imperial College and realizing the importance of staying in touch with patients; the challenges of balancing her work with being a mother; her ACER integration model and the interconnectedness of trees in a forest; how the Watts Connectedness Scale works (and David fills it out); and how much the outside-the-hype surrounding pieces matter – the therapy, the therapeutic relationship, the lessons learned, and the work done to integrate it all.

And she talks about another moment of awakening, at last year’s Psych Summit conference, where capitalism’s obsession with profit-over-care frameworks and “magic bullet” and “brain reset” narratives was on full display, which fully enforced what she hopes for in the future: a world where we embrace non-clinical, ceremonial, and nature-based practices; with healing centers (psychedelic and non); supportive communities; infrastructure around conflict resolution and restorative justice; and a shift towards collectivism and collaboration – and how that all starts by finding our psychedelic elders.

Notable Quotes

“I’m a tourist. I’m listening, I’m learning, but I know that I don’t have deep roots and that there are people that do. So it ties into that thing about finding the elders: as we find our elders for conflict resolution and for therapy and for healing and for psychedelic healing, I also hope we find the elders who are deeply rooted in Indigenous traditions, from Indigenous traditions all over the world, and that they can teach us and teach me, if they will, those stories and those ways, and that then, my daughter: if she can learn through her life, she can grow up with it in a way that I didn’t – so she can have deep roots in that tradition.”

“When we’re on the riverbank and we’ve had our cup of tea and we’ve warmed by the fire, we can look upstream and think: all the people that are coming down the river, what might they need? And then we can kind of run and chuck them the blankets or a chocolate biscuit or the things that they might need, or just shout to them and say, ‘Hey, you’re doing great. It’s crazy out there, there’s a riverbank soon. You can come and sit and join us.’ So it’s like, it’s also about thinking of what’s next for us, but also thinking of all the people that are coming and how we can support each other on the rapids as well.” 

Links

Drrosalindwatts.com

ACERintegration.com

Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest, by Suzanne Simard

Finnpetcher.com

Jonhopkins.co.uk

Rosalind Watts’ Spotify playlists

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PT422 – Curative Mushrooms: Exploring the World of Grow Kits and Home Growing

In this episode, Joe interviews Oliver Carlin, Founder of Curative Mushrooms, a grow kit solution company designed to produce mushrooms of one’s choosing within 30 days with little effort and no growing experience.

Carlin tells his personal story of 20 years in the Navy to a 7g psilocybin journey and the work of perfecting these grow bags; how a grow bag works; how easy it can be to grow your own mushrooms; the advantages of growing your own mushrooms vs. buying them; the legalities of grow kits and how he has been able to do this; steps growers can take to reduce their legal risks; the variety of people benefitting from mushrooms (especially in the veteran community); and how growing your own mushrooms seems to make the experience more curated and special.

Curative Mushrooms recently hired someone to create new strains for them every month, they do bimonthly live Q&As for people interested in growing, and they ship a bonus mycology book with each kit that shows how to study spores. They offer growing kits for Lion’s Mane, Turkey Tail, and Shiitake mushrooms, but his most popular option is the “All-in-One Happy Mushrooms for Sad People” kit.

Notable Quotes

“I do believe there’s always going to be a market for growers, because it’s just fun. And you can create your own strains of mushrooms if you really get into it. I mean, you can even name strains after yourself. And plus, isn’t it cool to grow your own, because now you have super fresh mushrooms, you know exactly what it is, how fresh, it’s going to be the most potent because you just grew it, and I’ll be honest, when you grow your own, it feels like the mushrooms were, like, grown specifically for you. I don’t know, there’s something special about them.”

“I didn’t take mushrooms because I was specifically doing it to overcome depression or anything like that. The reason I took mushrooms was: it was like answering questions about the world that I’ve always wanted to know. I’ve always had a problem with everything I’ve been told, and this was my opportunity to finally get some type of an answer for things that I didn’t understand. And that was my reason. And it completely changed my life.”

Links

Curativemushrooms.com (purchase using our affiliate link!)

Curativemushrooms.com: Content Hub

YouTube: Curative Mushrooms

Join us for A Vital Journey: Transpersonal Breathwork Retreat in PA, July 28

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PT421 – The Impact of the Therapeutic Alliance on the Psychedelic Experience

In this episode, David interviews Dr. Roberta Murphy: training medical psychotherapist and member of the Imperial Centre for Psychedelic Research.

This is a rare impromptu podcast, recorded about a half hour after David heard Murphy speaking on a panel at UK’s Breaking Convention conference. He asked her if she wanted to be on the podcast sometime, and before they knew it, they were recording. Fastest turnaround ever?

She discusses her past research and what she’s doing at Imperial College; her work on a psilocybin for depression trial; her hopes for psychedelics treating people with Parkinson’s; and her recent co-written paper on the ARC Framework (Access, Reciprocity and Conduct), where she will be focusing strongly on the Conduct aspect through her work at Imperial. 

And she talks about her other paper exploring the impact of one of the more important aspects of therapy: the therapeutic alliance on the psychedelic experience. How does the treatment dynamic between the therapist and the client impact the outcome (and course) of the therapy, and what determines whether it’s neutral, negative, positive, or very positive?

Notable Quotes

“It makes sense in a way that you might need to kind of work through those mistrust feelings before you get into a deeper layer, and then in the next session they were able to (I think because they felt a bit safer with us) let go and have a bit more of a typical psychedelic experience where they visualized things and saw things. …I think that that can often then be mistaken as resistance or like nothing’s happening. But there’s always something happening, it’s just sometimes it’s a little bit more nuanced or a little bit harder to pick up and work with. But there’s always something happening. You just might have to zoom in a bit to see it.”

“There’s a difference between a challenging experience that occurs, is processed, and worked through vs. a challenging experience where people kind of never really work with it, it doesn’t get processed, and they get quite stuck in it. …I do think that if you have a good container of a therapeutic relationship, it can help you to work through and process, and I think if you don’t have that, it’s more likely that you’ll end up with something a bit stuck, because I think in order to process, you often need to go in and go deep. And if you don’t feel safe to do that, you’re just going to kind of float on the edge, in a way, and never quite get through.”

Links

Researchgate.net: Therapeutic Alliance and Rapport Modulate Responses to Psilocybin Assisted Therapy for Depression

Researchgate.net: ARC: a framework for access, reciprocity and conduct in psychedelic therapies

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PT420 – DanceSafe: Drug Testing, Fentanyl Myths, and the Importance of Consent

In this episode, Alexa interviews Rachel Clark: Education Manager for DanceSafe, a public health nonprofit specializing in serving people who use drugs and their communities.

As we move into the prime festival season, more people are going to be doing drugs, and the importance of harm reduction and drug testing becomes even more central to the experience. She discusses the complications of drug testing and how it’s more of an act of ruling substances out rather than determining purity; the fentanyl problem and its surrounding myths; how to identify and treat an overdose (and what not to do); Philadelphia’s struggles with Xylazine highlighting the problem with regional cross contamination; and DanceSafe’s “We Love Consent” and “Healing is Power” campaigns, which aim to open up the dialogue of true harm reduction and safe spaces outside of the substance alone.

Check out DanceSafe.org for more info, and use this link when you’re ready to make a purchase!

Notable Quotes

“You’re looking for red flags and not green lights. You’re not looking for confirmation that something is in your substance, you’re looking for a red flag about whether something is obviously or potentially not what you expected.”

“The three major symptoms of opioid overdose are very, very slow, shallow, and or stopped breathing, reduced or absent consciousness, and pinpoint/constricted pupils. And I want everyone to understand that the cause of opioid overdose is when your respiration, your breathing slows to the point that your tissues are not being oxygenated and perfused and your heart stops. That is the sequence. …If people understood that this is about a lack of oxygen because your breathing is too slow, I think that the public understanding of fentanyl overdose and opioid overdose would change a lot, because that, in and of itself, gives you a lot of information when you’re looking at someone and evaluating if an opioid could be involved.”

“Always communicate the limitations of what you know. Assume that you are missing information, because you are. And when you are reporting on something that you witnessed, share only what you saw and what you did, including timelines. This is a major, major note for anybody, especially people who work in EMS, because there have been a lot of very well-intentioned folks who have ended up spreading misinformation like wildfire by saying things as certainties instead of sharing observations.”

Links

Dancesafe.org

Dancesafe.org: We Love Consent

Dancesafe.org: Healing is Power

Erowid.org

Psychonautwiki.org

Effectindex.com

Drugsdata.org

Streetsafe.supply

Energycontrol-international.org

Check out the Lumenate app, and download it through the App store here!

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Psychedelics Weekly – A Recap of Psychedelic Science 2023

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Alexa reminisce about last week’s Psychedelic Science 2023, dubbed as the largest psychedelic conference in history. 

They discuss Joe’s two Psychedelic Morning Shows with Anne Philippi; Court Wing, Bob Wold, and the work of Clusterbusters and the new Psychedelics and Pain Association; Tracey Tee and her “Millions of Moms” gathering; Aaron Rodgers and athletes’ growing interest in psychedelics; the legality of mushroom growing kits; and the fun and overwhelming atmosphere of such a massive event. And as Alexa had her first breathwork session, they dig more into breathwork, serving as somewhat of a follow-up to our breathwork episode a few weeks ago.  

They also talk about a short film they came across called “Open Up,” which looks at the party lifestyle of always seeking a new high, the potential of ketamine abuse, and what can happen when people don’t talk about their problems.

Links

Clusterbusters.org

9news.com: Group of moms intend to march in Washington D.C. in support of psychedelic therapy

Atableofourown.org

“Open Up”: short narrative about ketamine

A Vital Journey: Breathwork Retreat, 7/28/2023 – 8/2/2023 in River Mountain, Pennsylvania

Nypost.com: Aaron Rodgers: ‘Hundreds’ of NFLers have asked me about psychedelics

Npr.org: Denver psychedelics conference attracts thousands

Hightimes.com: FDA Issues Draft Guidance For Clinical Studies On Psychedelics

Fda.gov: FDA Issues First Draft Guidance on Clinical Trials with Psychedelic Drugs

Fda.gov: Psychedelic Drugs: Considerations for Clinical Investigations (Submit comments by 8/25)

Navigating Psychedelics For Clinicians and Wellness Practitioners (Next edition begins July 12!)

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PT419 – Ketamine-Assisted Therapy for Severe Alcohol Use Disorder

In this episode, David interviews Professor Celia Morgan, Ph.D., who holds the Chair of Psychopharmacology and co-leads the Transdisciplinary Psychedelics Group at The University of Exeter.

This was recorded on the dawn of UK’s Breaking Convention conference, where Morgan was speaking about the therapeutic potential of ketamine as well as the danger of people developing a dependence on it. She touches on that topic, but largely discusses her current Phase III Trial for ketamine-assisted therapy for the treatment of severe alcohol use disorder (also called the KARE model (Ketamine for reduction of Alcohol Relapse)), a collaboration with Awakn Life Sciences.

She discusses her other research: studies on mindfulness intervention before and after ketamine, epigenetic changes after ayahuasca use, the antidepressant qualities of ayahuasca, and CBD for cannabis dependence. And she talks about the necessary balance for making treatments amazing but affordable; how connecting with nature during integration is key; how the drug is just a tool, yet we focus on it too much; and how we need studies on how different therapies work with different substances.

Notable Quotes

“People always focus on the drugs, but it’s more about the people, and as you say, their relationship – what you’re getting from that experience. The drugs themselves are just tools. You can hit someone over the head with a spade, but you can dig an amazing garden. I see the drugs as the spade, basically, but obviously a really unusual spade.”

“Taking a step back from your thoughts and not being over-engaged with everything you’re doing; the ketamine really helps to facilitate that, because they can see how that works. Mindfulness can be really tricky. Mindfulness practice is hard work. So I see this as a big step that makes it work better in that first bit, especially when people are struggling. …Ketamine, to my mind, gives this kind of boost and insight that can help engage them with the therapy going forward.” 

Links

A Vital Journey: Transpersonal Breathwork Retreat in PA, July 28

Check out the Lumenate app, and download it through the App store here!

University of Exeter department of Psychology: Professor Celia Morgan

Ketamine for reduction of Alcoholic Relapse (KARE)

Awaknlifesciences.com: Awakn Life Sciences Signs Collaboration Agreement With University of Exeter for Upcoming Phase III Trial

Breakingconvention.co.uk

Nice.org.uk: Nasal spray medicine for treatment-resistant depression not recommended by NICE

The NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression program (formerly known as Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT))

Nushama.com

Awaknlifesciences.com: Awakn Life Sciences Signs MOU with NHS (Devon Partnership NHS Trust) and University of Exeter with a View of Increasing Access to Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy in the UK

Frontiersin.org: Ceremonial Ayahuasca in Amazonian Retreats—Mental Health and Epigenetic Outcomes From a Six-Month Naturalistic Study

Journals.sagepub.com: Antidepressive, anxiolytic, and antiaddictive effects of ayahuasca, psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD): a systematic review of clinical trials published in the last 25 years

Thelancet.com: Cannabidiol for the treatment of cannabis use disorder: a phase 2a, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, adaptive Bayesian trial

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PT418 – Psychedelic Morning Show #2 with Joe Moore and Anne Philippi

In the second episode of our special, two-part series, the Psychedelic Morning Show, Joe Moore and Anne Philippi are live once again bright and early from Psychedelic Science 2023 in Denver. Listen to this podcast as they interview four guests working on the front lines of psychedelic research, law, and the treatment of chronic pain.

Guests for this episode include: 

  • Tommaso Barba – PhD candidate at Centre for Psychedelic Research, Imperial College London
  • Allison Hoots – Attorney at Hoots Law Practice and advocate; President of Sacred Plant Alliance
  • Bob Wold – Founder & President, Clusterbusters
  • Court Wing – Founder, REMAP Therapeutics

Links

Imperial College London Centre for Psychedelic Research

Sacred Plant Alliance

Hoots Law Practice

Clusterbusters

PT404 – Clusterbusters: The Horrors of Cluster Headaches and the Miracle of Psilocybin

Court Wing – Pain and Its Relationship to the Mind

REMAP Therapeutics

Surprising Results: Psilocybin Trial for Depression Alleviates Chronic Pain, by Court Wing

Why Did Psychedelics Relieve My Chronic Pain? by Court Wing

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PT417 – Psychedelic Morning Show #1 with Joe Moore and Anne Philippi

Psychedelics Today is reporting live this week from the industry event of the year, Psychedelic Science 2023 in Denver. Listen in to this podcast as our co-founder, Joe Moore, and New Health Club founder Anne Philippi hit the conference floor bright and early in the first episode of a special two-part series, the Psychedelic Morning Show.

In this limited series, Joe and Anne chat in real-time with guests working in all corners of the psychedelic ecosystem, from advocacy, law and finance, to research and therapy. 

Guests for this episode include: 

  • Dr. Julie Holland – Psychiatrist, psychedelic researcher, author and medical advisor for MAPS
  • Daniel Goldberg – Co-Founder and Principal at Bridge Investments & Palo Santo
  • Hadas Alterman – Director of Government Affairs | American Psychedelic Practitioners Association
  • Melissa Lavasani – Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Psychedelic Medicine Coalition, Founder and President of Psychedelic Medicine PAC
  • Tracey Tee – Founder of Moms on Mushrooms

Links

DrHolland.com

MAPS

Working Weekends at a Psych ER – Interview with Julie Holland on NPR

Bridge Investments

Palo Santo

American Psychedelic Practitioners Association

PT249 – Hadas Alterman, Serena Wu, and Adriana Kertzer of Plant Medicine Law Group

Psychedelic Medicine Coalition

Psychedelic Medicine PAC

PT338 – Melissa Lavasani – The Power of Storytelling, The Preservation of Peyote, and “How to Change Your Mind”

PT405 – The Psychedelic Medicine PAC: The Push for Federal Funding and Politicians Who Will Fight for Us

Moms on Mushrooms

PT396 – Moms on Mushrooms: Motherhood and Psychedelics Inside a Broken Culture

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PT416 – A New Chapter for Johns Hopkins Psychedelic & Consciousness Research

In this episode, David interviews Frederick Barrett, Ph.D.: cognitive neuroscientist, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and now, Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research.

With today’s news, Barrett officially takes over for the legendary Roland Griffiths, who has been in the role since the Center’s launch in 2019, and who will continue on as a member of the leadership team while dealing with the Stage 4 cancer diagnosis he has been remarkably candid about in recent interviews. 

Dr. Barrett has been conducting research at Johns Hopkins for a decade, authoring or co-authoring some of the first studies on psilocybin’s enduring effects, and receiving the first federally funded human psychedelic research grant from the NIH since the 70s. He discusses the work and importance of Roland Griffiths; the history of the Center and current research he’s most excited about; the mystery of consciousness; and the power and sacredness of music: how we all use music to regulate our emotions, and how he wants to explore the brain mechanisms behind that connection.

Notable Quotes

“I came here in 2013, kind of starry-eyed and still a little green behind the ears, and I thought music is a great tool to study the mind, but psychedelic drugs must be such a more powerful tool to study the mind and the brain, and essentially that’s what’s driven me since. I see psychedelics, music, brain imaging, cognitive testing, qualitative interviews, questionnaires: all these things are all different types of tools in the kitchen of trying to study the mind. And that’s what motivates me; is really just trying to use whatever tools we have access to to understand this complex experience that we have as humans.”

“Roland has been one of the most influential and important mentors of my life, and he has mentored each of the faculty within the Psychedelic Research Center. …But his impact on the psychedelic world, I think, can’t be understated. He’s just a remarkable man. He is so precise and careful and piercing with his thinking, but yet so clear in being able to articulate complex ideas and really the most interesting and important nuggets of a finding. …I think that’s one of the reasons that he’s been a leading figure in psychedelic research, and I think those are some of the reasons that he was able to pull this off to begin with.”

“If you think of all of the variables that you can try to push around to manipulate set and setting, it’s not just a couple dials; it’s like a church organ. It’s like a concert organ, and I think that music is one of the biggest keys that we can press on, so I’m going to start pressing on it.”

Links

Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research

Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Researcher Names New Director

Hopkinspsychedelic.org: Frederick S. Barrett, Ph.D.

Hopkinsmedicine.org: Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance

Sagepub: Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial

Hopkinsmedicine.org: Hallucinogenic Drug Psilocybin Eases Existential Anxiety in People With Life-Threatening Cancer

Hopkinsmedicine.org: ‘Magic Mushrooms’ Help Longtime Smokers Quit

Researchgate.net: Psilocybin in long-term meditators: Effects on default mode network functional connectivity and retrospective ratings of qualitative experience

Hopkinspsychedelic.org: Albert Garcia-Romeu, Ph.D.

Hopkinspsychedelic.org: Sandeep Nayak, MD

Hopkinspsychedelic.org: David Yaden, Ph.D.

Researchgate.net: Psychedelics and music: neuroscience and
therapeutic implications

Spotify: Slow Dancing Society

Spotify: Hatebreed

Spotify: Old Crow Medicine Show

Spotify: Old Crow Medicine Show: “Wagon Wheel”

Spotify: Béla Fleck and the Flecktones

Spotify: Nickel Creek

Spotify: Nickel Creek: “Rest of My Life”

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Psychedelics Weekly – The Power of Our Breath: A Deep Dive Into Breathwork

In this edition of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle dedicate the entire episode to one of their biggest passions: breathwork and the power of breath in reaching non-ordinary states of consciousness.

What many listeners may not know is that Psychedelics Today was created because of the lack of attention being paid to breathwork, transpersonal psychology, and the work of Stanislav Grof, so this episode serves as a deep dive into all the facets of our fascinating ability to reach psychedelic states simply by breathing in specific ways.

They discuss the history of breathwork; the various methods (box breathing, alternate nostril breathing, rebirthing breathwork, the Wim Hof method, Holotropic and Transpersonal breathwork, etc.); early and most powerful experiences; why Joe recommends becoming familiar with breathwork before a first psychedelic experience; how a breathwork practice can help enhance psychedelic experiences; and one of the most amazing things about breathwork: that it can give people a sense of agency they may never have felt before – that they can produce these experiences and insights with nothing but their own bodies.

If you’ve been curious about breathwork, this episode is a great starting point to learn more. And if you’re in the Northeast and are ready to attend a breathwork retreat and experience four Transpersonal breathwork sessions (two as a breather, two as a sitter), there are spots available in our upcoming Vital retreat on July 28 in Pennsylvania. Click here for more details.

Links

A Vital Journey: Transpersonal Breathwork Retreat in PA, July 28

A Vital Journey: Transpersonal Breathwork Retreat in Portugal this October

A Vital Journey: Transpersonal Breathwork Retreat in Costa Rica: January, 2024

Psychedelics Today: Kyle Buller and Joe Moore – A Clinical Approach to Trauma Resolution Utilizing Breathwork

Psychedelics Today: What is Breathwork? 

Michellemahrerfilms.com: “Dances of Ecstasy”

Yogajournal.com: What is Pranayama?

Webmd.com: What Is Box Breathing?

Wilhelm Reich Museum: Research and Publications

Rebirthingbreathwork.com

Wimhofmethod.com

Psychedelics Today: PT316 – Lenny Gibson, Ph.D. – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Psychedelics Today: Lenny Gibson – Whitehead and Holotropic Breathwork

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, by James Nestor

Medicalnewstoday.com: What to know about tummo breathing

Trans4mind.com: COEX Systems

Verywellmind.com: What Is Somatic Experiencing Therapy?

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

Grof-legacy-training.com

Dreamshadow.com

The Tim Ferriss Show: Stan Grof, Lessons from ~4,500 LSD Sessions and Beyond (#347)

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

Healthline.com: What is the Vagus Nerve?

Psychedelics Today: PT286 – Joe Tafur, MD – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Check out the Lumenate app, and download it through the App store here!

June 20 in Denver: “Better Together: Stacking Mushrooms and Plants” – A communal conversation around mushrooms, a fungi feast and unique culinary experience, and afterparty featuring music from BOSA. Click here to buy tickets.
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PT415 – Psychedelic Science 2023: The Largest Psychedelic Conference in History

In this episode, Kyle interviews Liana Gillooly: Strategic Initiatives Officer at MAPS, Board Chair & Founder of the non-profit, North Star, and Advisor to Chacruna’s Indigenous Reciprocity Initiative.

While she talks about updates in MAPS’ world and how to manage and scale a rapidly growing industry while trying to change a system from the inside, she mostly talks about what she, the rest of MAPS, and a lot of the psychedelic space in general are most excited about right now: Psychedelic Science 2023, the largest psychedelic conference in history, beginning next week in Denver. 

She discusses the growth of the conference; why they chose Denver as a location; and how programming has changed over the years to embrace the multiplicity of identities inside the psychedelic space, including much more business content, a culture stage that focuses on how psychedelics interact with the mainstream, various programs put on by community partners, pre- and post- workshops covering an array of topics, and an area they’re calling Deep Space, which was designed to help attendees get out of their heads and more into their bodies. 

If you were thinking of attending, this episode should serve as a great inspiration to finally buy a ticket. When you do, be sure to use code PT15 to get 15% off your purchase, and when you’re there, visit us at booth 834 Wednesday through Friday. Joe is hosting a Psychedelic Morning Show with Anne Philippi on Thursday and Friday, and we’re partnering with Lounge CashoM, an all-inclusive environment designed to be a decompression space from that big conference energy. Email hello@cashom.org for more info, click here for tickets (use password MotherEarth to access tickets, and code PT20 for 20% off), click here for our guide on events we’re most excited about, and click here for a full guide of afterparties and events. 

Notable Quotes

“I was 22 in 2010 when I attended the MAPS conference, and it completely changed the trajectory of my life and opened me into understanding that it was possible to have a career working in psychedelics (which was such a foreign concept back then). So when I think about what I’m most excited about, it’s the people. It’s bringing together our global community, and it’s what can come from the magic of an event; of being in connection with one another, of all the little collisions that happen and all the ways that we discover how we can support each other and work together to make this field the best that it can be.”

“All these really big topics of our time that people are interested in and chatting about: if you just flip over the rock, there you will find people who have been directly inspired by and impacted by psychedelics.”

“There’s no escaping the reality that we’re all connected. So rather than trying to dip out and create private utopias, I’m more interested in understanding how to engage with what is, and invite it into the more beautiful world that our hearts know is possible.”

Links

Psychedelicscience.org (Use code PT15 for 15% off)

Maps.org

Mapsbcorp.com

No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model, by Richard C. Schwartz, Ph.D.

Psychedelic assisted therapy in the treatment of post-traumatic conditions: International Experience and Prospects for Implementation in Ukraine

Psychedelicscience.org/fun: Find Your Fun at #PS2023!

Buy tickets for The Flaming Lips, Eric Andre, Reggie Watts at Mission Ballroom here

Psychedelicscience.org: Healing Our Heroes: A Dinner Honoring Veterans and First Responders

PS23co.com

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

Island, by Aldous Huxley

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PT413 – Queering Psychedelics, The Dark History of Conversion Therapy, and The EMBARK Approach

In this episode, David interviews Alex Belser, Ph.D.: clinical scientist; author; licensed psychologist; Co-Investigator for a psilocybin and OCD study at Yale University; and co-creator of the EMBARK approach, a new model of psychedelic-assisted therapy that focuses on six clinical domains that typically arise during psychedelic experiences.

He is also one of the editors of Queering Psychedelics: From Oppression to Liberation in Psychedelic Medicine, the new anthology from Chacruna featuring 38 essays from queer authors and allies looking at the heteronormative aspects of psychedelic culture and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, self-acceptance, psychedelics and pleasure, and ways the queer community can become allies with other groups. As they serendipitously recorded this episode on June 1, it only made sense to celebrate Pride Month by releasing it now, as well as launching a giveaway, where you can win one of five copies of Queering Psychedelics. 

Belser talks about the concurrent emergence of the psychedelic and queer communities; the need to research the effects of transphobia and homophobia in psychedelic work (as well as the internalized phobias often realized during an experience); why it’s more important than ever to talk about the psychedelic space’s dark past with conversion therapy; why the Mystical Experiences Questionnaire needs to be updated; the idea of queer people being boundary walkers; recreating the Good Friday Experiment, the immense importance of long-form interviews and other forms of qualitative research, the power of love and community, and the question: how does anyone not want to change after a powerful psychedelic experience?

Notable Quotes

“When we talk about MK-Ultra and we talk about the abuses of boundary transgressions and sexual transgressions, we also need to be talking about how psychedelics have been used to harm people through conversion therapy and how they have repeatedly been used in this way. If we don’t look to our past and what’s happening currently, then I don’t think we’re ever going to have a truly integral reckoning with how we carry these medicines in ethical ways.”

“I spoke with an Orthodox Priest who said, ‘Before, I used to give sermons to my congregation and I would talk about God’s justice: the justice of the lord.’ And now, after taking psychedelics (he had a really powerful experience), he says, ‘All I want to talk about is God’s love.’”

“[The EMBARK model is] open architecture. It’s multidimensional, but it allows for the therapist to bring in their existing skill sets, and it allows for a patient-centered approach to what might actually emerge or arise, because I don’t think there’s one path for psychedelic healing. What we see are multiple trajectories, and we needed to build a comprehensive theoretical framework for psychotherapy that allows for different expressions of that for different people.”

“I don’t think psychedelics are a panacea or cure-all, but I think that they help us experiment with different ways of being together, and it doesn’t have to be one way. That’s what I’ve learned; it really does not have to be one way, and it does not have to be the old way.”

Links

Winy a Copy of Queering Psychedelics!

Alexbelser.com

Centerforbreakthroughs.com

Embarkapproach.com

Psychedelics Today: Dr. Alexander Belser – How Privilege Affects Gender Inclusivity in Psychotherapy

Plasticbrainblog.com: The shameful history of psychedelic gay conversion therapy

Lgbtmap.org: U.S. Map of Conversion Therapy Laws

Archive.org: Full text of 1960 Playboy interview with Tim Leary

Maps.org: LSD and Sexuality: Review of a case of homosexuality treated therapeutically with LSD and description of a male-female psychedelic session program, by Richard Alpert

The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience: The Classic Guide to the Effects of LSD on the Human Psyche, by Jean Houston, Ph.D. & Robert Masters, Ph.D.

Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity, by Andrew Solomon

Queering Psychedelics: From Oppression to Liberation in Psychedelic Medicine, edited by Alex Belser, Clancy Cavnar, and Beatriz C. Labate

Psychedelics Today: PT269 – Adam Strauss – Comedy, OCD, and The Mushroom Cure

Yalemedicine.org: Efficacy of Psilocybin in OCD: a Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study.

Psychedelics Today: PT229 – Dr. Matthew Johnson – What is Consciousness?

Wikipedia.org: Marsh Chapel Experiment

Cybin.com

Washington.edu: A Study of Psilocybin-assisted Psychotherapy for Clinicians With Symptoms of Depression and Burnout Related to Frontline Work in the COVID Pandemic

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Psychedelics Weekly – Drug Testing and Harm Reduction, Ketamine vs. ECT, and Does Therapy Really Work?

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle are once again able to take advantage of Kyle’s temporary Colorado residency and record together in Joe’s office.

While last week focused on the numerous challenges facing a rapidly growing industry of psychedelic therapists, facilitators, and guides, the topic of therapy itself is put under the microscope this week, as they dissect a New York Times article titled, “Does Therapy Really Work? Let’s Unpack That.” They discuss whether or not therapy is right for everyone, the efficacy of different types of therapy, the role of the therapeutic alliance in treatment outcomes, and how (if it’s even possible) to measure all of these factors.

They also discuss:

-a study showing that ketamine was more effective than ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) for patients with treatment-resistant depression;

-the potential benefits of the LSD analog, Br-LSD, in treating people with major depressive disorders, cluster headaches, and more;

-Ireland’s Health Service Executive launching the Safer Nightlife program, which will partner with music festivals this summer to establish on-site drug testing;

-the U.S. slowly beginning to legalize fentanyl test strips, which, for some reason, are illegal in many parts of the country;

and much more!

See you next week, and if you’re in the NYC area, make sure to check out “Tales of Transformation,” an in-person event Thursday, June 8 at the Athenæum, moderated by David, and featuring Ifetayo Harvey, Juliana Mulligan, and Raad Seraj.

Links

(bolded links are the discussed articles)

Navigating Psychedelics For Clinicians and Wellness Practitioners (the next edition begins July 12 and 13)

Psychedelicscience.org (use code PT15 for 15% off tickets)

Joe’s IG live with Global Psychedelic Society

Globalpsychedelic.org

California Psychedelic Conference: June 3-4 in Los Angeles

Nytimes.com: Does Therapy Really Work? Let’s Unpack That.

Besselvanderkolk.com

Wiley.com: The efficacy of psychotherapies and pharmacotherapies for mental disorders in adults: an umbrella review and meta-analytic evaluation of recent meta-analyses

Psychiatryonline.org: Effect of a Layperson-Delivered Telephone Program for People With Depressive Symptoms

The Cato Institute: Jeffrey A. Singer

Forbes.com: New York City’s Psychedelic Athenæum: A Place To Find The Others

Psychedelics Today – Tales of Transformation: Thursday, June 8, at the Athenæum, 7:00 – 9:30pm EST

Thealchemistskitchen.com

Gizmodo.com: Ketamine Might Be on Par With the Gold Standard for Treatment-Resistant Depression, Study Finds

Psychologytoday.com: A Beneficial Psychedelic That Does Not Cause Hallucinations

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

Psychedelics Today: PT245 – Robin Carhart-Harris – Psychedelics, Entropy, and Plasticity

Neurosciencenews.com: How Neurons That Wire Together Fire Together

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

Irishmirror.ie: Drug testing to be rolled out at music festivals in Ireland this summer

Everydayhealth.com: Fentanyl Testing Strips Are Illegal in Many States — but That’s Changing

Time.com: How Conservatives Are Changing Their Mind on Legalizing Fentanyl Test Strips

Alchemically Stoned: The Psychedelic Secret of Freemasonry, by P. D. Newman

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PT412 – Psychedelics and Virtual Reality: Where Novel Experience, Technology, and Altered States of Consciousness Meet

In this episode, Joe interviews the Co-Founders of Enosis Therapeutics: researcher and scientist, Agnieszka Sekula; and psychiatrist, clinical advisor to the Australian Psychedelic Society, and leading Australian advocate for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, Dr. Prash P. 

Enosis Therapeutics is a medtech startup that began with the question: how can we use VR – with or without psychedelics – to improve mental health outcomes? They feel that the biggest problem with powerful psychedelic experiences is that, once you’re back in reality, it’s oddly difficult to remember the insights and new ideas that were so clear during the experience, and even harder to make connections that lead to concrete change. They believe that the immersive nature of VR and the novelty of unique VR environments creates a sense of presence that can’t be recreated otherwise – a liminal, in-between state that’s just different enough to allow the patient to feel like they’re back in that non-ordinary state, and therefore more able to anchor their experience and begin to find connections and more clearly understand newfound insights. 

This all happens by the user essentially creating nonlinear, abstract, multi-sensory VR paintings while describing what they remembered; allowing them to revisit these worlds later, bring in therapists (or anyone else) to work inside these environments, and hear their own voice describing what happened, thereby creating a mental map that can be worked with in completely unique ways. 

They talk about the conflict between new technologies and traditionalists; the problems with moving away from psychoanalysis and not treating psychotherapy as a process; how VR could improve the efficacy of therapy (and improve therapists’ lives); how it could replace models of repeated dosage; how VR could generate analytics to actually quantify success in mental health treatment; and how (whether psychedelics are used or not) culture needs to bring the psychedelic way of thinking to mental health.

Notable Quotes

“Imagine that you build out that network, that you make it physically visible and tangible, and you can actually have someone that comes into that space and visits that network. So you can share your mental model with anyone that you want: it can be a therapist, it can be a guide, it can be a shaman, it can be a well-being specialist, it can be your partner, it can be your parent, it can be your child. It can be anyone that you wish had a better understanding of you, but they don’t. It’s hard to understand ourselves, [much less] understand each other based on those linear narratives. But if we actually see how people connect things [and] how they see those links, I feel like we have a much better chance to actually connect to each other and have a better understanding of consciousness.” -Agnieszka

“So much of the focus in psychedelic therapy has been on the dosing session, whereas a lot of us would like to think that it really should be on the psychotherapy, and the psychedelic is purely that stimulus that ignites the insights which you then take through psychotherapy. If that stimulus can be the stimulus which ignites a process of psychotherapy, and therefore the power of psychotherapy to produce change, and in that way, brings psychotherapy further to the forefront of mental health treatment (in a way, it’s completely disappeared and been replaced by biological methods), then I think we have won – just by that.” -Prash

“We can induce a similar psycho-emotional state with the use of VR during the integration sessions to help patients remember, at their psychological and at an emotional level, what the experience has been like. …A lot of studies (especially earlier studies) would report that within the first two weeks after the psychedelic experience [is] the most potent time for integration because patients are still in that emotional state that was evoked with psychedelics. So maintaining that for longer by repeat application of VR might give us more access to those emotions, and might enable patients to process things a little bit more deeply.” -Agnieszka

Links

Enosistherapeutics.com

Frontiersin.org: Virtual Reality as a Moderator of Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy

Trans4mind.com: COEX Systems

Goodreads.com: Mozart’s “The music is not in the notes” quote

Ovid-clinics.com

Mind-foundation.org

Insight-conference.eu

Psychedelicmedicinecoalition.org

Psychedelics Today: PT321 – Lyle Maxson – Virtual Reality, Biofeedback, and Digital Therapeutics: The Future of Mental Health

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Psychedelics Weekly – New LSD Research and The Challenges Facing a Rapidly Growing Psychedelic Guide Industry

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Kyle and David meet up to talk news, but end up mostly having a discussion about the numerous challenges facing the rapidly growing industry of psychedelic therapists, guides, and facilitators.

That discussion comes from the article, “Psychedelic workers of the world, unite!”, which breaks down the shortcomings and risks of an industry many are flocking to without realizing what they’ll likely have to deal with: unprecedented legal and financial risks, burnout, misalignment with management, transference and countertransference, and what happens when one finds themselves in the middle of a genuine emergency? While these issues could be found in any industry, a big reason why they seem so prevalent and dangerous in the psychedelic world is our lack of elders and passed-down experience – and the faster this all grows, the more we need that guidance. 

And for news, they talk about Ohio State making history as the first U.S. University to receive a license to grow psilocybin mushrooms; a new study showing that LSD enhanced learning, exploratory thinking, and sensitivity to feedback; and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funding $1.5 million to research the efficacy of psychedelics for substance use disorder – which spurs a conversation about research, funding, and the idea that maybe we’re spending too much time and money on neuroscience.

Links

(bolded links are the discussed articles)

Navigating Psychedelics For Clinicians and Therapists – Live Sessions (the next round launches in July)

Ecstaticintegration.org: Psychedelic workers of the world, unite!

Theguardian.com: Alternative reality: two kambo deaths spark soul-searching in Australia’s counter-culture capital

Thelantern.com: Ohio State Becomes First American University to be Granted DEA License for Psychedelic Mushroom Growth

​​Arizonaphysician.com: Challenging Medicine’s Status Quo: Sue Sisley, MD

Thedebrief.org: New Research Reveals LSD’s Mind-Altering Power to Enhance Learning and Exploratory Thinking

Psychedelics Today: PT245 – Robin Carhart-Harris – Psychedelics, Entropy, and Plasticity

Neurosciencenews.com: How Neurons That Wire Together Fire Together

Marijuanamoment.net: Federal Agency Announces $1.5 Million In Funding For Research On Psychedelics To Treat Drug Addiction

Mindmatters.ai: Why Pioneer Neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield Said the Mind is More Than the Brain

Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy, by Stanislav Grof

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PT411 – The Humanity of Healthcare Professionals, Ancient Psychedelic Use, and Breaking the Cycle of Colonialism

In this episode, Joe interviews Priyanka Wali, MD: board-certified practicing physician in Internal Medicine, MAPS-trained psychedelic facilitator, comedian, and co-host (with Sean Hayes of “Will & Grace” fame) of the HypochondriActor podcast, where they discuss interesting medical issues in a funny (and hopefully uplifting) way. 

She talks about recognizing and protecting the humanity of healthcare professionals, and how medical school is creating a cycle of hurt people trying to help other hurt people. She believes we need to become more holistic, especially in embracing Indigenous ways of thinking, as their frameworks may be the only way to explain phenomena with which Western science can’t yet come to terms.  

They talk a lot about ancient psychedelic use: the use of a soma described in the Rigveda; Egyptian culture and mushrooms observed in statues; Plato; the work of Brian Muraresku and Graham Hancock; and Vedic chants, Kashmiri Bhajans, and how singing (especially in a group) can be especially healing to the nervous system. And as Wali experienced first-hand the Kashmiri Pandit genocide of 1990, she discusses how much colonialism has changed cultures, and how much our cycles of oppression relate to our collective inability to experience pain and fear.  

They discuss the psychological impact of living through major catastrophes; the special and hard-to-describe feeling of returning to your home (especially in a world changed by colonization and constant conflict); the sad case of Ignaz Semmelweis and hand washing; ghosts of Japan’s 2011 tsunami, the concept of ‘future primitive,’ and more.

Notable Quotes

“We’re only thinking about it from a certain perspective. And this is where you think about principles of colonization come in: looking at things only from one perspective. If you start to bring in Indigenous systems [and] Indigenous ways of looking at data, then suddenly, we do actually have ways to account for these other phenomenon that can’t be objectively tabulated.”

“In traditional Kashmiri culture, it was routine to gather together and sing together. We humans: we’re supposed to gather around the fire and dance and chant. There’s actually something very healing for our bodies. And let’s not forget how our nervous systems regulate with each other, so being physically together as a group, as a collective, singing, using our bodies: it’s actually very healing for the nervous system. We need more of that.”

“I think the next shift in consciousness is recognizing that we experience fear as part of the human experience, but we can choose not to give into it. We can be with it, we can allow it to be there, we can even honor it, but we don’t have to act on it. And we can, instead, choose the path of peace or love, or not even choose those paths, but just choose not to do anything with the fear; choose not to oppress someone, judge someone, lash it out, [or] numb it. …Unless we, in the present day, begin to start being with our fear, we will continue to perpetuate these cycles of oppression.”

Links

Priyankawali.com

Apple podcasts: The HypochondriActor podcast

Wikipedia.org: Kashmiri Pandits

Ripleys.com: The Hallucinatory Voices That Saved a Woman’s Life

When the Impossible Happens: Adventures in Non-Ordinary, by Stanislav Grof Ph.D.

Cosmic Trigger I: Final Secret of the Illuminati, by Robert Anton Wilson

Researchgate.net: Evolution of ephedra as the Soma of Rigveda

Tripsavvy.com: Philae Temple Complex, Egypt: The Complete Guide

Sciencedirect.com: The entheomycological origin of Egyptian crowns and the esoteric underpinnings of Egyptian religion (Stephen R. Berlant)

Libcom.org: What is anarcho-syndicalism?

Psychedelics Today: PTSF 35 (with Brian Muraresku)

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

Netflix.com: Ancient Apocalypse

Psychologytoday.com: Kirtan: The Easy Meditation That Can Improve Your Brain

Paannyaar.com: Kashmiri Bhajans – List Of Most Popular Bhajans In Kashmiri

Wikipedia.org: Sankofa

Psychedelicmedicinecoalition.org

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas S. Kuhn

Npr.org: The Doctor Who Championed Hand-Washing And Briefly Saved Lives

My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies, by Resmaa Menakem

Historicalindia.org: Genocide of Kashmiri Pandits

Allthatsinteresting.com: Inside The Disturbing Legend Of The ‘Tsunami Spirits’ That Have Haunted Japan Ever Since Its 2011 Disaster

Confronting Collapse: The Crisis of Energy and Money in a Post Peak Oil World: A 25-Point Program for Action, by Michael C. Ruppert

Apple podcasts: SmartLess

HempLucid‘s function-based mushroom/cannabinoid gummies are a great option for those seeking targeted solutions for sleep, stress, and focus. Save 10% off by using the code PSYCHEDELICS10 at checkout.
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Psychedelics Weekly – Challenging the ‘Gifting’ Part of Prop 122, Public Perception in Oregon, and The Medicine of Music

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle are both on the road, so David and Alexa take the helm.

They cover news stories about:

-a man in Colorado facing a Class 3 drug felony for giving people psilocybin mushrooms in exchange for monetary donations – pointing out the bold (or stupid?) stances some are taking to highlight the absurdity of legislation that allows possession and donation as long as no money changes hands;

-a study showing what many of us have felt ourselves: that the day after psilocybin-assisted therapy, depressed patients had a stronger brain response to music and saw improvements in the ability to find pleasure in previously empty activities;

-a trip report from a psychedelically-naive 50-year old, showing the power and beauty of MDMA-assisted therapy;

-the New Hampshire state Senate continuing to be behind the times and voting down House Bill 639, which would have created a legal recreational cannabis framework for the state;

-a video where people on the street in Oregon were asked how much they thought psilocybin therapy would cost, showing a drastic misalignment between public perception and reality;

and a local TV news feature touring Rose City Laboratories, the first licensed psilocybin testing lab in Oregon.

And in conversation, they talk about some of the lesser-discussed (and often dismissed) tools like CBD, THC patches, and very low-dose edibles; the problem with drug dealers and harm reduction; the power of music in guiding a psychedelic experience (and in living a pleasurable life); and the importance of dosing and listening to your body to know what’s right for you.

Links

(bolded links are the discussed articles)

Myjewishlearning.com: Why Cheesecake on Shavuot?

Tales of Transformation: A panel on how psychedelic experiences can evolve into collective transformation and new life callings, featuring Ifetayo Harvey, Juliana Mulligan, Raad Seraj

Hemplucid.com (Use PSYCHEDELICS10 for 10% off)

YouTube: “Moms on Mushrooms”: A Growing Trend? (Tracey Tee on Dr. Phil)

Our IG live with Tracey Tee, hosted by Victoria

Entheoventures substack: Balancing the Psychedelic Narrative: A Call for Accuracy and Responsibility from All Sides

Summitdaily.com: Dillon man accused of selling psychedelic ‘magic mushrooms’ claims he was gifting them under Colorado’s new proposition

Psypost.org: Psilocybin therapy for depression appears to have a curious effect on the brain’s response to music

Sciencedirect.com: Increased low-frequency brain responses to music after psilocybin therapy for depression

Journal of Psychopharmacology: Changes in music-evoked emotion and ventral striatal functional connectivity after psilocybin therapy for depression

Alexa Jesse (with Host Bodies)- “Hourglass”

Psychedelicscene.com: The Healing Beauty of Ecstasy

Erowid.org

Hightimes.com: New Hampshire Senate Votes Down Cannabis Legalization Bill

Marysmedicinals.com

Wweek.com: How Much Would You Expect to Pay for Psilocybin Mushroom Therapy?

Epichealingeugene.com

Kgw.com: Touring the first Oregon lab licensed to test the strength of legal psilocybin

Psycon.org

Psychedelicscience.org (use code PT15 for 15% off)

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PT410 – Manufacturing MDMA and Why Creating MDMA Analogs Is So Important

In this episode, Joe interviews Nick Kadysh: Founder and CEO of PharmAla Biotech and member of the board of directors for The Canadian Psychedelic Businesses Association. 

PharmAla Biotech is a Toronto-based Life Sciences company with two focuses: contracting with manufacturers to provide researchers with GMP MDMA (created under Good Manufacturing Practice regulations), and creating and researching novel analogs of MDMA. And just today, they announced that Health Canada has authorized them (and their distribution partner, Shaman Pharma) to supply their LaNeo™ MDMA for the treatment of a patient under Canada’s Special Access Program – the first time this has happened in Canada. 

He discusses the creation of PharmAla and why their model changed from primarily researching analogs to manufacturing; why they’re operating out of Canada and using manufacturers instead of running the lab themselves; the excitement around Australia’s recent about-face on MDMA and psilocybin-assisted therapy; the bureaucracy of U.S. drug policy and how much a broken supply chain affects the whole industry; bad IP and companies filing rapid fire patents; why creating new analogs of MDMA is so important; and why the psychedelic space needs to bring culture along with us.

He also talks about Spravato, cannabis and risks of cancer, THC nasal sprays, and research he’s most excited about: that MDMA seems to alleviate dyskinesia caused from Parkinson’s disease, and that MDMA could improve social anxiety in people with autism. He’s aiming to run a clinical trial and believes they have developed a safe MDMA analog that the autistic community will respond to very well.

Notable Quotes

“I don’t want to give the impression that we think that MDMA is unsafe. In the case of PTSD-assisted psychotherapy the way that it’s being presented by MAPS, I think it’s remarkably safe. But, you know, better is still possible.” 

“If you told me that you have a brand new drug that was developed in a lab that nobody has ever seen or tried or tested before, and let’s call it drug A. And then you have drug B, which is derived from a mushroom, that people have been consuming regularly for the past 5,000 years and no one’s died. And you’re asking me which one is safer? It’s the mushroom, man. It’s not even a question.”

“We owe it to ourselves in this industry to take the population along for the ride. This is why I think safety is so important, because if you’re working on safety, people like that. People trust that. That’s what happened last time: there was the counterculture and the culture, and the culture won, and we’re still paying for it today. So let’s bring the culture along.”

Links

Pharmala.ca

News.bbc.co.uk: Ecstasy ‘not worse than riding’

Revivethera.com

Tga.gov.au: Change to classification of psilocybin and MDMA to enable prescribing by authorised psychiatrists

Psychedelics Today: Canada’s SAP Expansion Signals a Step Forward for Psychedelics

The Canadian Psychedelic Businesses Association

Uams.edu: William E. Fantegrossi, Ph.D.

YouTube: Researchers look at Ecstacy to ease Parkinsons Agony

Maps.org: MDMA-Assisted Therapy Shows Promise for Reducing Social Anxiety in Autistic Adults, New Study Shows

Psychedelics Today: Can Psychedelics Provide Relief for Autistic Individuals?

Autisticpsychedelic.com

Psychedelics Today: PT233 – JR Rahn of MindMed – LSD, ADHD, and Decriminalization

Pharmaphorum.com: J&J builds case for antidepressant Spravato with head-to-head trial

National Library of Medicine: The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research.

Feather.com: THC and CBD Rapid Sprays

Thecse.com: Pharmala Biotech Holdings Inc.

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Psychedelics Weekly – Multi-Stakeholder Capitalism, Psilocybin Service Centers Begin Opening in Oregon, and Vancouver’s ‘The Drugs Store’

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and temporary-Colorado-resident Kyle once again record in-person, discussing how psychedelics could change business, the drug war and safe supply, and more. 

They cover: 

-a Rolling Stone profile on David Bronner, who makes the case for multi-stakeholder capitalism; where businesses are accountable to their workers, customers, the environment, and surrounding Indigenous communities instead of just investors – an idea more people would likely align with after a psychedelic experience; 

-The first psilocybin service center in Oregon (EPIC Healing Eugene) finally receiving their license via the Oregon Health Authority;

-A man who saw his color blindness improve for four months after a 5g mushroom experience;

-Delaware officially legalizing recreational cannabis; 

-The opening of ‘The Drugs Store’ in Vancouver, British Columbia: a mobile store selling drugs illegally as a response to the opioid epidemic and constant influx of untested and laced drugs – the “inevitable result of the government doing nothing” towards offering a safe supply; 

-and a survey from the CDC showing that cannabis use among teenagers has declined since legal dispensaries began opening, disproving one of the most common prohibitionist arguments that legalization would only increase use. 

And of course, these topics bring on a lot of conversation: how businesses need to be more reflective on how they’re operating; concern over if too much regulation is nerfing the world; the human cost of the drug war and the ever-escalating amount of ODs and drug poisoning cases; HPPD and the need for research around psychedelics and vision/perception; why we will always need both clinical access and the recreational underground, and more.

Links

(bolded links are the discussed articles)

Rollingstone.com: ‘It’s Ripped the World Apart’: David Bronner on How Psychedelics Could Be a Cure for Capitalism

Psychedelics Today: PT367 – Colorado Proposition 122 and the Decriminalization of Natural Medicines

Marijuanamoment.net: Oregon Approves Nation’s First Psilocybin Service Center For Adults To Receive Psychedelic Treatment

Epichealingeugene.com

Imdb.com: Wall-E

Goodreads.com: Janis Joplin quote

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

Technologynetworks.com: Consuming Psychedelics Temporarily Improves Man’s Color Blindness

Louisville.edu: UofL researchers discover procedure to regenerate dormant cone cells, potentially to improve vision in retinitis pigmentosa

Psychedelics Today: PT229 – Dr. Matthew Johnson – What is Consciousness?

Psychedelics Today: HPPD and Flashbacks: Everything You Need To Know – And What We Don’t Know, Too, by Ed Prideaux

Futureconevents.com

Cato.org: Jeffrey Singer

Victorialitmanlaw.com

Lhthehealingground.com (Veronica Lightning Horse)

The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct, by Thomas S. Szasz, M.D.

Studentsforliberty.org

Vice.com: A Store Selling Heroin, Meth, and Cocaine Just Opened in Canada

Dancesafe.org

Teen Marijuana Use Has Been Declining Since Legal Dispensaries Started Opening, Federal CDC Study Shows

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PT409 – Pathology, The DSM, and The Ontological Shock of Psychedelic Experiences

In this episode, Joe interviews Erica Rex: award-winning journalist, past guest and writer, and participant in one of the first ever clinical trials using psilocybin to treat cancer-related depression; and Mona Sobhani, Ph.D.: cognitive neuroscientist and the author of Proof of Spiritual Phenomena: A Neuroscientist’s Discovery of the Ineffable Mysteries of the Universe.

As Rex discovered the power of psychedelics through a clinical trial, she discusses a huge problem she discovered: that researchers are not preparing participants enough for the ontological shock they may go through in trying to match unexplainable happenings to a rigid framework (or match the normal to a framework that has suddenly shifted) – that while patients have support at the clinic, it all disappears when they return to normal life. She believes that all too often, researchers are doing only what is necessary to be able to continue to receive funding, push drugs through the FDA, and prescribe a pill. 

And as psychedelics changed Sobhani from very constrained scientific thinking to being very open to new ideas about consciousness and spirituality, she learned that many scientists had similar stories, and that coming out of the psychedelic closet is sometimes the best thing to do to normalize these ways of healing. 

They discuss the challenges of newcomers trying to explain their experience without having the necessary language; how we still don’t truly understand mental illness; how the DSM just clusters symptoms to fit ‘disorders’ into a box; how society has started pathologizing anything we find unpleasant (which of course, is a part of being human); Gary Fisher’s research on using LSD and psilocybin for schizophrenic children, why science needs to combine consciousness research and psychedelics research, and more.

Notable Quotes

“I think most people (neuroscientists, a lot of psychologists): we don’t like labels. We don’t like the DSM (especially neuroscientists). It doesn’t make any sense; all you’re doing is clustering symptoms and calling it a disorder. It’s useful, but it’s not explanatory. …Everyone’s so focused on ‘What are the brain mechanisms?’ but we do need to pull out and [ask]: ‘What are the societal mechanisms? How is our society not supporting [us]? Why do we see such an increase in some of these disorders? It’s a really big question.” -Mona

“There was a big move to get grief made into a pathology that was defined in the DSM so it could be treated with a pill. Grief. This was during COVID. So now grief is a pathology and you can be diagnosed with ‘grieving disorder’ and treated for it. …Anything that does not serve the machine is now considered a disease and disorder and has to be fixed, which is unfortunate because it takes us away from every piece of authentic experience that we could ever possibly have. And that is dehumanizing, profoundly.” -Erica

“Our whole society’s not built around humanity, even though we talk a lot about humanity. But there’s no humane principles in business or in society. Nothing is built around what the human needs, and that’s why, even in psychiatry, you see [that] grief or these normal human needs are pathologized. …We’re just cutting off parts of ourselves and not catering to being a human because we hate being human so much, apparently. We hate the things that are inconvenient about it, that it’s like we just have to cut it off and block it off and go forward. But you can’t do that; then you have all these coping mechanisms that emerge and then all these disorders, because you’re not functioning in an environment that supports you being what you are.” -Mona

Links

Psychedelics Today: PT273 – Erica Rex – Clinical Trials and Spontaneous Mystical Experiences

Madinamerica.com: Psychedelic Therapy Will Not Save Us, by Erica Rex

Madinamerica.com: The Culture Is the Poison: Why Psychedelics Are Dangerous Medicine in a Neoliberal Society, by Erica Rex

Scientificamerican.com: The Power of Psychedelics: They worked for my depression. Could they be the future of psychiatry? By Erica Rex

Scientificamerican.com: Hallucinogens Could Ease Existential Terror, by Erica Rex

Psychedelics Today: Could the Sonoran Desert Toad Cure Narcissism? by Erica Rex

Her NIH/NCI talk, “A Breast Cancer Patient’s Perspectives on the Uses of Psychedelics in Medicine” (begins at 1:04:41)

Npr.org: The ’60s Are Gone, But Psychedelic Research Trip Continues

Monasobhaniphd.com

Proof of Spiritual Phenomena: A Neuroscientist’s Discovery of the Ineffable Mysteries of the Universe, by Mona Sobhani, Ph.D.

Brave New World of Psychedelic Science substack

Exploring Consciousness: A community of curious (neuro)scientists

Globenewswire.com: COMPASS Pathways presents largest ever study of psilocybin therapy, at American Psychiatric Association annual meeting

Treatment of Childhood Schizophrenia Utilizing LSD and Psilocybin, by Gary Fisher, Ph.D.

The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness, by Elyn R. Saks

The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture, by Gabor Maté with Daniel Maté

The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct, by Thomas S Szasz

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

Jamanetwork.com: Association of Religious and Spiritual Factors With Patient-Reported Outcomes of Anxiety, Depressive Symptoms, Fatigue, and Pain Interference Among Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer

Ecotopia, by Ernest Callenbach

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Psychedelics Weekly – Psychedelics and Sports, The Risks of Over-Regulation, and What Makes Music Psychedelic?

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle record in-person again, discussing psychedelics and parenthood, sports, music, and more. 

They cover: 

-an Elle (!) article about how mushrooms are becoming the new ‘Cali sober,’ with more and more people starting to microdose – including parents; 

-ESPN’s documentary, “Peace of Mind,” highlighting the rise of psychedelic use among athletes, including retired NHL player, Riley Cote;

-An article discussing how interest in psychedelics has skyrocketed in Oregon since the passing of Measure 109, and how over-regulation and the glacial speed of the government is only driving the growth of the black market; 

-An essay attempting to define what it is that leads people to describe music as psychedelic (with several recommendations from Joe); 

-DMT aficionados using AI to create and catalog depictions of the entities they’ve seen;

and more!

And they have larger discussions about the drug war, how famous athletes are opening people’s minds to psychedelics, how strict regulation in psychedelic legislation can create more harm, how we need to collaborate more in the psychedelic space, the concept of a DMT ‘hyper-slap,’ and the problem of psychedelic exceptionalism and thinking your drug is good while others are bad.

Links

(bolded links are the discussed articles)

Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified: How Psychedelics Alter Consciousness and Produce Therapeutic Effects

PT403 – Understanding the Brain: Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified, featuring: Melanie Pincus, Ph.D. & Manesh Girn

Trailblazerspresents.com

Psychedelics Weekly – Breaking Convention, Decolonizing the Psychedelic Space, and How Colorado’s Senate Bill 23-290 Will Affect Prop 122 (Kyle and David break down SB23-290)

Psychedelics Today: PT217 – Erika Dyck – Canadian Psychedelic History

Elle.com: Shrooms Are the New Cali Sober

Psychedelics Today: Psychedelics Weekly – Roland Griffiths Faces the End, The NBA Lifts Its Cannabis Ban, and The Rising Popularity of Mushrooms for Moms

Espnpressroom.com: New ESPN E60 Examines Use of Psychedelics in Mental Health Treatment of Athletes

Wweek.com: Oregon’s Appetite for Psilocybin Is Being Fed Outside the Law in the Mushroom Underground

Cnn.com: High Profits (available to purchase on Amazon)

Psilotemple.org

Wikipedia.org: Fugio Cent

The Politics of Experience, by R.D. Laing

Psychedelicmedicinepac.com

Mapsbcorp.com: American Medical Association to Issue First New Code for Psychedelic Therapies

Psychedelicscene.com: What Makes Psychedelic Music Psychedelic?

YouTube: Shpongle – Hammock Therapy

Spotify: The Mars Volta – The Bedlam in Goliath (not their most acclaimed, but it’s this show notes writer’s favorite, and I think, most psychedelic)

The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds (Joe called it “Animal Sounds”…)

YouTube: The Beatles – Revolution 9 (Remastered 2009)

Spotify: LSDREAM

YouTube: Paul McCartney flipping people off

YouTube: Grateful Dead – Drums/Space – 12/28/1980 – Oakland Auditorium (Official)

Vice.com: DMT Users Are Using AI to Draw the Strange Beings They Meet While Tripping

Women of Visionary Art, by David Jay Brown & Rebecca Ann Hill

Psychedelics Today: Daniel McQueen – DMTx and Future Psychedelic Technologies

Reddit.com: Ever been hyperslapped? What happened?

Joe’s tweet about psychedelic exceptionalism

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

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

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PT408 – Fireside Project: Harm Reduction Through Free Peer Support

In this episode, David interviews two of the founding members of Fireside Project: activist, healing justice practitioner, musician, and Chief Ambassador, Hanifa Nayo Washington; and lawyer, aspiring researcher, and Executive Director, Joshua White, Esq.

Fireside Project was created after White volunteered for a help line for years and realized a few things: that follow-up calls made a big difference; that the state of mental health in the U.S. was a disaster (he was talking to some of the same people for years); and that while psychedelics were becoming popular, they would likely only be accessible to the wealthy. Alongside Washington, they realized the most effective thing they could do would be creating a free help line where people could call for peer support during a psychedelic experience, and receive support in integrating that experience afterward. They’ve focused on finding volunteers who may be marginalized or who have been persecuted from the war on drugs, but most importantly, have real experience and true compassion (rather than letters after their name proving their credentials). They are on track to receive 10,000 calls over their first two years.

They discuss Fireside’s Burning Man origin story; the serendipity they’ve seen in the organization’s beginnings and so many calls; where the name came from; how they prepare volunteers; what true equity looks like; and how, while it’s a common challenge for therapists and facilitators to hold back and not try to fix a problem, that may be even more important here.

Fireside Project takes calls every day from 11am – 11pm PST, and while there is an app you can download, they recommend saving their number in your phone for when you need it (62-FIRESIDE). And to destroy the notion of being afraid to ask for help, they encourage everyone to share their stories on social media: the times that you’ve used Fireside Project or the times you had a challenging experience and wish you had known about them. Many newcomers have no idea this support exists, and it could truly be life-changing for them.

Notable Quotes

“What’s revolutionary about what we’re doing in this idea of democratizing care is that these are volunteers, and they come as peers. They come to the experiences having had their own experiences, and desiring to hold space for others as they navigate their experiences and navigate their processing afterwards. …They’re not doing therapy. They’re not diagnosing. They’re really with the person (the caller, the texter) as somebody who gets it.” -Hanifa

“I think some of the most powerful moments on the line come when we say absolutely nothing at all, when we just allow the silence to become almost palpable, to really feel that ember. I think silence has led to so many of the most beautiful moments that I’ve been lucky enough to see on the line.” -Josh

“By being able to create a safe and non-judgmental space for people by phone, then yes, that absolutely can reduce the risks of their psychedelic experiences. And I think there’s kind of a yin and yang here, which is that when a person is in a space of non-judgment, and when they do feel deeply seen and heard and listened to, then that not only reduces the risks, but it also allows someone to really turn towards their psychedelic experience and to unwrap the gift that’s before them.” -Josh

Links

Firesideproject.org

Handsofhanifa.com

​​Year of Yes, by Shonda Rhimes

Safe and Sound: TALK Line

Good Chemistry: The Science of Connection from Soul to Psychedelics, by Julie Holland (*Josh called it The Chemistry of Connection, but that’s a different book)

Onevillagehealing.org

Check out Odyssey, a sparking mushroom beverage providing holistic support for the body and mind, supporting energy, endurance, focus, immunity, and mood. Use code PSYCHEDELICS for 20% off at odysseyelixir.com.
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Psychedelics Weekly – Breaking Convention, Decolonizing the Psychedelic Space, and How Colorado’s Senate Bill 23-290 Will Affect Prop 122

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, David speaks with Kyle, who recorded at Joe’s place while he was away at Trailblazers in NYC. 

They talk about David’s trip to the UK last week for Breaking Convention, then discuss a recent Vice article about looking outside the binary and confined thinking of Western medicine and embracing the underground – that there are cheaper and more accessible peer support models and affinity groups for everyone, but in going underground, we need to be careful that more accessible models aren’t dangerous or re-traumatizing. While businesses are competing to make headway in the psychedelic space, nobody is controlling all of it, which leads to both possibility and risk. 

They cover SB23-290, the bill Senate President Steve Fenberg created to establish a regulatory framework for psilocybin access and administration in Colorado in lieu of the advisory board that should have been put in place as part of Prop 122. They break down the positives and negatives of this framework, and ask: how much do these committees who are passing legislation really know about psilocybin? 

And they briefly discuss an article on what MDMA therapy may look like when MAPS hopefully gets approval via the FDA early next year, Rick Doblin’s speech at Breaking Convention, and his concept of society eventually having “net zero trauma.”

Links

(bolded links are the discussed articles)

Breakingconvention.co.uk

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

Breaking Convention: Celia Morgan

Breaking Convention: Leor Roseman

The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World, by Michael Pollan

Vice.com: Inside the Quest to Decolonise Psychedelics

Marijuanamoment.net: Colorado Senate Passes Psychedelics Regulation Bill

Senate Bill 23-290

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures, by Anne Fadiman

Nature.com: US could soon approve MDMA therapy — opening an era of psychedelic medicine

YouTube: PSYCH Interview: Rick Doblin – Net Zero Trauma by 2050

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PT407 – The Planet, Psychedelics, and Psyche: Optimism in Ecology

In this episode, Joe interviews Deborah Parrish Snyder: ecologist, Director and VP of the Institute of Ecotechnics, and Co-owner and CEO of Synergetic Press, which has published over 40 books on ethnobotany, psychedelics, biospherics, and social and ecological justice. 

Straddling the line between ecology, psychedelics, and psyche, she discusses the many projects of the Institute: Biosphere 2, the large-scale closed ecological system she helped design in 1986; London’s “October Gallery,” a man-made city biome project that could be a model for other cities; their “Eden in Iraq” wastewater project; and the Heraclitus, an 82-foot ship which has sailed 270k miles around the earth, studying different cultures, mapping coral reefs, and more, and will soon be setting sail again after being rebuilt for the last decade.  

She talks about where we’re at as a society in regards to the environment: how we’re in a period of consequences and it’s easy to feel hopeless, but much of the youth are “solutionists” who don’t want to hear apologies, and instead, want to do something about it. She believes that while schools don’t teach ecology, it’s never too late to learn, and non-ordinary states of consciousness could help people remember our connection to nature, care about our planet, and find the others who feel the same way. Consider pairing your self-exploration with improving the world around you: what can you do to turn your perfect, overly fertilized lawn into a regenerative landscape instead?

Notable Quotes

“We are nature. It’s not like we are part of nature, we are actually nature. This is an Indigenous concept that Western culture has abandoned (or never had to begin with, I’m not sure). Whenever our industrial, technological revolution gave us ways that we could start to live without nature as our main support system, that’s when we started to lose the plot, because there wasn’t closed loop thinking, there wasn’t [understanding of] what would be the long term effects of these things. So we’re starting to see that now. I don’t think humanity went into this intentionally, but at the same time, as we start to recognize the science, we should not be in denial; we should be activated to right the course of the ship.”

“I think that economics continues to drive that complex, but the more people that are awake and connected, the better. And as the war on drugs begins to become rational, and decriminalization of these tools becomes more accessible, we can start to build a society, I think, that is a bit more connected with nature and a bit more connected to each other, because these things don’t just give you an ‘Aha!’ connection with nature, they also give them connection with yourself and they can give you connection with others. …So keep your eyes open. If you’re not happy in your community, look for the others. Find the others; they’re out there.”

“The Western mindset of ‘we are going to conquer nature’: hopefully that worldview is starting to crack. It’s better that we become more like gardeners of the Earth, instead of plundering and pillaging.”

Links

Synergeticpress.com

Ecotechnics.edu

Psychedelics Today: PT312 – Deborah Snyder – Ecology, Synergy, and the Biosphere

Psychedelics Today: T228 – Deborah Snyder from Synergetic Press

Ecotechnics.edu: Research Vessel Heraclitus

Heraclitus video

Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, by R. Buckminster Fuller

Synergia Ranch

Social Forestry: Tending the Land as People of Place, by Tomi Hazel Vaarde

Ecotechnics.edu: Las Casas de la Selva

Ecotechnics.edu: October Gallery

Ecotechnics.edu: Birdwood Downs

Ecotechnics.edu: Bioshphere 2

Dutch government ordered to cut carbon emissions in landmark ruling

Confessions of a Hope Fiend Paperback, by Timothy Leary

Openfuturecoalition.org

Seaclifforganics.nz: DIY – Johnson Su Bioreactor

Ecotechnics.edu: Eden in Iraq

Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss: My Life with Terence McKenna, by Dennis McKenna, Ph.D.

Psychedelics Today: Wade Davis – Ayahuasca and a New Hope for Colombia

The Amazon Conservation Team

Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood

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Psychedelics Weekly – The Church of Psilomethoxin Controversy, Psychedelics for Long COVID, and The Growth of Bicycle Day

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle once again record in person, diving into novel compounds, changing opinions, Bicycle Day, and more. 

They start by dissecting a very recent controversy around The Church of Psilomethoxin and whether the sacrament they label as psilomethoxin – supposedly created by adding 5-MeO-DMT to the substrate of cultivated Psilocybe mushrooms – actually contains any psilomethoxin in it. Usona Institute published a paper last week reporting on their analysis of a sample they allegedly collected from the Church, which only showed what we’d see in a sample of a typical psilocybin-containing mushroom. While the Church has issues with Usona’s data collection, analytical methods, and motives, they also reiterate a main component of the church: that their “claims to the existence of Psilomethoxin, at this time, are solely based on faith,” and bolstered by their “own direct experiences with the Sacrament.” It’s a very interesting story that touches on faith, consent, personal safety, and the harms of the drug war, which Joe covered extensively in a Twitter Space last night with Andrew Gallimore and the writer of a very critical article, Mario de la Fuente. 

They also discuss: 

-a Time magazine article about the mystery of Long COVID, and how many believe the anti-inflammatory and neuroplastic benefits of psychedelics could be the answer; 

-how Bicycle Day may soon become more popular than 4/20, likely due to society’s warmer reception to the life-changing effects of psychedelics (as opposed to their propagandized and unmoving beliefs about cannabis); 

-how some analysts believe that seven in 10 ketamine companies will likely face financial challenges as the industry grows too quickly; 

and why Snoop Dogg apparently microwaves blunts before smoking them (and does that actually do anything?).

Links

(bolded links are for the discussed articles)

Andrew Gallimore’s twitter thread about psilomethoxin

Chemrxiv.org: Fungi Fiction: Analytical Investigation into the Church Of Psilomethoxin’s Alleged Novel Compound Using UPLC-HRMS

Psychedelicalpha.com: Opinions | The Church of Psilomethoxin: Fantasy Chemistry Gets Fact Checked

Psilomethoxin.com: Psychedelic Capitalism, Scientific Integrity, and a Wider Look Into Current Events; Response to USONA Article

Psychedelics Today: PT393 – Religious Freedom and the Church of Psilomethoxin, featuring: Greg Lake, Esq.

You Have the Right to Remain Innocent, by James Duane

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

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

Marijuanamoment.net: Top Colorado Senator Files Psychedelics Regulations Bill, Drawing Mixed Reactions

Marijuanamoment.net: Majority Of Americans Back Legalizing Psychedelics Therapy And Federally Decriminalizing Substances Like Psilocybin, Poll Finds

Breakthroughbulletin.com: New Poll Shows Strong Support For Psychedelic Medicine

Theatlantic.com: The Pandemic Did Not Affect Mental Health the Way You Think

Forbes.com: Bicycle Day May Soon Overtake Cannabis Holiday 4/20

Dosed 2

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

Psychedelics Today: PT406 – Alex & Allyson Grey – Bicycle Day, Unveiling Entheon, & the Mystical Experience Through Art

PT’s Bicycle Day Instagram post showcasing submitted art

PT’s 2nd Bicycle Day Instagram post showcasing submitted art

Theguardian.com: Ketamine clinics have emerged across the US. They’re already going bust

Benzinga.com: Snoop Dogg Microwaves His Blunts Before Smoking And For Good Reason, Here’s Why

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PT406 – Bicycle Day, Unveiling Entheon, and The Mystical Experience Through Art

In this episode, on the eve of Bicycle Day, Victoria and Kyle interview two long-standing icons of visionary psychedelic art: Alex and Allyson Grey.

They talk about the LSD trip that saved Alex’s life, connected him to Allyson, inspired his art, and even made him change his name; his decades-in-the-making “Sacred Mirrors” project of 21 7-foot tall pieces depicting the complex layers of human existence; the interconnectedness of life; the history of psychedelic art; how imagination and non-ordinary states help us connect with the divine; and the value of art in conveying the mystical experience.

Alex and Allyson are the Co-Founders of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, an interspiritual church/retreat center in upstate New York that, after years of work, is debuting Entheon: an art sanctuary and psychedelic reliquary featuring much of their art and work from favorite artists, a shrine to Tool (who Alex has worked with for most of their career), and a collection of relics from psychedelic legends that includes Albert Hofmann’s glasses, art signed by Stan Grof and the Shulgins, and even Timothy Leary’s ashes. Entheon opens on June 3, on the anniversary of the first acid trip the Greys took together, which gave them a framework for understanding life and an inspiration for art they still follow to this day.

And in honor of Bicycle Day, Alex talks about two pieces dedicated to Albert Hofmann, and continues his Bicycle Day tradition of reading a statement Hofmann made a year before he passed about psychedelics being the “absolute highest importance to consciousness change.” In celebration of Albert Hofmann and the gift he gave us, and with inspiration from the incredibly complex and beautiful art Alex and Allyson create, have a happy, safe, and creative Bicycle Day!

“St. Albert and the LSD Revelation Revolution” by Alex Grey

Notable Quotes

“I hadn’t had any insight that would prove to me any kind of spiritual reality was really there, even though I was making art. And I think from my perspective now: hey, if you’re being creative, you’re evidence. The creative spirit is what birthed the universe, and you’re an expression here and now of it. You’re evolving on that wavefront of reality that is binding time together and our beings together.” -Alex

“We could see the vast vista of fountains and drains of everyone, and every being and thing in the universe was interconnected and made of light, and in that, I think we felt connected rather than disconnected. We felt like we were individual and independent, but also interconnected with all beings and things. [It] makes you feel like there’s some importance to yourself, that you really are necessary in the web of the eternal.” -Allyson

“You’re making love with the divine in the mystical experience, in the divine imagination. That’s where the small self meets the larger self and becomes no self. So I think that the mystical experience is the cornerstone of the sacred traditions, and the artistic sacred traditions as well.” -Alex

“It took me right outside of my miserable psychodrama self and immediately, I got a psychic swirlie to show me the way. So that was a confirmation, and all my prayers basically were answered in that, and I got to meet the love of my life, really, because of it. So we’re very thankful, and it’s one of the reasons why we’ve always loved celebrating Bicycle Day.” -Alex

Links

Alexgrey.com

Allysongrey.com

Cosm.org (the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors)

Entheon

Be Here Now, by Ram Dass

Alexgrey.com: Sacred Mirrors

Alexgrey.com: Life Energy

Learnreligions.com: Indra’s Jewel Net

Mushroomstone.com: Breaking the Mushroom Code

Psychedelicreview.com: Early Inhabitants of Algeria Create Cave Art that Shows Mushrooms

Mythology.net: Sekhmet

Dr. Albert Hofmann’s quote from 2007 that they read every Bicycle Day

Wikipedia.org: Paracelsus

Toolband.com

Alexgrey.com: “Net of Being”

Alexgrey.com: “Theologue”

Allysongrey.com: “Jewel Net of Indra”

Alexgrey.com: “Transfiguration”

Alexgrey.com: “The Great Turn”

“Albert Hofmann and the New Eleusis” by Alex Grey
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PT405 – The Psychedelic Medicine PAC: The Push for Federal Funding and Politicians Who Will Fight for Us

In this episode, Joe interviews Melissa Lavasani: CEO of Washington, DC-based Psychedelic Medicine Coalition, and now, President of the brand new Psychedelic Medicine PAC.

She discusses her path to psychedelics, how she ended up running the Initiative 81 campaign (the Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020), and how she came to realize that decriminalization efforts can’t be the only option we go for – that, like it or not, we live in a system where politics and money are major factors behind any systematic change, and if we want to make any headway, we have to play the game. The Psychedelic Medicine PAC (Political Action Committee) was created to open up federal funding for psychedelic research, as nearly all research today (of which there still isn’t enough) is being funded by private companies. They will use donations to support politicians who are on our side and can advance psychedelic progress, who will push for federal funding to get the new and necessary data people who aren’t bought in yet need to see. 

They talk about speaking with people from the other side of the aisle at a recent education campaign in DC; how federal funding is neutral money; what she learned from DC’s deprioritization of cannabis policing; how personal stories and one-on-one human connection can change minds better than traditional confrontational activism; and the need to get ahead of the inevitable wave of big pharma propaganda they’ll bring when they officially step up to the table. She believes the path to helping the most people is advancing science and data through federal funding, and that begins with education and getting more politicians on our side. If you agree, follow them for details about their upcoming event in May, visit their table at Psychedelic Science this June (use PT15 for 15% off tickets), and donate to the PAC or the coalition. 

Also, as a bonus, this episode begins with a mini version of Psychedelics Weekly. Joe and Kyle didn’t have enough time to record a full episode, but still wanted to check in and review a few notable stories and highlight our recent Vital graduation ceremony. See you next week!

Notable Quotes

“I dipped my toes with the microdosing [and] I found immediate effects of that. I engaged with my children for the first time in many years, and with my son for, really, the first time since he was born. So that was a really mind-blowing experience of taking something for only a few days and feeling my humanity come back again.”

“I think when you take the media out of it and you isolate them in a place they feel very safe (in their office) and there’s no cameras around and they don’t feel the need to get their talking points across, and you have a human-to-human conversation with them about this issue, the result is that much better because you isolate all of these external influences that they’re constantly under and you say, ‘Listen, I am talking to you as a human being. This was my experience. This is what I did to heal myself.’ …Watching them have their epiphany about this is so fun.”

“When these campaigns win with very small margins (like 1%, 3%, 5%), that means half of the state voted against it, and that means half the state wasn’t being spoken to in these campaigns in the right way. …The U.S. is extremely diverse, and not just racially, but within perspectives that exist in this country, and we cannot just be speaking to one side of this issue. We have to really engage with the public in a meaningful way, and that is speaking to the half of the country that doesn’t understand this.”

“We forget that the traditional pharmaceutical industry has yet to step in on this issue. I think that they’re very closely watching what’s going to happen with psychedelics, but they have yet to stick their lobbyists on the hill. And that is the day that I am not looking forward to, because they have one of the most powerful lobbies in the country and they have budgets for this kind of work in the billions of dollars, really. So how is the psychedelic industry going to compete with that? How you counter that is: you educate members of congress, you educate those influential people before the pharmaceutical industry gets there so they can’t fill their heads with misinformation.”

Links

Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified: How Psychedelics Alter Consciousness and Produce Therapeutic Effects

Maps.org: Zendo Project Celebrates a Decade at Burning Man and a New Beginning for the Organization

BBC.com: People were taking drugs in Spain 3,000 years ago, study finds

Telegraph.co.uk: Rory Lamont: ‘My rugby injuries made me suicidal – psychedelic drugs saved me’

Benzinga.com: Bipartisan Letter Calls For Including Active Service Members In Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Research

Benzinga.com: This South American Country Wants To Legalize Natural Psychedelics: What’s Going On In Uruguay?

———————————————

Psychedelicmedicinecoalition.org

Psychedelicmedicinepac.com

Psychedelics Today: PT338 – Melissa Lavasani – The Power of Storytelling, The Preservation of Peyote, and “How to Change Your Mind”

NBCnews.com: Candidates who support psychedelics as medicine get a political action committee

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

Psychedelics Today: PT229 – Dr. Matthew Johnson – What is Consciousness?

Governing.com: What Can Communities Do to Prevent Psychedelic Healing Centers?

Arpa-h.gov

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PT404 – Clusterbusters: The Horrors of Cluster Headaches and the Miracle of Psilocybin

In this episode, Joe lets Court Wing take lead in interviewing two of the leaders behind Clusterbusters: Founder and Executive Director, Bob Wold; and President, Eileen Brewer.

A long-time friend of the show, Court Wing has become our resident expert on chronic pain, writing articles about how psilocybin relieved his chronic pain, and hosting Timothy Furnish, MD & Joel Castellanos, MD in their episode about phantom limb pain. Now he speaks with Clusterbusters, a non-profit dedicated to educating people about the horrors of cluster headaches, funding ongoing research into new treatments, and normalizing the miracle that psilocybin has been to so many sufferers in alleviating their headaches. 

Wold and Brewer discuss their past struggles (Wold is a cluster sufferer and Brewer has migraine disease) and discovering the amazing intervention of psychedelics; the battles they’ve gone through in spreading this knowledge; how using psychedelics is also helping people work through PTSD; the barriers that legal psilocybin is creating; the concept of schools having a drug education program; the research looking at cluster headaches and other headache diseases; their creation of the Pain And Psychedelics Association, and more. While cluster headache sufferers have a lot to be frustrated about; as psilocybin becomes more mainstream and more and more research is funded, they now have a lot of hope.

Notable Quotes

“A couple of people started growing their own mushrooms and self-treating themselves just to try it to see if it might actually help, and the results were incredible. It was better than anything that any of them had tried in the past. It wasn’t really an abortive (it wasn’t treating one headache) and it wasn’t really a preventive, where you would take it and you would prevent some of your cluster attacks. It was something that was actually doing both of those things, and people were getting long-lasting results by one or two doses of magic mushrooms.” -Bob

“It makes sense that that would happen within a disease community, it happens outside of disease communities too. Some people just use psychedelics occasionally just to get that perspective back and to work within themselves (and without themselves) to sort it all out, [and] get themselves back together. And I think there’s a real division there between people who do that and people who don’t.” -Eileen

“The two or three years before my first dose of psilocybin, my medical bills were like $20,000 a year trying to treat my clusters. That included hospital stays and specialists and travel. …The first time I grew my own mushrooms, it cost me a hundred dollars to grow a year’s supply and I didn’t have to go to Walgreens to pick up my medicine. So my medical treatment for the following year for my cluster headaches was $100 versus $20,000 and I was able to take as much as I needed when I needed it. And at this point, that’s what most people with headache disorders are doing; they’re growing their own because the system is going to take years and years to be built into something that’s actually accessible to everybody – and affordable.” -Bob

“People are dying while we’re waiting for these policies to happen, and I’m really struggling with the fact that we are setting up more barriers. I know that all the intentions are good, but we are hurting people.” -Eileen

Links

Clusterbusters.org

Remaptherapeutics.com

Psychedelics Today: Surprising Results: Psilocybin Trial for Depression Alleviates Chronic Pain

Psychedelics Today: Why Did Psychedelics Relieve My Chronic Pain?

Psychedelics Today: PT391 – MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy For Fibromyalgia and Other Central Sensitization Syndromes, featuring: Dr. Devon Christie & Dr. Pamela Kryskow, MD

Psychedelics Today: PT306 – Dr. Devon Christie – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Psychedelics Today: PT315 – Dr. Dominique Morisano – From Research to Reality: Planning a Global Psychedelic Summit

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

UC San Diego Psychedelics and Health Research Initiative

Newswire.ca: Apex Labs Granted Approval for 294 Patient Take Home Psilocybin Clinical Trial

FDA.gov: Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies | REMS

Yalemedicine.org: Emmanuelle Schindler, MD, Ph.D.

Maastrichtuniversity.nl: Dr. Jan Ramaekers

Clinicaltrials.gov: Psilocybin in Patients With Fibromyalgia: EEG-measured Brain Biomarkers of Action (Psilopain)

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Psychedelics Weekly – Roland Griffiths Faces the End, The NBA Lifts Its Cannabis Ban, and The Rising Popularity of Mushrooms for Moms

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Kyle is back in Colorado and in-person with Joe, and they discuss what stood out to them in the news this week:

-A New York Times interview with Roland Griffths, where he talks about his cancer diagnosis and how meditation and psychedelics have helped him prepare for the inevitable end;

-An article on the rising popularity of psychedelics among mothers, and the benefits and risks of moms rejecting alcohol culture in favor of something new (and largely illegal);

-The NBA removing cannabis from its list of banned substances and allowing players to invest in cannabis companies, which follows years of other sports slowly accepting that cannabis is a part of our culture and there’s no need to play the part of “big brother” anymore;

and an article looking at legalization from the perspectives of people who were against recent measures like Prop 122, and how some towns in Colorado and Oregon are looking for ways to prevent the creation of psilocybin service centers from being built in their backyards.

They also go further into the Psychedelic Medicine Coalition’s recently created Political Action Committee and the work they’re doing to educate lawmakers; Harvard Law School hosting webinars comparing psychedelic legislation and the role of psychedelics in Indigenous groups in Europe, Australia, and North America; Arizona’s HB-2486, which would give $30 million in grants to universities and non-profit organizations to conduct psilocybin research; and Rick Doblin’s recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience.

They also discuss the many events we’ll be at in the coming months, and the excitement and often overwhelming aspects of psychedelic conferences, which are outlined in this week’s blog from Dennis Walker. If you’re attending any, come say hi! And for discounts: use code PSYCTODAY for 30% off tickets to DiscoveryCon, use PSYCHTODAYBC10 for 10% off tickets to Breaking Convention, and use code PT15 for 15% off tickets for MAPS’ Psychedelic Science 2023.

Links

(bolded links are the articles they discussed)

Psychedelics Today: Expanding Your Horizons: The Ultimate Guide to Attending a Psychedelic Conference

The Joe Rogan Experience: #1964 – Rick Doblin

Psychedelics Today: PT403 – Understanding the Brain: Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified, featuring: Melanie Pincus, Ph.D. & Manesh Girn

Ssdp.org: 30 Under 30 Women in Psychedelics

NYtimes.com: A Psychedelics Pioneer Takes the Ultimate Trip

Griffithsfund.org

Romper.com: The Rise Of The Mushroom Moms

Psychedelics Today: PT396 – Moms on Mushrooms: Motherhood and Psychedelics Inside a Broken Culture, featuring: Tracey Tee

The ‘Housewife Syndrome’: An Indicator of Madness or Oppression?

Psychedelicspotlight.com: Indiana Nurse Faces Ten Years in Prison for Microdosing Psilocybin Mushrooms

Psychedelics Today: PT319 – Kole – Activism and Trust: A Cautionary Tale From Someone Who Got Caught

The Lancet: Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse

Madinamerica.com: JAMA Psychiatry: We Must Look at the Harms of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy

Plantph.com

Momsonmushrooms.com

Marijuanamoment.net: The NBA Is Lifting Its Ban On Marijuana In New Deal With Players Union, According To Report

Politico.com: Psychedelics coalition grows its advocacy footprint

Psychedelicmedicinecoalition.org: Donate

12news.com: There’s a push to legalize a specific psychedelic for medical research out of the Arizona legislature

Governing.com: What Can Communities Do to Prevent Psychedelic Healing Centers?

Thecrimson.com: Experts Discuss Psychedelics Policy in the Global North at Harvard Law School Webinar

Cnn.com: High Profits

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PT403 – Understanding the Brain: Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified

In this episode, David interviews neuroscientist, artist, and educator, Melanie Pincus, Ph.D.; and Ph.D. candidate in Neuroscience, lead or co-author on over a dozen scientific publications, and regular contributor to PT, Manesh Girn. 

They tell their stories of how they became interested in neuroscience, and stress the importance of staying radically open-minded (or “epistemically naive”) when it comes to how much we can claim we understand about the brain, the mind-body connection, and consciousness itself – that while fMRI and other advances have brought us a long way, there are still a ton of “unknown unknowns,” especially around creativity, decision making, and imagination. They discuss the misconception that we only use 10% of our brains; comparisons between the brain and the universe; society’s misunderstanding of “happy hormones” (dopamine, serotonin, etc.); how chronic stress takes a toll on all parts of the body; how MDMA works with memory processing; and how stacking modalities with the psychedelic experience (like play or activities focused on emotion regulation) can really help with personal goals and growth. 

They have taken their understanding and fascination with neuroscience and applied it to a new course in our Psychedelic Education Center: “Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified: How Psychedelics Alter Consciousness and Produce Therapeutic Effects“: an 8-week live course with 10 hours of prerecorded material and a built-in community. It was designed with practitioners and clinicians in mind, but with the goal of still being as accessible as possible for anyone who is curious about the neuroscience of psychedelics, and how that knowledge can help with preparation, the journey, integration, and working with a heightened window of neuroplasticity. 

Class begins on May 17, and if you sign up before April 12, you can get $100 off!

Notable Quotes

“There’s so much good science now, and good neuroscience that can inform how people work with their clients in terms of helping them set up for and make sense of their psychedelic experience and ways to optimize the preparation before going into a psychedelic journey, the actual psychedelic journey in terms of thinking about dosing and type of substance to work with, and then also in the integration period, where there’s this heightened window of neuroplasticity and how one could really work with a client to best take advantage of that window of opportunity to lead to lasting change.” -Melanie

“It’s just this blob, this squishy blob of matter. And you think: for that person, their entire life, experiences, memories, [and] hopes were all happening in this little blob that’s in my hand. And just seeing all the layers of blood vessels and how everything’s connected to each other, it’s just fascinating and it’s downright bizarre that somehow, this thing can give rise to experience and consciousness. It’s like, how the hell is that even possible?” -Manesh

“For people who are interested in stacking modalities, there’s other modalities that are really potent at promoting neuroplasticity. So if you want to synergize with the window of plasticity during the integration period, you could for sure partake in regular exercise, because that’s one of the most well-known plasticity promoters.” -Melanie

“How do we respond adaptively to times of change? How do we adjust ourselves? How do we create homeostasis in a changing environment, and how do we adapt to new circumstances? And this is also a whole brain/nervous system/body affair as well, on how to regulate your entire organism to deal with change and to be resilient and to be adaptable. It’s not just in the brain. It’s not just in the brain at all.” -Manesh

Links

Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified: How Psychedelics Alter Consciousness and Produce Therapeutic Effects (Sign up before April 12 for $100 off)

Syncopydesignlab.com

YouTube: The Psychedelic Scientist

Psychedelics Today: Psychedelics Weekly – Research Explained: Ketamine and the Corticothalamic Network, Psilocybin and the Immune System, & Canalization and Plasticity, featuring Manesh Girn

Psychedelics Today: PT258 – Manesh Girn – Psychedelics and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and Creativity

Theguardian.com: Dreamachine, the psychedelic contraption hoping to blow British minds

Huffpost.com: What Exactly Are Sweetbreads, Anyway? A Guide For Anyone Who Doesn’t Already Know

Wikipedia.org: Jamais vu

Jannalevin.com

Britannica.com: Do We Really Use Only 10 Percent of Our Brain?

Sciencedaily.com: Massive study reveals few differences between men’s and women’s brains

Healthline.com: How to Hack Your Hormones for a Better Mood

The Fellowship of the River: A Medical Doctor’s Exploration into Traditional Amazonian Plant Medicine, by Joseph Tafur, MD

Psychologytoday.com: What Does ‘Allostatic Load’ Mean for Your Health?

Psychedelics Today: PT288 – Annie & Michael Mithoefer – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Minoritytrip.com: s1e8 – Manesh Girn: Curiosity as Freedom from Circumstance, the Default Mode Network, and Nature of the Networked Mind

Attending Breaking Convention? Come see us and use code PSYCHTODAYBC10 for 10% off all purchases!
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Psychedelics Weekly – Investors Form REIT for Psychedelic Therapy, Diplo Runs a Marathon on LSD, and Is Cannabis a Psychedelic?

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe calls in from Los Angeles to cover the week’s news with David. 

They review: 

-Dr. Julie Holland’s recent appearance on the The Cannabis Investing Podcast, where she discussed the concept of cannabis being a psychedelic;

-Vancouver Island University in British Columbia, Canada, planning to establish a Psychedelic Research Centre, with a focus on the historical and ethical context of psychedelic substances, using a “two eyed seeing” approach that combines Western-style science with Indigenous perspectives;

-A group of investors creating a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) to purchase real estate for the purposes of psychedelic therapy, which, if used as the collaborative model we imagine it could be, could solve a lot of problems;

-Diplo completing the Los Angeles Marathon in 3 hours and 35 minutes while under a reported 4-5 drops of LSD, and the dismissive spin mainstream media added to the story; 

and a Rolling Stone article focusing on (and somewhat oversimplifying) the conflicts between the medicalization and decriminalization/legalization camps (can we just do both?).

The articles of course lead to much larger discussions: how cannabis has helped David overcome OCD; the need for more transparency and a review system based on abusive behavior in the psychedelic space; the idea of collectivization in therapy models; the need to agree on ethical foundations; and our general misunderstanding of IP and IP law: was all the criticism of Compass Pathways unwarranted?

Links

“The Mushroom Cure” tickets

Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified: How Psychedelics Alter Consciousness and Produce Therapeutic Effects

Mortlakeandcompany.com

Seekingalpha.com: Cannabis Is A Psychedelic – Dr. Julie Holland

Psychedelics Today: PT314 – Daniel McQueen, MA – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Gaia.com: What is the Ayurvedic Perspective on Cannabis?

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

Imdb.com: “Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste”

Firesideproject.org

CBC.ca: First Nations researcher exploring psychedelics as healing tool for intergenerational trauma

Rootstothrive.com: Shannon Dames, RN, MPH, EdD

Bisnow.com: ‘Nothing Short Of Incredible’: Investors Look To Form REIT To Buy Real Estate For Psychedelic Therapy

Usatoday.com: Diplo says he ran a marathon while on LSD. Experts say he’s tripping.

Concussionrepairmanual.com

Rollingstone.com: Market Battle Lines are Being Drawn in Psychedelics—But What are the Warring Camps Really Fighting About?

Drrosalindwatts.com

Psychedelics Today: PT233 – JR Rahn of MindMed – LSD, ADHD, and Decriminalization

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PT402 – Magic, Virtual Reality, and Ketamine & Internal Family Systems

In this episode, David interviews Sunny Strasburg, LMFT: Clinical Director at TRIPP PsyAssist; psychedelic trainer, consultant, therapist, and writer, specializing in EMDR and Internal Family Systems, and offering ketamine-assisted therapy as well as ketamine therapy retreats (often co-led by Dr. Richard Schwartz). 

She talks about her family history with magic, and how the act of calling energy in and out pairs with psychedelic work; how the human experience is made up of contrasts; why we need to embrace the recreational part of psychedelics; how art can be used more in therapy; and how post-experience group integration is the act of creating mythology, recreating the small-community-sitting-by-the-fire archetype – that community we so desperately need. And she discusses ketamine: different ways she uses it; how it pairs perfectly with Internal Family Systems; and how it’s autobiographical medicine, making us an observer and allowing us to separate ourselves from our story.

While passionate about the mystical, magic, and reconnecting to nature, she is also very involved with virtual reality, and she discusses how VR and meditation apps are easing people into non-ordinary states and familiarizing people with breathwork. With the help of pioneering psychedelic DJ, David Starfire, she created PsyAssist, an app with music playlists and voice integration for people to enhance ketamine experiences that don’t otherwise include therapy or integration work. PsyAssist was acquired by VR company, TRIPP, and they’re running a study on people using VR before a psychedelic experience to see if data proves that VR really does reduce the anxiety so many of us feel before taking that big journey. But she reminds us: as we become more connected to technology, VR, and AI, being connected to other human beings will become more and more important.

Notable Quotes

“I call ketamine the open source code of psychedelics because it doesn’t have a very strong signature or agenda in and of itself. Psychedelics like ayahuasca and psilocybin definitely have a presence. DMT has a presence of beings that live in that space, and it seems like you go to this place that’s informed by the beings that run that space. Ketamine is more open-ended. It feels like it takes autobiographical content and feeds it back to you in interesting ways. …It has this interesting signature of pulling us out of the experience and into ‘observer mind,’ and it also has a signature of traveling. That combination is super interesting for therapy.”

“I do not see VR as a replacement for therapists at all. In fact, I think the more we get into technology and AI, the more in-person experiences with another human being are going to become increasingly valuable to us. We have evolved for hundreds of thousands of years to be prosocial animals that connect with other beings like us, and that’s not going away anytime soon. …I actually think that as AI and technology takes a lot of jobs, I think there are certain sectors of human connection that are going to become more important than ever.” 

“I love [how] in holotropic breathwork, they have the mandalas with art materials and they encourage you to create a drawing or painting of what you experienced before you speak to anyone as part of that experience. And I really like that, because as soon as you start giving words to ineffable experience, it collapses it down to something that’s simplified beyond what it was. But you can keep it in that open-ended space when you make art …or you make music or dance around what you experienced. It holds that openness and that sublime energy of the ineffable.”

Links

Sunnystrasburgtherapy.com

Sunnystrasburgretreats.com

The Theradelic Approach: Psychedelic Therapy, Perspective, Preparation, and Practice, by Sunny Strasburg, LMFT, with foreword by Dr, Richard Schwartz, Ph.D.

PsyAssist.com

Wikipedia.org: Stregheria

LSD and the Mind of the Universe: Diamonds from Heaven, by Christopher M. Bache, Ph.D.

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

Psychedelics Today: PT300 – Dr. Richard C. Schwartz – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Psychedelics Today: PT288 – Annie & Michael Mithoefer – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, by Douglas Rushkoff

Davidstarfire.com

Imdb.com: Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within

Melissawhippo.com

Thank You Life is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization on a mission to revolutionize mental healthcare and help the world heal by eliminating the financial barriers to psychedelic therapy. Click the link to donate!
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PT401 – The Self-Entropic Broadening Theory: Understanding The Psychedelic State and Psychosis

In this episode, Joe interviews Ph.D. student in the Drug Use and Behavior Lab at the University of Alabama Birmingham, Haley Maria Dourron.

She talks mostly about the paper she co-authored last year with Dr. Peter Hendricks and Camilla Strauss: “Self-Entropic Broadening Theory: Toward a New Understanding of Self and Behavior Change Informed by Psychedelics and Psychosis,” which analyzes the long-standing comparisons between the psychedelic state and psychosis, and points out important distinctions between the two – that science should be looking more at the way one processes information and their level of self-focus rather than similarities in outward behavior. She discusses what she calls entropic processing, which is essentially how one’s brain creates novel ideas, relations, and insights based on very loosened mental schemas: with new information being considered in new ways (with no filter), do the connecting pathways that seem like eureka moments actually make sense? 

She discusses the broaden and build theory and the broadening of intentional scope; entropy; chronic LSD use and risk of psychosis; schizophrenia and psychedelics; why science needs to embrace naturalistic research, and more. As of this release date, there are still a few participatory spots left in her current study on the effect of psychedelic experiences on people who have a history of psychosis, so if you had an episode of psychosis at some point and have gone on to use psychedelics, she wants to hear your story.

Notable Quotes

“It’s such a wide open space where there’s still so much room to learn. And to me, it feels as if we’re opening a time capsule of all these different questions that have been kind of covered up, and we now have better technologies to probe what’s really going on.”

“A lot of work was actually done in the 1950s, giving people with schizophrenia LSD, psilocybin, [or] DMT, [and] oftentimes, apparently they had a reduced response. So that just shows how much more room we have to learn what really could be happening with these drugs, what populations necessarily should be excluded, [and] who is actually likely to experience adverse responses.” 

“The acute experience might kind of serve as a catalyst for people creating changes, but then it’s ultimately the changes that they make in their daily lives afterwards, and if they’re putting in the work of building those enduring resources, if you will. It might be [easier] to do so in the immediate afterglow of a psychedelic experience, but you’ve still got to try if you want those enduring effects.”

Links

Researchgate.net: Self-Entropic Broadening Theory: Toward a New Understanding of Self and Behavior Change Informed by Psychedelics and Psychosis

Scientificamerican.com: LSD May Chip Away at the Brain’s “Sense of Self” Network

Verywellmind.com: An Overview of Broaden and Build Theory

Psychedelics Today: PT245 – Robin Carhart-Harris – Psychedelics, Entropy, and Plasticity

Wikipedia.org: Louis Sass

Iflscience.com: LSD, DNA, PCR: The Strange Origins Of A Biology Revolution

The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct, by Thomas S. Szasz, M.D.

Psychedelics Today: PTSF59 – Bipolar and Psychedelics, with Benjamin Mudge

Investigating the Phenomenology and Perceived Mental Health Impact of Classic Psychedelic Experiences in People with a History of Psychosis (her new study – only a few spots left for participation)

Check out Beckley Retreats here, and listen to CEO Neil Markey in episode PT400 here!
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Psychedelics Weekly – More Trouble For Field Trip Health, Ketamine Wellness Centers Abruptly Close, & The Creation of the Psychedelic Medicine PAC

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle are back at it, talking about news and what’s going on at Psychedelics Today (applications for Vital close this Sunday, March 26, and we’ve just announced a new neuroscience course!).

Following up on last week’s news that Field Trip Health had closed five clinics, they start with more unfortunate news: that Field Trip is laying off a lot of people, Ronan Levy has resigned as the CEO, trading has been suspended, and the company has obtained CCAA Protection (which, through the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, essentially allows a struggling company a chance to restructure its finances to avoid bankruptcy, all through a formal Plan of Arrangement). And in similar news, all Ketamine Wellness Centers (an Arizona company recently acquired by Delic Holdings) would be closing immediately, with employees let go with little warning or explanation. These stories (and Synthesis Institute’s downfall) highlight the sad reality many of us in the psychedelic space forget: that just because a business is heart-centered and psychedelic-minded, it’s still a business, and businesses need to be profitable to survive. 

Next, they cover Melissa Lavasani and the Psychedelic Medicine Coalition creating the Psychedelic Medicine PAC (Political Action Committee) to get more government funding behind psychedelic research. Members of PMC went to D.C. last week, presenting a psychedelic briefing to begin the process of educating legislators about the realities of plant medicines and psychedelic-assisted therapy (and Joe was there). 

And they discuss more: concerns over Australia’s recent about-face on MDMA and psilocybin being used legally; a recent study where researchers used EEG and fMRI together to record what is happening in the brain while under the influence of DMT (and we should probably have Manesh Girn on again to explain it better than we could); and an interview with Eric Andre at SXSW where, in about 2 minutes, he brilliantly shines a light on drug exceptionalism, the lies of the drug war, and the need for more education on psychedelics – all to a bewildered reporter who didn’t seem prepared to talk to Eric Andre (we are- please come on the podcast!).

Links

Navigating Psychedelics/Beckley Retreats giveaway

Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified: How Psychedelics Alter Consciousness and Produce Therapeutic Effects

Vitalpsychedelictraining.com

Psychedelicalpha.com: Field Trip Health & Wellness Obtains CCAA Protection

Meetfieldtrip.com: Field Trip Health & Wellness Obtains CCAA Protection

AZfamily.com: Ketamine Wellness Centers in Arizona and across county abruptly shut down

NBCnews.com: Candidates who support psychedelics as medicine get a political action committee

Psychedelicmedicinecoalition.org

Nofallenheroesfoundation.org

ABC.net.au: ‘Serious concerns’ over TGA’s decision making on landmark psilocybin, MDMA ruling

TGA.gov.au: Change to classification of psilocybin and MDMA to enable prescribing by authorised psychiatrists

Pharmala.ca

Interestingengineering.com: Scientists unlock effect of psychedelic drug DMT on the human brain

Pnas.org: Human brain effects of DMT assessed via EEG-fMRI

Vox.com: Wilder Penfield redrew the map of the brain — by opening the heads of living patients

Beyond the Brain, by Stanislav Grof

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas S. Kuhn

Fox26houston.com: Eric Andre talks his love of psychedelics at SXSW

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PT400 – Beckley Retreats: Combining Modern Science, Tradition, and Holistic Wellness

In this episode, Joe interviews the Co-Founder and CEO of Beckley Retreats, Neil Markey. 

Markey describes Beckley Retreats as comprehensive well-being programs, and talks about the importance of holistic wellness – that, while the retreats are centered around two group psilocybin experiences, the true benefits come from complementary factors: the four weeks of online prep and community building before the retreat, the six days in Jamaica surrounding the experiences, the six weeks of integration work after, and the depth of connections people find in the new community they may not have realized they needed so badly. He breaks down the details of the retreats and what they look for in facilitators, and tells a few success stories that really highlight how trauma, opposing ideas, and an infatuation with material objects and amassing wealth can all get in the way of real relationships and meaning. 

Beckley Retreats is currently working on two new projects: an observational study with Heroic Hearts and Imperial College London on using psilocybin for-traumatic brain injury, and a study with Bennet Zelner and the University of Maryland to bring executives through a retreat to see how it affects leadership and decision-making: can they prove that these types of experiences lead to more heart-centered leaders? 

We are currently running a giveaway where you can win a one-on-one meditation class with Neil and a custom Beckley Retreats tote, as well as many other prizes. Click here to enter!

Notable Quotes

“The problem, a lot of times with Western medicine, is if you can’t understand the mechanics of it, then we kind of discard it, or if you can’t isolate a single variable, then we discard it. It’s like: well, some things work in tandem. If you actually peel the physics back, it looks like everything’s connected to everything, so we’ve got to think about more comprehensive approaches. I think that you can learn a lot from looking at traditional practices and some of the Indigenous wisdom that’s out there; that there’s a method to how this work has been done for quite some time and we shouldn’t disregard it.”

“If we can help people in a clinic model, let’s do that. But [with a] clinic, again: when you take someone, you give them a mystical experience, and then they go right back home or right back to work and right back into life, are you creating enough space for there to be optimal change? I think we need to keep studying it and asking those questions.”

“[Amanda Feilding] never saw a rule that she didn’t want to break. She’s [this] lifelong badass that has just gone against the grain for her entire career. But it was never about money for her, it was all because she thought she could help people. It’s so inspiring. We need more of those stories; less stories about people that made a billion dollars or whatever and more material things, and [more of] these stories about folks that are just out there trying to help others. It fires me up.”

Links

Beckleyretreats.com

Upcoming Beckley Retreats

Beckleyfoundation.org

Psychedelics Today: Amanda Feilding – The Beckley Foundation: Changing Minds through Psychedelic Research

Vetsolutions.org

Heroicheartsproject.org

McKinsey & Company

Beckleywaves.com

Brainyquote.com: H.G. Wells quote (Joe said it was Mark Twain)

Pubmed: The gut microbiome and mental health: advances in research and emerging priorities

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

Psychedelicspotlight.com: Imperial College and Heroic Hearts Launch Psychedelic Research Retreat For Veterans With Head Trauma

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

Maps.org: The Pollination Approach to Delivering Psychedelic-Assisted Mental Healthcare

Synthesisretreat.com: Expansion: Leadership Edition (original leadership study through Bennet Zelner)

Nbcews.com: Candidates who support psychedelics as medicine get a political action committee

Markey with Amanda Feilding
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Psychedelics Weekly – Field Trip Health Closes Five Clinics, Legalization Bills Introduced in VT, and Ketamine Telehealth Uncertainty

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle join up once again to discuss the news and articles they found the most interesting this week. 

They start with the business news everyone is talking about: Field Trip Health & Wellness closing 5 of their clinics due to financial struggles (a deficit of $48.7 million since their inception and a net loss of $6.9 million reported for the last quarter), little confidence they’d be able to receive more funding, and the changing landscape of ketamine telehealth now that the Covid Public Health Emergency should finally come to an end in May. They also highlight an article dissecting the collapse of Synthesis Institute and the lessons to be learned, with both stories really showing just how new and unstable psychedelic business still is, and how the allure of first-mover advantage can be a dangerous gamble.

They also discuss four drug reform bills introduced in Vermont: two of which would decriminalize simple possession of all drugs, making a “personal use supply of drugs” a civil offense with a $50 fine; one removing penalties for using or selling psilocybin; and the last decriminalizing certain psychedelic plants and fungi. 

And they look at a research study aiming to learn more about people’s lives after they’ve been involved in a clinical trial, Time Magazine’s article about psychedelics and couples therapy, and a study that found that while 64% of survey respondents said at-home ketamine helped their symptoms, 55% (and 58% of Millennials) said they used more than the recommended dose – either by accident or on purpose.

Links

Investorsobserver.com: Field Trip Health to Close Ketamine Clinics as it Struggles to Find Profits

Meetfieldtrip.com: Field Trip Health & Wellness to Close Clinics in 5 Locations

Meetfieldtrip.com: Field Trip Health & Wellness Provides Business Update and Reports Fiscal Third Quarter 2023 Results

Harrisbricken.com: Good News for Ketamine Telehealth

Ecstaticintegration.substack.com: Synthesis and the shadow of psychedelic capitalism

Opb.org: Most students will continue with Oregon psilocybin program that ran out of money, new provider says

Twitter: @Eddietalksdrugs(Have you participated in a clinical trial involving #psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy? How has life been after the trial? Contact psychedelic.experiences@psych.ox.ac.uk for more information.)

Psychedelics Today: PT302 – Dr. Adele Lafrance – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Boingboing.net: Oregonians work to make psychedelic psychiatric care a regulated, safe practice

Time.com: Psychedelics Could Revolutionize Couples Therapy

Psychedelicspotlight.com: Vermont Lawmakers File Bills To Legalize Psychedelics And Decriminalize All Drugs

Marijuanamoment.net: Vermont Lawmakers File Bills To Legalize Psychedelics And Decriminalize All Drugs

Legislature.vermont.gov: H.439

Legislature.vermont.gov: S.114

Dancesafe.org

Psychiatrictimes.com: Report Reveals More Than 50% of Americans Misuse At-Home Ketamine

Plusapn.com: 2023 Future of Mental Health: Ketamine Therapy Report

NYtimes.com: A Fraught New Frontier in Telehealth: Ketamine

Painnewsnetwork.org: New CDC Guideline: Too Little, Too Late for Chronic Pain Patients

The Stories of Vital 2022-2023 | Psychedelic Therapy Training

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PT399 – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

In this episode, David hosts another Vital Psychedelic Conversation, this time with Bennet Zelner, Ph.D.: Vital instructor who teaches economics at the University of Maryland Smith School of Business; and Giles Hayward: Vital student and Co-Founder of Woven Science (a company backing and building psychedelic and wellness tech companies) and El Puente, which focuses on Indigenous biocultural preservation.

Zelner believes that the traditional capitalist system we’ve grown accustomed to is an extractive and predatory one directly in opposition to a natural system we should be striving to emulate – one that circulates resources and exits largely in equilibrium with its different parts. His concept of the Pollination Approach (or regenerative economics) is about developing economic structures that are capable of balance: where communities are built to directly benefit each other and where businesses are structured to share resources and capital to all involved. In a hyper-individualistic system where loneliness and never feeling good enough are key drivers of depression, anxiety, and trauma, how could we not benefit from feeling more connected to each other, our communities, and the businesses that exist within them? 

They talk about different ways the pollination approach could be applied; how psychedelics disrupt these broken systems; how we can make these treatments affordable; and why we should be focusing on the delivery and integration of substances rather than creating new ones. And since Hayward is about to graduate from Vital’s inaugural run, he shares his feelings on the program and how it fell into this concept of regenerative economics. 

The application deadline for this year’s Vital has been extended to March 26, but this will be the last extension. So if you’re interested, now is the time to apply!

Applications are open until March 26 for the second edition of Vital, our 12-month training certificate program in psychedelic therapy and integration, beginning in April 2023. Head to Vitalpsychedelictraining.com for more info.

Notable Quotes

“Our connection to each other and to the natural world, I think, is undeniable. To argue that our individual well-being does not depend on the health of the natural systems that we depend on for food, for air, [and] for water is just folly. …I think that deep down, everybody actually knows that we’re connected, and we’ve just been taught to forget that by many cultural forces. I think psychedelics can help us remember this innate wisdom.” -Bennet

“If we go back thousands of years, our pagan ancestors believed in animism. We believed and saw that there was a spirit and an essence in everything. And yet today, through this reductionist mindset (ever since Descartes said, ‘I think, therefore I am’), we have gone on this odyssey which has fortified this belief that we live in a separate existence, a separate world where there’s no room to see the world around us as being alive [and] full of spirit. …If we’re able to see the world as alive, [and] we’re able to develop an intimate relationship with all things around us, one might think that these feelings of loneliness could dissipate somewhat.” -Giles

“The principles of nature are sacred. Whether we like it or not, we live in a world of natural systems, and if we’re unwilling to behave in a way according to the principles of natural systems, then the natural systems will survive. We’re the ones who will not.” -Bennet

Links

Maps.org: The Pollination Approach to Delivering Psychedelic-Assisted Mental Healthcare

DoubleBlind Magazine: Regenerative Patterning Psychedelic Pharma Has Arrived. Will It Be Able To Break Out Of An Outdated And Extractive Medical Model?

Psychedelics Today: PT221 – Bennet Zelner – The Pollination Approach

Woven.science

Foundationelpuente.org

Foundersfactory.com

NPR.org: Atomic Tune-Up: How the Body Rejuvenates Itself

Springer.com: The Watts Connectedness Scale: a new scale for measuring a sense of connectedness to self, others, and world

Allpoetry.com: “Everything is waiting for you,” by David Whyte

Vanityfair.com: How PTSD Became a Problem Far Beyond the Battlefield

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

Thealchemistskitchen.com

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PT398 – Lost Civilizations, DMT Entities, & Altered States of Consciousness and Early Religion

In this episode, Joe interviews Graham Hancock: legendary bestselling author and writer and presenter of the new Netflix docuseries, “Ancient Apocalypse,” where he travels the world looking for evidence of lost civilizations likely much more advanced than historians previously believed.

Hancock talks about his early books and how ayahuasca influenced his writing; the similarities in cave art and the common link of altered states of consciousness; how integral these states likely were toward the creation of early religion (especially Christianity); how much the annihilation of religious traditions has hidden history; why his and Rupert Sheldrake’s Tedx talks were originally taken offline; new understandings of Neanderthals’ intelligence and creativity; the Quetzalcóatl; and the concept of the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis: could there have been an advanced civilization 12,800 years ago that we’re just starting to comprehend? Could it have been Atlantis? 

He discusses the conflict with mystery and archaeology’s obsession with scientism and materialist reductionism – that we keep trying to force everything into little boxes of approved science and have lost our imaginations and openness to possibility, especially when you realize how often narratives are built based on interpretations of data rather than facts (since the farther back we go, evidence becomes harder to come by). He believes science needs humility, a willingness to listen to Indigenous history, and a much more open mind when it comes to altered states of consciousness: “I’m convinced we’re missing something important from our past, and if we don’t look for it, we won’t find it.

Hancock has just announced that he will be a speaker at UK’s Breaking Convention, April 20 – 22 at the University of Exeter, and some of the PT team will be there too! To save 10% off tickets, use code PSYCHTODAYBC10 at checkout.

Notable Quotes

“I think there’s a huge amount of genuine mystery in the past, and there’s an attempt by archaeologists to explain away that mystery, …to just drain the past of mystery and to leave nothing there except dry facts (supposed facts) as archaeologists claim, but which, when you dig deep enough, you find are actually interpretations of limited data sets. I don’t know why archaeologists just want the past to be so boring. …Of course there’s a need for rigor and discipline, but there’s also a need for imagination and openness of mind when it comes to interpreting our collective past.”

“Those paintings included the same geometric patterns and the same therianthropic entities construed in slightly different ways, but clearly the same kind of encounter is being documented in the cave art from 30 or 40 thousand years ago and is being documented by shamans in the Amazon rainforest today. And what’s the common factor? The common factor is altered states of consciousness.”

“With extended release DMT, volunteers are going into the DMT state for an hour and they’re making remarkably homogeneous reports about entity encounters and about the space in which they encounter those entities. One reasonable supposition has to be: there are many possibilities for this, but when people from all over the world see the same things [and] have the same encounters in the same sort of space, you have to consider the possibility that that space is real in some way that our science doesn’t recognize.”

“Psychedelics and experiences in altered states of consciousness have actually been foundational and fundamental to human culture, and by pretending that they’re not, as we’ve been doing for the last 50 years, we’re making a huge mistake. We have to change that outlook and welcome and embrace what these gifts of the universe have to give us.”

Links

Grahamhancock.com

Netflix: Ancient Apocalypse

Fingerprints of the Gods – Evidence of Earth’s Lost Civilization

Journey Through Pakistan

Ethiopia: The Challenge of Hunger

AIDS: The Deadly Epidemic

Lords of Poverty

African Ark: Peoples of the Horn

Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind

Visionary: The Mysterious Origins of Human Consciousness (The Definitive Edition of Supernatural)

Underworld: Flooded Kingdoms of the Ice Age

A-Z-animals.com: Denisovan vs Neanderthal: What’s the Difference?

The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art, by David Lewis-Williams

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

Psychedelics Today: PTSF 35 (with Brian Muraresku)

Interestingengineering.com: Mysterious disappearance of megafauna: why humans may share the blame

Cometresearchgroup.org

YouTube: Graham Hancock – The War on Consciousness BANNED TED TALK

TEDBlog: Open for discussion: Graham Hancock and Rupert Sheldrake from TEDxWhitechapel

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

Reality Switch Technologies: Psychedelics as Tools for the Discovery and Exploration of New Worlds, by Andrew R. Gallimore

Britannica.com: Quetzalcóatl

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas S. Kuhn

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Psychedelics Weekly – Drug-Free Digital Trips, The Prevalence of Challenging Experiences, and the End of Synthesis Institute

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, David is joined by Kyle, who is finally home after a lot of traveling, to talk shop and dig into the articles they found the most interesting this week. 

They begin with the news that Paul Stamets now has a species of mushroom named after him (Psilocybe stametsii), then take a look at a recent self-report study called “Prevalence and associations of challenging, difficult or distressing experiences using classic psychedelics,” which aimed to collect data on just how many psychedelic users (in this study, anyone who had ever tried a psychedelic) felt that they had had a challenging or difficult experience. They discuss the results and highlight some interesting data: that LSD was the most commonly associated substance, that smoking cannabis was one of the most commonly reported interventions, and of course, the question of whether or not these experiences were beneficial. 

They then talk about Synthesis Institute closing its doors, the possible hope Synthesis could have, and the sadness in this – when businesses fail, it’s easy to look at numbers and profit margins and be dismissive, but we forget the people involved; not just at Synthesis, but the hundreds of would-be students. 

And lastly, they look at an article about a California-based startup called the Reality Center, which uses a combination of pulsing lights, sounds, and vibrations to create a drug-free but seemingly very psychedelic experience, reminding us yet again that you do not need a substance to achieve  non-ordinary states of consciousness.

Links

Forbes.com: There’s A New Species Of Magic Mushroom – Named After Paul Stamets

Graham Pechenik’s thread about the Stamets Stack becoming patented

Breakingconvention.co.uk

Fantasticfungi.com

Biomedcentral.com: Ketamine can be produced by Pochonia chlamydosporia: an old molecule and a new anthelmintic?

Mushroom.cat: Psilocybe Weilii: Good for Making Magic Mushrooms? Don’t Mistake It With Psilocybe Caerulescens

Psychedelics Today: PT377 – Integrative Medicine: Health, Wellness, and Psychedelics, featuring: Andrew Weil, M.D.

Sciencedirect.com: Prevalence and associations of challenging, difficult or distressing experiences using classic psychedelics

Psychedelics Today: PT314 – Daniel McQueen, MA – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Psychedelicalpha.com: Inside Synthesis Institute’s Implosion

Retreat.guru

Oregon.gov: Higher Education Coordinating Commission

Stripes.com: A drug-free, digital psychedelic trip

Realitymgmt.com

Lucialightexperience.com

Psychedelics Today: Allison Pelissier – Lucia N°03 Light Experience

Psychedelics Today: PT394 – We Are The Medicine, featuring: Victor Alfonso Cabral, LSW

Pictureacolorfulworld.com

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PT397 – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, David interviews Vital instructor, Dr. Devon Christie: Senior Lead of Psychedelic Programs at Numinus, MAPS-certified MDMA therapist, and now four-time guest; and Vital student, Emefa Boamah: coach, facilitator, and trauma-informed intuitive guide specializing in embodiment. 

We’ve all heard the trope, “It’s all in your mind,” but it’s also in your heart, soul, community, support system, and body – the focus of this episode. Christie and Boamah dive deep into the various aspects of the relationship between non-ordinary states and our bodies: ways to embody our bodies more; how the body is a fundamental source of truth; the benefit of checking in with one’s body after an experience (to validate or disprove what may have come up); the importance of movement and rest; the different bodies we inhabit (physical, emotional, energetic, mental, and spiritual); and ways to accept (and eventually love) our bodies in a society that’s always working to make us hate them – is self-love the ultimate act of defiance?

They also discuss the post-experience plasticity in everything, and the challenge of preparing an experiencer for something we can’t know; how facilitators and practitioners need to track their own subconscious feelings and reactions; the concept of embodied inquiry; the necessity of remaining curious and humble; and the idea of using integrative practices to find ways to become the person you want to be – the person you may have seen glimpses of in non-ordinary states. 

And as this year’s edition comes to an end, Boamah reflects on her experiences with Vital, particularly the communal aspects of the retreat and how healing it was to literally be lifted up by her companions. If you’re curious about whether Vital is right for you, please come to an upcoming Q+A. Applications close March 26!

Applications are open for the second edition of Vital, our 12-month training certificate program in psychedelic therapy and integration, beginning in April 2023. Head to Vitalpsychedelictraining.com for more info, or attend a Q+A to have your questions answered.

Notable Quotes

“Something happens with plant medicines (psychedelics (for me, with mushrooms)) that just takes you out of it and you see the inherent worth of who you are as a human, as a person. And integrating that process after coming out, I think, does a lot to help with self-love – not to say that cannot be attained without psychedelics, but it’s a different quality to it when you’re able to see yourself outside of yourself and see that you’re just valuable as you are.” -Emefa

“Not only are we fighting against us as human beings (like, whatever is happening internally), there’s also the societal expectations of how we ought to be. …There’s all these things where society is bent on making sure that we don’t feel comfortable in our bodies, so for me, from that lens, self-love is an act of reclamation. It’s like a defiant political act to reclaim who we are as people and spend that inherent worth without buying into what we’re being told to do, unapologetically – like, own it: ‘This is who we are and this is where we come from and we get to take space.’” -Emefa

“Those strongly reinforced habits: they restrict what we can attend to. They restrict our perception. So when they’re loosened under a psychedelic, we’ve got all these dimensions of experience that we can suddenly experience. That’s where, I think, not only in preparation, but in how we meet and attend to the emergent experience of people in psychedelic experiences, as practitioners, we need to be fluent ourselves in our own dimensions of experience of our being, so that we can meet and be curious and inquire and help that person to come to know themselves in all of that dimensionality, and then for their meaning to percolate up from that place.” -Devon

“The wisdom of ceremony, community ceremony, dance, music: that brings connection, that brings rhythm. And one nervous system by itself in the face of trauma is very vulnerable, many nervous systems together in the face of trauma: there’s resiliency. …Thankfully, in many ways, psychedelics help us to perceive this, and then in each person, perceive: ‘What’s the truth for me in this?’ and then we can try to live that.” -Devon

Links

Drdevonchristie.com

Numinus.com

Psychedelics Today: PT391 – MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy For Fibromyalgia and Other Central Sensitization Syndromes, featuring: Dr. Devon Christie & Dr. Pamela Kryskow, MD

Psychedelics Today: PT306 – Dr. Devon Christie – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Emefaboamah.com

Drdansiegel.com: An Introduction to Interpersonal Neurobiology

Pubmed: REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics

Psychedelics Today: PT328 – Courtney Watson, LMFT – Ancestral Veneration and Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy For (and By) QTBIPOC

Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto, by Tricia Hersey

Methodspace.com: Embodied Inquiry as a Research Method

Imdb.com: Doctor Strange

Vitalpsychedelictraining.com

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PT396 – Moms on Mushrooms: Motherhood and Psychedelics Inside a Broken Culture

In this episode, in celebration of International Women’s Day, Victoria interviews Tracey Tee: co-founder and CEO of Band of Mothers Media, co-producer and co-host of the Band of Mothers podcast, and founder of Moms on Mushrooms, an online educational community for psychedelic-curious moms outside the prying eyes of social media.

With similar histories of womb trauma, self discovery, and body reconnection, Victoria and Tracey discuss the complications of motherhood, substance use and embracing psychedelics in a broken culture, in which engaging with small, approved coping mechanisms is fine – where the “wine mom” archetype and numbing yourself with medications is celebrated, but where we don’t often talk about how challenging motherhood can really be, and the lasting mental, physical, and spiritual impacts of birth, loss, and grief. Tracey’s goal with Moms on Mushrooms is to bring mothers together for personal growth, healing, and most of all, for the safe, supportive container that so many women considering plant medicine need.

She tells her story of creating and performing “The Pump and Dump Show” and the psychedelic journeys that led her to creating M.O.M., and discusses much more: how those large dose journeys reconnected her with her body; how microdosing has helped her feel more vulnerable, honest, and in tune with her daughter; how psychedelics can help parents realize where problematic core beliefs came from; how teaching children the ways of the world forces parents to confront and reaffirm what they truly believe; and the challenges mothers face in even talking about wanting to try psychedelics.

If you’re a mother and this episode resonates with you, check out Tee’s Microdosing 101 (for moms) course or join the Moms on Mushrooms community for $4.44 a month.

Notable Quotes

“Had I not had this divine intervention, I think I would have been pretty stubborn, which I can tend to be. I would have not wanted to be vulnerable with my daughter because I think I was raised to say that that wasn’t something that is good or that I should show – I’m a parent: ‘My way is the highway.’ Instead, I’m much softer. I ask for forgiveness, I tell her when I screw up, I admit my mistakes, [and] I ask her what she thinks. I always talk about Old Tracey and New Tracey (Old Tracey and ‘Shroom Tracey’): Old Tracey would have never been like that, and I think that’s a real gift, because in asking forgiveness [and] in admitting my mistakes, I’m changing.”

“What is the most upsetting to me is the fear, like this push/pull of hearing either my story or your story or reading How to Change Your Mind or watching a Netflix thing and saying: ‘My soul is telling me this makes sense, my soul is telling me to give this a shot. I might have a way out of this,’ and then my head is like: ‘You cannot do this. You’re a bad person, this is shameful, you might die (which is ridiculous) and at the very least, your children will be taken away from you.’ And that is why I’m talking to you, because that has to stop. It has to stop.”

“I don’t love rehashing the past. I don’t love carrying victimhood, but I am sad for what I lost. And when I work with the medicine (again, intentionally, safely; all the things that we’ve been talking about), I am shown, piece by piece, [that] I’m calling all those parts back. And it’s not easy, but it’s like I’m rebuilding. I’m like a Lego project right now, and I would never be able to do that without the shrooms.”

Links

Momsonmushrooms.com

Bandofmothers.com

Band of Mothers podcast

Thepumpanddumpshow.com

Psychedelics Today: Webinar – A Somatic Perspective on Sex & Psychedelics: Focusing on Consent and Repressed Sexual Trauma Memories

Psychedelics Today: Reclaiming Ownership of Your Body With Psychedelics, by Jessika Lagarde

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

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Psychedelics Weekly – Cannadelic, Concussions, Vital, and More PT News

In this episode, Psychedelics Weekly is back after a brief hiatus (everyone was either traveling or sick last week!), with the OG PT team: Joe and Kyle. 

With the exception of some commentary on John Oliver’s recent piece on psychedelics (which was excellent), they skip the psychedelic news this week in favor of Psychedelics Today news, as a lot has been going on!

In the last few weeks:

Joe sustained a traumatic brain injury and a broken arm;

Joe, Kyle, and Victoria attended PT’s first Cannadelic in Miami, where Joe and Kyle moderated or sat on several panels, Kyle and Victoria went and saw Afroman, and we won the Psychedelic Brand of the Year award(!);

Joe experienced a music festival in different ways (completely sober, and somewhat still in a concussion daze) and did some interesting research on psychedelics and post-concussion effects;

Despite Joe and Kyle both getting sick and not being able to attend all of it, the last Vital retreat was an amazing one, capping off a year of incredible content and connection that is only fueling the fire to make this year’s Vital even better;

And, due to issues beyond our control with the planned venue and the City of Los Angeles, we had to cancel Convergence.

Phew! As promised, lots going on! 

Links

Cannadelic.miami

Shoulderdoc.co.uk: Greater Tuberosity Fractures

Psychedelics Today: PT371 – The Trickster Archetype and the Need for Comic Relief, featuring: Dennis Walker

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

Psychedelics Today: PT393 – Religious Freedom and the Church of Psilomethoxin, featuring: Greg Lake, Esq.

OGafroman.com

Evilbonewater.com

Bravenewweed.com: Ep115 – The Great Delta-8 Debate: Is it Safe, Legal, or an Interesting High?

Tigerfiberhemp.com

Everland.co

Woodbinecenter.org

YouTube: Psychedelic Assisted Therapy: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Vitalpsychedelictraining.com

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PT395 – Thank You Life: Accessibility, Fair Compensation, and Trusting Intuition

In this episode, David interviews Kevin Cannella, LPC: MAPS-trained psychedelic psychotherapist and Co-Founder and Executive Director of Thank You Life, a nonprofit organization working to provide access to psychedelic therapy by eliminating its financial barriers.

Co-Founded by Dr. Dan Engle, Thank You Life is very new and still in the process of officially launching, having just obtained 501(c)(3) status in December and recently gaining its first corporate sponsor in Dr. Bronner’s. The nonprofit came from the realization of just how expensive psychedelic-assisted therapy can be, and Cannella wondering: what if there was a fund practitioners could plug into when a patient couldn’t pay? While access for the patient is obvious, this model benefits the practitioner as well, which is something not often discussed in the psychedelic space – we focus a lot on how much these services will cost the patient, but rarely on the practitioner deserving to be paid fairly for their time and expertise. 

Cannella tells his story of immersion into a world of ayahuasca, yoga, and vipassana meditation; volunteering at the Temple of the Way of Light, living in Hawaii, then Brazil, and finally, landing at Naropa University, where his passions were finally validated. He discusses looking for signs and learning to trust intuition, ways to increase accessibility outside of a 501(c)(3) model, how it feels to be paid well for your work, and why he only wants to work with practitioners who offer therapy alongside their chosen substance.

Head to their website to donate to the Thank You Life fund, and follow them on socials for details on upcoming launch/fundraising events in April and May, including a public event at the also-new California Center for Psychedelic Therapy. For larger donations or partnership inquiries, email kevin@thankyoulife.org.

Notable Quotes

“If the client couldn’t pay, the financial burden was falling on the therapist or the clinic, although a lot of what was in my field was just therapists in private practice. Therapists can take some sliding scale people, maybe they even do some pro bono, but they still need to make a living and they can’t just be giving away their hours and their time. So this sort of Utopian thought was like: wouldn’t it be great if there was just a fund that we could all plug into, and then that fund could take the financial burden, and we could just be saying yes to the people that we want to be saying yes to?”

“What it feels like in my body when I would do a session for $70 compared to $150: it’s different. It’s different to get paid well. It’s a different energetic experience to get paid well. And I have so much more to give when I’m getting paid well, because I’m not burdened by feeling undervalued and feeling like I’m in this uphill battle with making a good financial living for myself and my family.”

“I think it can be one big shift in the whole way our culture looks at mental health if it becomes a standard that employers offer psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for trauma healing. I mean, what a shift that that would bring, just on its own. …How different would it be if not only could you share with your boss that you got a ketamine treatment, but that the company was actually paying for it and saying, ‘Yes, go get your healing.’?”

Links

Thankyoulife.org

Pinchbeck.io

Templeofthewayoflight.org

Naropa.edu

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

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

Vital: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Tuition Scholarship Access Fund

Psychedelics Today: PT367 – Colorado Proposition 122 and the Decriminalization of Natural Medicines, featuring: David Bronner

The Educational Foundation of America (EFA)

The California Center for Psychedelic Therapy

Psychedelics Today: PT224 – Dr. Dan Engle – The Concussion Repair Manual

Mayahealth.com

Donate to Thank You Life

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PT394 – We Are The Medicine

In this episode, David interviews Victor Alfonso Cabral, LSW: Director of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Fluence Training and Licensed Social Worker and practicing psychotherapist in Pennsylvania.

Cabral is currently involved with the film, “We are the Medicine,” which aims to explore the reemergence of plant medicines from the perspective of people of color from all backgrounds and walks of life, with the added factor of a strong hip hop influence. Filmmakers Eric Blackerby and Esteban Serrano want the film to normalize the concept of psychedelics and healing for people of color, but also the notion of men being truly authentic with each other and building each other up with love and support – something that challenges society’s expectations on how men (and more specifically, Black and Brown men) should be in relationships with one another. Head to pictureacolorfulworld.com to donate and sign up for the mailing list for more info on future fundraisers and screenings. 

He begins the episode by reading a powerful poem he read at Horizons NYC, then tells his story: his childhood and his mother’s sacrifices; how trauma caught up to him in college and led to the low point of his life; his subsequent 120-pound weight loss journey and embracing of therapy, how his first psychedelic experience resulted in an awakening of possibility; how he became a social worker and why he felt instantly aligned with the work; how he ended up working for PA Governor Tom Wolf; and how he came to be interviewed by Sway Calloway (who is also an Executive Producer of the film). His story and all of the organizations and efforts he’s been involved with prove that being authentic, following your heart, and building relationships with the right people can lead to growth and positive change in whatever path you choose in this space. 

Notable Quotes

“Social work felt like I finally had language to describe the way in which I’d been living and being most of my life, and it felt validating to have this whole profession dedicated to the way in which I felt I was showing up in the world already.”

“After that experience, I felt like there [were] possibilities for me to be whatever I wanted to be, and that I wasn’t everything that had been prescribed to me through intergenerational trauma or systemic oppression or a capitalist society. And I was able to peel those things back one by one and see: okay, what’s under this? And what’s under this? And then when I got to the core of that, the message to me was: love is what matters. So that really made me feel like I do have everything that I need. I have my wife, I have my daughter, I have a family, I have good friends, I have my health. And I have ability to manifest, to do, to plan, to live. I’d been doing a lot up until that point to get my life on track, but that opened up the doors in a way that I didn’t think was possible for me, where I felt a kind of freedom that I’ve never felt before in my life.”

“When we talk about collective healing and about empowering our communities and about joy and freedom and liberation, I think it’s important for us, as men of color – for me and for the people that I love and the people around me – to be liberated, to just love each other and to be together, and to be able to be their authentic selves together without all of these other masks that we’re taught to wear. So I hope that if there’s anything that comes out of the film, [it’s] a message of what we can co-create when we can be our authentic selves with each other and hold each other up and love each other.”

Links

Pictureacolorfulworld.com

Fluencetraining.com

Tiss.edu: Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Indiafellow.org: Who Are The Katkari?

YouTube: Sway’s Universe: Can Psychedelics Help Black and Brown and Indigenous People Heal Trauma?

YouTube: “Symbol of Solidarity” Documentary Trailer

Resilientpa.org: 2022 Day of Racial Healing Recap

Ninawasi.com

Psychedelicsiceland.com

Imdb.com: “Down to Earth, with Zac Efron”

Marijuanamoment.net: GOP Pennsylvania Lawmaker Files Psilocybin Research Bill For Veterans And First Responders

Reason-for-hope.org

Centerforpsychedeliceducation.com: Press Release: PA Psychedelic Education Day

Philadose.com

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PT393 – Religious Freedom and the Church of Psilomethoxin

In this episode, Joe interviews Greg Lake, Esq.: Co-Founder of the Church of Psilomethoxin, author, and trial and appellate attorney specializing in working with entheogen-based religious practitioners in establishing their right to consume their sacraments under existing religious freedom laws.

Psilomethoxin (4-Hydroxy-5-methoxydimethyltryptamine or 4-Hydroxy-5-MeO-DMT) was first synthesized in 2021 by mixing 5-MeO-DMT with psilocybin substrate, and after initial tests and months of user reports, it was deemed safe to use.* Lake co-founded the Church of Psilomethoxin in 2022 with the goal of shifting the paradigm of religion to primary direct experiences and individual beliefs rather than a dogma everyone must follow, with a big focus on community and discussing the ultimate questions of life together – with Psilomethoxin as the sacrament of choice. While he prefers member-to-member referrals, there is an application on the site, and he hopes to grow the church through linking people up regionally, (eventually) training people to facilitate, and partnering with a data collection company to gather real-world data on both Psilomethoxin and on why people are seeking out psychedelic churches in the first place. 

He discusses several cases that brought us here and inspired his work; why he believes Psilomethoxin won’t be a target of the Federal Analogue Act; the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the need for states to establish similar state legislation; the importance of new churches establishing evidence in the public record; how much courts take sincerity into consideration; and the concept that, while we’re quick to think of the law as the enemy, courts often don’t want to go after churches – religion is a sacred and intimate thing, so who is the victim if a court brings a church to court that hasn’t harmed anyone?

*Update, April 17, 2023: Results from analytical testing released on April 12, 2023, reveal that there is no evidence to suggest the compound psilomethoxin is present in the samples of sacrament material the Church of Psilomethoxin is offering to their members online. The report, prepared by Samuel Williamson and Alexander Sherwood of the Usona Institute, states, “Psilocybin, baeocystin, and psilocin, were, however, unambiguously identified in the sample, suggesting that the claims regarding the biosynthesis of psilomethoxin may be misguided. The implications of these findings should be critically considered within the context of public health and safety.”

We are following this story at Psychedelics Today and are working to update our community with commentary from the researchers. Stay tuned to our social media channels for more on this topic.

Notable Quotes

“I think eventually the courts will come around to realize that where medical and scientific and religious and spiritual begin or end within this space is not crystal clear, because as we’re all aware, in the research, people, even in clinical settings, are having mystical, religious experiences. And then they see that that really, at many times, translates to positive outcomes. If people, even in a medical setting, can have a religious experience, well then where does ‘This is a religious exercise, this is not’ come into play?”

“One of our core beliefs is that in the peak entheogenic experience like 5-MeO, where you experience unitive cosmic consciousness, that’s basically our moral code – that once you experience unity with all, that tells you pretty much everything that you’ll ever need to know about how you should be treating other people, how you should be treating other beings, and how you should be treating the environment.”

“One thing I’ve learned (and I learned real quick working with these churches) is that, especially post-Covid, the community, for a lot of people, is just as, if not more healing and spiritual than the actual ceremonies.”

Links

Psilomethoxin.com

*Psychedelicalpha.com: Opinions | The Church of Psilomethoxin: Fantasy Chemistry Gets Fact Checked

*Chemrxiv.org: Fungi Fiction: Analytical Investigation into the Church Of Psilomethoxin’s Alleged Novel Compound Using UPLC-HRMS

Entheoconnect.com

Psychedeliceducationcenter.com: Psychedelics and Religious Liberty in the United States

Wikipedia.org: 4-Hydroxy-5-methoxydimethyltryptamine

Cognitiveliberty.org: Ask Dr. Shulgin Online (Shulgin’s response to a question about Psilomethoxin)

Tripsitter.com: What Is the Federal Analogue Act?

Quantifiedcitizen.com

Psychedelics in Mental Health Series: Psilocybin, by George G. Lake Esq.

Law.justia.com: United States v. Meyers

Wikipedia.org: Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Wikipedia.org: Employment Division v. Smith

Wikipedia.org: City of Boerne v. Flores

Wikipedia.org: State Religious Freedom Restoration Acts

Law.justia.com: New Hampshire v. Mack

Leary.ru: Timothy Leary: Start Your Own Religion

Justia.com: Church of the Eagle and the Condor et al v. Garland et al

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

Casetext.com: Ariz. Yage Assembly v. Garland

Cannadelic.miami

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PT392 – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Kyle interviews Carla Kieffer: psychedelic educator, Certified Psychedelic Facilitator, Community Liaison at Maya Health, and Founder of Kairos Integration, a company offering psychedelic training, preparation, facilitation, integration, and microdosing support.

This episode was recorded in-person, in between the first and second psilocybin retreats at Atman Retreat in Jamaica, where Kyle, Johanna, and a large group of Vital students just worked with Carla last month. Many participants that attend retreats are new to psychedelics, and often don’t know each other, so it was powerful to have a group of classmates follow the breathwork model of having sitters and journeyers take turns (which is the same model she uses for her Psychedelic Guide Training and Certificate Program), and demonstrates how much one can learn when taking the role of the sitter and how the journey becomes the teacher. They talk about how big the therapy part of psychedelic-assisted therapy is, in how rare it is to have someone attending to your every need for hours on end, and wonder: How can we take that aspect of holding space for each other and apply it to everyday life?

She discusses the importance of data collection and how her Internal Family Systems training has helped her balance her love for the mystical with her more science and data-based mind; the importance in facilitators meeting some sort of baseline harm reduction and safety training (and the need to establish an agreed-upon set of standards); the need for increased accessibility; how important it is to further educate about and normalize conversations about psychedelics; and how integration isn’t just a box you check off as part of the experience, but a continuous process and part of our lives, where checking in on ourselves should be a regular practice.

Notable Quotes

“If we could hold space for each other to have our own experiences, I think there might be a lot of learning on both sides.” 

“The medicine is one part, but it’s also that experience of being held in a container – being heard, being witnessed. I think we also have to acknowledge that about this type of work. Even if it is individual therapy, if it’s psilocybin or MDMA-assisted [therapy]: when do you have somebody just there for you for six hours, giving so much attention to every little need? Does that have a healing quality to it?” -Kyle

“How can you do that in your life: show up for people in support and name what you need and really feel held by each other? I have visions of communities and spaces as we move forward with psychedelics and psychedelic awareness, where people can actually actively listen and avoid the need to interject, and any competitive talking goes away. …I think that, in turn, will reverb into the rest of the world.”

“In the end, you are the medicine. Whether you’re working with psilocybin or LSD or breathwork, these are just ways to access your true self, your higher self (whatever resonates for you), and really, as you move through life, as you have these journeys, whatever they may be, just continuing to integrate that into your life, integrate that into your higher self.”

Links

Kairosintegration.com

Kairos Integration linktree

Atmanretreat.com

Vital Psychedelic Training

Being True To You Coach Training Program

Mayahealth.com

IFS-institute.com

Zendoproject.org

Oneretreatsjamaica.com

The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School Center for Psychedelic Research & Therapy

Imdb.com: Fantastic Fungi

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

Greathimalayannationalpark.org: Parvati Valley

Bakertilly.com: How Section 280E is hindering the cannabis industry

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

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PT391 – MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy For Fibromyalgia and Other Central Sensitization Syndromes

In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Devon Christie: Senior Lead of Psychedelic Programs at Numinus, educator at CIIS and Vital, and MAPS-certified MDMA therapist; and Dr. Pamela Kryskow, MD: founding board member of the Psychedelic Association of Canada and Medical Lead of the nonprofit, Roots To Thrive.

Christie and Kryskow recently co-authored one of the first papers looking at MDMA for chronic pain, “MDMA-assisted therapy is associated with a reduction in chronic pain among people with post-traumatic stress disorder,” which came about after they received access to MAPS’ Phase 2 data from a lead-in PTSD study and noticed significant improvements in pain measurements – something the study was not looking for at all. They’re looking into where chronic pain fits within the frameworks of Western medicine and psychedelic-assisted therapy, and discuss the many reasons why MDMA should be tremendously helpful for chronic pain and other conditions that fall under the large umbrella of central sensitivity syndromes and nociplastic pain. They are currently working on a new study following the MAPS protocol that will research MDMA-assisted psychotherapy specifically for people with fibromyalgia, which some believe might be physicalized PTSD. If you’d like to contribute a tax-deductible donation, visit giving.viu.ca, select “other” from the dropdown, and type in “MDMA for Fibromyalgia.”

They talk about how research trials focus too much on the molecule while ignoring what the patient is saying; how a large percentage of physicians and patients don’t at all like the psychometrics used in measuring data; how physicians regularly use expectancy bias but research trials don’t (and how that affects results); why everyone needs to place higher importance on the biopsychosocial model; the idea of being more humble with science and using “theoretical” more often; the problems with microdosing trials; and the issues with evidence: If there isn’t sufficient evidence, why isn’t there? And what exactly would be sufficient?

Notable Quotes

“It’s kind of an irony because it’s really a single molecule pharmaceutical model to go: ‘Is it working?’ whereas every day, every clinician out there is using expectancy and placebo effect to their patients’ benefit. So, I would like us to have that conversation in a much more intelligent way, saying it’s going to be there, it’s not a bad thing, and in fact, if you don’t have that, you’re probably a bad clinician. So, let’s harness it, and then say, ‘and is the treatment [going] above and beyond that?’” -Pam

“Where’s the scientific curiosity? That’s what we need to be. When our patient says: ‘This is helping me,’ we should never be saying, ‘No, that’s not possible because there’s no evidence.’ We should be leaning in and being curious: ‘Tell me more.’” -Pam

“Homogenizing through trying to do the randomized control trials, you end up sort of sterilizing to isolate one specific variable in trying to make your study population as similar as possible. And in the real world, that’s just not the case. In the real world, people are on 10 different medications. So what’s really even the applicability when we sterilize and homogenize so much [for] what we believe is giving us the best evidence?” -Devon

“If we really look and open our eyes, in many, many circumstances, the pathology is not individual whatsoever. The pathology is in our culture and in our society and how disconnected we are and the intergenerational trauma that’s passed along, and then parents without support and no hope of not passing that along because our society isn’t providing the optimal environment on a societal level for us to be thriving. So I think a cure on an individual level needs to be couched within thinking about a cure on a collective level.” -Devon

“The reason I got involved even in the research is because so many of my patients were coming to me and saying, ‘I am microdosing. It is helping.’ So it goes back to: Do you believe people? And I personally believe my patients when they say that. …When I have people coming in and saying ‘I’m out of bed now. I used to lay in bed for 18 hours a day and now I’m out, I bought a dog, I’m exercising’; if it’s a placebo or expectancy, awesome. I’m going to celebrate that.” -Pam

Links

Donate to the MDMA for Fibromyalgia study (select “other” from the dropdown, and type in “MDMA for Fibromyalgia.” (tax deductible and no fees)

Drdevonchristie.com

Psychedelics Today: PT259 – Dr. Devon Christie and Will Siu, MD, DPhil – The Mind-Body Connection, MDMA, and Chronic Pain

Psychedelics Today: PT306 – Dr. Devon Christie – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Numinus.com

Rootstothrive.com

Earthguardians.net

Psychedelics Today: PT331 – Julie Zukof & Dr. Michelle Weiner – Psychedelic Women, Coaching, and Ketamine For Fibromyalgia

Frontiersin.org: MDMA-assisted therapy is associated with a reduction in chronic pain among people with post-traumatic stress disorder

Dolenlab.org

NYU Langone’s Department of Psychiatry: Center for Psychedelic Medicine

Peoplescience.health

Imperial College London: Centre for Psychedelic Research

Researchgate.net: Psychometrics is not measurement: Unraveling a fundamental misconception in quantitative psychology and the complex network of its underlying fallacies

BPI: Brief Pain Inventory (short form example)

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

Microdose.me

Vancouver Island University Center for Psychedelic Research

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Psychedelics Weekly – The Legalization of Medical MDMA & Psilocybin in Australia, and The World’s First Ayahuasca Pill

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Kyle is joined by another new voice from the PT team: one of the main instructors and facilitators from our Vital program, Diego Pinzon. 

Originally from Colombia, Diego has been living in Australia since 2008 and has been involved in the Australian psychedelic scene, playing roles in the charity sector, research with Psychae Institute, and is one of the researchers in the St. Vincent’s Melbourne trial, Australia’s first trial using psilocybin for end-of-life depression and anxiety. Diego gives his insight into the recent TGA re-scheduling of psilocybin and MDMA for treatment-resistant depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, respectively.

They cover the details, unknowns, and concerns: Is there enough time to train enough people? Do they have the infrastructure for this? What are the substances actually going to be? What percentage of people who apply will be granted access? What will it cost? And while psychiatrists will be able to prescribe, how much will the program really focus on therapy? 

And they discuss Vancouver’s Filament Health creating the world’s first ayahuasca pill, which is close to FDA authorization to begin a Phase 1 trial. Of course this news begs some questions as well, mainly: with psychedelic use being such an active experience, how much does something like this change our relationship to ayahuasca? And with a consistent, more predictable experience, does that kill the magic?

Links

Svhm.org.au: Australia’s first psychedelic clinical trial commences recruitment

TGAov.au: Change to classification of psilocybin and MDMA to enable prescribing by authorised psychiatrists

Time.com: Psychedelics May Be Part of U.S. Medicine Sooner Than You Think

Psychedelicsociety.org.au

AHPRA.gov.au

Psychedelicspotlight.com: Vancouver Company Creates World’s First Ever Ayahuasca Pill

Goodreads.com: Terence McKenna’s “feather bed” quote

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PT390 – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, Johanna takes the helm for the first time, hosting a conversation with Jungian analyst-in-training, writer, researcher, 5Rhythms® teacher, and Vital student: Mackenzie Amara; and clinical psychologist, long time PT collaborator, and Vital instructor: Dr. Ido Cohen.

As this episode features three huge fans of Jung (Johanna wrote her Master’s dissertation on The Red Book and teaches a course through PT), they focus less on education and the future of psychedelic therapy, and instead get pretty deep; shining a light on an integral part of psychedelia (and life) we often avoid: the shadow. What is the shadow and what is true shadow work? What did Jung give us, and why is Jungian psychology so relevant for integrating psychedelic experiences? 

They discuss the notion of the unconscious as a place you can develop a relationship with and access by very different means; the idea of the healer as the container; the problematic binary of good vs. evil; the flawed concept of ego death; the differences between authentic and neurotic suffering and personal and collective consciousness; the archetype of the wounded healer and why facilitators should both be wounded and in the process of healing; and how wonderful it is that society is beginning to embrace the weird and what makes us unique. 

There are no shortcuts in life and there is no “cure” for the parts of the human condition we aren’t comfortable with, but in the capitalist, efficiency-above-all-else West, we aren’t raised to sit with the unpleasant, and instead learn to seek a quick fix, which has created an environment where we’ve lost the ability to feel in the ways that we need to. Can you be with someone else’s pain if you’re running from your own? Can you have real compassion if you’ve never suffered? Can you be complete without knowing your shadow?

Notable Quotes

“Yes, we’re all suffering and suffering is scary and shadow is scary and it can overwhelm us and it takes time. And there is this thing where we can build a relationship with it. It’s all about the relationship.” -Ido

“Nature is a perfect representation of how the unconscious is. It’s unfinished. It’s in process. It’s not perfect. It’s human consciousness, and [it’s] our egoic, persona-driven striving that have us believe that we can be perfect, AKA not human, AKA have no shadow. So the shadow is this part of the unconscious; it’s the frills, it’s the weirdness, it’s the awkward pauses, it’s the burps and the disgusting stuff and the repulsion, and also the quirks, the idiosyncrasies. In Swiss German, they talk about a square that’s missing a corner – it’s the missing corner. You need to have a piece missing so that life can live there.” -Mackenzie

“There is no ego death. You can have ego disidentification, you can release the center of your consciousness from your ego, but you will never kill your ego, and you shouldn’t want to kill your ego. If you’re going to kill your ego, who’s going to be home to integrate? Where are you going to take all these beautiful experiences? Who’s going to synthesize them and alchemize them for you? …That is a way in which we’re banishing the feminine, which is process, which is yes, being in my body and suffering, because there is also so much beauty in suffering, because if you can’t be in your body to suffer, you’re not going to be in your body and experience love. They work together.” -Ido

“Psychedelics are the opportunity to get outside of oneself far enough that then I can come back and say: ‘Do I consciously want to choose to continue to be the way that I’ve seen that I am, or do I want to use my power, my influence over myself to make different choices?’” -Mackenzie

Links

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

PTSF79 – Psychedelic Facilitator Abuse and Space Holding Ethics with Dr. Ido Cohen

Psychedelics Today: Ido Cohen – Re-Turn to Wholeness: Jung and Integration

Psychedelics and The Shadow: The Shadow Side of Psychedelia

Mackenzieamara.com

Doubleblindmag.com: How to Become a Psychedelic Integration Therapist

Azquotes.com: Marion Woodman Quotes

Trauma and the Soul: A psycho-spiritual approach to human development and its interruption, by Donald Kalsched

Goodreads.com: Marie-Louise von Franz quotes

Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype, by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D.

Goodreads.com: Charlotte Joko Beck quotes

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PT389 – The Art of Ecstasy: The 90’s British Club Scene and MDMA

In this episode, Joe interviews artist and photographer, Rupert Alexander Scriven.

Under his brand, Vintage Disco Biscuit, Scriven recently released The Art of Ecstasy: a coffee table book that pairs high definition images of ecstasy tablets he collected over the course of 25 years with interviews and compositions written by himself and a host of other notable names from the 90’s British club scene, documenting the culture and rise of MDMA, while also promoting harm reduction and the work of UK drug charity, The Loop. The book has received some notable high praise, with Dr. Ben Sessa calling it “absolutely fucking awesome.” 

Scriven discusses why he started collecting ecstasy tablets and how the book came to be, as well as details behind the photography and writings, which he likes to think of as conversations at an afterparty. And he talks about his days in the club scene and how it was like his church; how MDMA changed culture; UK drug policy; talks with his parents about drugs; differences in the club experience when people are on different substances; and whether or not dancing on MDMA can be the therapy people need. And he asks a question many of us wonder regularly: Why are we, as a culture, so far behind with drug testing?

Notable Quotes

“It really did change the culture and society as a whole, because at the time, there was ‘Thatcherism’ ([from] Margaret Thatcher, our Prime Minister), and there was a lot of disdain, there was a lot of discomfort. And this was just an outlet for everybody to enjoy themselves, whoever they were. So you could be a street cleaner, you could be an MP, you could be anybody. Everybody came together on a Saturday or Friday night and you just partied.”

“Each of these pills, even though they’re only eight millimeters across, that stamp; it didn’t signify just quality, it signified somebody’s memory of meeting a friend, a loved one, an experience, a time. You can go on any forum and people will go, ‘Oh, can you remember the dove?’ …You can ask them, and they’ll be able to recap a full story or an experience they had just from that one on element.”

“A few years ago before the lockdown, [there were] only three festivals that didn’t have The Loop or some form of drug awareness testing charity at them in the UK, and those were the three festivals that there were fatalities. Now that just speaks volumes. It really does.”

Links

Vintagediscobiscuit.com

Wearetheloop.org

Dmagazine.com: How the Starck Club Changed Dallas

Wikipedia.org: Vague Club

David Nutt’s Drug Harm Chart

Sen1.squarespace.com

Imdb: “Once Upon a Time in America”

Britishculturearchive.co.uk: Blitz Club, London, 1980 | Photographs by Andrew Holligan

Thedea.org: What is Molly? (Leo Zeff is who had the penicillin quote)

Wikipedia.org: Marshall Jefferson

Sciencedirect.com: Drug safety testing, disposals and dealing in an English field: Exploring the operational and behavioural outcomes of the UK’s first onsite ‘drug checking’ service

Awaknlifesciences.com

Lawenforcementactionpartnership.org (LEAP)

Carlcox.com

Kollectiveshop.com

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

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, David is joined by Kathryn L. Tucker, JD: Director of Advocacy at the National Psychedelics Association and a founding member of the Psychedelic Bar Association with over 35 years in advocacy in protecting the rights of dying patients. 

Tucker is currently working with Dr. Sunil Agarwal of the Advanced Integrative Medical Science (AIMS) Institute in a battle against the DEA: Agarwal works with end-of-life cancer patients and approached the DEA to see how they’d accommodate state and federal Right to Try laws to grant his patients access to psilocybin, which the DEA denied. This led to the federal case, AIMS vs. the DEA (AIMS I), then AIMS II (which petitions their denial of Right to Try access), and now, AIMS III, which appeals their denial of the petition to reschedule psilocybin. 

As with all things government-related, the story shows how little these people actually care about any of us, but Tucker gracefully walks us through the whole convoluted mess; explaining each step, what should happen next, where the DEA blatantly disregarded rules, what you can do to help, and ultimately, the importance of this case in how situations like these could be handled in the future (from both sides). She discusses the problems with state legalization under federal jurisdiction; what we can learn from what we saw with safe injection sites being canceled in Philadelphia; Cory Booker and Rand Paul’s Breakthrough Therapy Act; the idea of having state-legal programs actually run by the government to create a federal safe harbor; and more.  

And in the news, they cover recently submitted legalization bills, Australia legalizing the medical use of psilocybin and MDMA (for specific conditions by approved practitioners), and the concern over what will happen with ketamine telehealth when the Covid-19 Emergency is finally put to an end in May.

Notable Quotes

“As you may have seen just last week in Australia, MDMA and psilocybin were rescheduled. And you might have noticed in the press release a reference to the fact that the Australian agency took in a considerable amount of medical and scientific data when it was considering that rescheduling. That’s proper. That’s necessary. That did not happen here. So what happened in Australia exemplifies and throws into sharp light that the DEA failed as a matter of process here.”

“The problem with state legalization as mentioned earlier is that it can do no more than offer state safe harbor. It cannot alter federal law. …Under the Oregon statute, all psilocybin must be consumed at a psilocybin service center, which must be licensed by the state, and it must be purchased and consumed at that center in the presence of a licensed facilitator. That is what is legal under Oregon state law. However, the operation of those psilocybin service centers is still a federal crime. And I think there has been a hope and possibly even an expectation that the federal government is going to look the other way. We have no indication that that is going to happen.”

“Within the Controlled Substances Act, there’s a provision that if the action is taken by a government official, then there is a federal safe harbor. So one of the ways that one might be looking at creatively revising these state legalizations is to have the program be run by the government. Now could you make an argument that when, for example, the Oregon Health Authority issues licenses to Oregon service centers, that that means it’s a government-run facility? Maybe. I mean, I think that’s an argument worth fully vetting, because it could bring you within federal safe harbor.”

Links

National Psychedelics Association

Psychedelic Bar Association

Psychedelics Today: PT307 – Kathryn L. Tucker, JD – The Right to Try Act and the Battle for Psilocybin Access

FDA.gov: Right to Try

Pubmed: Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial

Congress.gov: S.4575 – Right to Try Clarification Act

Marijuanamoment.net: Cory Booker And Rand Paul File Bill To Reschedule Psychedelic Breakthrough Therapies And Remove Research Barriers

Shroomer.com: The 101 of the Bipartisan Breakthrough Therapy Act

DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research Into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, by Rick Strassman

Sunstonetherapies.com

Marijuana Moment: Psychedelics Bills Filed In Four More States As 2023 Reform Efforts Heat Up

Psychedelicalpha.com: Psychedelic Legalization & Decriminalization Tracker

Wikipedia.org: Cole Memorandum

Justice.gov: Appellate Court Agrees with Government that Supervised Injection Sites are Illegal under Federal Law; Reverses District Court Ruling

Rstreet.org: Overdose Prevention Centers and the Federal “Crack House Statute”

Microdose.buzz: Activists Protest the DEA for Psilocybin Access

The Nowak Society: Right to Try Psilocybin Advocacy Fund

Psychedelicinvest.com: The Future of Ketamine Telehealth When Biden Ends the Covid-19 Emergencies in May 2023

Yahoo.com: Field Trip and Nue Life Are Collaborating To Bring Psychedelic Therapy Into the Home

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PT388 – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

In this episode of Vital Psychedelic Conversations, we do something a little different: instead of interviewing a teacher and student to hear their different perspectives, Kyle (Vital’s main creator/developer) has a conversation with Johanna Hilla (our Coordinator of Education and Training), with the two basically interviewing each other. 

Johanna is originally from Finland but now lives in the UK, where she is pursuing a Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Exeter. She has worked with us before, but became a full-time part of PT right around the time we launched Vital, so we thought it’d be interesting to hear a talk between two of the main figureheads behind this year’s cohort as it comes to an end. 

They discuss the beginnings of Vital and how the pandemic actually helped; how it’s been for Johanna to experience powerful group work for the first time; and what it’s been like to see virtual connections turn into real friendships as groups came together at retreats (this was recorded at Altman Retreat in Jamaica). And they analyze Vital and look to the future: What worked? What didn’t? What were the biggest takeaways from this year? How can we add more somatic work (and maybe even have a retreat centered around getting into flow state and hiking or snowboarding)? How can we incorporate state-specific models as more states legalize? And most importantly: Can we become a new gold standard in the training/education world? We hope so!

Applications for the 2023/24 edition of Vital have been extended until March 26, so check out the curriculum here.

Notable Quotes

“The whole curriculum, the way in which it’s structured with the five elements, the way in which it emphasizes experiential learning and process-oriented thinking and incorporates all of these transpersonal elements but also has a really sufficient amount of clinical backing: I just thought that it was really brilliantly structured (which I think you did most of that work) and I thought that this is exactly what we need right now.” -Johanna

“The emotional density and the charge that happens in a room when people are either doing some kind of plant medicine ceremoniously or doing breathwork: I think it’s always really something tangible, and it’s a great privilege to witness people going into these deep psychological processes. But obviously, it also takes something from you. You really have to be very present, there for many hours, and you go through the experience with the people as a witness. Even though you don’t know what they’re going through, you’re still going through it with them in a way.” -Johanna 

“I think breathwork really honors the idea that we all come from a certain baseline and that people have different levels of intensity that they’d like, and different comfort zones. And I think that’s also fine. Not everybody is going to go for the five grams in silent darkness, and I don’t think everybody has to either. If there’s people who are feeling a bit more anxious about going into new experiences, I think breathwork is a really great gateway into the psychedelic world. And then maybe some people will really fall in love with the method and actually want to continue with it. I think it offers something for everyone.” -Johanna

Links

Vitalpsychedelictraining.com

Psychedelics Today: John B. Cobb – Whitehead and Psychedelics – Part 1 (there are 4 parts)

Imagination as Revelation: The Psychedelic Experience in the Light of Jungian Psychology

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PT387 – Psychedelic Ethics & Self-Reflexivity and Proposition 122 Conflict & Resolution

In this episode, Joe interviews Jessica “Jaz” Cadoch: anthropologist, Co-Director of the Global Psychedelic Society, and Prop 122 steering committee member; and Sovereign Oshumare: Founder of XRYSALIS, an online community and retreat for queer, transgender, and intersex people of color, and Founder of Shelterwood Collective, a 900-acre eco-village and retreat center led by LGBTQ Black and Indigenous people.

Together, they are Co-Founders of ALKEMI, a consulting firm for psychedelic ethics and accountability, created due to the amount of businesses coming into this space who likely have very little understanding of the values that were established while they weren’t paying attention. They’re asking businesses questions many don’t consider: Is there a true need for them? Do they know their community and does the community want them there? Are their internal operations hierarchal or decentralized? Do employees feel heard and seen? And most importantly, have they taken any of the lessons from psychedelics and applied them towards the way they handle business and treat each other? 

As Cadoch was a member of the steering committee for Colorado’s Natural Medicine Act (AKA Prop 122), she discusses what it was like from the inside: the problems (complaints about who was involved, if the voices from the community were a true representation, language in the bill); how the conflict showed how easily money and power could embody people; the problems with fighting over perfection while people are being sentenced to prison; and, where everyone is now: together in the aftermath, trying to figure out how to work together, unite missions, and build bridges between seemingly disparate parties.

They also discuss the problems with binary thinking, the concept of a business recalibrating its relationship to profit and ROI, what true access means, why it’s ok to go slow and not rush through the uncomfortable, and more.

Notable Quotes

“How are you really taking the lessons that the medicines are teaching us and applying them to the way you’re building your company? …Are you doing psychedelic business or are you doing business psychedelically?” -Jaz

“Each time that I’m broken, I’m rebuilt stronger. And that, to me, is such a journey. And committing to that journey is what I hope we as ALKEMI bestow upon people; giving them the endurance and stamina to be broken and be rebuilt, because we all need that. This system needs that. This world needs that. And we live in a system where we’re rewarded for not doing it.” -Sovereign 

“At the end of the day, we are all we got. And the more we know who we are, the more we find alignment, the more we find each other, the more we mend our differences, the stronger we’ll be.” -Sovereign

“When we talk about access, it’s not only like financial access, but it’s also cultural access – to make it make sense for people who don’t speak this language, make it make sense for people who have survivor’s guilt from growing up in the hood in D.C., make it make sense for Hispanic rural communities, make it make sense for my Grandmother that needs a doctor in a white coat to tell her that this is safe. That’s what access means. It’s all of that.” -Jaz

Links

Alkemi-consulting.org

Alkemi-consulting.org: Community Needs Assessment

Mayahealth.com

Mayahealth.com: Ethics

Psychedelics Today: PT265 – Jessica Cadoch, MA – Cooperation, Drug Exceptionalism, and 12-step Programs

Xrysalis.net

Shelterwoodcollective.org

Montrealpsychedelicsociety.org

Thespore.org: Society for Psychedelic Outreach, Reform, and Education

Ballotpedia.org: New Approach PAC

Thenowaksociety.org

Psychedelic Club of Denver

Denver Mushroom Cooperative

Thespore.org: The People’s Medicine Council of Colorado

Thepsychedelicbar.org: The Psychedelic Bar Association

National Psychedelic Conference

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas S. Kuhn

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Psychedelics Weekly – Research Explained: Ketamine and the Corticothalamic Network, Psilocybin and the Immune System, & Canalization and Plasticity

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, the rest of the team is out or at Cannadelic, so a new voice steps up to the plate: Julian Bost, who works with the Vital team and handles the majority of our email, records his first podcast with Ph.D. candidate in Neuroscience, friend of the show, and speaker at Convergence: Manesh Girn.

You may remember the team covering some articles at the end of December and early January that were quite confusing and immediately met with a response of: “yea, we should have someone on to explain this to us.” This is that episode, with Manesh breaking down three very scientific articles into much simpler terms (at least we hope). 

He covers:

 “The psychotomimetic ketamine disrupts the transfer of late sensory information in the corticothalamic network,” which found that ketamine created hyperconnectivity in rodents’ brains, impairing their ability to process sensory input, which could lead to a better understanding of schizophrenia;  

“Psilocybin induces acute and persisting alterations in immune status and the stress response in healthy volunteers,”: which showed an interaction between psilocybin and the stress system, immune system, and central nervous system – showing a greater recognition for how the immune system and inflammation are involved in disorders;

And a paper he co-wrote with Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris and many others, “Canalization and plasticity in psychopathology,” which aims to reframe neuroplasticity, disorders, and psychedelic interventions, and leads to a discussion on how adaptive thought patterns develop, the ability to relearn as “Temperature or Entropy Mediated Plasticity (TEMP),” Daniel Kahneman’s idea of fast and slow thinking, early trauma intervention, and the concept of viewing mental illness as a process rather than an identity. 

As confusing (at least to the layperson) research seems to pop up daily, we may have Manesh on from time to time to help us understand some of these studies. How did he do? Did he clear up any of these articles for you? And should Julian be on the podcast more?

Links

YouTube: The Psychedelic Scientist

Psychedelics Today: PT258 – Manesh Girn – Psychedelics and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and Creativity

Psychedelics Weekly on YouTube

Wiley.com: The psychotomimetic ketamine disrupts the transfer of late sensory information in the corticothalamic network

Medrxiv.org: Psilocybin induces acute and persisting alterations in immune status and the stress response in healthy volunteers

Sciencedirect.com: Canalization and plasticity in psychopathology

Wikipedia.org: Thinking, Fast and Slow

Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman

The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture, by Gabor Maté, MD with Daniel Maté

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PT386 – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

In this episode, David once again interviews a teacher and student from Vital, speaking with Grof-certified Holotropic Breathwork® practitioner, author, and developer of InnerEthics®: Kylea Taylor: M.S., LMFT; and therapist and Lead Consultant of psychological therapists at NEU: Shabina Hale. 

This Vital Psychedelic Conversation is largely centered around ethics: how practitioners and facilitators define ethics; how InnerEthics® is involved; power dynamics; accountability; how the energy in a session is transferable and can bring up shadow elements for both parties; the need to be honest about one’s own scope of competence; the need for facilitators to have more experience both as a sitter and experiencer; and the very simple but most vital aspect of facilitation: considering how any decision made will affect the person on the psychedelic.    

They also discuss having a code of ethics inspired by Indigenous culture and decades of underground use; how the psychedelic experience is affected by the ways it’s treated by its surrounding culture; how the practitioner becomes a protector; defining what is normal in a psychedelic experience (can you?); informed consent and the importance of explaining how roles will change throughout the process; and what the world would be like if everyone followed the same set of ethics.

Have you seen our commercial for Vital yet? We’re pretty thrilled with how it came out.

 

Notable Quotes

“We’re doing psychedelics in a different culture and a different community. I come from an Asian community that is often more tight knit and more tribal in its way of being, and mental health is seen differently within that community, care for elders is seen differently in that community. And so immediately, you’ve got these different rules and different structures that happen. And psychedelics obviously have come from some of those communities, but we don’t have the same communities anymore. We’re in the West. People will take them [and] they don’t go back to communities. They’re on their own. And that’s really isolating. …How do you keep people safe in some form of community when they go back into a society which is much more individualistic?” -Shabina

“I think it helps to just consider it all normal and not abnormal, because it’s only abnormal in the context of our society and our culture. What happened to Indigenous people in their psychedelic experiences was held; whatever it was was held by the culture, so it was not abnormal. It was normal in the extraordinary state of consciousness, and they assumed that it was healing and worked with it.” -Kylea

“You can see things that may not make sense on the outside, but to that person, on the inside, they really do make sense. And they make sense of it in a way that is far more profound than you could ever interpret or analyze or try and take apart.” -Shabina

“I think if people really find out what is theirs to do and do it, that is so satisfying that all these other things that cause problems for other people disappear.” -Kylea

Links

Kyleataylor.com

Innerethics.com

Holotropic.com

Brainspotting.com

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

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

Neupractice.com

Greencamp.com: Honoring the Legends: Stephen Gaskin and The Farm

Maps.org: MAPS MDMA-Assisted Therapy Code of Ethics

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PT385 – Relationships, Conviviality, and The Strength of Empathic Attunement

In this episode, Joe interviews Portland, OR-based licensed marriage and family therapist, ketamine-assisted therapist at Rainfall Medicine, lead educator at InnerTrek, and speaker at our upcoming Convergence conference: Gina Gratza, MS, LMFT.

She talks about how she decided she wanted to become a therapist and when she knew psychedelics were the next step; meeting Rick Doblin at Burning Man; the efficacy of MDMA being used in conjunction with traditional therapy; how the self-compassion of MDMA gives her tremendous hope for its use in treating eating disorders; how non-ordinary states of consciousness teach us the wiseness (and uniqueness) of our inner healer; and her healthy concerns for how Oregon handles psilocybin legality: InnerTrek will be graduating some of the first licensed facilitators in Oregon and they should be certified by summer, but with OHA-approved service centers and manufacturers still up in the air, what happens next?

She and Joe also discuss how non-ordinary states of consciousness teach us the wiseness (and uniqueness) of our inner healers; the need for therapists to continuously do their own work; the idea of a psilocybin-licensed facility doubling as a music venue; David Nutt’s drug harm scale; Kylea Taylor; “The Trialogues”; archetypes of Burning Man; and how in psilocybin-assisted therapy, we can only do so much before the spirit of the mushroom ultimately takes over.

Notable Quotes

“There’s a strength in the empathic attunement that’s happening in the heart space that’s coming forward, so it’s not just talk therapy. There’s a connection happening. And we are creatures of love and belonging and connection, and when we feel that with another human being [and it’s] authentic – that is a very powerful force. We don’t have to compare it, but it’s just as powerful as medicine.”

“I hope to never be a master of any domain. I know that the juiciness of this life and this existence is continuing to stay open to learning and growing and evolving, and for me, that’s coming back to humility: I’ll never know everything, especially when it comes to the realm of altered states of consciousness. We’re trying to understand life in this state of consciousness, let alone bringing in altered states and the many different dimensions at which things can come through to you, and the uniqueness of everyone’s experience.”

“This is what we humans are able to do: Here are the measures, here are the ways in which we’re training. And then there’s the spirit of the mushroom. There’s what we are going to bring and then there is going to be what the mushroom brings: …the mycelium network, the earth, the nature; like a total other force that is beyond our ability to really know or read what will move through that.”

Links

Ginagratza.com

Rainfallmedicine.com

Innertrek.org

Chrisstauffermd.com (SNaPLAB: Social Neuroscience and Psychotherapy Lab)

YouTube: MDMA-assisted Therapy for Social Anxiety in Autistic Adults – Alicia Danforth

Clinicaltrials.gov: Psilocybin-Enhanced Psychotherapy for Methamphetamine Use Disorder

Clinicaltrials.gov: Study of Feasibility and Safety of MDMA-Assisted Group Therapy for the Treatment of PTSD in Veterans (MPG1)

Pubmed: MDMA-assisted therapy significantly reduces eating disorder symptoms in a randomized placebo-controlled trial of adults with severe PTSD

Hopkinspsychedelic.org: Anorexia Nervosa Study Seeking Research Participants

David Nutt’s Drug Harm Ranking scale

Marijuanamoment.net: Most States Will Legalize Psychedelics By 2037, Analysis Published By American Medical Association Predicts

Wikipedia.org: Feminist pedagogy

Psychedelics Today: PT288 – Annie & Michael Mithoefer – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Pubmed: Combining Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Therapy for PTSD with 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA): A Case Example

Psychedelics Today: PT227 – Dr. Anne Wagner – Couples Therapy, MDMA, and MAPS

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

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

Exploring Holotropic Breathwork: Selected Articles from a Decade of the Inner Door, Edited by Kylea Taylor

Sheldrake.org: The Sheldrake – McKenna – Abraham Trialogues

Damer.com (Dr. Bruce Damer)

Psychedelicsalon.com: Dr. Bruce Damer