Finding Meaning in Difficulty: People Say Their Challenging Psychedelic Experiences are Still Positive
I recently found myself in a conversation with a man who, upon learning that I write about psychedelic therapy, shared a remarkable story. When he was 16, he unknowingly swallowed 32 tabs of LSD—a very heavy dose. It was a terrible time, he said, with acute anxiety...
In the Zendo Tent: Joe Mattia Talks Psychedelic Harm Reduction at Burning Man
There’s no doubt that Burning Man is a hectic place. For one week out of the year, 80,000 people descend on Nevada’s Black Rock Desert for the massive art and music festival, temporarily turning it into the state’s third largest city. Amidst a whirling circus of...
How the DEA’s Attempt to Reschedule Kratom Could Endanger Public Health and Addiction Treatment
When the DEA announced their sudden decision to classify kratom as a Schedule 1 substance earlier this summer, people went into an uproar. Practitioners, scientists, and even politicians threw their weight into the fight to delay the emergency rescheduling of the...
Bringing Mindfulness to Addiction: My Session with a Psychedelic Integration and Recovery Coach
“I’m a little nervous. Is that normal?” I asked when I got on the phone with John. “I don’t know,” he chuckled, and I immediately felt more at ease. John is a psychedelic integration specialist and recovery coach for Being True to You, a coaching service that helps...
A New Class of Psychedelic Research and Therapy Specialists: Interview with Janis Phelps of CIIS
Anticipating a future that is increasingly friendly to psychedelic research and therapy, the California Institute of Integral Studies began a pioneering new program this year called the Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies & Research Certificate Program. This is a...
The Differences (and Similarites) Between Psychedelic Integration and Recovery Coaching
Talking about psychedelics can be tricky. Psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, and DMT are all still illegal, meaning that, in the eyes of the federal government, they have no medicinal or therapeutic value. Yes, there’s a huge body of research that suggests...
Ancient Medicine in a Modern World: How Ayahuasca Can Heal the Plague of Depression and Anxiety
One can’t help but wonder—could the rise in people suffering from anxiety-related mental disorders be helped by the increased popularity of ayahuasca? While the industrialized world has delivered ever-increasing comfort, safety, and useful technology, it has also left...
“How Ayahuasca Helped Me Recover from a Traumatic Injury”
“I truly thought anything was possible,” Gary said when I asked what he had expected going into his first ayahuasca ceremony. It was seven months after a head-on highway collision left him in a wheelchair with a foot cast, an arm cast, and a back brace. Amid the...
Can Cannabis Help Anorexia? How Medical Marijuana May Treat the Emotional Trauma Behind Anorexia
Denisa started to obsess over her weight after a few stressful events when she was sixteen—her closest friends started to isolate her, and a few people whose opinion she valued told her she was fat. In her head, the two events were connected; she reasoned that her...
LSD, Spirituality, and Creativity in the Sixties: Interview with Fred Weaver III, M.D.
When you think about the sixties, LSD, and California, the first thing that often comes to mind is a culture of revolution, excess, and even reckless hedonism. What many do not know is that, amidst this chaotic and transformative time, a small group of doctors and...
