This week's episode of the Plant Medicine podcast focuses on the new Fireside Project. Joining to discuss the launch of this peer-to-peer psychedelic hotline are the founder and director Joshua White and cultivator of beloved community Hanifa Nayo Washington. Joshua is a trial lawyer with experience both as a hotline crisis counselor and as a psychedelic peer support volunteer at the Zendo Project. Hanifa is a certified Usui/Holy Fire Reiki Master Practitioner with over twenty years of experience developing community-serving initiatives. Together with the rest of the Fireside Project team, they are working towards the April 14th launch of the world's first psychedelic hotline.  Fireside Project aims to offer broad support for people using psychedelic substances, with volunteers able to both assist during difficult experiences and offer integration assistance after the fact. Users will also be able to choose between a phone call, texting, or a live chat to connect with a volunteer, allowing individuals in the midst of a vulnerable experience the ability to choose whatever form of communication they find most comfortable.  In addition to this crucial support, Fireside Project also hopes to contribute to the psychedelic movement by imagining a more equitable future. Through efforts to recruit a diverse group of volunteers from groups often under-represented in the psychedelic community, Fireside Project hopes to contribute to building a new generation of diverse healers. This is the impetus behind the Fireside Equity Fund, which provides scholarships to volunteers who wish to pursue careers in psychedelic healing.  Fireside Project launches April 14th, 2021 and the number is 1-833-2FIRESIDE. in the meantime, they are recruiting volunteers. If you are interested in being a volunteer, there are A&A sessions on December 9th at 5 p.m. PST and January 9th at 10:00 a.m. PST- register at https://firesideproject.org. In this episode: What services the Fireside Project will provide How Fireside Project will make psychedelic integration more accessible What it means to "cultivate beloved community" How Fireside Project will promote diversity within the psychedelic movement How to become a volunteer for Fireside Project. Quotes: "Volunteering at the Fireside Project...will provide an opportunity to have a much longer-term experience helping people with their psychedelic experiences." [10:30] "We open up this opportunity for continued support, continued deepening, by following up the next week." [12:49] "It's just simply so beautiful to be with someone during such a moment of deep need and to provide support for them." [23:28] "And maybe you're having a beautiful psychedelic experience and your heart is just bursting to connect with someone, please reach out to us in that circumstance as well." [27:34] "Our hope is to compassionately hold someone in a space so that they can figure out the meaning of the medicine and so that they can feel empowered and comfortable." [33:06] Links: Fireside Project Website Psychedelic Medicine Association Porangui  

Dr. Chris Timmerman, researcher at Imperial College, discusses the neurology of DMT, including how brainwaves change and the pattern of cortical activation. He explores the similarities between DMT experiences and near-death experiences, and the difficulties of studying the phenomena. Dr. Timmerman also shares his research on the impact of music in psychedelic therapy.

This week's episode of the Plant Medicine podcast features a discussion of what to look for in a psychedelic retreat center or facilitator to ensure the experience is as safe, comfortable, and effective as possible. Joining the conversation is Joël Brierre, who shares his expertise as a 5-MeO-DMT facilitator to provide some concrete tips. Joël is the founder and CEO of Kaivalya Kollectiv, an educational platform that offers transformational retreats and training for plant medicines, yoga, meditation, and more. Joël has spent two decades studying yogic practice and has been a teacher for 15 of those years.    In this conversation, Joël shares personal stories and his expertise as a facilitator to help guide you in making good decisions when choosing psychedelic services. Joël starts by bringing up the idea of the "container," which is a term to describe the atmosphere, preparation, and expertise involved in the facilitation of psychedelic experiences. The idea of a container is helpful for evaluating what situations facilitators would be prepared to navigate: Do the providers have training to respond in case of an emergency? Do they have systems in place to prevent emergencies from happening in the first place?  Joël then dives into the specifics of what makes for a good container. As safety is always important, especially when working with a substance as powerful as 5-MeO-DMT, Joël recommends facilitators have training to ensure they are able to respond to medical emergencies should they arise. Similarly, retreat centers should have professionals available to respond to any psychological emergencies, both during and after ceremonies. Joël also suggests that facilitators ought to have grounding in some practice or philosophy which allows them to respond with wisdom. And of course, facilitators should have deep personal familiarity with the substances they facilitate. In this episode: What you should look out for when choosing a retreat center How to verify that a facilitator is qualified and experienced The importance of the intake process for retreats and facilitators How standards of practice developed around 5-MeO-DMT Quotes: "I think people being extremely mindful of and holding space for those traumas and how they come up is really important." [8:03] "There is nothing more dangerous than an ego that thinks it's enlightened." [22:43] "Ask them what their preparation protocol is and ask them what their aftercare and integration protocol is. And they should have an answer ready for you." [24:57] "Discussion and boundaries are quite essential for a safe container." [35:50] Links: Joël's Website Kaivalya Kollectiv 5-MEO-DMT: A Recommended Model for Best Practices from The Conclave Psychedelic Medicine Association Get 20% off everything at Octagon Biolabs with coupon code 'plantmedicine' Porangui

This week's episode of the Plant Medicine Podcast offers an overview of the three psychedelic ballot measures which passed this past election cycle. Attorney Noah Potter joins to share his expertise in psychedelic law and describes the details of Initiative 81 in DC and Measures 109 and 110 in Oregon. Noah is a New York-based attorney, media commentator, and psychedelic legalization strategist who has been discussing topics of psychedelic law on his blog for the past decade. Noah has also advised Decriminalize Denver with their successful Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Initiative and is involved in policy reform advocacy in New York for 2021.  In this conversation, Noah describes the details of these three psychedelic measures, sharing what is accomplished by each. In DC, Noah explains how Initiative 81, Entheogenic Plants and Fungus Measure, follows the example of previous successful ballot measures dealing with psychedelics by focusing on a decriminalization approach that places activity involving entheogenic plants among the Metropolitan Police Department's lowest law enforcement priorities.  Along with this success on the east coast, Oregon saw two psychedelic ballot measures pass on election day: Measure 109, Psilocybin Mushroom Services Program Initiative, and Measure 110, Drug Decriminalization and Addiction Treatment INitiative. In terms of Measure 109, Noah explains how the broad nature of the ballot initiative leaves many of the specifics to be determined by the Oregon Health Authority, with the measure focusing on determining a legal structure for providing psilocybin-based therapeutics services. This measure does not, however, legalize or decriminalize psilocybin for personal use. Measure 110, on the other hand, does focus on the decriminalization of a wide array of substances, as well as addiction treatment. In the last minutes of the conversation, Noah describes the interplay between these two intiatives as well as some of the objections given for the particular approaches they take.  In This Episode: Learn the details of the three psychedelic measures which passed this election cycle The difference between decriminalization and legalization How the DC measure is more limited due to city funding being controlled by Congress What Measure 109 in Oregan will allow in terms of psilocybin therapy The interplay between Measure 109 and Measure 110 in Oregon. Quotes: "Decriminalization is a far narrower approach. You're simply either removing criminal penalties or you're downgrading criminal penalties." [5:24] "[Measure 109] is a model for clinical, on-site consumption —you don't walk into a dispensary and take your medicine home. It's very narrowly focused on that inpatient clinical model." [13:15] "The [Oregon] health authority isn't even going to start accepting applications for any of the license categories until January 2nd, 2023." [19:50] "So you've got a fairly limited decriminalization and it doesn't apply to sale or distribution...that's the very simple version of [Measure] 110." [23:59] Links: Noah's Blog on Psychedelic Law Noah's Website Psychedelic Medicine Association Get 20% off everything at Octagon Biolabs with coupon code 'plantmedicine' Porangui

On this week's episode of the Plant Medicine Podcast, Caitlin Thompson joins to discuss her recent article "Psychedelics as a Novel Approach to Treating Autoimmune Conditions" published in Immunology Letters. Caitlin is the founder of the nutritional supplement company EntheoZen, a certified kambo practitioner, and a research associate at the UCSD school of medicine. Drawing on personal experience with an autoimmune condition, Caitlin hopes her scientific research investigating psychedelics and kambo can help give credence to these healing modalities, allowing for more effective treatments of autoimmune conditions.  In this conversation, Caitlin discusses the five major findings from her literature review published in Immunology Letters. Her findings draw important connections between the serotonergic mechanism of classic psychedelics and the immunomodulating function of the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor. Additionally, she discusses the impact of psychosocial stress and the gut microbiome on the immune system. As psychedelics can definitely improve psychosocial stress and may even impact the microbiome through serotonergic mechanisms, Caitlin sees significant potential for these compounds as treatments for autoimmune conditions.  Caitlin closes by discussing kambo, which remains an under-investigated healing modality. She explains what little is known about how kambo is able to clear microbes from the body while at the same time being inert in relation to human cells. Now that her literature review has been published, Caitlin hopes to focus her research on kambo, and since kambo is not regulated like psychedelics, she will have more freedom to conduct original research leading to new discoveries.   In this episode: An overview of Caitlin's recent article published in Immunology Letters How the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor modulates immune responses The impact of stress on physiological processes How psychedelics impact the gut microbiome Why kambo is often an effective treatment for autoimmune conditions Quotes "What's actually really fascinating is how important serotonin is for regulating all sorts of processes that are related to immune function." [8:40] "There are very real scientific explanations for the way that stress can influence our physical health." [12:32] "It's a bit useless to go through all these treatments, to have this pristine diet, to take all these supplements if you're not also approaching the core thing that compromised the person in the first place." [15:35] "When people are able to actually, consciously resolve and find peace with traumatic experiences, it actually completely changes how the nervous system responds." [22:41]   Links: EntheoZen Caitlin's article: Psychedelics as a Novel Approach to Treating Autoimmune Conditions Psychedelic Medicine Association Get 20% off everything at Octagon Biolabs with coupon code 'plantmedicine' Porangui

On this episode of the Plant Medicine Podcast, Dr. Mike Hart joins to discuss the therapeutic benefits of cannabis, focusing on his clinical work using this medicine to help treat PTSD. Dr. Hart is a Canadian family medicine doctor who opened the first cannabis clinic in London, Ontario - ReadyToGo Clinic. In his practice, Dr. Hart draws on his family medicine background and his cannabis expertise to help his patients tackle their unique conditions and make lifestyle improvements.  In this conversation, Dr. Hart discusses his work using cannabinoid medicines, such as CBD and THC, to help veterans with PTSD better treat their symptoms. He talks about the different features of PTSD and how both CBD and THC can be effective at improving the wellbeing of individuals with this diagnosis. Drawing on both his clinical experience and the scientific literature. Dr. Hart provides an overview of how these cannabinoid medicines can be used to improve sleep, manage stress, reduce pain, and even help with trauma.  In addition, Dr. Hart explains how he works with patients on an individual basis to create plans for transitioning off traditional pharmaceuticals such as SSRIs in cases where cannabinoid treatments are providing more relief with fewer side effects. Dr. Hart hopes to continue promoting cannabis education to help bridge the gap between the scientific research and popular awareness, allowing more people to take advantage of these treatment options.  In this episode: How cannabis can be used to treat various symptoms of PTSD The different uses of CBD and THC How cannabis can release traumatic memories and prevent the formation of new trauma responses The unique effects of using CBD and THC in tandem How cannabis is providing better therapeutic benefits compared to traditional pharmaceuticals for many dealing with depression and sleep issues. Quotes: "Cannabis isn't a cure-all per se, but it's definitely a medicine that can help initiate you to have a healthier lifestyle overall." [8:59] "If someone does have really severe PTSD that includes nightmares, including some THC in their regime would likely be very, very effective for them." [16:52] "By using CBD you may be able to unlearn these things that you've learned and then you can learn new things so you can transform yourself and become a new person." [22:14] "Generally CBD actually does work better when you are in stressful environments." [26:11] "The one really nice thing with CBD is you're gonna notice it right away, on your very first dose." [37:38]   Links: Dr. Hart's Website Dr. Hart's Book: Friendly Fire: Why Vets Are Ditching Pills and Lighting Up to Treat PTSD ReadyToGo Clinic Psychedelic Medicine Association Get 20% off everything at Octagon Biolabs with coupon code 'plantmedicine' Porangui

In this episode of the Plant Medicine Podcast, Ryan Westrum returns to discuss the finer details of psychedelic integration. Ryan is a trained psychotherapist with a Doctorate of Transpersonal Clinical Psychology from Sofia University and an M.A. degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from the Adler Graduate School. He is also the founder of Healing Souls LLC and a registered integration therapist for Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, as well as the author of the Psychedelics Integration Handbook. Drawing on his 15 years of experience as a mental health practitioner, Ryan approaches integration with an intimate knowledge of human psychology, drawing on multiple modalities to best facilitate integration for his clients. In this conversation, Ryan talks about various roadblocks to successful integration and how these can be overcome, especially with the help of an integration coach. He emphasizes the importance of making the psychedelic experience one’s own as a central project in integration, explaining how this is essential for allowing new self-understandings to emerge.   Ryan also discusses various practices he encourages as an integration coach, such as journaling, drawing mandalas, and movement practices, mentioning how these can all help better incorporate the work of integration into one’s life rather than keeping it an isolated project. Here again, Ryan emphasizes the importance of individual psychology and encourages people to choose practices that resonate and spur new insight.   As a practicing therapist, Ryan also shares his thoughts on the distinction between psychedelic integration and therapy, noting how this boundary is often blurry. What Ryan stresses for both paradigms, however, is the interpersonal character of healing and growth. With the help of a skilled integration coach, the work of living out one's psychedelic insights and making lasting changes becomes all the more approachable. In This Episode: The purpose and value of an integration coach How to make psychedelic experiences tangible How to start the integration process Different practices to help spur integration The relationship between therapy and integration Quotes: “Integration to me is the act of taking one thing and another and finding wholeness or links to wholeness.” [4:55] “[Integration] is reconciling past memories and incrementally getting prepared for future stories.” [14:22] “Integration exercises can also challenge you to see what you’re afraid of, what you’re not ready to look at, what potentially are growth points.” [18:27] “I would never encourage anyone, no matter how many sessions you’ve sat or how many ceremonies or how many cups of tea you’ve drank, to do this on your own. There’s a benefit in community.” [23:33] “There needs to be a purpose-driven motivation for this work. Just because it’s being talked about in corners, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily right for everybody.” [31:30] Links: Ryan’s Website Psychedelic Integration Website The Psychedelics Integration Handbook Psychedelic Medicine Association Get 20% off everything at Octagon Biolabs with coupon code 'plantmedicine' Porangui

Adam Aronovich is a doctoral candidate at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Spain, focusing on Medical Anthropology and Cultural Psychiatry.  He is an active member of the Medical Anthropology Research Center (MARC) and part of the Ayahuasca Community Committee at the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines. In the last four years he has conducted extensive fieldwork in the Peruvian Amazon, where he has been doing qualitative research in collaboration with ICEERS, the Beckley Foundation, and, more recently, the Centre for Psychedelic Studies at Imperial College. Beyond his work conducting and coordinating research, Adam regularly facilitates workshops at the Temple of the Way of Light, a prestigious healing center in the Iquitos area. In this episode of the Plant Medicine Podcast, Adam discusses a host of issues surrounding modern western paradigms of psychiatry and mental health and contrasts these with approaches taken by traditional cultures, such as those of the Shipibo people of South America.  Adam has spent years studying traditional societies as an anthropologist and his research specifically focuses on the different approaches to medicine in various cultures, and how people in different cultural milieus experience health and illness differently.  Through his work, Adam hopes to contribute to the field of medicine by translating the medical understandings of traditional cultures into terminologies and categories digestible by the Western medical establishment. In this conversation, Adam explains how the contemporary approach to mental health in the West is colored by a fixation on medicalizing peoples’ experiences into diagnostic categories and by a tendency to view health and illness exclusively on the level of the individual. In contrast to this approach, Adam draws on his ongoing research with the Shipibo people, showing how their approach to healing in ayahuasca ceremonies is much more communal and relational in nature.   In this episode: How traditional cultures conceptualize mental suffering The limits of Western psychiatry when crossing cultural boundaries How the animist perspective of Shipibo healers informs their approach to healing Dangers of over-emphasizing the medicalization of psychedelics The relational, rather than an individualistic focus of ayahuasca ceremonies Confronting our individual and collective shadows   Quotes “Every medical system or every medical approach is inseparable from the culture, the cosmology, the metaphysics that underlie the understanding of that culture.” [32:32] “The way the Shipibo medical system works… is that the healing doesn't necessarily only happen through the agency of the human healer, but the human healer works as a channeler of medical agency of different sources, of different spirits in the environment.” [36:34] “The most important benefits or the most important values that these substances have are not necessarily therapeutic in the sense of medical, or clinical, or psychological… but are actually much deeper than that and they’re epistemic, they’re ontological, they’re relational.” [52:25] “Ayahuasca oftentimes will get us to a place where we can actually experience that reconnection with the wider community of sentience that makes the ecosystem of our world.” [1:02:29] Links Adam’s lecture at Breaking Convention 2017 Adam’s lecture at the World Ayahuasca Conference 2019 Temple of the Way of Light Psychedelic Medicine Association Get 20% off everything at Octagon Biolabs with coupon code 'plantmedicine' Porangui

In this episode of the Plant Medicine Podcast, Carlos Tanner Joins to share his story of addiction, and how participating in ayahuasca ceremonies not only led him to personal healing but started him down a path of becoming a traditional healer himself.  Carlos is the founder of the Ayahuasca Foundation, an organization based out of Iquitos, Peru, which hosts retreats and leads educational programs to pass along training in the Shipibo tradition. The Ayahuasca Foundation is also home to the Riosbo Retreat & Research Center, which has received funding from the Medical Research Council in the United Kingdom to conduct research on the epigenetic effects of ayahuasca ceremonies, with particular focus on anxiety, depression, and childhood trauma.  Before becoming a pioneer in psychedelic science, Carlos had a long journey with addiction, leading him to seek healing in Peru through, Shipibo ayahuasca ceremonies. Participating in his first series of ceremonies in 2003, Carlos describes his challenging first experience with ayahuasca and the dramatic healings spurred by subsequent ceremonies.  Going into these experiences very much in the midst of addiction, Carlos came face to face with childhood trauma and personifications of his illness. With the help of the plant medicine and the spiritual ambiance of the ceremonies, he was able to find incredible healing in the experiences. It was the profound impact of these first encounters with ayahuasca and the Shipibo tradition experienced curandero, and learning the intricacies of the ceremonies.  In This Episode: How the inner environment greatly impacts the outcome of an ayahuasca experience Carlos' experience with an intensive series of ayahuasca ceremonies while struggling with addiciton Trauma in oneself vs trauma in one's relationships, and the different modes of healing for each The importance of the ceremony in shaping the healing experience Epigenetic change caused by ayahuasca ceremony, leading to decreased anxiety and depression Quotes: "That's the magic of it- you could walk into a ceremony with zero faith and walk out with one hundred percent." [13:05] "When I left the third ceremony I knew it was my path to be a healer and that I was going to dedicate the rest of my life to this tradition." [29:10] "It was easy for me to heal that trauma. I know that might sound crazy but inside the ceremony, it wasn't such a crazy, difficult ordeal for me." [34:42] "You can't separate ayahuasca from the culture of its use, you can't separate the ceremony from the medicine, and there's so much that comes from the ceremony." [49:33] "If you're in the world of addiction it's going to be almost impossible to stay in that environment and not be an addict." [1:01:35]   Links: Ayahuasca Foundation Psychedelic Medicine Association Get 20% off everything at Octagon Biolabs with coupon code 'plantmedicine' Porangui NOTE: I said I'd add links to the study findings Carlos was referencing, but those are unfortunately not yet published- links will be added when available.

This week’s episode of the Plant Medicine Podcasts features guest Aaron Orsini, co-founder of the Autistic Psychedelic Community and author of Autism on Acid: How LSD Helped Me Understand, Navigate, Alter & Appreciate my Autistic Perceptions. In this interview, Aaron gives an overview of his own experiences with autism and how psychedelics changed his relationship with his condition, while also providing fascinating insights into some of the neuroscientific research on both autism and psychedelic experiences. Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) later in life, Aaron describes the features of his condition as a dissociation from both his own inner experience and that of others (alexithymia), as well as a predisposition to getting lost in mental reflection and rumination. Four years after his diagnosis, Aaron tried LSD for the first time, and this experience helped him gain crucial insight into his condition and provided him with a different, more emotionally engaged and embodied sense of life.  His improved quality of life following his explorations of psychedelic medicines inspired him to write a book detailing his experiences as someone with ASD. However, Aaron stresses that everyone’s experience of autism is unique, similar to how psychedelic experiences can differ from person to person. So in the overlap of psychedelics and autism, there is a wide variety of responses as these compounds come into contact with the unique brain chemistry of autistic individuals.   As Aaron connected with other individuals with ASD who have explored psychedelic medicine, he realized this was a topic that deserved more attention, especially with how little information was available. As a result, he co-founded the Autistic Psychedelic Community, which is an online co-learning community for neurodivergent individuals who are interested in connecting on the topic of psychedelics.   In this episode: How people with ASD experience psychedelics differently  The intersection of trauma and ASD and how psychedelics impact both of these Quotes from people with ASD about their unique psychedelic experiences and the impacts What scientific research has been done on psychedelics and autism How ketamine differs from other psychedelics for people with ADS   Quotes: “It’s not a cure for autism spectrum, I think it’s another vantage point to see. I call it a contact lens for my sensory awareness.” [10:09] “I’ve had experiences with other individuals who aren’t on the spectrum taking similar dosages and they’ll enter a much more hallucinogenic state, whereas I’ll enter more of what feels like home or an embodied state.” [19:40] “These changes are far more remarkable than the currently available pharmacotherapies for autistics.” [34:11] “The idea that these are hallucinogens exclusively is really being challenged by my story in terms of taking that dissociative state and bringing it into a point of awareness.” [41:25]   Links: Get 20% off everything at Octagon Biolabs with coupon code 'plantmedicine' Aaron’s book Autism on Acid Autistic Psychedelic Community Psychedelic Medicine Association Porangui