Last month marked a fairly momentous occasion in Colorado, the statewide passage of Proposition 122, the Natural Medicines Health Act. Coloradoans voted, by a tally of 53 to 47%, to approve both the decriminalization of psilocybin, DMT, ibogaine, and mescaline, along with the medicalization of psilocybin, with the possibility of a medicalization pathway for the others in 2026.  This is a landmark, tipping point kind of social change, and one that triggers a huge number of hopes, concerns, and questions. Here Craig sits down with Shannon Hughes, a CSU Professor of Social Work who specializes in issues of drugs, meds and society; she is also a co-founder of the Nowak Society, Colorado’s preeminent force for psychedelic education and community.  Together Craig and Shannon explore the wide-ranging implications of decriminalization and medicalization of psilocybin and other psychedelics.

Chris Johnson/Whooz Larry--  "Have My Heart"
 https://open.spotify.com/track/7CoXPcTsQGjIU3mEbeTMQX?si=dc6f5f06a4394b2c

Dr. Shannon Hughes
https://www.drshannonhughes.com/

BFTA/Dr. H
https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

Psilocybin comes to Colorado

How do we find a way out of the darkest depths of despair? Psychiatrist Dr. Craig Heacock hosts a deep dive into powerfully moving stories of hope and healing, as well as topical explorations of psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, and psychedelics.

Medicine

Science & Medicine

Science

Health & Fitness

Mental Health

Dr. Russell Carr was a career Navy psychiatrist for 20 years and served in Iraq, where today’s story begins.  This is a story of a healer, then a terrible wounding, then the healer trying to find his way amidst the chaos of war. This story is about a rite of passage, one that not every psychiatrist faces, but most do at some point-- that of losing the first patient to suicide, then trying to find the strength to move forward.

Dr. Russell Carr
A Psychiatrist Returns from War-- on Substack
https://russellcarr.substack.com/

BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast
https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/

BFTA/ Dr. H
https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

A Psychiatrist Goes to War

A huge problem with current psychiatric diagnosis is that it often lumps completely unrelated things under the same vast and vague tent, such as with the diagnosis of "Major Depressive Disorder".   Here Craig sits down with his patient Rebecca to try to make sense of her complex early onset depression and how it played out via addiction, anorexia, and pathological caretaking and how she was finally able find the grace and compassion to prioritize care for herself.

Bringing Therapy into Med Management-- An intensive psychotherapy training in Colorado with Dr.  H
https://www.craigheacockmd.com/training/

BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast
https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/

BFTA/ Dr. H
https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

My dog saved my life-- Understanding the story of depression

Here Dr. H sites down with Jenny, a psychoanalyst who shares her moving, then horrifying, then eventually cathartic tale of plumbing the depths of her traumatized psyche, first with years of psychoanalysis, then with five MDMA-assisted therapy sessions. This is a story of numbing and forgetting, then re-opening and remembering...of finding a way to make sense of a life of protective dissociation.

Bringing Therapy into Med Management-- An intensive psychotherapy training in Colorado with Dr.  H
https://www.craigheacockmd.com/training/

BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast
https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/

BFTA/ Dr. H
https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

 
 


Psychoanalysis, Dissociation, MDMA and What Lies Beneath

In this solo episode Craig shares his current thoughts on MDMA medicalization, sleep meds, ADD, motivation vs self-discipline, benzos, how long to stay on psych meds, a change and a proposed addition to his top 10 med list, borderline vs bipolar, and marriage.

Bringing Therapy into Med Management-- An intensive training with Dr.  H
https://www.craigheacockmd.com/training/

BFTA on IG @backfromtheabysspodcast
https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/

BFTA/ Dr. H
https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/

What I'm thinking about now-- MDMA, Sleep Meds, Motivation, Bipolar vs Borderline, and more

Dr. H sits down with Dr. Jennifer Gaudiani, a nationally recognized expert on eating disorders to explore a wide range of topics including:

• etiology and the relative influence of temperament, culture, and concomitant psychiatric illness
•anorexia as a qualitatively different kind of treatment challenge
•treatment ambivalence, building the alliance, respecting protectors
•anosognosia and its relationship with severity of illness
•how to talk about weight, body image, and eating with mindful/respectful language
•thin privilege and fatphobia
•involuntary treatment
•orthorexia and food rules as a cultural disease
•GLP-1 agonists and bariatric surgery

Dr. G
https://www.gaudianiclinic.com/team

Sick Enough-- A Guide to the Medical Complications of Eating Disorders
https://www.gaudianiclinic.com/sick-enough

Bringing Therapy into Med Management-- An intensive training with Dr.  H
https://www.craigheacockmd.com/training/

BFTA/ Dr. H
https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/




Psilocybin comes to Colorado

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