Psychedelics Today

Download Dr. Ben Sessa is a writer, psychiatrist, and researcher working in the UK to start the first ever MDMA for alcohol addiction study. We have a very exciting discussion and even get Dr. Sessa's first reaction to the idea of DMTx. We also explore Ben's background and his experiences with psychedelics legally - Ben is one of the few people who has ever received MDMA, LSD, DMT, ketamine, and psilocybin in a legal research setting. We hope you enjoy this episode! Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. Links

• Ben Sessa's website - Mandala Therapy Limited 
• BBC Three - Druglands
• Towards an Integration of Psychotherapy and Pharmacology: Using psychedelic drug-assisted psychotherapy by Dr. Ben Sessa 
• Breaking Convention conference - London
  • Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BreakingConvention/ 
• Twitter - https://twitter.com/drsessa

Books The Psychedelic Renaissance           To Fathom Hell or Soar Angelic The Psychedelic Renaissance Psychedelic Drug Treatments           Dr. Ben Sessa - Videos https://vimeo.com/38063005 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UygZnBTWW0M About Ben Sessa Dr. Ben Sessa, M.B.B.S., M.D., B.Sc., M.R.C.Psych., is a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist working in adult addiction services and with custodial detained young people in a secure adolescent setting. He trained at UCL medical school, graduating in 1997. He is interested in the developmental trajectory from child maltreatment to adult mental health disorders. Dr Sessa is currently a senior research fellow at Bristol, Cardiff and Imperial College London Universities, where he is conducting the UK's first clinical studies with MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD and alcohol dependence syndrome. In the last ten years he has worked on several UK-based human pharmacology trials as study doctor or as a healthy subject administering and receiving test doses of LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, DMT, and ketamine. He is the author of several dozen peer-reviewed articles in the mainstream medical press and has written two books exploring psychedelic medicine; The Psychedelic Renaissance (2012 and 2017) and To Fathom Hell or Soar Angelic (2015). In speaking publicly at universities and medical conferences, Dr Sessa is outspoken on lobbying for change in the current system by which drugs are classified in the UK, believing a more progressive policy of regulation would reduce the harms of recreational drug use and provide increased opportunities for clinical psychedelic research. He is a co-founder and director of the UK's Breaking Convention conference.   Enter to win a bunch of product from Bluebird Botanicals!!

Download James Casey, a student at Colorado University Boulder, joins us on Psychedelics Today to share his experience with MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, forming the Psychedelic Club Boulder, and his interest in neuroscience. James had the unique opportunity to be a research participant in the MAPS phase-2 MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD trials and shares part of his experience with us. The MDMA-assisted psychotherapy has been a life saver for James, and now he advocates for the therapeutic use of MDMA for treatment of PTSD and other mental health issues. [caption id="attachment_2054" align="aligncenter" width="564"] Source: MAPS (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/155866837087764496/)[/caption] Episode Quote I think it is criminal that we are really keeping this (MDMA-assisted psychotherapy) from people..... Veterans aren't the only people suffering that need this (MDMA-assisted psychotherapy), people who have experienced childhood trauma, law enforcement, firefighters, people that are victims of rape, or gang violence. This really has the potential to heal so many people. To speak for the veteran community, I know so many people that I've deployed with or know that have been deployed, that I am afraid I am going to get a call tomorrow, next week, or next month because they killed themselves. To know that if they try to do the same treatment that I did outside of the MAPS study, that they risk getting thrown in a cage for years on end is criminal to me. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02l8LCxWSGU] Show Notes

• Researching the effects of LSA on cockroaches
• Psychedelic Club Boulder
• Tips on starting a psychedelic club/group
• Drug testing on campus at CU Boulder
  • Results of testing - 88% of the MDMA samples tested positive for meth. About 40% of the LSD samples tested positive for a research chemical
• Drug reform and war on drugs
• Veterans, PTSD, and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy
• Changing the psychedelic narrative among law enforcement
• DMTx

About James Casey U.S. Army veteran, participated in a study of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 2014. After three sessions of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, James no longer qualifies for PTSD. Enter to win a bunch of product from Bluebird Botanicals!!

Download James Casey, a student at Colorado University Boulder, joins us on Psychedelics Today to share his experience with MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, forming the Psychedelic Club Boulder, and his interest in neuroscience. James had the unique opportunity to be a research participant in the MAPS phase-2 MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD trials and shares part of his experience with us. The MDMA-assisted psychotherapy has been a life saver for James, and now he advocates for the therapeutic use of MDMA for treatment of PTSD and other mental health issues. [caption id="attachment_2054" align="aligncenter" width="564"] Source: MAPS (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/155866837087764496/)[/caption] Episode Quote I think it is criminal that we are really keeping this (MDMA-assisted psychotherapy) from people..... Veterans aren't the only people suffering that need this (MDMA-assisted psychotherapy), people who have experienced childhood trauma, law enforcement, firefighters, people that are victims of rape, or gang violence. This really has the potential to heal so many people. To speak for the veteran community, I know so many people that I've deployed with or know that have been deployed, that I am afraid I am going to get a call tomorrow, next week, or next month because they killed themselves. To know that if they try to do the same treatment that I did outside of the MAPS study, that they risk getting thrown in a cage for years on end is criminal to me. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02l8LCxWSGU] Show Notes

• Researching the effects of LSA on cockroaches
• Psychedelic Club Boulder
• Tips on starting a psychedelic club/group
• Drug testing on campus at CU Boulder
  • Results of testing - 88% of the MDMA samples tested positive for meth. About 40% of the LSD samples tested positive for a research chemical
• Drug reform and war on drugs
• Veterans, PTSD, and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy
• Changing the psychedelic narrative among law enforcement
• DMTx

About James Casey U.S. Army veteran, participated in a study of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 2014. After three sessions of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, James no longer qualifies for PTSD. Enter to win a bunch of product from Bluebird Botanicals!!

Download Kyle and Joe talk CBD, ketamine, terpines, floating, education and much more! Thanks to our sponsors EntheoZen and BlueBird Botanicals!

Download Kyle and Joe talk CBD, ketamine, terpines, floating, education and much more!     Thanks to our sponsors EntheoZen and BlueBird Botanicals!

Naropa graduate student, Alyssa Gursky, joins us on Psychedelics Today to talk about her experience with ketamine therapy, breathwork, transpersonal art therapy, and being a night attended for the MAPS MDMA-assisted psychotherapy studies in Boulder and Fort Collins, Colorado. Alyssa has been already played multiple roles in the psychedelic community, such as volunteering for MAPS, Psymposia, and Psychedelics Today. Her passion and energy for this work are motivating. We are really excited to see how her career in the psychedelic field unfolds as an inspiring transpersonal art and psychedelic therapist. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqsvJedwUyg] Show Notes & Links

• Transpersonal Art Therapy
• Psychedelic Club
• Ketamine Therapy with Scott Shannon
• Ketamine Therapy with Shane LeMaster
• Honoring My Inner Goddess: How Mushrooms Helped Me Love My Body
• MAPS Global Psychedelic Dinners
• Wim Hof Method & Breathwork
  • Wim Hof and autonomic nervous system and immune response
• Cold Exposure - Wim Hof Method by Justin Weiss
• Alejandro Jodorowsky

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdXGhsAynGI] About Alyssa Gursky Alyssa Gursky is a master's level candidate in Transpersonal Art Therapy. She currently is subcontracted by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) on their study using MDMA for treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on their Boulder and Fort Collins sites. She's incredibly passionate about the healing potential of the creative process and the body's innate wisdom. She loves science fiction, anything by Alejandro Jodorowsky, and petting all of the dogs.

Naropa graduate student, Alyssa Gursky, joins us on Psychedelics Today to talk about her experience with ketamine therapy, breathwork, transpersonal art therapy, and being a night attended for the MAPS MDMA-assisted psychotherapy studies in Boulder and Fort Collins, Colorado. Alyssa has been already played multiple roles in the psychedelic community, such as volunteering for MAPS, Psymposia, and Psychedelics Today. Her passion and energy for this work are motivating. We are really excited to see how her career in the psychedelic field unfolds as an inspiring transpersonal art and psychedelic therapist. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqsvJedwUyg] Show Notes & Links

• Transpersonal Art Therapy
• Psychedelic Club
• Ketamine Therapy with Scott Shannon
• Ketamine Therapy with Shane LeMaster
• Honoring My Inner Goddess: How Mushrooms Helped Me Love My Body
• MAPS Global Psychedelic Dinners
• Wim Hof Method & Breathwork
  • Wim Hof and autonomic nervous system and immune response
• Cold Exposure - Wim Hof Method by Justin Weiss
• Alejandro Jodorowsky

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdXGhsAynGI] About Alyssa Gursky Alyssa Gursky is a master’s level candidate in Transpersonal Art Therapy. She currently is subcontracted by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) on their study using MDMA for treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on their Boulder and Fort Collins sites. She’s incredibly passionate about the healing potential of the creative process and the body’s innate wisdom. She loves science fiction, anything by Alejandro Jodorowsky, and petting all of the dogs.

Download New York Times bestselling author, Don Lattin, joins us on Psychedelics Today to talk about his new book, Changing Our Minds: Psychedelic Sacraments and the New Psychotherapy. Lattin's new book covers the current psychedelic renaissance by exploring the scientific and academic research examining these powerful substances for an array of mental health issues, spirituality, and more. In this episode, we explored psychedelic history, Don's new book, some personal experiences, and more. Changing Our Minds From Synergetic Press Changing Our Minds is an essential read for those interested in the expanding field of psychedelic research for therapeutic and spiritual uses.

CHANGING OUR MINDS is an experiential tour through the social, spiritual and scientific revolution that is redefining our relationship with mind-expanding substances. It tells the inspiring and very human stories of pioneering neuroscientists, psychotherapists, shamans and ordinary people seeking to live more aware and compassionate lives by combining the miracles of modern chemistry, therapeutic techniques and the wise use of ancient plant medicines.

A new era of research into psychedelic-assisted therapy has begun. Party drugs like Ecstasy (MDMA) are used to help U.S. veterans struggling with the psychological aftermath of war. Psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, is employed as a medicine to help alcoholics get sober and cancer patients struggling with the existential distress of a life-threatening illness. Meanwhile, the use of the ayahuasca, a shamanic brew from the Amazon jungle, has grown into an international movement for those seeking greater spiritual and psychological insight.

Changing Our Minds is the essential primer for understanding and navigating this new consciousness-raising territory.

Links and Notes

• Changing Our Minds - Use the coupon code Lattin for a discount
• Richard Yensen
• Andrew Weil
• Harvard Psychedelic Club
• Tim Leary
• Ram Dass (Richard Alpert)
• Ralph Metzner
• Good Friday Experiment
• Spring Grove Experiment
• Peter Hendricks

About Don Lattin Don Lattin is an award-winning journalist and the author of six books. His most recent work, CHANGING OUR MINDS - Psychedelic Sacraments and the New Psychotherapy, was published in the spring of 2017. It chronicles a quiet revolution underway in our understanding of how psychedelic drugs work and how they can be used to treat depression, addiction and other disease. The stories behind this cutting-edge medical research and religious exploration reveal the human side of a psychedelic renaissance. Changing Our Minds is the latest installment in a trio of books about the recent history and future prospects for finding beneficial uses for drugs and plant medicines like LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, and ayahuasca. Don's previously published work is titled DISTILLED SPIRITS -- Getting High, then Sober, with a Famous Writer, a Forgotten Philosopher, and a Hopeless Drunk. It's a memoir/group biography that looks at how writer Aldous Huxley, philosopher Gerald Heard, and Bill Wilson, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, opened new doors in Western religious thought Distilled Spirits is a prequel to THE HARVARD PSYCHEDELIC CLUB -- How Timothy Leary, Andrew Weil, Ram Dass, and Huston Smith Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America. It was a national bestseller and won the 2010 California Book Award, Silver Medal, for non-fiction. Lattin's journalistic work has appeared in dozens of U.S. magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the San Francisco Chronicle, where Don worked as a staff writer for nearly two decades. His other books are JESUS FREAKS - A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge and FOLLOWING OUR BLISS - How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives Today. He is also the co-author of SHOPPING FOR FAITH – American Religion in the New Mil-lennium Don has taught as an adjunct faculty member at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley, where he holds a degree in sociology. He is a contributing writer for the Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions and the Encyclopedia of Religion in America.

Download New York Times bestselling author, Don Lattin, joins us on Psychedelics Today to talk about his new book, Changing Our Minds: Psychedelic Sacraments and the New Psychotherapy. Lattin's new book covers the current psychedelic renaissance by exploring the scientific and academic research examining these powerful substances for an array of mental health issues, spirituality, and more. In this episode, we explored psychedelic history, Don's new book, some personal experiences, and more. Changing Our Minds From Synergetic Press Changing Our Minds is an essential read for those interested in the expanding field of psychedelic research for therapeutic and spiritual uses.

CHANGING OUR MINDS is an experiential tour through the social, spiritual and scientific revolution that is redefining our relationship with mind-expanding substances. It tells the inspiring and very human stories of pioneering neuroscientists, psychotherapists, shamans and ordinary people seeking to live more aware and compassionate lives by combining the miracles of modern chemistry, therapeutic techniques and the wise use of ancient plant medicines.

A new era of research into psychedelic-assisted therapy has begun. Party drugs like Ecstasy (MDMA) are used to help U.S. veterans struggling with the psychological aftermath of war. Psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, is employed as a medicine to help alcoholics get sober and cancer patients struggling with the existential distress of a life-threatening illness. Meanwhile, the use of the ayahuasca, a shamanic brew from the Amazon jungle, has grown into an international movement for those seeking greater spiritual and psychological insight.

Changing Our Minds is the essential primer for understanding and navigating this new consciousness-raising territory.

Links and Notes

• Changing Our Minds  - Use the coupon code Lattin for a discount
• Richard Yensen
• Andrew Weil 
• Harvard Psychedelic Club
• Tim Leary
• Ram Dass (Richard Alpert)
• Ralph Metzner
• Good Friday Experiment 
• Spring Grove Experiment
• Peter Hendricks 

About Don Lattin Don Lattin is an award-winning journalist and the author of six books. His most recent work, CHANGING OUR MINDS - Psychedelic Sacraments and the New Psychotherapy, was published in the spring of 2017. It chronicles a quiet revolution underway in our understanding of how psychedelic drugs work and how they can be used to treat depression, addiction and other disease. The stories behind this cutting-edge medical research and religious exploration reveal the human side of a psychedelic renaissance. Changing Our Minds is the latest installment in a trio of books about the recent history and future prospects for finding beneficial uses for drugs and plant medicines like LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, and ayahuasca. Don’s previously published work is titled DISTILLED SPIRITS -- Getting High, then Sober, with a Famous Writer, a Forgotten Philosopher, and a Hopeless Drunk. It’s a memoir/group biography that looks at how writer Aldous Huxley, philosopher Gerald Heard, and Bill Wilson, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, opened new doors in Western religious thought Distilled Spirits is a prequel to THE HARVARD PSYCHEDELIC CLUB -- How Timothy Leary, Andrew Weil, Ram Dass, and Huston Smith Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America. It was a national bestseller and won the 2010 California Book Award, Silver Medal, for non-fiction. Lattin’s journalistic work has appeared in dozens of U.S. magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the San Francisco Chronicle, where Don worked as a staff writer for nearly two decades. His other books are JESUS FREAKS - A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge and FOLLOWING OUR BLISS - How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives Today. He is also the co-author of SHOPPING FOR FAITH – American Religion in the New Mil-lennium Don has taught as an adjunct faculty member at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley, where he holds a degree in sociology. He is a contributing writer for the Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions and the Encyclopedia of Religion in America.

Download What is breathwork and Transpersonal Breathwork? Kyle and Joe talk about the components and mechanics of breathwork and share some personal experiences. Breathwork is a topic that is brought up often on Psychedelics Today, so here is a more in-depth discussion about what it is. The form of breathwork that Joe and Kyle are trained in is Transpersonal Breathwork. More about this practice below. About Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork From dreamshadow.com Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork is an applied, practice-linked philosophy that uses the method of Stanislav Grof's Holotropic Breathwork as a modern shamanic practice for self-discovery through cathartic re-experience of events from a person's biographic history and the process of birth, as well as the potential apprehension of archetypes and events in the cosmos. The experiential aspect of Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork uses a combination of group process, intense breathing, evocative music, body work, and expressive drawing. The term "transpersonal" refers to those experiences where our sense of self-identity expands beyond our personal biography and ego boundaries and transcends the usual limitations of time and space. These experiences facilitate deeper understanding of ourselves, our relation to others and our place in the universe. They help us gain increased comfort in daily life and a spiritual intelligence that fosters calm and optimism amidst the difficulties of the world. Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork draws on the work of William James, Carl Jung, Abraham Maslow, Stanislav Grof and others. Grof is a pioneering psychedelic researcher, investigator of exceptional human experiences and cofounder of the transpersonal psychology movement. Together with his wife Christina Grof, he developed Holotropic Breathwork, an inspiration of Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork, Integrative Breathwork and other methods. In his book The Holotropic Mind, Grof describes Holotropic Breathwork as a seemingly simple process with "extraordinary potential for opening the way for exploring the entire spectrum of the inner world." 5 Components of Breathwork

1. Intense Breathing - Deep circular breathing with a minimal pause in between the in and out breaths. There is no "right" technique, but to intensify and deepen one's breathing.
2. Evocative Music- A music setlist is created to help drive the breathing session. The music is typically all instrumental with no distinguishable language. There are often times when music with foreign languages will be used because of the lack of context. The music setlist is around two to three hours long.
3. Focused Bodywork - Emotional energy can become stuck in the body. To help assist with stuck emotional or physical energy, bodywork is performed to help release the energy. Bodywork can also be in the form of support by offering a hand to hold.
4. Expressive Drawing - After the breathwork session, participants are asked to create a mandala or drawing. This helps to process the experience without language or words and can be very symbolic. This process helps to integrate the experience.
5. Group Process- We are social creatures. As Lenny Gibson states, "we are the descendants of successful tribes." We need one another to survive in the world. The group helps to form a safe container for participants to dive deep into their psyche and being. The group holds the space for a healing process to occur.

Links & Notes

• Dreamshadow: Holotropic Breathwork, Personal Development, and Transpersonal Education
• SettingSun Wellness - Kyle's breathwork page
• Breckenridge Breathwork - Joe's breathwork page
• Grof Transpersonal Training
• Stanislav Grof

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP17faUXLtk

• Morphic Resonance
• The Neuroscience of Human Relationships