Ep. 6 - The Agony and the Ecstasy: The Emerging Use of Psychedelics with Mona Sobhani PhD

Fully indoctrinated into the cult of science, neuroscientist Mona Sobhani, Ph.D., aggressively defended the dogma of scientific beliefs--until a series of life-altering events caused her to reconsider spirituality and psi concepts and launched her into a two-year investigation into the ineffable mysteries of our world. In this episode, she will be sharing her outlook on the emerging field of psychedelic science, consciousness therapies, the convergence of neuroscience and mental health, psychology, spirituality, and technology.

Mona is a cognitive neuroscientist, researcher, and author with 14+ years of experience and a passion for exploring how science and technology intersect with society and affect human health and well-being. She has explored this theme through cognitive neuroscience, law + neuroscience, digital health, as well as working with startups and venture capital. Recently, She has become interested in consciousness and exploring how science (specifically neuroscience and psychology) can be bridged with spirituality to help us understand the world in which we live.

Let’s jump into the emerging use of psychedelics!

Key Highlights:

[00:45 -07:35] - Opening Segment

• An overview of the threats to consciousness
• How something that was very controversial in the 60s-70s get so mainstream
• Dr. Mona’s insights about psychedelics

[07:36 - 20:12] The Psychological and Healing Aspect of Psychedelics

• How to use psychedelics as opposed to just knowing what these compounds do
• How Dr. Mona conducts clinical trials on a topic that is subjective as anxiety and depression

[20:13- 31:17] - The Fascinating Commonality with How Users Have Described Their Experiences

• The limitations of the reductionist approach
• Dr. Mona's outlook on the model consciousness and the altered state of consciousness
• The language commonality in terms of how people experience psychedelics

[31:18 - 40:17] -  The Distinction Between Having and not Having Boundaries

• Why people believe psychedelics effects are a manifestation of your own biases
• You feel there are no boundaries with psychedelics and other nonordinary states of consciousness 

[40:18 - 48:35] - The Biggest Thing in Our Reality is Our Consciousness

• Dr. Mona shares her experience with psychedelics
• What is the role of psychedelics for us as species and as a country
• The reason why the relationship between us and our environments is important

[48:36 - 50:02] - Closing Segment

• Want to connect with Mona Sobhani? Follow her on LinkedIn, and Twitter. If you want to learn more about her work, head to Mona Sobhani Ph.D., and make sure to check her substack The Brave New World of Psychedelics Science.

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