Psychedelics and the Work of Healing

The conversation starts with a simple truth: psychedelics can open the door, but they don’t walk you through it. We trace these powerful tools from ancient ceremonies to modern clinics, explaining what they are, how they affect the mind, and why they’re gaining traction for depression, PTSD, anxiety, addiction, and eating disorders. Along the way, we ground the promise in nuance—exploring set, setting, and integration—so the story is about real change, not magic fixes.

I share candid experiences with DMT, ketamine, and a recent mushroom journey—what each revealed, what they didn’t, and how the lasting growth came from the work that followed. We talk practical benefits like emotional processing, perspective shifts, and profound connection, and we balance them with the risks: intensity, resurfaced trauma, and the danger of outsourcing your power to a single moment. You’ll hear why a solid support team matters—therapists, clinicians, or guides—and how to translate big insights into small daily actions.

Most importantly, we honor choice. Some people need a strong catalyst. Others thrive with gentler paths like trauma-informed therapy, somatic practices, mindfulness, and patient habit change. Both routes can be transformative when paired with responsibility and care. If you’re curious about psychedelics or rethinking your healing path, you’ll leave with a clearer map, practical tools, and permission to choose what truly fits your life.

If this resonates, subscribe, share with a friend who might need it, and leave a review to help others find the show. Your reflections shape future episodes.

Subscribe to my Newsletter HERE

Follow me on Instagram HERE

Transcript

What Psychedelics Are And How They Work

History, Shamanism, And Guided Journeys

Clinical Momentum In Mental Health

Types Of Psychedelics And Uses

Pros: Healing, Perspective, Connection

Limits, Risks, And Integration Needs

My DMT, Ketamine, And Mushroom Stories

Building Tools And Ongoing Practice

Many Roads To Healing Beyond Psychedelics

Personal Agency And Final Reflections

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Hello everyone, welcome to a new episode of Journey to the Soul. This is my last episode that I am recording before the holidays. When you listen to this, it's gonna be the start of a new year, it's gonna be January, which is crazy. I'm going to be making an episode in the coming weeks about how we could enter the new year, the energy that we want to move into the new year with. But today I actually wanted to have a conversation about psychedelics, and this is something that I've thought about sharing to some degree over the last couple of years, and the time just hasn't been right. But I feel like now I really do want to share with you more about psychedelics if you are familiar with them or have never even heard of them. I feel like if you are in the self-help or spiritual realm, you have probably heard of them to some degree, but they came into my realm again this year. So I just wanted to share with you my experience with them and what I've learned through the few relationships or the few experiences that I've had with them. So if you have never heard of psychedelics, psychedelics are essentially substances that alter your consciousness temporarily. So instead of you numbing, they open you up to actually feel things fully. So it's a substance or a group of substances that create this effect in your brain that causes you to have altered perception, mood, thought patterns, and sense of self. So they bring a lot of the time heightened emotional, spiritual, or symbolic experiences. And within psychedelics, there's so many different categories that fall into this one umbrella, and they're broken down these categories based off of how they affect your brain, but they're also categorized by how certain psychedelics make you feel, the length of the experience, as well as the intensity, and they also look at whether or not the psychedelics are used clinically or outside of a medical space. But psychedelics really go back thousands of years, they're one of the oldest medicines or substances that have been used for a very long time, and in many different ancient cultures, they have been used as a tool for spiritual healing and for just healing in general, and it was a way for them to understand life, death, healing, and meaning. So if you have heard of psychedelics and certain substances, you know that a shaman is a pivotal part of that experience, and this is how shamanism has become tied to a lot of psychedelics, because this is a way that it's been done for so long within many traditions that have used psychedelics for thousands of years. At least when we're talking about psychedelics in particular. So shamans are gonna be the ones that administer the substance to you, whether that's something that's inhaled or you drink it, but they're also gonna be the one that help you go through your journey. So they will be your guide as you go along your journey, whether it's 30 minutes or hours long, they will be there with you and they serve as a guide and they train for this. So shamans are definitely used in a lot of different psychedelic experiences. But my biggest reason for wanting to record this podcast is because right now, in this moment in time, psychedelics are gaining so much traction in the mental health space. They have become more and more common to treat certain diseases, such as treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, eating disorders, addiction, anxiety, OCD, and a multitude of other things. But what it's shown is super positive outcomes in clinical trials and just in trials that are constantly ongoing. And in many studies, psychedelics actually performed better than medication, so they're slowly becoming more and more common as a way to treat some of these mental health conditions, and they are performing better than medication or other forms of treatment. So there's a lot of trials that go on looking at how different psychedelics work with different things, but it really has become an opportunity to look at treating mental health conditions from this realm. And if you're in the spiritual space, you may have heard of it as a way to expand spiritually. So mushrooms and MDMA, these are two forms of psychedelics, and they are psychedelics, they are substances that have been done by people in the spiritual space in the past. Some even still do today, but if you look back in time and see when mushrooms and MDMA began to gain more traction, it was in the 60s and the 70s in the US before they became criminalized, and this was actually the time where an awakening was happening within the US spiritually. Buddhism was gaining more traction as well as yoga and different things like that. So a lot of the spiritual teachers that we actually know today in the modern day, they may have actually used mushrooms or MDMA in the past. So in many different realms, it's gaining more traction, it's becoming something that is more open for different things. People are leaning on to this for different things, like we can see for the mental health aspects, but also as a way for you to evolve more deeply spiritually. These can be very spiritual experiences. So they come in many forms. I mentioned mushrooms and mDMA. Psilocybin is the substance that is found in mushrooms, that is a psychedelic substance that we are looking at. There's also LSD, which is found in acid. There's ayahuasca, which has uh DMT plus another compound in it. There is DMT by itself, which is found in ayahuasca, but also in bufo, which is the natural occurring form, but also uh synthetic versions of DMT. There's MDMA, which comes from ecstasy or Molly, and ketamine. And these are just some of the most common ones. And me sitting here doing this is I just want you all to be conscious of the pros and cons that come with doing something like this. I've had a few experiences with these substances, which I'll share a little bit more about a little bit later in this episode. But I feel like because they're becoming more and more popular to treat certain things, or they're becoming more popular within the spiritual space, more people are becoming more open to doing them, which I think is wonderful to a certain degree because they can be super powerful in certain situations, but just like everything else, there are pros and cons to everything. And I wanted to share some of those with you. If you have thought perhaps of doing something in this list, one of these forms of psychedelics that I shared, or if someone that you know perhaps, or you're just curious to know more, I think it's important to have a clear picture of how they can affect us positively and negatively, and everyone's experience is so unique. So these are again touching on more of the high points, but it's still something to keep in mind because even though you go with certain intentions with things like psychedelics, you can't really fully control your experience, you need to be open to whatever it is that is going to come up, and some of that can be unconscious. So these are just things that you know I have learned some in the hard way through my few experiences as well, and working with different doctors in this realm who perform some of these things, shamans, but also years of therapy, because there is truly pros and cons to everything. So, some of the positive things about psychedelics is that it can be a powerful tool for healing mind, body, and soul. It can really be a catalyst for you to heal through some of these things, through certain things that you may be working through. It can also help you reduce some anxiety or depression if you struggle with some of those things. Again, tying into it being a tool for healing mind, body, soul, and in a lot of ways, it can be more effective than prescription medication in certain situations. Because of how profound these experiences are, it can also help you gain a new perspective in life, it can help you break through your glass ceilings, it can really help you shake up your world if that's something that you're needing or wanting in life, is to start a new page or to begin brand new, and maybe you've struggled with being consistent with that or really actually moving the needle forward with that. That's how this can be helpful in that way, is that because of how strong these experiences are, it can help you break through your glass ceilings. Because of how some of these substances also work with the mind, it allows you to process emotions that perhaps you haven't been able to in the past. So it helps you make more sense of it by you actually feeling the emotions. And lastly, this is more of like the spiritual attraction, but it gives you an increased sense of meaning and connection to the world. A lot of psychedelics create this feeling of oneness or deep connection with the greater world, the greater being, our interconnectedness as a collective, and that can be an incredible experience, of course, on its own, because many of us may never actually feel that in our life, and that could be really profound. Some of the cons to be aware of, like I mentioned, it's very strong and very powerful, and a lot of that does also depend on what kind of psychedelics you are using, but most as adrenalization are. Something else you need to keep in mind as well is that this is not a band-aid for all the problems you are experiencing in your life. Rather, it opens you up and brings to light things that are causing you to experience that. Then it's up to us to do the work for whatever shows up. So you still need to show up and learn how to do the work if you don't know how to. If not, it won't work. Or, like I mentioned, it will cause more harm than good. You need therapy, lifestyle changes, and support when you choose to do something like this so you can get the most out of it. It's like anything else in life, but as an example, it's like trying to be healthy. You can eat healthy, but you still need to move your body to some degree for your cardiovascular system, your bone health, your overall well-being. You need to do some kind of workout or movement. If not, there's gonna be something still missing from you, the picture of health, right? You also need sleep, whole foods. This is what is needed to sustain a healthy lifestyle, right? It's multiple things. The same stands with this, and we talked again about you having to be open to meet whatever it is that you're going to meet if you do it, and you are confronted with something that is. Very difficult and heavy, and you don't have the capacity to move through it, it can be very traumatizing. Your body could be storing memories and traumas that you are not even consciously aware of. So if you are considering something like this, you need a team of people to help you move through it, to make sense of it all, to help you work through whatever does come up. And that team could be more than one person. It could be a therapist, a doctor, a psychiatrist, it could be the shaman that helped you during your experience that was there to guide you. It can be a spiritual guide, a spiritual teacher of some kind. You need a team of people to help you work through this in the best way possible. Like I briefly mentioned, I have done some form of psychedelics in the past. I have done DMT, that was about five years ago, that was with a shaman. I've done ketamine with a doctor, that was about two years ago, and I actually did mushrooms more recently for the first time. That was part of me wanting to record this episode and just feeling into that experience more. As a generalization, did these things help me? Yes, they did. DMT was actually a huge catalyst for me to work on myself. I was struggling with an eating disorder, anxiety, childhood trauma, so it really kind of pushed me into really learning how to do the work in a whole different way. Ketamine helped me reach new levels of understanding with myself, my being, what I'm here to do on this world. It was still something that I did when I was still going through my healing. So I may share the story in the future about these two experiences, which is why I've thought about recording this in the past, was actually to share about the DMT and ketamine therapy in particular. Still up for grabs if that will happen, but what I wanted to point out today was that through these experiences, there was so many tools that I learned along the way to treat what I was working through. And I was able to go all in on my healing journey and started learning other modalities to help me move through all of these very intense things that I was working through. What it helped me do was build a toolbox essentially to help me work through what I was experiencing. So even though I did the DMT and the ketamine, I continue to do the work, which is super important in doing something like this. The mushroom experience that I did this year actually was a bit different, and I will probably share more of that sometime in the coming months, but I'm still kind of digesting it. But I've just learned so much in the last five years since I did the DMT for the first time. It's not that I did the DMT and the ketamine, it's not what the DMT and ketamine did for me, but who I actually became through the process of healing because the DMT and the ketamine just brought things to light, but I became the person that was able to work through all of these things after that, and that's what you need to strive to do if you choose to do something like this. Not hope that the medicine or the one-day experience itself is going to take away everything that you've ever felt, but that you need to become the person who can actually move through these things. Because of what I was working through, I learned to find peace and calmness through meditation, breath work, movement. These are some of the things that I learned or leaned into when I was working on my anxiety or addictive tendencies. I was also able to work through a lot of my childhood trauma and other things that came up through years of therapy, journaling, and being with myself. There was a lot that came up in these last five years. Things that I didn't even know were stored back there consciously that unconsciously that you hold as a child, and I have really been able to work through so much of that, which has actually been one of the biggest reasons why I experienced what I did. I also learned to become the healer that I needed for myself. It's part of why I decided to become a health coach and a spiritual life coach. It's to learn what I felt like I needed at that time. Going through those curriculums and learning those tools helped me be able to move through things on my own more. It just gave me the tools so that I can continue to move through life in the most wholesome way as possible. I learned the coping mechanisms that I needed to feel the fullness of my experiences, emotions, patterns, everything. I learned how to really be able to face them, but also not let them affect my daily life. They eventually became something that no longer showed up on a day-to-day basis, but things that had been there with me for as long as I can remember no longer were with me every single day. And that's just an incredible feeling if you struggled with things like really bad anxiety or an eating disorder. Something that I've realized as I've been sitting with my most recent experience with mushrooms is that psychedelics is not the only path to healing. And it's something that I've actually opened myself up to, and this is a realization that I've can't felt into more over the last two years, I would say, since actually my ketamine experience, but it was something that I really got more clarity on since I've had my mushroom experience, is that psychedelics are an option and they are strong and transformative, but there are so many other options as well. It is not the only path to healing, and even though it can be strong and transformative for many people, it's actually not that way for another majority. And there's nothing wrong with that. Other people may require a softer or calmer approach to healing, and that may be something that takes a little bit more time, but it's still possible through therapy, learning those coping skills that you need, gaining mindfulness, you know, self-awareness, somatic work, learning how to move through any stored emotions in the body, patience and compassion. So doing something like this that encompasses these things is just as transformative as psychedelics. But again, it comes by doing the work. If you are considering or have considered doing psychedelics, it comes down to you figuring out what is right for you. And perhaps you know that you need a strong catalyst in your life right now for awakening for you to move to the next level of your life. Perhaps you've tried other things with no luck, and that's where psychedelics can be helpful, but the path can also be softer and calmer, and that will work for some. So if you have thinking about doing something like that, just some things to keep in mind and to remember to really honor the intensity of what it is you are considering doing. Everything has its pros and cons. Again, even if you go down the path that doesn't involve psychedelics and is the softer and calmer path, it might take a little bit more time. Everything has its pros and its cons. And if you are not interested at all, that's totally fine. I'm sure you learned quite a bit in this episode. But I also want to highlight for you that you can see that even though some things may feel like they heal all, they really don't. And I feel like sometimes with psychedelics or with other things, not just psychedelics, in the spiritual realm, there can be things that feel like they heal everything: meditation, breath work, you know, visualization, do this thing, and everything will be fine, you know, and that's just not true. I feel like they simply awaken, and this can be applied to anything in life. Then it's up to us to do the work to keep working towards what it is we are trying to create in our lives. We need to become that person that is able to hold whatever reality it is that we want, and nothing will fully will fully solve something for us. We need to just become that person. So it's another thing to keep in mind. It doesn't serve us to give our power away or to try to believe that certain things or experiences will make us feel complete and whole. It's just not how it works. The power is still within us, and we just need to work on keep becoming that version of us, you know. I hope you all found this episode insightful and full of a lot of interesting things to keep in mind. If you are learning about psychedelics for the first time, this will give you a pretty good generalization of what they are. But if you are considering doing them, just some things to keep in mind. But I hope you are all having a beautiful day. I will talk to you all in my next episode. Until then.