Sex, Drugs, & Therapy: Healing Sexual Trauma With Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy

This episode closes out this season of MIND CURIOUS. Dr. Sherry Walling sits down with co-founder and CEO of Mind Cure Health, Kelsey Ramsden, to chat about the emerging landscape of psychedelic businesses. Kelsey describes her own journey to this market and explores what she's learning as the psychedelic renaissance gains momentum. Intro (0:00 – 1:42) Why Psychedelics? (1:43 – 3:54) The Mental Health Piece (3:55 – 7:35) The Stigma of Psychedelics (7:36 – 10:31) A Vulnerable Industry (10:32 – 13:10) Traditional vs Cutting-Edge (13:11 – 17:18) Her Inspiration (17:19 – 19:19) Mountains of Work (19:20 – 20:52) Meditating on a Rocket (20:53 – 23:43) End (23:44 – 24:37)

Ketamine is sometimes overlooked in conversations about psychedelics and mental health. Overlooked no more, this conversation with father-son duo Dr. Steven Mandel and Sam Mandel of the Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles focuses on the many potential uses of ketamine to alleviate mental suffering. We explore why ketamine is potentially underutilized in mental health and examine barriers to access that affect its use. Intro (0:00 – 1:37) Their Background (1:38 – 3:45) The Scope of Their Clinics (3:46 – 5:31) From Anesthesiology to Ketamine (5:32 – 8:59) In The Underground (9:00 – 12:32) Best Practice of Ketamine Treatment (12:33 – 17:03) How Ketamine is Delivered to the Patient (17:04 – 21:58) No Talk Therapy (21:59 – 25:23) Best Practices 2.0 (25:24 – 28:29) The Role of Dissociation (28:30 – 35:56) Ketamine’s Usefulness Against Suicidality (35:57 – 41:05) Final Thoughts (41:06 – 44:18) End (44:19 – 45:59) About the guests: https://ketamineclinics.com/about-us/

Full, unedited conversation with Leia Friedman, also known as the Psychedologist. This conversation focuses on the relationship between psychedelics, individual healing, and holistic ecology. Leia shares her own healing journey and how psychedelic work has catalyzed and deepened her relationship with the earth.  Check out her website: https://thepsychedologist.com/ Intro (0:00 – 1:37)  Life on a Farm (1:38 – 2:25)  Settled vs Nomad Life (2:26 – 3:34)  Lessons from the Land (3:35 – 6:08) Psychedelics and Her Relationship to the Land (6:09 – 8:37)  Integrating with Nature (8:38 – 10:52)  Environmental Justice (10:53 – 14:33)  Psychedelics’ Role (14:34 – 16:48)  Balancing Psychedelics with Capitalism (16:49 – 20:51)  Pros and Cons of Synthesized Ibogaine (20:52 – 26:02)  Regenerative Solutions (26:03 – 28:45)  Pleasure as Healing (28:46 – 31:11)  End (31:12 – 31:57) 

Precision Medicine is a new field that uses data to tailor specific medical interventions to the needs of an individual body. MINDCURE has been pioneering a precision medicine tool, iSTRYM. I asked the experts about how they use large data sets to customize care and what that might mean for the emerging field of psychedelic-supported treatments. Our guests, Dr. John Brownstein and Dr. Ty Tashiro are experts in innovation & big data and mental health-related data science respectively. Intro (0:00 – 2:24) First Guest: Dr. John Brownstein (2:25 – 10:30) What is Precision Medicine? From Large-Scale to The Individual Big Brother Data From Regular Interactions Data and Psychedelics From Company to Clinician The Tools’ Components Second Guest: Dr. Ty Tashiro (10:31 – 19:12) ISTRYM’s Technology Natural Language Processing Understanding Oneself Better iSTRYM and Psychedelics (19:13 – 25:27) Personalized Care The Mystical Aspect and the Data The Clinician Experience End (25:28 – 26:27)

Persistent, recurrent problems with sexual response, desire, orgasm, or pain — that distress you or strain your relationship with your partner — are known medically as sexual dysfunction. The most common sexual dysfunction among women is low sexual desire - a lack of sexual interest and willingness to be sexual. A nationally representative sample of 2207 American households found that the prevalence of low sexual desire ranged from 26.7% among premenopausal women to 52.4% among naturally menopausal women. MINDCURE is embarking on a clinical trial to test the possibility that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy will effectively treat low desire in women. Dr. Sherry Walling talks with three experts about the potential that psychedelics may hold for helping to heal desire, including two of MINDCURE's advisors, as well as the company's founder and CEO. Guests: Dr. Anita Clayton Hamilton Morris Kelsey Ramsden

In this uncut episode, we return to our conversation with Fawad Kalsi to give you his full ibogaine experience, from opioid addiction to hardships to discovering ibogaine, and finally, to recovery. Intro (0:00 – 1:31) Intro to Fawad (1:32 – 3:03) The Start of Fawad’s Addiction (3:04 – 11:20) Finding Out About Ibogaine (11:21 – 22:42) Fawad’s Experience with Ibogaine (22:43 – 33:28) Integrating with Faith (33:29 – 38:10) His Advice to Others (38:11 – 42:09) Breaking Religious Stigma (42:10 – 46:23) Community Pushback (46:24 – 48:03) End (48:04 – 51:05)

Sexual trauma has the power to destroy well-being. Sexual violations are among the human experiences most likely to cause long-term psychological distress and mental illness.  Sexual trauma has the power to destroy well-being. Sexual violations are among the human experiences most likely to cause long-term psychological distress and mental illness. Psychotherapy is incredibly intimate and, when combined with psychedelics, can have significant power to help heal past experiences of sexual violation and restore a sense of pleasure and healthy sexuality. One concern among many clinicians is the potential that these tools have in increasing the risk of sexual or romantic transference between clinician and client, and this could leave people vulnerable to new instances of abuse. This episode discusses the power to heal and the potential for harm when interweaving the worlds of sexual trauma and psychedelics. Welcome special guests, Dee Dee Goldpaugh and Laura Mae Northrup. Intro (0:00 – 1:49) First Guest: Laura Mae Northrup (1:50 – 11:23) The Spiritual Component of Sexual Trauma Edge States Shaking Up the Healing Process Second Guest: Dee Dee Goldpaugh (11:24 – 19:23) Psychedelics’ Potential for Sexual Trauma Survivors The Potential to Step Backwards Laura Mae Northrup 2.0 (19:24 – 24:06) Bringing Stories to Emotions Dee Dee Goldpaugh 2.0 (24:07 – 30:09) Romantic Transference Laura Mae Northrup 3.0 (30:10 – 34:17) Potential Sexual Trauma Treatment Complications Power Imbalance Dee Dee Goldpaugh 3.0 (34:18 – 38:51) Navigating the Choice to Do Psychedelic Therapy Laura Mae Northrup 4.0 (38:52 – 41:08) Building to Becoming an Empowered Sexual Being End (41:09 – 42:27)

The enthusiasm about psychedelic-assisted therapies has a dark side: without intention and caution, the psychedelic community risks repeating the colonial sins of the past. We are in danger of taking the resources we want and value without concern for, and often to the detriment of, the people and ecosystems who have grown and preserved those resources for a millennium. Today’s far-reaching conversation touches on the people and plants that have long held sacred medicine. It is an invitation for all within the curious community to carefully consider how to support sustainability, reciprocity, and regenerative strategies to honor the medicine keepers. Intro (0:00 – 1:55) First Guest: Leia Friedman (1:56 – 5:05) The Meaning of Ayni Second Guest: Joseph Mays (5:06 – 9:15) The Indigenous Reciprocity Initiative Leia Friedman 2.0 (9:16 – 16:30) Her Take on Synthesizing Psychedelics Regenerative Solutions Joseph Mays 2.0 (16:31 – 24:54) The Stories of the Communities How Ayahuasca Is Cultivated Communities Continued A Message to the Capitalists End (24:55 – 26:11)

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in the US. In an uncharacteristically personal episode, MIND CURIOUS host Dr. Sherry Walling talks about losing her brother, Dave, to suicide in 2019. She reflects on the gaps in the mental health system that she believes contributed to his death and she explores the potential for psychedelic-assisted therapies to give hope and create better outcomes for those struggling with addiction, grief, and mental anguish. Sherry covers the importance of integration, safety, and accessibility in mental health care and why she believes psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy pose a solution. Intro (0:00 – 1:44) Dr. Walling’s Background (1:45 – 4:00) Seeds of Her Brother Dave’s Illness (4:01 – 10:18) Failures of the Current Treatment Systems (10:19 – 14:52) What Psychedelics Are Capable Of (14:53 – 19:22) Her Journey (19:23 – 22:38) End (22:39 – 23:34)

Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychoactive compound extracted from the root of the Tabernanthe iboga shrub, native to the Congo and Gabon. The compound offers therapeutic potential for neurological disorders and is claimed to be among the most powerful anti-addiction drugs. However, natural sources of ibogaine are extremely limited and these plants are at risk of extinction due to the growing global demand and environmental pressures threatening their natural habitat. This episode, which features Fawad Kalsi, Dr. Dan Engle, and Hamilton Morris covers all things ibogaine. What is it? How can it be used in healing? And how can this rare, endangered plant be accessed sustainably?  Intro (0:00 – 1:53)  First Guest: Fawad Kalsi (1:54 – 21:12)  How His Addiction Started  Learning About Ibogaine (From Law & Order)  His Journey Through Treatment  Second Guest: Dr. Dan Engle (21:13 – 32:14)  Exciting Times  The Research on Ibogaine  Third Guest: Hamilton Morris (32:15 – 40:34)  Ibogaine’s Potential  Natural vs Synthetic Ibogaine  End (40:35 – 42:27)