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Dr. O draws on decades of experience in intentional communities, psychotherapy training, theater, and psychedelic spaces to consider the distinctions between individual healing, group sessions, and group healing. With Dr. T and Truth Fairy, he examines how shared vulnerability can create meaningful relational bonds, even within temporary communities. They discuss collaboration, ensemble thinking, and the importance of responding to what a group actually needs rather than becoming overly attached to individual status or roles. The conversation also considers how theater, improvisation, ceremony, and other collaborative practices might inform psychedelic spaces by teaching participants and facilitators to remain attentive to one another and to the larger relational field. The discussion moves into the complexities of co-regulation and what is required to hold groups thoughtfully. Truth Fairy and Dr. T explore how groups can unintentionally pressure participants toward optimism, reassurance, or narratives of transformation when someone may instead need space for uncertainty, grief, despair, or an experience that did not feel meaningful or healing. Dr. O connects this tendency to broader cultural difficulties with tolerating uncertainty and collective anxiety. Rather than bypassing difficult emotional realities, they consider how communities can develop the capacity to remain present with experiences that cannot immediately be resolved. Group support, in this context, involves making room for difficult emotional states while helping people navigate uncertainty together. Dr. T, Truth Fairy, and Dr. O ultimately consider psychedelic healing within a larger communal and ritual context. They explore why some people distrust groups through earlier relational experiences, including family, school, attachment wounds, and experiences of being hurt or abandoned by others. At the same time, they examine humanity's continued reliance on communal rituals and collective structures for navigating important experiences and transitions. Dr. O proposes moving beyond the question of how community and ritual can be incorporated into psychedelic work and instead considers how psychedelics might be thoughtfully incorporated into meaningful communal and ritual practices. The conversation offers a framework for thinking about group co-regulation, embodied empathy, relational safety, communal values, and the potential for psychedelic experiences to support shifts in how people relate to community. “True support, true grounding of the nervous system. I don't know that it's possible without community. An individual can't support that. Only community can support you in navigating that kind of unknown, that kind of despair.” - Dr. O   Key Moments: 00:00 | Introduction and Meet Dr. ODr. T and Truth Fairy introduce Dr. O and his background in psychedelic guidance, embodied psychotherapy, intentional communities, performance, and collective transformation. 03:34 | What Does Community Actually Mean?Truth Fairy opens the central question of the episode, and Dr. O defines community in terms of extended family, networks, relationships, and meaningful connection. 05:00 | Temporary Community and Shared VulnerabilityThe conversation explores the temporary communities created through theater, psychotherapy training, and psychedelic spaces, including the powerful bonds that can emerge through shared vulnerability. 10:06 | Collaboration, Ego, and Lessons from the ArtsTruth Fairy considers what psychedelic spaces can learn from theater and film about collaboration, responsibility, teamwork, and responding to what the collective requires. 11:41 | Individual Healing, Group Sessions, and Group HealingTruth Fairy asks about the difference between individual and group healing. Dr. O distinguishes individual healing, group psychedelic sessions, and deeper forms of group healing, eventually using a wedding as an example of community-based co-regulation. 16:50 | When Support Becomes Reassurance and BypassingTruth Fairy examines how groups can rush toward reassurance rather than remain with uncertainty. Dr. T extends the discussion to psychedelic communities where participants can feel pressure to describe difficult experiences as positive or transformational. 20:21 | Despair, Uncertainty, and Collective Co-RegulationDr. O considers what happens when difficult experiences are avoided and connects the discussion to fear, ecological crisis, uncertainty, despair, nervous system regulation, and the need for communal support. 27:30 | Belonging, Group Roles, and the Relational FieldThe conversation moves through migration, belonging, inherited patterns, ensemble thinking, improvisation, and the ways people find their place within a group. 34:07 | Why Some People Do Not Trust GroupsTruth Fairy asks why some people strongly resist group work. Dr. O discusses people who have been hurt or dropped by others, while the conversation examines family and school as formative early group experiences. 36:00 | Community, Ritual, and Shifting ConsciousnessDr. O considers community-based co-regulation, Indigenous ceremony, ritual, and the relationship between communal context and changing consciousness. The discussion develops into communal values and embodied empathy. 38:47 | Rethinking Psychedelic Healing Through Community and RitualDr. T considers alienation, disconnection, and the individualistic direction of contemporary psychedelic-assisted therapy. Dr. O closes with his central proposition that the aim is not simply to bring community and ritual into psychedelics, but to bring psychedelics into communal and ritual contexts.__   Contact Punk Therapy: Patreon: Patreon.com/PunkTherapy Website: PunkTherapy.com Email: [email protected]   Contact Truth Fairy:  Email: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. 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Dr. T welcomes ceremonial transpersonal counselor Michael Gueron, founder of Kintu Worlds, for a conversation about combat trauma, ayahuasca, ceremonial practice, and the responsibilities involved in creating safe medicine spaces. Michael describes how military service profoundly altered his sense of self and how the loss of a fellow soldier affected his unit. After leaving the military, the symptoms of PTSD became increasingly apparent, eventually contributing to a longer search for healing. His introduction to ayahuasca in Australia became an important point in that process and ultimately led to years of personal medicine work and ceremonial facilitation. Michael and Dr. T explore the cultural dimensions of ayahuasca practice and the complexities that arise as traditional medicine moves beyond its original cultural contexts. Michael argues that different cultures bring distinct psychological patterns, histories, and ways of relating into ceremony, requiring facilitators to understand the people they serve rather than simply reproduce another culture’s practices. The conversation also examines Michael’s approach to ceremonial safety, including clear boundaries, protection, presence, self-knowledge, and what he describes as working from the heart. For Michael, the heart is not associated with sentimentality, but with clarity, embodied presence, and an immediate capacity to perceive what is occurring within a ceremonial space. Dr. T and Michael consider what these perspectives might mean as psychedelic therapy increasingly brings clinical psychotherapy into contact with ceremonial and spiritual frameworks. They discuss tensions between medical models and traditional approaches, the importance of ethical standards among underground practitioners, and the possibility of greater collaboration among ceremonial communities. Michael also reflects on mortality, friendship, community, and the relationships that help people endure difficult periods of life. His experiences of combat and trauma inform a perspective in which medicine work is not only concerned with individual transformation, but also with cultivating connection, responsibility, kindness, and meaningful participation in community.  “You know, and this is medicine of friendship. You know, cultivate that friendship, that support. And that's what keeps us strong; and have a listening ear. Listen. We don't have to say so much. Just listen and be kind to each other, and that's it.” — Michael Gueron About Michael Gueron: Michael’s journey began in Israel, where early life experiences, including military service as a member of the Israeli Paratroopers, left deep emotional wounds. Overcoming the trauma of these intense combat experiences led Michael to a profound healing journey spanning over 15 years. From studying transpersonal counseling, Shiatsu, and oriental therapies, to immersing himself in sacred plant medicine traditions in Peru and Brazil, Michael’s path has been one of relentless transformation. His work with Australian acacias and master plants like Ayahuasca and Huachuma has awakened profound soul memories and a deep commitment to service. Today, Michael has facilitated thousands of individuals in their healing journeys, combining ancient wisdom with compassionate care. All Things Ayahuasca podcast Website: KintuWorlds.com Key Moments: [00:00:00] Introduction and Content Warning Truth Fairy and Dr. T open the episode with a content warning and information about supporting Punk Therapy and upcoming training opportunities. [00:02:26] Meet Michael Gueron Dr. T introduces ceremonial transpersonal counselor Michael Gueron and his background in trauma healing, meditation, traditional practices, and plant medicine. [00:05:04] Stepping Out of the Shadows Michael discusses his preference for working quietly behind the scenes and why he believes sharing knowledge publicly is increasingly important. [00:07:16] Combat Trauma and the Path to Ayahuasca Michael describes military service in Israel, his experience of PTSD, and the healing journey that eventually brought him to ayahuasca. [00:10:43] Art, Nature, and Life Before the Military Michael reflects on his early connection to creativity, nature, animals, and the landscape before entering military service. [00:13:59] Military Service as a Rite of Passage Michael explores how military training, combat, loss, and the bonds between soldiers fundamentally changed his sense of self. [00:18:48] Culture and the Western Psyche Michael and Dr. T examine how ayahuasca is moving across cultures and why different cultural and ancestral contexts shape medicine experiences. [00:23:55] Boundaries and Ceremonial Safety The conversation turns to the importance of clarity, boundaries, protection, and strong containment when facilitating medicine ceremonies. [00:28:51] Where Therapy Meets Ceremonial Practice Dr. T and Michael consider what conventional psychotherapy may encounter as psychedelic therapy increasingly intersects with spiritual and ceremonial experiences. [00:33:51] What It Means to Work From the Heart Michael distinguishes embodied presence and clarity from sentimental ideas of the heart and explains their importance in his ceremonial practice. [00:37:17] Perception and Presence in Ceremony Michael describes his auditory and intuitive ways of tracking what is occurring for individuals and within the wider ceremonial space. [00:42:25] Working Across Cultures and Worldviews Michael discusses ancestry, cultural understanding, human connection, and finding common ground when working with people from different backgrounds. [00:46:35] Mortality, Fear, and Meaning Michael reflects on encounters with death and how awareness of mortality can change the way people understand fear, life, and medicine work. [00:48:59] The Future of Ayahuasca and Psychedelic Medicine Dr. T and Michael discuss legalization, medical models, ceremonial traditions, and possible pathways toward greater recognition of ayahuasca practice. [00:58:14] Friendship, Community, and Kindness  Michael closes with a call for connection, listening, friendship, and simple acts of kindness as forms of medicine within communities. __ Contact Punk Therapy: Patreon: Patreon.com/PunkTherapy Website: PunkTherapy.com Email: [email protected]   Contact Truth Fairy:  Email: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this deeply thoughtful discussion, Dr. T, Truth Fairy, and Sean Merrick explore how structural dissociation shapes the way trauma survivors experience psychedelic medicines. Sean explains the distinctions between primary, secondary, and tertiary structural dissociation while emphasizing that developmental trauma often creates subtle yet pervasive forms of disconnection that practitioners can easily miss without specialized training. The conversation challenges assumptions within the psychedelic field, proposing that when someone appears unaffected by medicine, the appropriate response may not be more medicine but greater relational presence, curiosity, and attunement. Throughout the episode, the hosts argue that the maturation of psychedelic therapy depends upon integrating contemporary trauma neuroscience with careful, compassionate clinical practice. The conversation moves into the lived experience of dissociation, examining the subtle bodily cues, shifts in posture, eye movement, confusion, shame, and emotional disconnection that may indicate protective nervous system responses. Truth Fairy and Sean emphasize that practitioners must first become familiar with their own dissociative processes before they can accurately recognize them in others. Together, they discuss developmental trauma, alexithymia, attachment wounds, embodied awareness, and the importance of moving slowly enough for clients to develop self-empathy, emotional regulation, and relational trust before engaging in deeper medicine work. Rather than viewing psychedelic healing as medicine doing the work alone, they describe healing as a fundamentally relational process requiring careful co-regulation and genuine human presence. Dr. T contributes clinical reflections from research settings while Sean offers practical insights drawn from both underground medicine traditions and advanced trauma training. Together, they examine how memories may emerge symbolically, emotionally, or somatically rather than as clear autobiographical narratives, highlighting the importance of avoiding premature interpretation or overwhelming exposure. The episode concludes with a call for greater humility, stronger practitioner education, and an evolution of psychedelic therapy that prioritizes nervous system safety, developmental understanding, and ethical relationship above outcome-driven approaches. Their closing reflection captures the heart of the conversation: healing happens together by entering dissociation together and finding the path back together. "How about we stay in the relational field and see what happens when you don't feel anything, as opposed to throwing more medicine at it?" — Sean Merrick   About Sean Merrick, MA, LMFT: Sean Merrick is a licensed psychotherapist whose work bridges underground plant medicine traditions with advanced clinical trauma treatment. His clinical focus includes developmental trauma, structural dissociation, attachment, neurobiology, and the integration of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Drawing upon extensive training in dissociative disorders and years of medicine facilitation, Sean advocates for relational, trauma-informed approaches that prioritize nervous system regulation, careful assessment, and ethical psychedelic practice. Website: SeanMerrickMFT.com   Resources discussed in this episode: The Haunted Self by Onno van der Hart, Ellert Nijenhuis, and Kathy Steele International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) Allan Schore Understanding and Treating Chronic Shame by Patricia DeYoung __ Contact Punk Therapy: Patreon: Patreon.com/PunkTherapy Website: PunkTherapy.com Email: [email protected]   Contact Truth Fairy:  Email: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Truth Fairy welcomes Luna Jaffe, author, visual artist, and grief companion, for a deeply moving discussion on grief-literate guiding in psychedelic healing. Drawing from the loss of her only child, Hunter, Luna explores why grief cannot be viewed as something to overcome or fix, but rather as an experience that expands our capacity to love, witness, and remain present with profound suffering. Through the lens of her memoir Look, Mom, I Can Fly, she shares how writing, poetry, flower mandalas, and carefully supported psychedelic journeys became pathways for continuing relationship, meaning, and repair rather than attempts to erase pain. Together, Truth Fairy and Luna examine the critical need for grief literacy within psychedelic facilitation. They discuss how many practitioners remain unprepared to support acute grief, shock, developmental trauma, and the complex emotional landscapes that often emerge during medicine-assisted healing. Luna reflects on both supportive and poorly held psychedelic experiences, emphasizing the necessity of preparation, nervous system regulation, relational safety, movement, and deeply attuned guides who can remain present without rushing toward resolution. Their conversation highlights the importance of witnessing rather than fixing, allowing grief to unfold at its own pace while honoring the bereaved's evolving needs. Throughout the episode, Truth Fairy and Luna explore the intersection of trauma, attachment, creativity, and the continuing bonds that can exist after death. They discuss how psychedelic experiences may deepen communication with loved ones who have died, while emphasizing the importance of careful integration, titrated medicine work, and trauma-informed guidance. Luna describes how poetry emerged as a living collaboration with her son and reflects on how healing often occurs through relationship rather than certainty. This episode offers an important exploration of grief-informed psychedelic practice, compassionate facilitation, and the ethical responsibility of guides to create spaces where profound loss can be witnessed with courage, tenderness, and humanity. "Grief is not something you heal. It's something you learn and grow a capacity to hold."  - Luna Jaffe About Luna Jaffe: Luna Jaffe is an award-winning author, writer, visual artist, and grief companion whose work explores love, loss, creativity, and the enduring relationship between the living and those who have died. Following the death of her only child, Hunter, in 2020, Luna devoted herself to understanding grief through writing, art, pilgrimage, and carefully held psychedelic experiences. Her memoir, Look, Mom, I Can Fly: Notes from the Wide Skies of Grieving My Only Child, has received both the Foreword INDIES Gold Award and the Nautilus Book Awards Silver Medal for Memoir. Previously, Luna was the author of the award-winning Wild Money series and founder of Lunaria Financial. Today her work centers on grief literacy, creative expression, and companioning others through profound loss with compassion, honesty, and hope. Website: LunaJaffe.com Book: Look, Mom, I Can Fly: Notes from the Wide Skies of Grieving My Only Child by Luna Jaffe __ Contact Punk Therapy: Patreon: Patreon.com/PunkTherapy Website: PunkTherapy.com Email: [email protected]   Contact Truth Fairy:  Email: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dr. T and Truth Fairy welcome clinical psychologist Dr. Bianca Sebben, whose work bridges complex trauma, dissociative disorders, Indigenous psychology, psychedelic integration, and eco-soul-centric approaches to healing. Drawing from her experience working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as well as her research into traditional medicines and cultural safety, Bianca explores what it means to reconnect with humanity’s deeper relationship to the Earth. Together, they discuss ecological grief, soul, belonging, and the importance of understanding ourselves as part of a larger living system rather than isolated individuals.   The conversation examines the intersection of trauma, dissociation, and psychedelic healing through a developmental and relational lens. Bianca challenges the growing tendency to frame psychedelic medicine as a quick solution for depression, PTSD, or emotional suffering. Instead, she proposes that psychedelics often reveal what has been hidden, initiating a longer process of integration, meaning-making, and transformation. Dr. T, Truth Fairy, and Bianca explore concepts such as soul initiation, descent, grief, structural dissociation, and the risks of seeking transcendence before establishing sufficient grounding, embodiment, and relational safety.  Together, they also question dominant medical narratives around treatment-resistant depression, symptom reduction, and pathology. Bianca offers a perspective that reframes suffering as an adaptive response to relational and environmental conditions rather than simply a disorder to eliminate. The discussion highlights the importance of therapist self-awareness, resistance in the therapeutic relationship, Indigenous understandings of wellness, and the need to honour grief without pathologizing it. This episode offers a thoughtful and deeply philosophical exploration of trauma-informed psychedelic care, ecological belonging, and how healing may emerge through relationship, authenticity, and connection to both self and Earth.  "We've all come from an ancestry of people that have deep, deep connection to the earth, and those of us that are part of the community of colonization, we're just more disconnected from those origins of our earth-connected connected nature, our true nature."  - Dr. Bianca Sebben About Dr. Bianca Sebben: Dr Bianca Sebben is a Clinical Psychologist in private practice with experience working in both public and private sectors, including hospital inpatient settings. Bianca has a special interest in complex trauma, dissociative disorders and working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In her clinical practice, Bianca provides harm reduction and integration support to clients who have worked with non-ordinary states of consciousness in community and trial settings. Bianca completed PhD in Indigenous Psychology in Mexico, where she looked at incorporating traditional medicines into the western medical system to make it more culturally safe and accessible. Bianca provides training to therapists in providing psychedelic integration, with a particular focus on working with adverse events. Bianca has a special interest in 5 MeO DMT harm reduction and is a lecturer for the FIVE- 5 MeO Information and Vital Education platform. Bianca is also co-founder and Director of Indigenous Psychedelic Assisted Therapies, an organisation which advocates for Indigenous wisdom and consultation in the psychedelic field. Website: ConsciousInsights.com.au Instagram: conscious__insights __ Contact Punk Therapy: Patreon: Patreon.com/PunkTherapy Website: PunkTherapy.com Email: [email protected]   Contact Truth Fairy:  Email: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dr. T flies solo in this episode and hosts guest Otto Maier in a discussion on psychedelic therapy through depth psychology and lived experience. Otto describes his early work with ayahuasca and a pivotal, overwhelming initiation with 5 MeO DMT that led to a prolonged spiritual and psychological crisis. Instead of framing the experience as positive or negative, though, he emphasizes the meaning it held for him. It taught him, among other things, the importance of preparation, appropriate dosing, and trauma-informed facilitation. Dr. T and Otto unpack psychedelic healing within a harm reduction framework while challenging simplified narratives often found in the field. The discussion examines the tension between clinical models that prioritize symptom reduction and a soul-oriented approach to healing. Otto draws on Jungian psychology and archetypal theory to describe how psychedelic experiences can unfold as nonlinear processes that disrupt identity and access deeper layers of the psyche. Dr. T and Otto suggest that meaningful transformation may include disorientation and existential questioning, rather than immediate improvement, which points to limitations in current research practices. Together, they also explore the cultural divide between Western models of control and more relational, animistic perspectives. Psychedelic work is framed as an invitation to engage with uncertainty, embodiment, and the unconscious, countering the dominant concepts of cognition and productivity. The episode advocates for an integrated approach of both scientific rigor and soul-based inquiry, emphasizing ethical responsibility and the complexity of medicine-assisted healing. “I think that the soul work is something that gets us in touch with the nature of our being. And I think it includes a bit of mystery.”  - Otto Maier __ Contact Punk Therapy: Patreon: Patreon.com/PunkTherapy Website: PunkTherapy.com Email: [email protected]   Contact Truth Fairy:  Email: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Special episode! Today, a previous episode gets re-released to celebrate a milestone. Dr. T is finishing his PhD, and we're marking the occasion by re-sharing the foundational episode where Dr. T interviews the Truth Fairy. Congratulations to Dr. T! ___ Content Warning: Trauma and abuse memories Dr. T interviews The Truth Fairy as part of his research and together they explore the value of somatic therapy as well as how a therapist must be prepared for the journey when combining somatic with psychedelics. Dr. T presents The Truth Fairy with some questions he has developed as part of his research, questions she’s not heard ahead of time. What results is a conversation on what somatic means and its importance to the therapeutic process. The Truth Fairy explains the differences between right and left brain tendencies and how somatic healing seeks to tap into the more creative and connective abilities of the right brain. Dr. T addresses the idea of the relational in therapy and the concept of “relationship over outcome” which leads to questions about including medicine in the work. The Truth Fairy relates experiential stories on how somatic therapy looks very different when working with psychedelics and lays out things the therapist must prepare for themselves and their client before embarking on that journey.  “The body is an extraordinary, complex organism with so many systems, organ systems, all working in synchrony and collaboration on the best of days and working out of synchrony and out of collaboration on more difficult days. We have history inside us.” The Truth Fairy Resources mentioned in this episode: Somatic therapy explanations and techniques --- Contact Punk Therapy: Patreon: Patreon.com/PunkTherapy Website: PunkTherapy.com Email: [email protected]   Contact Truth Fairy:  Email: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dr. T and Truth Fairy return for a conversation exploring the psychological and cultural dimensions of healing during times of global tension and uncertainty. Opening with a poem by Joy Harjo, they examine the themes of craving, power, and disconnection, drawing parallels between collective conflict and the inner struggles carried within the psyche. Dr. T introduces the idea of a deeper “war of consciousness,” where domineering and extractive patterns of thinking collide with emerging ecological and relational awareness. Through a trauma-informed lens, Truth Fairy and Dr. T consider how large-scale conflict may mirror unresolved trauma within individuals and societies.  The discussion then turns toward inner violence, dissociation, and the unconscious processes that can surface during medicine work. Dr. T and Truth Fairy explore how trauma fragments the psyche and creates dissociated parts that hold powerful emotions like rage, grief, and fear. Instead of encouraging cathartic discharge or attempts to eliminate these feelings, Truth Fairy emphasizes slowing down and developing the capacity to witness difficult internal states with honesty and compassion. This somatic and relational perspective highlights how healing will often emerge not from forcing change but from allowing space for experience to move and integrate naturally. Throughout the episode, Truth and Dr. T emphasize that psychedelic healing is not only an individual pursuit but part of a broader relational and cultural process. They reflect on the long arc of psychological undoing that accompanies deep trauma work and discuss the patience required to process experiences stored within the body and psyche. Sharing stories about forgiveness, accountability, and compassion, they illustrates how medicine work can cultivate greater empathy and boundaries, and nurture relational maturity. Ultimately, Dr. T and Truth Fairy suggest that the deeper purpose of psychedelic exploration may be learning to hold complexity and humanity with greater care. “In a dark medicine journey, people sometimes ask, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ And I think, how could it not be there? All of that darkness lives in us already, epigenetically and ancestrally. The real question is whether we have the heart strength to turn toward it.”  - Truth Fairy __ Contact Punk Therapy: Patreon: Patreon.com/PunkTherapy Website: PunkTherapy.com Email: [email protected]   Contact Truth Fairy:  Email: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of Punk Therapy, Dr. T and Truth Fairy open the year by exploring the concept of body set and its relevance to psychedelic therapy and medicine-assisted healing. Drawing on recent research and clinical observations, they expand the framework of set and setting to include the physiological state of the body as a critical part of how psychedelic medicine is received and processed. The conversation examines biomarkers such as autonomic nervous system tone and overall physiological resilience, while placing these factors within a broader trauma-informed context. The episode emphasizes that psychedelic experiences do not occur in isolation from the body, but interact with existing patterns of stress, survival, and adaptation. Truth Fairy brings a deeply somatic and relational perspective to the discussion, challenging purely biomedical interpretations of body set by highlighting interoception, attachment history, and developmental trauma. She explains how early disruptions in care shape a person’s capacity for self-regulation and self-care, and how these patterns show up in preparation for and during psychedelic work. Through clinical examples, she illustrates how subtle somatic practices, movement, touch, and nervous system-oriented interventions can help clients come out of chronic contraction, freeze, or hypervigilance before a medicine session.  Dr. T and Truth Fairy situate body set within an ethical and relational model of psychedelic therapy that prioritizes co-regulation and humility. They question outcome-driven approaches that seek peak experiences, instead focusing on an orientation toward optimal arousal, embodied presence, and collective nervous system regulation, particularly in group settings. They offer clinicians, facilitators, and researchers a nuanced framework for understanding how trauma, physiology, and relational safety intersect in psychedelic healing. The evolving science of psychedelic medicines necessarily includes trauma-informed psychedelic therapy, somatic healing, nervous system regulation, and ethical facilitation.  “We can’t just prepare the mind, and we can’t just prepare the setting. You actually have to prepare the physiology of the body to receive medicine. Psychedelics affect our physiology. They can throw us into sympathetic arousal, so the question becomes how do we get the body ready to receive something that is already going to amplify what’s there.”  - Truth Fairy __ Contact Punk Therapy: Patreon: Patreon.com/PunkTherapy Website: PunkTherapy.com Email: [email protected]   Contact Truth Fairy:  Email: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of Punk Therapy, hosts Dr. T and the Truth Fairy dive into a timely discussion on psychedelic therapy, recovered memories, and trauma healing, sparked by recent media coverage of an MDMA-assisted therapy memoir. They are joined by Dr. B and Miss T, two experienced guests working in trauma treatment and underground psychedelic facilitation. Together, they examine the neuroscience of memory, the difference between explicit memory and body-held trauma, and explore why attempting to “retrieve” memories, especially in an altered state, can be misleading and potentially harmful.  A main topic Truth and Dr. T focus on with their guests is ethics in psychedelic and underground therapy, particularly when working in altered states where clients are highly vulnerable. Dr. B and Miss T discuss the risks of actively searching for memories during psychedelic sessions, increased suggestibility, and the importance of trauma-informed, somatic, and nervous-system-aware approaches. They highlight how ethical practice goes beyond rigid rules, instead requiring embodied empathy, clear boundaries, practitioner self-work, and ongoing reflection. This is especially important when navigating power dynamics, touch, attachment, and integration in long-form medicine work. The discussion addresses the broader cultural and social implications of trauma narratives, including public belief versus skepticism and truth-telling in a society that often minimizes or dismisses abuse. While acknowledging scientific uncertainty around recovered memories, Truth Fairy and Dr. T advocate for compassionate listening and ethical restraint, alongside responsible storytelling. Higher standards of care and practitioner training are required, and a more nuanced public understanding of psychedelic healing and trauma recovery is essential as the field continues to evolve. “We can leave the memory in an ambiguous zone and still do the work of healing. We don’t need to legitimize it with certainty.”  - Dr. B __   Contact Punk Therapy: Patreon: Patreon.com/PunkTherapy Website: PunkTherapy.com Email: [email protected]   Contact Truth Fairy:  Email: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This month we’re celebrating a huge milestone — 50 episodes of Punk Therapy! To mark the moment, we’re bringing back one of our most loved conversations from 2023: our interview with the extraordinary Dr. Sharon Stanley. Sharon’s work has been a significant influence on both of us over the years. Her somatic, relational, deeply human approach to healing has shaped so much of how we think about therapy — and continues to infuse the way we show up with our clients, our students, and our community. Revisiting this episode felt like the perfect way to honour where we’ve come from and where we’re heading. And in some beautiful timing… this episode coincides with the release of a completed PhD from one of your hosts — a project exploring the meeting place of interpersonal neurobiology, somatics, and psychedelic-assisted therapy. It’s work that has been simmering behind the scenes for years, and it’s finally ready to be shared. If you’re curious to read it or want to dive deeper into the ideas that quietly underpin many of our conversations, you’re warmly invited to reach out: Email us at: [email protected]’ll happily send you a copy. It feels special to celebrate 50 episodes by revisiting a conversation that has meant so much to us — and to pair it with the release of work that’s been part of this podcast’s DNA from the beginning. Thank you for being with us on this journey. Here’s to many more episodes, many more conversations, and many more ways of exploring what it means to heal — together.  — CW: Physical assault, trauma, and suicide Dr. T and the Truth Fairy welcome Dr. Sharon Stanley - renowned psychotherapist, author, and developer of the psychotherapeutic model of somatic transformation - to the show. They have a searching and revealing conversation with Dr. Stanley about her career and the decades of work she has done with humans and trauma.  Sharon Stanley describes her work as “relational to the core” and explains how her somatic work uses relationship to at times discern a particular technique. She shares the personal story of how she first became interested in trauma and how her study moved into the idea of somatic transformation from there. Dr. Stanley also names many foundational figures whom she has drawn insight from along the way. The discussion Dr. T and the Truth Fairy have with Sharon Stanley involve how Sharon keeps boundaries in the relationship formed through trauma bonding, what the intersubjective field is, and the six steps of somatic transformation. Sharon describes what ‘meaning making’ encompasses and she invites Dr. T and Truth Fairy into a brief thematic reflection. This episode sheds light on how much Truth Fairy has learned from Dr. Stanley and why she has been mentioned so frequently on PUNK Therapy. It gives insight into her intentions and careful trauma healing methods. “When we do have an experience of going through something together, we can have an experience called trauma bonding. And the trauma bonding is a kind of an enmeshment where I feel what you feel, you feel what I feel. And we don't have clear boundaries. And that kind of leads me a little bit further into your question that working professionally with trauma, it's relational, but the boundaries are very clear. And how to make sure [in] those boundaries that there's a time, there's a place, there's a way we will, it's almost like a ritual that we will follow.” -  Dr. Sharon Stanley About Sharon Stanley, PhD: Over the past 17 years Sharon Stanley has developed and taught an emerging curriculum for healing trauma to thousands of  mental health practitioners. The educational experience of ST actively engages psychotherapists in exploring emerging research and practices in their own professional and personal lives. Sharon then applies their findings to the ongoing development of Somatic Transformation. As an instructor for Somatic Transformation, Sharon has had the privilege of teaching psychotherapists from Canada, United States, Middle East and Europe. Her doctoral studies at the University of Victoria involved research into the development of empathy in caregivers working with traumatized children and identifies the transformative effects of ST as an amplification of empathic connection. Sharon has been engaged in a small study group with Dr. Allan Schore, a well-known neuroscientist, for 18 years. She lives and practices psychotherapy on Bainbridge Island, just outside of Seattle.  Her book, Relational and Body-Centered Practices for Healing Trauma: Lifting the Burdens of the Past was published by Routledge in 2016 and is used by psychotherapists interested in a humanistic, developmental, body-centered, relational approach to healing trauma. Resources discussed in this episode: “Relational and Body-Centered Practices for Healing Trauma” by Sharon Stanley, PhDJudith HermanEdith SteinJohn O’DonohueMatryoshka dollsMax van ManenSuicide Hotlines and Prevention Resources Around the World--- Punk Therapy: website |email Dr. Sharon Stanley: somatic transformation website | email Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of Punk Therapy, Dr. T and the Truth Fairy welcome psychotherapist and trauma specialist Sean to the show to discuss the work he does in bridging clinical neuroscience and psychedelic-assisted therapy. They explore what’s missing from the current psychedelic resurgence, focusing on dissociation, structural dissociation, and the neurobiology of trauma.    Sean shares how his background in both underground plant medicine and clinical psychotherapy revealed the need for somatic, trauma-informed practices throughout psychedelic medicine spaces. Dr. T, Truth, and Sean unpack how attachment wounds, developmental trauma, and embodied empathy can influence the healing process. They examine how relational connection is the key to sustainable transformation.   From understanding the right brain and left brain hemispheres and function to exploring the default mode network, the amygdala, and the hippocampus, the conversation offers a fascinating deep dive into how the brain, body, and consciousness all interact within healing. The dangers of high-dose psychedelic work without proper preparation, the importance of tracking the nervous system of clients, and investigating how integration and relational repair form the heart of psychedelic therapy are vital parts of the discussions held by Dr. T, Truth Fairy, and guest Sean. “The wound was formed in relationship, and it must be repaired in relationship.” - Sean __ Contact Punk Therapy: Patreon: Patreon.com/PunkTherapy Website: PunkTherapy.com Email: [email protected]   Contact Truth Fairy:  Email: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of Punk Therapy, Dr. T and the Truth Fairy continue their deep dive into dissociation, trauma, and psychedelic healing. They expand the conversation started in the last episode with a deep dive into how trauma is stored in the body through sensory motor responses, and the complex relationship between psychedelics and dissociation. Through personal examples and powerful client stories, they describe the ability of psychedelics to help survivors of childhood abuse and sexual trauma reach clarity and healing.    One aspect of trauma being stored as a sensory motor response that Dr. T and Truth Fairy warn about is the possibility of retraumatizing clients by pushing them too quickly. Psychedelics can bring buried trauma and memories to the surface, but these revelations may appear as symbolic or literal experiences, and careful therapeutic understanding is essential. They explore the need for relational safety and trauma-informed approaches.   They also review risks outlined in a recent academic paper on Psychedelic Iatrogenic Structural Dissociation, including emotional dysregulation and flashbacks, as well as identity fragmentation and depersonalization, among others. While healing can be reached through medicine work, it requires years of preparation. Dr. T and Truth Fairy stress how important it is to approach the work with empathy and gentleness, focusing on somatic processing and integration rather than pushing for outcome-driven trauma confrontation.  “So I wanted to say that this sensory motor storage, this trauma stored in the emotional part, it is sensory motor. So it shows up as body reactions, as sensations, as reflexes, as emotional flashes. Emotional intensity and high affect. Very little or no words or clear story. These disorganized narratives. And so if you have a survivor of childhood abuse, they may not be able to talk about what happened, but their body will show you through how they move, how they defend, or how they shut down.” - Truth Fairy __ Resources discussed in this episode: “Psychedelic iatrogenic structural dissociation: an exploratory hypothesis on dissociative risks in psychedelic use” by Steven Elfrink and Leigh Bergin, ‘Frontiers in Psychology’, 3 March 2025“A House in the Sky: A Memoir” by Amanda Lindhout and Sara CorbettSteven Elfrink and OmTerra__ Contact Punk Therapy: Patreon: Patreon.com/PunkTherapyWebsite: PunkTherapy.comEmail: [email protected]  Contact Truth Fairy:  Email: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dr. T and Truth Fairy are reunited for this episode and introduce a new episode structure to listeners. Each episode will examine, in three parts, the research and clinical research angle of a topic, then practical clinical perspectives, and, finally, a potential guest to weigh in on the topic. In this, part one, Dr. T and Truth explore the relationships between trauma, dissociation, and psychedelic therapy. They dig into how dissociation shows up on a spectrum - from everyday experiences like daydreaming to severe structural dissociation rooted in early trauma and survival responses.   In the trauma model of dissociation, Dr. T and Truth Fairy discuss how the mind and body protect us each against overwhelming pain by sequestering traumatic memories. Truth names several books by people who have survived extremely traumatic situations to illustrate this. They also explore the role of the dorsal vagal complex in shutdown and numbing states, and how attachment wounds contribute to dissociation. Understanding these is key to safe and effective psychedelic therapy.  Together, drawing on clinical research and personal insight, they highlight the protective and harmful aspects of dissociation, how it overlaps with conditions like PTSD, DID, and depression, and they examine how trauma can be carried in the mind and body. Part of their discussion involves how psychedelic medicines can offer healing by bringing suppressed experiences to the surface, alongside care and trauma-informed awareness and guidance.  “And so, yeah, the idea is that in the process of dissociation as a response to trauma, it's protecting in the moment. But those memories and those experiences are still - if dissociation is happening in the moment of a traumatic experience, it might be protective - but then it might be sequestering and pushing some material into a different place within the psyche. And if that remains unresolved, you know, then it can wreak havoc and produce a lot of follow-on distress.” - Dr. T __ Resources discussed in this episode: “Psychedelic iatrogenic structural dissociation: an exploratory hypothesis on dissociative risks in psychedelic use” by Steven Elfrink and Leigh Bergin, ‘Frontiers in Psychology’, 3 March 2025“The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State” by Nadia Murad“Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor E. Frankl__ Contact Punk Therapy: Patreon: Patreon.com/PunkTherapy Website: PunkTherapy.com Email: [email protected]   Contact Truth Fairy:  Email: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dr. T hosts this episode solo and welcomes, as his guest, Joe Strummer, partner of Truth Fairy. Joe Strummer was instrumental in helping set up Punk Therapy and had his own therapeutic psychedelic experience a decade ago alongside Truth Fairy and Dr. Gabor Maté. Joe shares how that experience has stayed with him, how he works with Truth in supporting her workshops, and how the psychedelic healing and therapy both factor into his own work in corporate leadership coaching. Joe’s background with the arts and team facilitation fuse into his embodied leadership approach, which he shares with Dr. T.   Many key themes weave through the conversation between Joe and Dr. T. as they discuss Joe’s own history and work. Leadership development is something Joe is very involved in. He stresses the importance of integrating left-brain strategic thinking with right-brain relational and somatic skills to assist leaders in self-awareness and being fully present. Joe also works in the overlap between leadership coaching and psychedelic therapy, drawing on his training in somatic relationship trauma-informed practices and personal experiences with ayahuasca, MDMA, and psilocybin, to help his clients.  Dr. T and Joe talk in detail about Joe’s personal journey with imposter syndrome and outsider syndrome. Joe was able to trace the roots of those struggles back to childhood experiences, and through psychedelic-assisted therapy, he was able to reframe old narratives. He and Dr. T explore how Joe is now able to pause, ground, and adapt in high-pressure facilitation moments. Joe advocates for leaders to recognize and integrate the parts of themselves they’ve felt pressured to cover or suppress to foster greater authenticity and inclusion, as well as human connection, in the workplace. “... maybe another good metaphor is the work that the Truth Fairy leads through somatic relational informed practices for psychedelic medicine. And, you know, that somatic relational is really important. Somatic meaning of the body, being present in the body in that moment. So being aware physically of what's going on with your body and where you are and how you're sitting, but also just being in that moment rather than in your head.” - Joe Strummer __ Resources discussed in this episode: Gabor MatéJoe Strummer at PsychedelicLeadership.ca or [email protected]__ Contact Punk Therapy: Patreon: Patreon.com/PunkTherapy Website: PunkTherapy.com Email: [email protected]   Contact Truth Fairy:  Email: [email protected]