In this episode, I talk with Beth, a 57-year-old woman from Portland, Oregon, with 3 kids, who, up until her mushroom trip at Epic Healing in Eugene, Oregon, had never done a single illegal drug. Not one, which seems to be more common than I’d once thought for people seeking out psychedelic-assisted therapy. There is something to it that draws in a person like Beth, someone seeking to feel better and be a better version of themselves. Something they haven’t been able to achieve with conventional therapeutic methods. Beth goes through some profound changes because of her time spent at Epic, including career changes, interpersonal relationship changes, and life outlook changes. There is a dragon involved, a golden idol, and a mystical web that runs through all of us, connecting us, despite our differences, together.

In this episode I talk with Noah, who was diagnosed with OCD when he was 10 years old and can not remember a time after that when his mind was at rest. During his psychedelic journey at Fractal, EPIC Healing’s Portland location, Noah experiences ego death and rebirth into a self with more confidence and the ability to quiet his thoughts. Noah calls his psychedelic journey one of the best experiences of his life where he learns that he can’t control everything that happens, that he will still fail and make mistakes, and when he does, he no longer needs to obsess about his actions. Noah believes that psychedelic mushrooms deserve a prominent place in the treatment of OCD. Although they may not offer a complete cure for the disorder, they offer opportunity for healing and a path forward towards a quieter mind for a mental illness that has limited treatment options that are often scarce and inaccessible.

In this episode, I have a conversation with Caroline, who has struggled with self-acceptance and anxiety for as long as she can remember and has used technology and alcohol as a form of escape. When she was younger, Caroline underwent breast augmentation surgery, which she later reversed, but the procedure left her with both physical and emotional scarring. During her psychedelic journey at EPIC Healing in Eugene, Oregon, Caroline is visited by generations of women who embrace her for who she is and give her the gift of forgiveness for the trauma and pain of her past. Caroline is also decapitated by a Hindu goddess, merges with a Chinese Dragon, and is given visions of the universe by court jesters. Ultimately, through all of this, Caroline experiences the deep understanding that she no longer needs the distraction of her phone and alcohol as an escape from anxiety and that the only thing that matters in life is the time she spends fully engaged in the present moment with family and friends.