Billy’s Psilocybin Journey — The Science, The Shaman, The Self - Episode Artwork
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Billy’s Psilocybin Journey — The Science, The Shaman, The Self

In this episode of 'Billy’s Psilocybin Journey,' host Billy Bush shares his transformative experience with psilocybin, exploring the depths of his mind and emotions. Guided by experts, he ...

Billy’s Psilocybin Journey — The Science, The Shaman, The Self
Billy’s Psilocybin Journey — The Science, The Shaman, The Self
Technology • 0:00 / 0:00

Interactive Transcript

spk_0 Listeners unite tune in brings together your music news sports and more whether you're music obsessed
spk_0 Love to stay in the know with top news
spk_0 What to stay in the game with up to the minute sports coverage you can understand how the Atlanta Braves
spk_0 Feel about it. There are people who feel that this is taking it's all right here on tune in just sit back and listen
spk_0 It was almost five hours and I looked up I lift up my mask and you were sitting there and I said um
spk_0 I think you may have saved my life and you went oh well that's nice. That's nice to hear
spk_0 That is the man who guided me on my first ever
spk_0 Silasibon journey it was the most profound thing I've ever done in my life
spk_0 I felt like a one-legged duck swimming in circles and I got the clarity that I needed it inspired this show to
spk_0 Day don't miss a word. This is hot mics with Billy Bush presented by our friends at LA golf
spk_0 Hi, thank you for being with me
spk_0 We are rolling on tune in and YouTube and I can't wait to
spk_0 Deliver this show today to you
spk_0 It is all about the Silasibon journey which I did and they say the journey is the one you need
spk_0 Not the one you want so I went on a Silasibon journey
spk_0 I have taken mushrooms before in college and giggled and laughed and felt fuzzy but you know
spk_0 I was afraid if all the skeletons in my closet came tumbling out
spk_0 I'd probably land in a permanent state of like
spk_0 Psychotic paralysis or something so you know I didn't want a short circuit all the things that could go wrong
spk_0 Maybe you know including your basic panic attack wood so I never went far but
spk_0 Then I met a guy on a plane
spk_0 Now we'll get to him in a second, but let me read from my journal a week before I embarked on this journey
spk_0 Here's what I wrote
spk_0 What I'm after is clarity resolution peace within me
spk_0 I've gotten so accustomed to listening to the advice and wisdom of others
spk_0 I've lost my own direction. I've become emotionally and psychologically
spk_0 dysregulated and sadly have hurt people in my life by my actions and in actions alike
spk_0 I feel like the clock on saving the quality and productivity of my life
spk_0 career and relationships has sort of run out of ticks
spk_0 It's time to stop running away and drop into the shoot of my mind and work out all the trauma
spk_0 I've so much to work out my mission is clear
spk_0 Find forgiveness for myself and others and connect deeply and faithfully with my purpose
spk_0 My meaning in life
spk_0 With the best of intentions. I think I was a good father
spk_0 But not the best parent I told my kids things I told them I didn't teach them
spk_0 A hundred percent of good parenting is showing a child why something is wrong helping them understand it
spk_0 That means extra time getting on their level. It's a it's a thousand times harder
spk_0 Pete what my dad told me right to my kids. I carry
spk_0 My two free loading dead weight companions guilt and shame around with me wherever I go
spk_0 For almost 10 years now probably longer
spk_0 My relationships with my children aren't deep enough to me
spk_0 They're good
spk_0 But not deep enough
spk_0 And I will say I've turned to alcohol to numb for a long time
spk_0 Um, and guess what it doesn't work
spk_0 Uh, I've wallowed in a push-pull dynamic with everyone who loves me divorce and
spk_0 Falling you know in love with another person
spk_0 Uh
spk_0 Unhinged me from the only anchors I knew and now I don't know where to be honestly since the since the greatest source of suffering is indecision
spk_0 I'm afraid that happiness so far kind of eludes me, but you know happiness. What is happiness?
spk_0 I guess I should say meaning
spk_0 The violence of uh of cancellation and public shaming you know hurt me deeply um being
spk_0 Ripped away uh my livelihood being torn away through me into
spk_0 Fight or flight. I did all I could do to calm or numb that frenzy, but I never
spk_0 Healed
spk_0 I added new traumas on top of lifelong unresolved the trauma the old stories of my past replay in my head
spk_0 Can you relate to that?
spk_0 And our thoughts are our destiny
spk_0 The idea to embark on a journey through my heart, mind and soul began over Labor Day weekend in
spk_0 Cordillane Idaho I ran into a guy I'd played pickleball with several times named Adam
spk_0 I learned that he was flying back to Los Angeles on the Sunday of Labor Day
spk_0 I was desperate to avoid having to take a 7 10 a.m. flight out of Spokane, Washington
spk_0 The next morning so I mentioned you know, hey can I go with you
spk_0 And I did so in the car
spk_0 Uh to the airport um, I told him a lot of guys were enjoying the mushroom gummies on the golf course
spk_0 Some of the little kick of MDMA
spk_0 And he lit up he said look, I don't drink. I don't smoke and I've never taken drugs
spk_0 But psilocybin is a hundred percent good for you
spk_0 Physically biologically emotionally and psychologically
spk_0 So this man this very successful investor had done the research. He said it's pure fact anyone who truly knows
spk_0 Who studied the effects agrees a hundred percent the only naysayers are critics
spk_0 Or critics are are those who have not studied the science or have an opposing agenda
spk_0 This kind of silo of a man came alive in seconds
spk_0 And I will say he's the most electrifying intense engaging speaker I've ever encountered the assurance of Tony Robbins
spk_0 But he's not selling anything. He just wants to see more people set free
spk_0 So I committed right then and there to going on a journey
spk_0 and
spk_0 A real one five to six hours into my past
spk_0 To clear away scar tissue address the depression and forge a new totally fulfilling path ahead
spk_0 So Adam connected me to
spk_0 Louisa and and doctor Elon
spk_0 And the couple who will serve as my guides and he told me you know
spk_0 Louisa came to this work at a sheer necessity when she was 40
spk_0 She lost her three children and husband and an accident
spk_0 devastation
spk_0 She healed
spk_0 And if she can then
spk_0 We all can
spk_0 The patterns I learned and have lived with have led me to a to a dead end
spk_0 I only know how to cope and numb the pain. I'm and I'm ready to fix that
spk_0 I want the rest of my days to be the best of my days for me and all those who were entwined in this life with me at 53
spk_0 I'm on a journey to discover myself sees control of my life and my purpose
spk_0 Less than a week after parting company with psilocybin's greatest advocate
spk_0 I spoke with Louisa and Elon for what would be an onboarding call
spk_0 He he was amazing. He came to his marriage late. He'd been called to care
spk_0 For Louisa in her grief as the best friend of her husband many years later
spk_0 He got lost but ultimately found his way back to her with a spiritual forceful energy that welled up in him during a journey
spk_0 Dr. Elon will
spk_0 Will join us momentarily and hearing it from him will warm your heart
spk_0 So I'm stuck right unable to move forward in in love and relationship because the past is kind of holding me hostage
spk_0 I got to take the hero's journey
spk_0 Now Elon is an is an older Israeli man who has medical training as a chiropractor
spk_0 But his true life's you know work lies in the magical healing of psilocybin. He swears by it
spk_0 It works
spk_0 With his permission. I recorded some of our onboarding call
spk_0 And as he shared the process I shared my concerns
spk_0 The releasing of self-control and the panic the fear that may come with that simply the fear of letting go
spk_0 Of submission all the intelligence in the world doesn't compare to what wisdom has to offer
spk_0 And that's what this plant medicine does and brings you to a state of wisdom
spk_0 It brings you into state of what we call Christ consciousness where compassion kindness forgiveness benevolence
spk_0 You know the feeling of love like when you fall in love for the first time that you wake up to it every day
spk_0 Every day is a new way of expressing yourself every day is a new way of creating
spk_0 It's an opportunity for life to be unfolding and for you to watch the unfolding as opposed to you know
spk_0 having to do something to make something happen
spk_0 And that's the beauty of this work in a nutshell. It's really you know, it's we call it the School of Mystery
spk_0 All right now a full six days after that initial conversation about the journey
spk_0 And on a morning where the hangover from several cocktails the night before had me annoyed by everything that was going on with the
spk_0 significant person in my life arguing over petty details
spk_0 engaging in the push if you will of the push pull I knew I should go see them sooner rather than later
spk_0 So I texted
spk_0 Dr. Elon and I said just thinking would next Thursday on 9 11 work
spk_0 He responded right away as if as if he was waiting for me. Yes, we can
spk_0 Let's start around 12 30
spk_0 Couple nights before departure on the plane
spk_0 I watched the psilocybin episode of how to change your mind by Michael pollen on Netflix
spk_0 It was about the healing power of mushrooms
spk_0 The effects that neuroplasticity the paving of new neural pathways in the brain
spk_0 The effect that it can have on your happiness. I watched cancer patients overcome the fear of death
spk_0 Through a deeper spiritual realization they saw themselves as just a small part of something bigger
spk_0 And interconnectedness that brought comfort
spk_0 I watched a young father break down in tears of joy and relief at overcoming his crippling
spk_0 OCD full stop
spk_0 He saw his life in the kaleidoscope and realized he had choices
spk_0 over his impulses and he healed
spk_0 These stories prefaced by the origin of the magic mushroom
spk_0 Believe that these things are here growing out of the ground for a reason
spk_0 It lessened my anxiety over volunteering for a journey that would require submission
spk_0 and a loss of control
spk_0 Then I watched Dr. Joe dispends a discuss the science of changing your mind
spk_0 Our thoughts control our brains. They feed it information which uses it to fire off synapses
spk_0 I you know think positive things and it fires off positive energy back to the brain
spk_0 Good and bad the mind and the brain are locked in a feedback loop. What you feed the system is your destiny
spk_0 So I flew to the east coast for something I knew I could do right here in Los Angeles
spk_0 But for this I wanted you know seasoned professionals
spk_0 Guiding me with with maximum support and comfort because you look I'm anxious
spk_0 Perhaps nervous about what I might encounter
spk_0 I also knew having traveled so far, you know, I wouldn't let fear overcome me and and hit eject
spk_0 So I arrived to this spectacular home a sanctuary
spk_0 Everything was in balance
spk_0 There was coziness on the stove in the kitchen
spk_0 Louisa in her dark shades and leggings and a black blazer greeted me at the door
spk_0 Shit, I'm crying right now. I wrote in my journal loaded with empathy and love for this woman as I look back on her
spk_0 And her amazing husband who are healing people deeply
spk_0 We all need it
spk_0 It's not a party or a dopey trip like in college. This is how you dive deep into your conscious mind and clear hurdles and break through the walls our traumas have erected
spk_0 As I write I'm bawling my eyes out in silence at 6.30 a.m. aboard my first flight home from the journey to Atlanta
spk_0 I'm thinking about the people
spk_0 Who my encounter to long the journey through through my mind and memories
spk_0 Here's what happened
spk_0 Louisa and I spoke for an hour about my life she fished for my reason for being there my intention. I offered her
spk_0 Everything I could she listened carefully and and met it with her own admissions of trauma in her life
spk_0 I and quickly felt you know very much at ease
spk_0 assured that I was in the right place and for the right reason
spk_0 She shared with me a chart showing the stages of our lives
spk_0 The traumas we encourage children even you know the simplest ones take deep route between the ages of you know zero and seven
spk_0 You know you got the christmas present you wanted um your brother didn't think of the the trauma that the brother at four years old says
spk_0 Well, why am I not good enough seems small and simple and silly but they're real
spk_0 And they they add up
spk_0 So I took two capsules of plant medicine sassafras and something else and um
spk_0 Louisa said I had 40 minutes before the effects would begin to take hold so we walked outside and visited her garden
spk_0 Beautiful. I was nervous though, you know my heart was sort of palpitating a little bit in the garden is and
spk_0 You know for what was to come
spk_0 She handed me off to her husband Elon
spk_0 Who guided me to his gazebo out back above the pool it was peaceful
spk_0 I started to feel some heartburn though for which Elon who's you know had had training in this area had the perfect remedy
spk_0 He rubbed my so as he massaged my adrenal glands and amazingly it all abated
spk_0 So laying down would be okay
spk_0 The first but by far not the most profound bit of healing was right there
spk_0 In a in a chiropractic set
spk_0 Once back inside the sanctuary he gave me two more capsules and said
spk_0 It's time to lie down
spk_0 Nothing profound occurred for about 15 minutes and um I lay there and
spk_0 And it's just as I was about to say you know what I might need more
spk_0 Like people have said with edibles before oh no, you don't need more a warm heat came over my body and just
spk_0 whoosh I dropped
spk_0 Into the journey
spk_0 It began the music like this Amazonian
spk_0 Raim forest blend um led the way
spk_0 The journey followed the music
spk_0 Or the music led the journey and I began to encounter the ones I love and who love me
spk_0 I immediately encountered a very special person a kindred spirit from my past sort of maybe the yang to my ying
spk_0 perhaps
spk_0 But a bit to my dismay
spk_0 It was brief that encounter I thought it was I was like well this must be insignificant because
spk_0 The journey was taking me elsewhere
spk_0 I saddened me a bit I wanted to go back
spk_0 Uh, surely the journey had made a mistake
spk_0 You know this couldn't be well
spk_0 Let's just say the journey knows what it's doing and I had other people to encounter first
spk_0 It was all part of this grand miraculous magical plan
spk_0 So I went to my ex-wife first um
spk_0 And and and then my eldest daughter I saw them
spk_0 Really happy
spk_0 mom and a warm vibrant home
spk_0 music
spk_0 You know great food great people the center of the universe
spk_0 Uh in this in this beautiful town
spk_0 um
spk_0 It was it was amazing
spk_0 My daughter who's you know, it's gone through some some things in her life some traumas
spk_0 As many have um I see
spk_0 I saw clearly in a in a cute sweater her hair full and beautiful seated with friends and children running about the yard
spk_0 My little warrior was gonna try them for her over the over the demons uh and in life and and live
spk_0 The life she dreams of and tears just poured down my cheeks right underneath the eye mask
spk_0 It was it was such a joyous relief
spk_0 And then my brother
spk_0 You know, I saw him first as a little boy so earnest and desperate to please our parents, but uh
spk_0 But kind of feeling a little ignored and unseen
spk_0 And I sort of remembered that you know, because I think I was a little more uh
spk_0 Boystress and they had to pay more attention to me
spk_0 And then I it dissolved and I saw the man he is today resilient compassionate
spk_0 Still earnest, but you know deeply loving
spk_0 Warm tears again rolling down my cheeks and then my other two daughters the middle child because you know nothing troubled her in a pronounced way
spk_0 We kind of when she was young concluded our attention like what happened with my brother, you know more urgently needed with the other
spk_0 two and
spk_0 You know, I sort of felt this feeling of love and compassion and empathy
spk_0 She needs me to acknowledge that to validate and address with her the many anxieties and worries that she has about the world and and and how to build a life that's fulfilling and
spk_0 You know and frankly pays for itself right kids these days don't have what
spk_0 You know they it's gonna be harder to to do better than your parents for this generation
spk_0 But it was clear to me, you know to be more present
spk_0 Uh with her and then my little one, you know, I've been accused of favoring her when she was little you know, cuddling her more than the others
spk_0 and um
spk_0 You know when when our marriage dissolved my my actions that you know
spk_0 precipitated my part in it
spk_0 I heard her deeply
spk_0 I saw like you know this but I saw this deep love for me
spk_0 So her her disappointment in me was stemming from that intense love that she had for me and so it just
spk_0 I saw her craving my attention, you know a bit territorial over me
spk_0 It was beautiful. I resolved to never feel like, you know
spk_0 She wasn't the apple of my eye her life and career, you know, I saw this
spk_0 I saw this flash because she's so smart that her life would be vibrant and and but that she will need my presence
spk_0 and and then a big one
spk_0 Hello dad
spk_0 My father died four years ago and everything about his death was beautiful
spk_0 I was there with him
spk_0 Alone in his bedroom when when he took his last breath
spk_0 I love my father intensely and admired him maybe to a fault
spk_0 A man who saw life, you know, in actually a very sort of black and white way assuing
spk_0 You know nuance to the
spk_0 To the commandments, you know
spk_0 in the bible and and and any exceptions to the rules, you know
spk_0 He just had to have that prism of right and wrong and black and white and it had a tremendous hold on me
spk_0 He did and my divorce was a source subject between dad and me
spk_0 He was against it. He was disappointed in my inability to see the marital covenant through
spk_0 He was he was a stick it out no matter what guy
spk_0 and and this has been a great source of my indecision and sort of
spk_0 Pain, you know over the last nine years like
spk_0 Had a hard time moving forward with anyone else a terrible spin cycle of indecision and unhealthy sort of anxious avoidant
spk_0 Pushpull behavior
spk_0 Began with others as I tried desperately to keep all options close to me in case, you know
spk_0 Things all of a sudden became clear. I couldn't pick a direction
spk_0 something did become clear
spk_0 As I encountered my amazing father I saw him though in his entirety right and honest morally structured man, but
spk_0 limited
spk_0 You know, he grew up the son of an austere father and a saintly mother
spk_0 He was one of five children he made no major mistakes in life because he never allowed himself to experiment and fail too far
spk_0 He was a he was a song and dance man a performer who got cold feet and ran off to business school when he convinced himself
spk_0 He couldn't make it no doubt. He he peered curiously through the window
spk_0 Of that box, but the tight walls around him rendered him you know long on on rules and advice, but short on experience
spk_0 I felt a compassion for the little boy that dad was you know who only did what he was taught was right
spk_0 And then he passed it down without nuance to his to his sons
spk_0 No blame, you know, that's that happens
spk_0 Almost in most cases, I guess
spk_0 I realized that I could love my dad fully, but
spk_0 Make my own rules
spk_0 Set my own code of values and just frankly be my own man
spk_0 It was fabulous resolution. It was emotional
spk_0 And then I saw my mom I saw their relationship
spk_0 I saw my mom for the stalwart amazing woman that raised us and I cried deeply for her
spk_0 And then the first person I encountered in the journey came back that brief little
spk_0 interaction that ended so quickly
spk_0 Well now it was time and a warm feeling came over me
spk_0 There she was in a in a in a white house with a wrap around porch and
spk_0 the tone and energy in the house kind of matched
spk_0 Her relentless positive energy and there were kids all over the place older kids
spk_0 having fun
spk_0 I don't know if that image and that vision is literal
spk_0 But that energy
spk_0 You know that that full house of love and fun are definitely in my future
spk_0 I see it I feel it and I'm will welcome it when it arrives and work towards it
spk_0 So that journey told me to send a text and I did
spk_0 Um, I'll leave the meaning of the text
spk_0 uh to me um
spk_0 And there is when I stopped
spk_0 writing
spk_0 On this flight back to Los Angeles a little over three weeks ago
spk_0 But on that flight I felt uh totally at peace
spk_0 Resolved to do the work between this journey and the next which is reading books
spk_0 That speak about life's meaning and always going forward and never looking back
spk_0 I began with Victor Frankl's man search for meaning the next book is feeling is the secret by Neville Goddard
spk_0 The work is to keep exercising these new neural pathways
spk_0 In my mind
spk_0 I'm pretty sure when the pieces are in place
spk_0 Dad will look down and he will get it
spk_0 He will admire my decisions and know that they were right
spk_0 He may be rigid but he ain't cold
spk_0 So
spk_0 Coming up a
spk_0 Functional medical doctor the man I spoke of he's he's the guide the facilitator
spk_0 He walked me through my journey
spk_0 I've great love for this man and the healing that he is doing in people's lives and then
spk_0 The neurosurgeon will come in the data the science
spk_0 These are all important what the state of of where this
spk_0 This healing medicine is in our country stay with me on this journey
spk_0 Who but first a word about Ali our family dog who's so great they named a company after him
spk_0 Kind of area is that's when we first got him
spk_0 Yeah, just eating that grass. I know you're gonna fart like crazy if you keep doing it cut it out Ali
spk_0 Dogs deserve our best. They are part of our family aren't they
spk_0 Well the bushes have Ali and there's Ali is a little puppy
spk_0 But he's a big dude now he loves to swim he likes the hot tub
spk_0 He likes to sit on people like it like he's a sheep who you're not a sheep who you're a hundred pound golden retriever
spk_0 Obviously, we want the best for our dogs
spk_0 We've started using Ali
spk_0 Ali the dog food it is incredible they understand that that special relationship that we have with our dogs and not just you know
spk_0 For the name there's Ali getting his Ali
spk_0 They offer fresh protein packed meals made with real human grade ingredients and Ali's got five recipes all slow cooked for top nutrition
spk_0 I'm pretty sure my dog eats better than me. Ali can be picky. He eats you know
spk_0 He gobbles like crazy when it's right and Ali has tailor made meal plans. I love that
spk_0 So even the pickiest eaters are happy the meals are perfectly portioned super easy all comes with a scoop for easy serving and a storage
spk_0 pup tanner
spk_0 Their app is easy the Ali app offers on demand health screenings where you can you know tap real experts
spk_0 So look your dog's well-being starts with the food and that's why Ali delivers fresh human grade food that your dog will love
spk_0 So head to Ali dot com slash hot mics
spk_0 Whoo all lowercase by the way
spk_0 Tell them all about your dog and use the code hot mics to get 60% off when you're welcome kit
spk_0 Arrives all right you can subscribe today plus they offer a happiness guarantee on the first box
spk_0 So if you're not completely satisfied you get your money back
spk_0 There you go that's Ali dot com
spk_0 O L L I E dot com slash hot mics and enter the code hot mics to get 60% off your first box
spk_0 Well, I am so pleased to welcome the man who helped me through this journey
spk_0 A functional medical doctor whose own personal experience in his life led him to his own healing
spk_0 He knew at that point. I have got to pass this gift on to other people and through
spk_0 A new friend of mine and someone Elon is known for a long time our paths connected and he got to pass it on
spk_0 To me, it's it's amazing to see you again, sir, and I ask you just as bluntly as I can what
spk_0 happened to me
spk_0 Well
spk_0 Well
spk_0 You had an experience that kind of brings you into a particular state
spk_0 Which we call the higher state. It's the state that we were born into
spk_0 It's the state that was there prior to the development of our ego
spk_0 personality
spk_0 That led us to believe in the world is a particular way
spk_0 That we now had to keep proving that the world is that way
spk_0 What you had as an experience was to now show you that whatever it is that you made decisions about in your life
spk_0 May not have been an accurate description of what it was that actually happened
spk_0 But that what you did was come found the two domains of
spk_0 That what happened and the story that I associated with what happened and what happens is that the story started to dissolve
spk_0 These particular stories that we made up as true to whatever the experience was we find out that maybe it doesn't have the merit that I thought it would
spk_0 You know, I I've seen a therapist, you know since I was 14 years old on and off and for the past
spk_0 Nine years or so. I find myself ever since a career trauma
spk_0 And a little bit of childhood trauma. We talked about
spk_0 Some trauma in the marriage some you know all the traumas throughout my life
spk_0 I always find that with the therapist I kind of go in every week and have the same conversation
spk_0 I pay four hundred dollars. I come back the next week. We have the same conversation and nothing really happens
spk_0 And so I when I explain it to people
spk_0 I say well the answers are within are in me
spk_0 They're in me and I'm having a hard time
spk_0 Accessing them like there's this wall of scar tissue from experiences that I just can't get over and the plant medicine
spk_0 um, and we had four capsules, you know, it that it just got me over that wall and into this
spk_0 State of mind where everything that's in me all the answers that are in me and the connections that are in me just kind of
spk_0 Port out and I could I could I did have access to them um and I just want to you like it
spk_0 How how does that how do we open up like that because of these plants and why in the world isn't everyone
spk_0 Opening up like that
spk_0 Well those that have the experience do open up that way
spk_0 I haven't seen a person yet who has done this that
spk_0 Didn't ultimately come in with some sort of trauma like you had experiences. I mean
spk_0 It's hard to go through life and not have had
spk_0 Some sort of either micro trauma or big trauma
spk_0 um, and then once these plants which are considered to be hard openers like mistletoe and uh, uh, you know
spk_0 chocolate cacao cacao simmer ceremonies also open up the hardness is why in Valentine's Day
spk_0 We have uh chocolate to offer in the face of you know love
spk_0 Uh, mistletoe kissing under the mistletoe also that myth is that mistletoe also has these components within them
spk_0 That allow the heart to feel something that has been
spk_0 Constricted within us
spk_0 Uh, you know, it's hard to be vulnerable in the world that tells you to toughen up and uh, you know, this is a way that we're brought up
spk_0 In a culture
spk_0 The doesn't allow for us to feel anymore and you see a lot of people taking antitip
spk_0 presence anti anxieties
spk_0 And feel even less than they did before they took this medicine although it gives them a feeling of calm
spk_0 And uh in that calmness uh, they think everything's okay, but it's a false sense of calmness
spk_0 Uh, these hard openers allow you to feel again
spk_0 They allow the heart brain which has as much serotonin and dope amine and uh
spk_0 other actually
spk_0 So many different feel good chemicals in the body that are released at this juncture and um
spk_0 This is where the plants do their magic. They've been around for thousands of years
spk_0 Uh, and they have this capability of revealing truth that lives within cider beach and every one of us
spk_0 You say you told me it's gonna when you come here
spk_0 You'll get the journey you need not the one you want. It's the most powerful thing I ever heard and I told you afterwards
spk_0 I got both
spk_0 The journey I wanted also I mean maybe and everyone doesn't get that but the one I wanted ended up being the one I needed
spk_0 So at least I was very in tune with myself as to as to what I needed resolution on and I you know um
spk_0 Two two figures in my life one you know a trauma from when I was eight years old the sexual trauma and then a
spk_0 And then a character in my professional life who who
spk_0 You know put me through a terrible thing and I thought oh boy
spk_0 This is gonna be terrible when I and I ended up having compassion for both transgressors for both people
spk_0 I ended up feeling this like
spk_0 Oh, I saw in a different light a sadness almost for them and
spk_0 That I did not expect but I certainly welcome I welcome a softer hearted every turn
spk_0 Yeah, you were introduced to what's called Christ consciousness
spk_0 And that Christ consciousness has the characteristics of forgiveness
spk_0 kindness generosity gratitude love
spk_0 Uh, these things are the expressions of the heart and once you learn how to express yourself
spk_0 From the heart you realize that people are just people they're not doing things to you
spk_0 Like you become a victim of them as one of my mentors one said you know that
spk_0 With every breakdown there is a following breakthrough and
spk_0 This is what happens to so many of us that you know
spk_0 You lose a job that you've been wanting to leave for years and uh finally you lost it and universe helped you out
spk_0 And the next thing is the door of sudden the whole universe opened up for you
spk_0 So these are the importance of having breakdowns and these particular traumas they lead us into being the best person
spk_0 The best burst variation of ourselves
spk_0 So uh, you know, we often frown upon and we dwell upon all these things these mishaps in our lives
spk_0 These incidences that leave us feeling wounded only to find out that they were great teachers
spk_0 Yeah, I'm reconnecting with him
spk_0 Who helped me through this psilocybin journey
spk_0 um
spk_0 Which uh was the most profound thing I've I've ever experienced in my life um
spk_0 And
spk_0 You know
spk_0 You told me something after like two weeks later you said uh, I said what do I do now? We we had a bunch of books to read about the human
spk_0 I mean in the middle of victor frankles man's search for meaning
spk_0 Um, I'm enjoying that. I mean here's a person who could see
spk_0 Because you sold to me keep two feet in the future Billy stop telling yourself the same old stories let the old stories go
spk_0 Keep two feet in the future not one in the future one in the past
spk_0 and and go forward towards the new
spk_0 future
spk_0 you
spk_0 And I thought wow victor frankle could do this at Auschwitz
spk_0 You know, and I certainly you know his trauma with deeper than mine. I can
spk_0 I can do this in my life is that is that really the key
spk_0 For everyone once they release to keep to keep only going forward
spk_0 Listen, you know the past is dead. You can't do anything about the past
spk_0 What you can do is keep reliving the past and be condemned to the past and the stories of the past
spk_0 Or put your attention to
spk_0 where it is that you could possibly now
spk_0 Go to a model that you can create
spk_0 Within your own imagination of who you could be who you're born to become and all those incidences in your life
spk_0 You can't discuss them because they're tainted with false
spk_0 images false perceptions things that uh we make up about the what the what happened
spk_0 So keeping two feet the future stops you from being contaminated by the stories of your past
spk_0 How did you come a how did psilocybin and and and plant medicine um
spk_0 Effect your life. What happened in your life that you
spk_0 Stopped on a dime and decided to help other people with this
spk_0 Well, you know there's a lot of uh things that I can share with you about what
spk_0 happened
spk_0 Starting from early life of being born to holocaust survivors
spk_0 certainly was a trauma
spk_0 uh, you know because it was early on in the 50s that
spk_0 You know I started to recognize
spk_0 Certain elements of my parents energy which I took on and a lot of them were in sorrow sadness loss and I just didn't know it
spk_0 That you know all this uh for side of being a happy person that deep inside of me. There was some profound sadness
spk_0 Uh having transitioned from one country to another was another kind of a micro trauma
spk_0 Where it didn't speak the language and had to learn how to acclimate to a new way of being
spk_0 In the world that was different than where I came from
spk_0 uh, and then you know being made fun of and
spk_0 Not feeling a part of society the way you know some kids just come in and can feel grounded in relationships
spk_0 I didn't feel that way
spk_0 uh then growing up uh, I think some of the traumas that really made the a bit difference in my life
spk_0 uh was when my best friend and uh
spk_0 His three children
spk_0 Uh got killed in a car accident
spk_0 And I was very close to them and to the wife and six months after the accident we were married
spk_0 Uh, within two and a half years we had four children two of them twins
spk_0 Uh, but marrying her uh, we both shared a common trauma didn't realize that what it was called was PTSD
spk_0 It took its toll on our relationship and somewhere about 20 years in
spk_0 I think both of us had enough of uh of not being able to resolve
spk_0 Even though we've had a lot of background studies and Buddhism and Kabbalah and Bible existentialism
spk_0 With great masters, but none of it was able to pierce the veil of the pain and the suffering that was there
spk_0 One day I got an invitation from one of my patients who happens to be a philanthropist
spk_0 He travels around the world
spk_0 Inviting me to come meet a shaman and I had no idea what that meant meeting this person
spk_0 But I found myself
spk_0 involved in a ceremony a sacred ceremony
spk_0 uh
spk_0 With unknown people
spk_0 And really having such a profound experience
spk_0 That I really saw so much of whatever
spk_0 All the traumas that I've been exposed to
spk_0 I needed to number one heal them, but I understood the
spk_0 biblical ramifications of the pain and the suffering that humanity is now going through
spk_0 Not only now, but in the past and this is the time for healing to occur in the world
spk_0 And these plants are the allies to that healing
spk_0 And being a doctor who's always been a seeker for the cause of
spk_0 You know what it is that that is a major factor of all of our illnesses
spk_0 I came to the notion that what was really going on is that we've all become very
spk_0 despirated
spk_0 Uh, and I remember back in the eighties where they were discussing about the
spk_0 uh mind body connection
spk_0 And it never dawned on me at that time
spk_0 That what was really clear for me later on was that I always saw the triangle of the mind body spirit
spk_0 And that what happened was that spirit was hijacked so the mind collapsed over the body
spk_0 And once the spirit is restored
spk_0 Uh, then and part of the journey work is so retrieval
spk_0 They say that parts of our soul fragments and just the retrieval of that
spk_0 Allows us the full expression of what it means to being human
spk_0 So without spirit, you know, and to see so many people they're dismayed
spk_0 They're unhappy. They're not fulfilled. They're feeling empty
spk_0 They're feeling the void in their lives and like you said waking up to the same way of being every day
spk_0 That keeps creating the same outcomes every day
spk_0 This really does intrude into that and has people awake and to seeing that there's some other place within me
spk_0 Where I can access that being and become that person that I was born to become you say
spk_0 Plant medicine healed your your marriage had healed your relationships had healed what was inside of you
spk_0 um and and
spk_0 Did that happen from the very first experience?
spk_0 Like what I felt was a real change and a real I saw the future
spk_0 I saw things that I couldn't get out of my own way
spk_0 They say the worst form of human suffering is indecision
spk_0 I have been in a state of indecision on relationship
spk_0 uh career in so many ways I just like a little
spk_0 Like a one-legged duck swimming in circles, you know what I mean? I just it just and then I saw
spk_0 Love I saw what's out there. I saw the person I want to be I had reconciliation with my father who
spk_0 You know was kind of heavy on me about the divorce and you know who just lived in a very dead and I and I felt such compassion and love for him
spk_0 Because of his morals and his integrity
spk_0 But I also saw that it was a bit limited in that you know, you can go forward and you can
spk_0 You know experience love. Why why waste the rest of your life
spk_0 Saying I should have done this. I should have done that. Oh darn and it holds you back. It's just
spk_0 trapped in hell, but you you did you go forward from the first experience?
spk_0 I feel like the first was profound, but I also don't feel like the work is done
spk_0 The first journey definitely showed me promise
spk_0 And yes, the promise that first of all if I can see my wife differently
spk_0 that
spk_0 It was very interesting because the message that I had received when I asked well what about my marriage and the answer came
spk_0 I gave you your wife now. What do you want to do with a gift from me?
spk_0 And I said oh wow, well that certainly puts a
spk_0 A twist to this and I realized how much I really had to value her and not look for her to be okay
spk_0 You know the for me to be okay
spk_0 I saw that I needed to be okay
spk_0 And then she'll be able to be okay from there. I think the journey it's the definitely for some people probably says let her you know
spk_0 To a certain relationship you might feel this deep sense of
spk_0 I love this person, but
spk_0 They'll do better without me you can lead to release somebody
spk_0 and also
spk_0 And or heal with somebody in your case, you know the latter which
spk_0 There are exceptions always you know that there's always going to be somebody who resists the work
spk_0 You know, it's not like the plant medicine is going to do the work for you. It just reveals things for you
spk_0 It's it's up to you know you in order to be able to then
spk_0 Take the experience of the journey because the real work is between the journeys and that work means that you have to be able to observe your tendencies
spk_0 You have to be able to see where you are creating whatever it is that's showing up and if you don't like what you're seeing
spk_0 Create something different you have that capacity to create life as you want
spk_0 It's called the manifestation now most of us manifest life as a problem
spk_0 Then when you see that life is not a problem things aren't happening to you, but they're happening for you
spk_0 Then you have access to some shift in your own consciousness take responsibility
spk_0 For all that's in your life that you have something to do with it all yeah
spk_0 That's it all these all these people you see on Instagram these like manifest it people
spk_0 You know, they're not wrong. We are definitely our thoughts right if we repeat the same thoughts
spk_0 We were but we are the one like a ducks swimming in circles
spk_0 But what the journey did for me what plant medicine did for me was let me see
spk_0 my amazing capacity for love and for
spk_0 this future of
spk_0 forgiveness and love and compassion and
spk_0 You know once you see it and you feel it so deeply. I remember hot tears just pouring down underneath this mask
spk_0 And do you remember I got up I said I was thinking it was about an hour long and I was was almost five hours
spk_0 And I looked up I lived up my mask and you were sitting there and I said um
spk_0 I think you may have saved my life and you went oh
spk_0 Well, that's nice
spk_0 That's nice to hear and I said how long was that you said I said about an hour
spk_0 He said ma'am almost five. I said oh my god
spk_0 Because I remember saying I don't want to come out of here. I saw the potential
spk_0 for love and and and compassion and connectivity with people in my life
spk_0 And it was the most positive I've felt in
spk_0 10 years what you say is
spk_0 Absolutely right. It's the work in between you can go back and do another journey
spk_0 But in between it's training these these neural pathways
spk_0 You're opening pathways that are new new ways of thinking and feeling
spk_0 And now you got to exercise them just like a muscle in the body right?
spk_0 A little bit
spk_0 Absolutely
spk_0 Listen, you know
spk_0 Billy you're one of those uh who really the amount of pain that you've endured in your life to the degree that you've had that much pain
spk_0 Typically what we see people like that when they come out of this they have the most profound outcomes
spk_0 They really never want to go back to that pain again
spk_0 And you took on to this like a duct water speaking of ducks going circles. You're not going in circles anymore. No, they're new
spk_0 Yeah, you're you're you're you're one of the amazing
spk_0 Journiers
spk_0 Truly because in that one session if you were able to see that your life was saved and who saved that was you
spk_0 Yeah
spk_0 And not only did you save your life, but you'll wind up saving a lot of lives around you
spk_0 as a result of that and
spk_0 You know
spk_0 They call this the heroes journey because what you do is you get to see that you're no longer the victim of your life
spk_0 But you're actually the hero of this journey and for the rest of your life that's the
spk_0 Grow you're gonna be taking on in terms of how you feel and see yourself
spk_0 my friend and
spk_0 A man who's helped me in this journey to heal and to become
spk_0 Everything you are meant to be
spk_0 I appreciate it so much
spk_0 I want to end with this question because it's leading me to where I'm going next and that is
spk_0 Is the reason why this is not accessible to people? Is it because big pharma can't make money off of it because
spk_0 I think economics is a big part of it. I think fear is also an element here where people afraid of
spk_0 something that is
spk_0 Contracultural and
spk_0 Counterintuitive which this medicine really is while you should be having this stain for some of the people
spk_0 That wronged you all of a sudden
spk_0 You know, you're having compassion. You're having a
spk_0 Recognizable, you know feeling of maybe
spk_0 They're not so bad or maybe that this was meant to be you have forgiveness in your heart
spk_0 This is not typical of the way that people are in the world
spk_0 How you come out of this is that you broken through the cultural
spk_0 Already always way of being in the world where I should resent and I should be bitter and I should be
spk_0 retaliatory and I should be angry and I should discard this relationship
spk_0 You know, you have great value from this stuff, but why it's not you know
spk_0 Known and accepted by so many people, you know
spk_0 A lot of it has to do with the history of the plan medicine and how people were fearing it and not knowing what
spk_0 What would happen to them what they freak out? Well, they lose it. Well, they have to you know go nuts
spk_0 People don't know that this is the most gentle form of healing that's ever been produced on this planet
spk_0 And I you know as I often say it's like sitting on the Dalai Lama's lap and being food
spk_0 Uh spoon-fed love
spk_0 It is the most beautiful, you know, and I've seen young children come out of this so healed out of one session
spk_0 That you really you want to cry because you you you you see the gift that these planets
spk_0 And how they can produce such a powerful healing which you know for me was my big question life was that I always had to find the cause of all this
spk_0 Uh, damage that's been done to people and uh and to 45 years of my practice
spk_0 I never came across anything like this Billy. We will continue our conversations, but I thank you
spk_0 For spending some time with me here. You are the greatest. Thank you. Thank you, Billy, and I love you. I love you too
spk_0 Thank you
spk_0 Well, what a guy what a guy and you know, I mean I I have to say I think I
spk_0 think
spk_0 This has to be in my view
spk_0 Accessible, I think you're if you're listening right now you're curious
spk_0 For sure and I can tell you the you know the profound effect
spk_0 It's had on me, but uh, but we go forward. I mean, I don't have every answer right now
spk_0 But I do have an experience that I could never get
spk_0 Um from any therapist and I did touch upon
spk_0 I touched upon the big pharma. They can't make money off something that grows in the ground and the people you know who are
spk_0 Or running it they have their own traumas in there. I mean think about all the focus we have in our lives right now on AI
spk_0 Everything's AI. Well, I have a question for you
spk_0 How's your AI
spk_0 How's your emotional intelligence? What's happening inside there? I
spk_0 That's where
spk_0 The healing is that's where that's where the joy is right doing you feel like is more technology? We have in our lives the less happy we are
spk_0 That happiness is in there. I can promise you. It's just like you you got to get to it and um
spk_0 You know look not to not to crap on therapists. I'm sure there's some great ones out there
spk_0 Who have helped people do that for sure? So if you've got the right one that's great
spk_0 This happened to just work for me and that's all I'm going to say now on the medical front
spk_0 Coming up. We're going to talk to Dr. Dan Kelly who ran a very important psychedelic program psilocybin program
spk_0 Here in Los Angeles at one of the major hospitals. He's going to come in studio here and have a conversation about
spk_0 What what is the progress? What is the prognosis for this in people's lives?
spk_0 Can this happen? Can it get through the government? Can it get through the FDA? Can it become something
spk_0 that heals the world
spk_0 and more importantly you
spk_0 So Dr. Dan Kelly is is on his way
spk_0 hot mics with Billy Bush is sponsored by our friends at LA golf believe me my golf game got better with it too
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spk_0 Okay back into it
spk_0 anxiety depression cancer-related stress post-traumatic stress
spk_0 It's everywhere people are suffering and and look you you can treat it
spk_0 But research shows you can heal it with psychedelics LSD MDMA iawaska
spk_0 psilocybin which of course is my focus today because I took
spk_0 The journey and dr. Dan Kelly runs the psychedelic science institute in Los Angeles
spk_0 He's a leader in the field. He's not just a believer. He's a knower
spk_0 Uh and dr. Dan we welcome you. Thank you so much for being here
spk_0 Watch your youtube's I've watched it so much. I feel like I really know you
spk_0 um
spk_0 We're getting medical here. Well what does psilocybin do?
spk_0 Great question. Well
spk_0 psilocybin is a serotonin agonist serotonin is one of the neurotransmitters
spk_0 in the brain
spk_0 and it um activates those serotonin channels and um
spk_0 It's still quite controversial exactly how these
spk_0 psychedelics work LSD is in the same class what's considered a classic psychedelic
spk_0 But basically they work to damp down some of the rheumatative cycles that we all encounter in our
spk_0 We all ruminate we all ruminate over the past and things that have happened to us in
spk_0 traumas are sort of ego driven
spk_0 state of being which is essential for survival but it can become
spk_0 Very dysfunctional over time and it seems that uh psychedelics particularly psilocybin and LSD when done in the proper setting with
spk_0 Proper support and integration can break some of those cycles and can help people sort of break through to new
spk_0 understandings um and new
spk_0 perceptions about
spk_0 How they're functioning and what they're what they're doing wrong and what they can do what they can do right
spk_0 You know, this is this is exactly what happened to me and and i was watching one of your youtube's you talked about the you know this ego dissolution
spk_0 Event that happens, you know disrupts the default mode network where
spk_0 We all worry about the future we fret over the past
spk_0 Rumination, you know occurs we stay in this same you know like i like one like it ducks swimming in circles just over and over again
spk_0 Silocybin shuts that network down
spk_0 Um, allows people to to get out of that rut and it's this concept of neuro plasticity right?
spk_0 I mean you you you get over this wall
spk_0 I liken it to the scar tissue that just kind of we all gather
spk_0 From our experiences in life and it's just hard to get over the wall psilocybin seems to break
spk_0 through that to where you can
spk_0 and
spk_0 imagine and and feel and open your mind and open your heart
spk_0 Let an empathy let an love new meaning new perspective
spk_0 And and it's that neuro plasticity where these are neural pathways that are new
spk_0 Right that we we have not let the brain evolve what psilocybin does is actually
spk_0 Let the brain grow
spk_0 Yes
spk_0 Very well said and they're all of the psychedelics are neuroplacidants and they actually change the structure and the function
spk_0 Of the brain and so it happens transiently while you know people have their experience say a four or five six hour psilocybin journey
spk_0 It damps down that default mode network and it allows all these different parts of the brain that don't normally communicate to
spk_0 communicate and through that these these new perspectives and these epiphanies
spk_0 Can occur and it can allow people to deal with and cope with their problems whether it's a drinking issue
spk_0 It's terminal cancer. It's depression. It's anxiety
spk_0 Um, and that's that's how we think they work and um, it's a it's a fascinating area that we still don't know a lot about
spk_0 We don't know the the functionality per se but we're learning quite a bit through you don't know what what why why it does this
spk_0 I mean that's the mystery right we say magic mushrooms there
spk_0 But it but they grow out of the ground. So you know, maybe we're not maybe you and all of your incredibly smart
spk_0 colleagues
spk_0 Are never gonna know we might not know and you know consciousness is a is a mystery unto itself
spk_0 And um as to why we're conscious and how we became conscious beings
spk_0 That's a huge mystery and why these psychedelic compounds that are occur naturally in the in on the planet
spk_0 Why they impact our brain so fundamentally for these short bursts of time
spk_0 That is a huge
spk_0 Open question um and part of the fun of of being a neuroscientist in a mental health researcher
spk_0 Why this field is is so interesting right now and to get government cooperation do you have to know
spk_0 I mean these are data driven people right? So do you have to be able to explain to them? You know, why this because
spk_0 You know in my mind I just think this could help so many millions and millions of people right
spk_0 I don't think the FDA cares so much about the mechanism per se how do they actually work at a molecular level
spk_0 They want some of that they want to know that they're safe and that they're effective
spk_0 Um and that appropriate precautions are taking are taken when they're given to individuals
spk_0 I think that's really what the FDA is focused on as they should be so the communities focused on this as a medical
spk_0 You know tool that people can use
spk_0 regularly or because you know taken into their own devices
spk_0 We were talking you can have a bad trip if you decide oh, I'm just gonna get a hold of psilocybin because it's legal now
spk_0 And I'm just gonna take a whole bunch of them and I'm gonna you may not be ready for what's coming for what's gonna be unearthed in your mind
spk_0 Exactly and so these are extremely powerful drugs
spk_0 And they need to be taken seriously because people can have a really bad experience they're gonna have a damaging experience if they're not properly prepared
spk_0 And if they're they don't have proper what we call integration afterwards sort of the psychotherapy that goes on after the journey
spk_0 In which you try to integrate
spk_0 What you saw what you experienced and integrate that into your life going forward into the relationships you have
spk_0 So it's a it's it's really a process of preparation
spk_0 Being in the proper setting the set in setting with the individuals that are doing that are that are guiding you or facilitating
spk_0 And then the sort of follow through so it's a it's a whole sort of container of
spk_0 Care that goes beyond just say giving an anti-depressant take take your prosak every day
spk_0 It's a completely fundamental shift in an approach to mental health and and I think it's it's challenging for the FDA because
spk_0 They're used to looking just at drugs per se they approve a drug for like hypertension or diabetes or lipids or for cancer
spk_0 But the reason for the success of psychedelics is this psychedelic assisted therapy because it's not done
spk_0 By itself that's that's the key thing and I think the FDA is
spk_0 Working through that of how they're gonna do that and and it's
spk_0 Important for them to consider this because they did reject MDMA a year a little over a year ago
spk_0 For PTSD, but there's new phase three trials that are coming through for both
spk_0 psilocybin and LSD for depression and anxiety and hopefully those will be approved by the FDA, but we'll we'll see
spk_0 Yeah, I did have a of your listener of mine, you know
spk_0 Reach out to me on a direct message and say, you know, I make sure you that people understand that these have to be
spk_0 done in a setting that is you know intelligent is is well thought out because
spk_0 She shared that she you know left her husband and she did all these things that she did right away after a psilocybin journey
spk_0 And she says that you know, she's made terrible mistakes and um, so that's real. I mean you that is real and and so
spk_0 people need to be counseled both forehand um
spk_0 And also not to make any rash decisions immediately afterwards because it takes time for these things to sort of percolate and resonate in your mind to to really
spk_0 See where you know, what new direction you might want to go
spk_0 You know in the clinical trials that we're doing at psychedelic science institute we um, these are you know all
spk_0 Have a lot of rigor from the sponsors the companies that produce the drugs and from the FDA and DEA and it's very rigorous and very
spk_0 You know science driven and the and the evidence has to be
spk_0 produced in that way for
spk_0 The FDA to really look at the data and really determine whether a drug can be approved now
spk_0 psychedelics were available in
spk_0 Legal right in the 1940s and 1950s way back and 60s and then in 1970 the controlled substance act right I think that was Nixon
spk_0 um, and so they shut everything
spk_0 Down and it was down for almost 30 years. Yes, so
spk_0 You know obviously is did the Timothy Leries of the world and the and the hippies of the 60s ruined the progress
spk_0 Could we have been much further along without these you know great seekers and I think
spk_0 people like Timothy Liri
spk_0 Richard Alpert who's became Ramdas
spk_0 Ralph Mezner they were part of the Harvard psilocybin project in 1960 to 1963 and
spk_0 They initially had very good intentions. I think Timothy Liri went off the reservation so to speak and and thought it would be something that all of society should just have and I think that's
spk_0 That's where it really became a problem and the government had a problem with the counter culture and they saw it getting into the troops
spk_0 You know the the armed forces in Vietnam were doing not only psychedelics, but they were doing all sorts of other drugs
spk_0 Um, and it just became unmanageable and that's what they did they shut it all down
spk_0 um, so it's unfortunate that that happened Timothy Liri did actually do some good though he he was you know
spk_0 He started a lot of things that have now continued
spk_0 um, and was a big
spk_0 Focus big on set in setting this idea of your your mindset and how you do it in the setting that you're in
spk_0 So some of that came from from him, but yeah, we lost um, you know
spk_0 30 years 20 20 years at least because the the first psychedelic research that began again in the 90s was with
spk_0 DMT and then MDMA and then psilocybin in the early 90s and it it's taken a long time to get to where we are now
spk_0 So we lost a couple decades for sure
spk_0 We're talking to dr. Dan Kelly who runs the psychedelic science institute and we're talking about the medical
spk_0 side of of psilocybin and psychedelics you know to treat
spk_0 depression anxiety
spk_0 PTSD
spk_0 well look you the
spk_0 Psych psychiatrist will prescribe SSRIs, you know the lexapros and the and the prozacs
spk_0 so
spk_0 Big pharma
spk_0 Has lots of money to make on SSRIs not to get all conspiracy theorist here, but is that part of the holdup part of the
spk_0 resistance
spk_0 Is that farm pharma can't make money off of things that grow into in the ground
spk_0 I don't think we know that big pharma is trying to
spk_0 repress this or hold it back
spk_0 um, I think that the
spk_0 The drug companies that are making
spk_0 um, the psychedelics like
spk_0 Minemed a tie psilocybin usona
spk_0 They're very small companies and they're working through the process
spk_0 Um, but it's a hugely different model the the trials that we're doing now for example
spk_0 For major depression the patient will take that it's a placebo controlled trial
spk_0 So they make it the real thing or they make they make they make it the placebo
spk_0 But after the first about 12 weeks
spk_0 Then they have four more opportunities over the course of a year to take
spk_0 Of a real journey with psilocybin
spk_0 Because the FDA is interested in the durability of how long does the drug last and in which which particular patient
spk_0 So you go from taking an antidepressant every day to maybe having a journey once twice three times a year
spk_0 um to manage your your depression
spk_0 And that's a very different
spk_0 Business model obviously for the companies producing those those drugs so
spk_0 I don't know where it's going to go, but hopefully
spk_0 The science will lead to the best possible care for individuals suffering from anxiety depression addiction
spk_0 PTSD because that's that's really what it should be and I think the problem with ssri's
spk_0 And drugs like that is it's basically suppressing your brain
spk_0 It's basically tamping your brain down. It's dulling you down. It's a comp the
spk_0 The silent it's treating it's not healing exactly and symptoms not root
spk_0 And it's really I think psychedelic is this the therapy the ideas to use your whole brain
spk_0 You have this amazing brain use it all let the connections work, you know
spk_0 Keep the plasticity going that's not what the antidepressants do or the anxiolytics those drugs
spk_0 And so it's a again, it's a fundamental shift in the way we would look at mental health
spk_0 The other thing that's so interesting me being a neuroscientist is looking at it for neuroscience conditions like traumatic brain injury
spk_0 Parkinson's disease
spk_0 Chronic pain
spk_0 Stroke those are all areas that are
spk_0 potential targets of the neuroplasticinic effects psychedelics
spk_0 So that's a whole other field that we can be exploring in the coming decades
spk_0 What I also found fascinating
spk_0 doctor is the
spk_0 The fact that's psilocybin MDMA because you said there's serotonin agonists or whatever they're not addictive
spk_0 you can't overdose
spk_0 At all on psilocybin or you but you can go you can take away too much and have a bad trip or something
spk_0 But you can overdose like nothing can happen to you so you can overdose on psilocybin
spk_0 LSD you can certainly have a bad trip you can do something really crazy like if you're not in a proper container
spk_0 You can think you can fly and jump off a building and those sorts of things have happened
spk_0 But not in these clinical trials that that is not happening
spk_0 um
spk_0 There's some controversy over whether MDMA has some slight addictive potential because it's an amphetamine
spk_0 some degree
spk_0 ketamine which is a you know off-label psychedelic
spk_0 um
spk_0 is addictive
spk_0 it is addictive um
spk_0 And so there is some precautions there but the classic psychedelics have no addictive potential at all
spk_0 Why would the ketamine which
spk_0 Can be addictive? We know Matthew Perry, you know here in Hollywood of you know famous friends actor
spk_0 You know got addicted to ketamine everything else but to ketamine
spk_0 And he started taking street ketamine and getting it on his own and it ultimately made him you know
spk_0 collapse in his hot tub and he
spk_0 And he died why would ketamine be legal and
spk_0 um
spk_0 And and something that's and it's addictive and something non addictive like psilocybin is still considered a schedule one
spk_0 drug
spk_0 In America like yes heroin and and they treat it the same way, but it's non-addictive
spk_0 Yeah go figure that's amazing well, and you know ketamine has been around a long time
spk_0 It's a dissociative anesthetic
spk_0 It's used a lot in hospitals and emergency rooms and it's a very effective anesthetic, but it's sub anesthetic doses
spk_0 It produces a psychedelic experience
spk_0 But it has an addictive angle to it as well
spk_0 I think of people with sexual trauma, you know assault rape
spk_0 um
spk_0 You know what's what's dissociative might be helpful in that regard where you can
spk_0 You know pull away from the experience in order to gain perspective, but
spk_0 um
spk_0 What would be for someone of who's been through that of which there are far too many
spk_0 Um, what would be the do you think the right path?
spk_0 Well, the certainly the the
spk_0 Medicine the psychedelic that has the most of a track record for PTSD any sort of trauma is MDMA
spk_0 And MDMA has been around for a long time as well and as we talked it went through
spk_0 Two very positive phase three trials, but was rejected by the FDA in the summer of
spk_0 2024
spk_0 The really interesting thing about MDMA it's a it's much more of a sort of messy psychedelic in that not only is it a serotonin agonist
spk_0 But it also stimulates release of dopamine and oxytocin that's why they call it ecstasy
spk_0 Which might not be helpful in the fact that we're trying to get this medically to to
spk_0 People when you hear ecstasy. It's like
spk_0 party drug
spk_0 Well, so it's also known as an impatagen and that's probably because it causes the release of oxytocin
spk_0 Which is a hormone produced in the brain and the hypothalamus and it's the bonding hormone
spk_0 That allows women to feel close to their baby
spk_0 And so the thinking is is that people that have been through you know terrible trauma might be rape or work time
spk_0 You know
spk_0 crime or or trauma
spk_0 That the oxytocin allows and the and the and the amping up of cortisol the stress hormone
spk_0 allows people to deal with these traumatic experiences during their journey so they can they can have empathy
spk_0 toward
spk_0 Even toward the person who abuse them
spk_0 And fortitude because of the cortisol and it's that thinking that in in that setting
spk_0 And again with with the proper guides and facilitators that they can they can face their trauma
spk_0 Because of this state that they're in with surges and oxytocin and cortisol and serotonin
spk_0 Wow
spk_0 It's just
spk_0 What do you think what is the what is the prognosis right now as we sit here in 2025? I keep thinking rfk, you know is
spk_0 Is our
spk_0 You know health and human services
spk_0 Guy he's our medical guy
spk_0 Trump is looked but he's also a guy that's you know
spk_0 Might be open-minded to this kind of thing. I mean is there any
spk_0 Word from the government of where we are
spk_0 Not yet. I'm not on the inside on that but we're hopeful that he and the FDA will look favorably on the potential of psychedelics
spk_0 Right now just based on the clinical trials where they're at
spk_0 psilocybin
spk_0 is in far into phase three trials with two different two different formulations two different companies for
spk_0 Treatment resistant depression and major depression and so they will probably go toward to the FDA for approval
spk_0 Hopefully in the next year or so 2027
spk_0 LSD is far into trials phase three trials for generalized anxiety disorder
spk_0 So lsd would probably be next hopefully if that's if it's positive which it seems like it probably will be
spk_0 And then mdma is still sitting there and they may have to do another phase three trial or they the FDA may allow them to go back and
spk_0 Re-review the data and they may approve it so
spk_0 ideally in three to four years we would have approval of psilocybin LSD and mdma that would be a huge game changer for mental health care
spk_0 What can people do who are listening and they know that there's something in their lives that they're not getting from
spk_0 You know, maybe the regular weekly visit to the to the couch
spk_0 um or the SSRI that they have they just
spk_0 Don't feel any passion, you know for life or maybe dull and
spk_0 You know what can they do? Well, you know, there are certain states and cities Oregon, Colorado where there's been some legalization of psychedelics particularly psilocybin where it's available
spk_0 You know really if you really needed and you're really curious even now you can probably
spk_0 Access some type of treatment
spk_0 You can you can it yes exactly and the the underground is
spk_0 Alive and well and i'm not advocating for the underground but but there are people out there but
spk_0 I do need to know what you're doing you need to set in a in intention do not take this on your own and think you're gonna solve your problems
spk_0 You need to be with someone that's guiding you and knows as I spoke to you know moments ago you need to have that
spk_0 You know that that sort of safety net right there because there's on boarding and then there's off boarding and what happens afterwards
spk_0 And we are seeing these days even in our clinic and and others see people that have been harmed by by psychedelics because they were not prepared properly
spk_0 Or they maybe had a risk factor i mean people for example with
spk_0 schizophrenia or
spk_0 family history schizophrenia
spk_0 um
spk_0 Those sorts of patients or individuals should be very cautious with psychedelic assisted therapy so
spk_0 There's a you know there's a lot of potential issues
spk_0 But we're we're hoping to
spk_0 Thread the needle here and get these get these medicines approved and in the in the not too distant future
spk_0 Now the potential is is massive. I mean, I just I know it. I know it in my bones
spk_0 um
spk_0 Your website is there if if anyone's you know listening right now that that really wants to start educating themselves because that's the first step
spk_0 I mean you got to know yes what it is have an understanding and then you really so much anxiety
spk_0 I had so much anxiety before I did the journey about you know
spk_0 The idea of it first and I'm like well, what if I lose control? What if I you know?
spk_0 I don't want to lose control
spk_0 We're all trying to hang on so tight to the guardrails in life that you know
spk_0 This could be once you start learning about
spk_0 What it is that's going to match your intention? I you know
spk_0 That all subsides subsides in a in a big way, but
spk_0 Can you give us a website address or something? Yeah, I would just say on that the the mantra that we like to use and I'm sure you heard this is trust let go and be open
spk_0 um
spk_0 Assuming you're with individuals with experienced guides facilitators and and that is it's not easy for us to do
spk_0 But that's really kind of the one of the keys to having a a
spk_0 A meaningful journey. So um the website for psychedelic science institute is psychedelic psi.com. So it's psychedelic
spk_0 sci.com. We have two clinics one in Santa Monica one in Hollywood an amazing team and
spk_0 We're doing these clinical trials and we also do ketamine assisted psychotherapy
spk_0 So you can learn just the first step is to learn but um
spk_0 Dr. Dan I really have Dr. Dan Kelly the psychedelic science institute
spk_0 Thank you for all the work you're doing and thank you for talking to me and
spk_0 boy, I'll tell you I'm gonna close with a
spk_0 A couple of quotes from Carl Young who is fantastic
spk_0 I am not what happened to me
spk_0 I am what I choose to become
spk_0 And that is where all of the hope and potential in psychedelics is to me and then
spk_0 The last one is a perfect button and it is the privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are
spk_0 Well, I just
spk_0 Those are beautiful beautiful quotes. Well, thank you billy. Thanks for helping us get the word out and educate the public
spk_0 Absolutely
spk_0 Dr. Dan Kelly that's it as there's there's my there's our episode here on hot mics. It's a big turn
spk_0 but
spk_0 But I I believe in it. I believe in it wholeheartedly
spk_0 And I know a few lobbyists if you need them down there in that Washington in the in the swamp absolutely
spk_0 If you need some muscle, you know what I'm saying
spk_0 Thank you so much. Well that that is it for us. Thank you for listening to hot mics
spk_0 We appreciate it and we will be back with an incredible episode on Wednesday
spk_0 But hot mics is brought to you by L.A. Golf. Yes, you wouldn't believe what the psilocybin journey did for my golf swing
spk_0 It was like so relaxed and meld is weight off my shoulders and piping it down the bound the fairway get yourself an L.A. Golf driver
spk_0 Designed by
spk_0 Bryson de Shembo the most intense scientists who plays the game
spk_0 Just go to l.a. Golf.com. Thank you for listening and we'll see you next time
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