039: Reflections on Our Interview with Dr. Julie Holland /  by Joe

This is Entheogen. Talk about tools for generating the divine within.

Today is July 20, 2016, and we are reflecting on our interview with Dr. Julie Holland from last season.

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Topics:

038: Interview with Alasdair from Bluelight.org /  by Joe

This is Entheogen. Talk about tools for generating the divine within.

Today is December 4, 2016, and we are talking with Alisdair from BlueLight.org.

Find the notes and links for this and other episodes at EntheogenShow.com. Sign up to receive an email when we release a new episode. Follow us @EntheogenShow on Twitter and like EntheogenShow on FaceBook. Thanks for listening.

Your pledges make the show possible! We're trying to cover expenses by asking our fans to pledge at Patreon.com/Entheogen. We really appreciate your support!

Topics:

  • BlueLight.org was founded in 1997, and Alisdair has been a member since 2002.
  • What is BlueLight.org?
  • Why “bluelight”? Is there significance to that?
  • How did you get introduced to BlueLight?
  • Legal considerations?
  • Relationship with MAPS
  • Donate to BlueLight

037: Dr. Sarah Mennenga from NYU Experimental Therapeutics Laboratory on Using Psilocybin to Treat Anxiety and Depression in Cancer Patients /  by Joe

This is Entheogen. Talk about tools for generating the divine within.

Today is December 18, 2016, and we are discussing the recent publication of studies from NYU and Johns Hopkins showing that psilocybin can reduce anxiety and depression in cancer patients, and we’re pleased to be joined by Dr. Sarah Mennenga from the NYU Experimental Therapeutics Laboratory.

Find the notes and links for this and other episodes at EntheogenShow.com. Sign up to receive an email when we release a new episode. Follow us @EntheogenShow on Twitter and like EntheogenShow on FaceBook. Thanks for listening.

Your pledges make the show possible! We're trying to cover expenses by asking our fans to pledge at Patreon.com/Entheogen. We really appreciate your support!

Topics:

  • We are grateful to be joined by Dr. Sarah Mennenga, Doctor of Neuroscience, NYU Experimental Therapeutics Laboratory

  • NYU and Johns Hopkins just released studies showing that psilocybin can reduce anxiety and depression in cancer patients

  • 80 percent of participants showed significant reduction of anxiety and depression

  • “One theory is that psilocybin interrupts the circuitry of self-absorbed thinking that is so pronounced in depressed people, making way for a mystical experience of selfless unity” i.e. interrupting or disrupting the Default Mode Network?

  • What is the neurological basis for the geometric shapes and auditory effects that characterize the psilocybin experience. What part does suggestibility play in the experience?

  • The “intensity of the mystical experience described by patients correlated with the degree to which their depression and anxiety decreased” – Why is that? What is it about the nature of the psychedelic or mystical experience that does this?

    • Octavian Mihai “saw black smoke rising from my body”

    • Kevin, a participant in the Johns Hopkins study saw “spirals of iridescent spheres that folded in on themselves”. “But you have to approach the session with the right intentions of why you’re doing it. Because you’re going to meet yourself.”

  • Study protocols, and the unique considerations for psychedelic session

    • “seven-hour music playlists.[...] N.Y.U. leaned toward New Age and world music — Brian Eno; sitars; didgeridoos. Johns Hopkins favored Western classical.”

    • Chalice

    • Buddha statue

  • Collaboration among the few institutions doing psychedelic research
  • Criticism from the academic/scientific community?

  • Political concerns; safety concerns around legalization

  • Stigma in the academic community?

  • fMRI scanning during a psychedelic experience?

  • NYU seeking participants in two upcoming studies:

  • NYU seeking $10 million funding for center to study psychedelics

How to Help:

Further Reading:

 

036: Dr. Jami – Broaching Psychedelics with the Uninformed /  by Joe

This is Entheogen. Talk about tools for generating the divine within.

Today is October 23rd, 2016, and we are talking with, Dr. Jami, a psychologist in the Bay Area of California.

Find the notes and links for this and other episodes at EntheogenShow.com. Sign up to receive an email when we release a new episode. Follow us @EntheogenShow on Twitter and like EntheogenShow on FaceBook. Thanks for listening.

To reach Jami, please get in touch with Entheogen.

Topics:

  • Jami’s professional experience with couples therapy, Imago, Attachment theory

  • Encounter-centered Couples Therapy (EcCT)

  • Burning Man experiences

  • Our Burning Man opening ceremony this year, incorporating a buddhist meditation and mindfulness exercise

  • Justin’s poem: “...and with the power of our Eucharist, the mystical compound more commonly known as lysergic acid diethylamide, we can, as smarter minds than mine describe, 'disrupt the default mode network' in our brain, allowing us to relish in our pleasure receptors, illuminating the interconnectedness of life, and urging us to, quite literally, trip the light fantastic.”

035: MAPS to Move Ahead with Phase 3 MDMA Trials /  by Joe

F.D.A. Agrees to New Trials for Ecstasy as Relief for PTSD Patients – NY Times, Nov 29, 2016

“It changed my life.”

It allowed me to see my trauma without fear or hesitation and finally process things and move forward." – study participant Ed Thompson

“There is now a clear path ahead to make MDMA a legal medicine for millions of people suffering from PTSD.” – MAPS Bulletin

MAPS needs to raise approximately $25-30 million (of which they’ve already raised more than $10 million) to complete these Phase 3 trials and all associated toxicity and pharmacology studies over the next 5 years. – NY Times

MAPS.org