Welcome to the Psychedelic Blog. I write about the Impact of Psychedelics on Grieving, Relationships, Culture & Death. This week, I’m exploring how Psychedelics bypass the mind and speak through the body—revealing what’s true not through thought, but through sensation. Because the body never lies.
Healing isn’t something that happens just because you sit in a chair and talk about your past. Real healing is active, embodied, and uncomfortable. It happens when you move your body, clean up your diet, reconnect with nature, breathe with intention, and redirect your focus away from yourself by helping others.
Been doing talk therapy for years and it makes me feel better but I don't think it really heals. I'm considering dropping it altogether in favor of other modalities.
I stopped doing talk therapy after years—it felt like I ‘graduated,’ which should be the point, right? Now I’m exploring other modalities. Cool to live in a time with so many arrows in the quiver for leveling up our lives.
Thank you for your comment. I recognized the need for therapy to help process some past trauma. However, looking back, I found that much of the traditional talk therapy didn't provide much value. I gained greater freedom and personal clarity through ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and somatic work. I like the process of discovering what works best for me. Spending time in nature has also helped me reconnect with myself. I'm also enjoying reconnecting with my creative aspects of my personality.
Thank you for sharing! I can relate — while traditional talk therapy helped me recognize some important things, it ultimately didn’t move the needle much. I found far greater clarity through other modalities. Reconnecting with my body & creativity has been a huge part of the journey too. I believe healing is personal, and it’s empowering to explore what works best for each of us.
Absolutely! The psychedelic-assisted therapy I've done has helped me break free from my usual thought patterns. It's hard to get out of those patterns and habits. Thanks for sharing!
The body doesn’t negotiate. It doesn’t file reports. It whispers and roars in a language older than any scripture.
Talk therapy taught us to recite our wounds; somatic work teaches us to listen to them. Psychedelics just rip off the last polite mask and toss it into the bonfire. 🔥
Truth is a vibration, not a thesis. Healing isn’t intellectual hygiene — it’s cellular rebellion.
Thank you for reminding us: the body was the altar all along. 🕊️🌿
Wow. This might be the most beautiful comment I’ve ever received. You captured the essence perfectly — especially the line about truth being a vibration, not a thesis. That’s it.
So much of the social sciences have proven to be non-replicable, so much of it falls into the category of “wild extrapolations from incomplete data”. Arguably, in terms of effectiveness, psychedelic therapy has a far long history of productive use. Not saying it has to be either or, but psychotherapy speech has gotten baked into the culture so deeply I think it’s actually creating its own pathology, in that it’s turning into its own religion/cult.
Exactly. When a modality gets so baked into culture that questioning it feels like heresy, you know it’s crossed into ideology.
Psychedelic work isn’t perfect either, but at least it carries the memory of something older — connection, ceremony, context — not endless self-referential analysis.
They reckon the lack of replicability is across the board with science. I loved your 'wild extrapolations' and I think it's cultural. The drive to monetise everything means the research is already corrupted because they need a new take for the book or the pill or the product. That's just a symptom of the whole culture. Whenever someone finds out you have a hobby it isn't very long before you hear how that could be a business or a new job for you. Or, I could just keep enjoying it without the implication that me and my hobby are insufficient and need to change.
Research isn’t neutral when the end goal is a book deal, a supplement line, or a new monetizable “take.” Same with hobbies. The second you enjoy something, someone tries to turn it into a side hustle. God forbid we just do something because it brings us joy—without needing to optimize, brand, or sell it.
This is awesome, and hakomi is new to me, definitely something I would like to learn about. I suspected for a while that the marshmallow test was really a mix of ‘good child’ complex plus perception of scarcity..
I didn’t need psychedelics just 34 years worth of trauma, finding everyone else while I slightly broke, until one day my nervous system snapped and my subconscious literally merged with my conscious. And I will never be the same again I set boundaries more, do what’s best for me and built a whole model which I share in my substack page. I really like this post thank you 🙏
I think there's a place for talk therapy, we can only communicate in a limited way and words are the most accessible but that's just part of the process. It's incomplete. When Paul Stamets experienced his tree top recovery from a speech impediment he had already had years of attempted interventions. The experience (along with a very strong emotional incentive of a boy very much wanting to get the girl) brought it all together. When we learn English we hear, speak, read then write. When learning other things it's best to read or hear about it, witness a demonstration and then try it ourselves. For bonus points and knowledge cementation we then teach it to someone else.
Talk therapy has its place—if it’s results-oriented. That means identifying root issues, building systems to manage them, and moving on.
Unfortunately, that model conflicts with the financial incentives of the industry, which rewards therapists for keeping people in therapy indefinitely.
I’m more interested in what actually works. We’ve never had more people in therapy, and yet rates of unhappiness, anxiety, and confusion keep climbing. That should raise eyebrows.
I don’t think this has to be an “either/or” (as in intellectually understanding something or having an embodied experience)…I think it can be a “both/and”…we’re not a monolith.
Agreed — it’s not either/or. But it’s worth noting: we’ve never had more people in therapy, and we’ve never had higher rates of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. At some point, outcomes have to matter.
“Thinking about how I’m feeling about how I’m thinking” is most of our problems
So true.
That's a great comment. I became an expert in that!
Love this post! Especially this line:
Healing isn’t something that happens just because you sit in a chair and talk about your past. Real healing is active, embodied, and uncomfortable. It happens when you move your body, clean up your diet, reconnect with nature, breathe with intention, and redirect your focus away from yourself by helping others.
Been doing talk therapy for years and it makes me feel better but I don't think it really heals. I'm considering dropping it altogether in favor of other modalities.
Thanks, brother!
I stopped doing talk therapy after years—it felt like I ‘graduated,’ which should be the point, right? Now I’m exploring other modalities. Cool to live in a time with so many arrows in the quiver for leveling up our lives.
Thank you for your comment. I recognized the need for therapy to help process some past trauma. However, looking back, I found that much of the traditional talk therapy didn't provide much value. I gained greater freedom and personal clarity through ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and somatic work. I like the process of discovering what works best for me. Spending time in nature has also helped me reconnect with myself. I'm also enjoying reconnecting with my creative aspects of my personality.
Thank you for sharing! I can relate — while traditional talk therapy helped me recognize some important things, it ultimately didn’t move the needle much. I found far greater clarity through other modalities. Reconnecting with my body & creativity has been a huge part of the journey too. I believe healing is personal, and it’s empowering to explore what works best for each of us.
Absolutely! The psychedelic-assisted therapy I've done has helped me break free from my usual thought patterns. It's hard to get out of those patterns and habits. Thanks for sharing!
You're welcome.
This is pure gold, Andrew. 🌟
The body doesn’t negotiate. It doesn’t file reports. It whispers and roars in a language older than any scripture.
Talk therapy taught us to recite our wounds; somatic work teaches us to listen to them. Psychedelics just rip off the last polite mask and toss it into the bonfire. 🔥
Truth is a vibration, not a thesis. Healing isn’t intellectual hygiene — it’s cellular rebellion.
Thank you for reminding us: the body was the altar all along. 🕊️🌿
Stay wild. Stay felt.
—Virgin Monk Boy
Wow. This might be the most beautiful comment I’ve ever received. You captured the essence perfectly — especially the line about truth being a vibration, not a thesis. That’s it.
Thank you for sharing this!
So much of the social sciences have proven to be non-replicable, so much of it falls into the category of “wild extrapolations from incomplete data”. Arguably, in terms of effectiveness, psychedelic therapy has a far long history of productive use. Not saying it has to be either or, but psychotherapy speech has gotten baked into the culture so deeply I think it’s actually creating its own pathology, in that it’s turning into its own religion/cult.
Exactly. When a modality gets so baked into culture that questioning it feels like heresy, you know it’s crossed into ideology.
Psychedelic work isn’t perfect either, but at least it carries the memory of something older — connection, ceremony, context — not endless self-referential analysis.
They reckon the lack of replicability is across the board with science. I loved your 'wild extrapolations' and I think it's cultural. The drive to monetise everything means the research is already corrupted because they need a new take for the book or the pill or the product. That's just a symptom of the whole culture. Whenever someone finds out you have a hobby it isn't very long before you hear how that could be a business or a new job for you. Or, I could just keep enjoying it without the implication that me and my hobby are insufficient and need to change.
Exactly.
Research isn’t neutral when the end goal is a book deal, a supplement line, or a new monetizable “take.” Same with hobbies. The second you enjoy something, someone tries to turn it into a side hustle. God forbid we just do something because it brings us joy—without needing to optimize, brand, or sell it.
This is awesome, and hakomi is new to me, definitely something I would like to learn about. I suspected for a while that the marshmallow test was really a mix of ‘good child’ complex plus perception of scarcity..
Thank you! That means a lot.
Some of these modalities just feel intuitively effective. And yeah—the marshmallow test always seemed a little sus.
Powerful insight. Love how you highlight being in your body as a compass for truth—simple and grounding!
Thanks so much, brother!
I didn’t need psychedelics just 34 years worth of trauma, finding everyone else while I slightly broke, until one day my nervous system snapped and my subconscious literally merged with my conscious. And I will never be the same again I set boundaries more, do what’s best for me and built a whole model which I share in my substack page. I really like this post thank you 🙏
Glad it resonated. Sounds like you earned every insight the hard way—deep respect.
I’ll check out your Substack. 🙏
I think there's a place for talk therapy, we can only communicate in a limited way and words are the most accessible but that's just part of the process. It's incomplete. When Paul Stamets experienced his tree top recovery from a speech impediment he had already had years of attempted interventions. The experience (along with a very strong emotional incentive of a boy very much wanting to get the girl) brought it all together. When we learn English we hear, speak, read then write. When learning other things it's best to read or hear about it, witness a demonstration and then try it ourselves. For bonus points and knowledge cementation we then teach it to someone else.
Talk therapy has its place—if it’s results-oriented. That means identifying root issues, building systems to manage them, and moving on.
Unfortunately, that model conflicts with the financial incentives of the industry, which rewards therapists for keeping people in therapy indefinitely.
I’m more interested in what actually works. We’ve never had more people in therapy, and yet rates of unhappiness, anxiety, and confusion keep climbing. That should raise eyebrows.
Great article as usual. Always thoughtful
Thank you so much!
I really appreciate that.
I don’t think this has to be an “either/or” (as in intellectually understanding something or having an embodied experience)…I think it can be a “both/and”…we’re not a monolith.
Agreed — it’s not either/or. But it’s worth noting: we’ve never had more people in therapy, and we’ve never had higher rates of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. At some point, outcomes have to matter.
Excellent! I’m saving this for a reread 🤓
Thank you so much!
This means a lot…happy it landed.
This post was very timely for me, personally, Andrew. Maybe synchronicity is a thing, after all.
I am happy to hear that, Darrell!
Appreciate you reading & sharing this.
Synchronicities are always happening…we just have to pay attention.