My Awakening…
"I was confronted with all my grief and trauma and challenged to find my power within it. I felt the shaman and medicine, training me to be strong, resilient and face all my fears. I’d had an initiation that was sacred and profound..."
Healing A Troubled Mind: A Personal Perspective On Victoria’s Stagnant Mental Health System
The Royal Commission’s report on the Victorian mental health system sent shockwaves throughout the State, one of which landed squarely on a patient of mine. They noted that Victoria’s mental health system is “not geared for…change”.
Utilizing Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy to Help Process Challenging Experiences with Psychedelics
The last twenty years has arguably led to a renaissance of scientific investigation into the therapeutic benefits and risk of a range of psychedelics. LSD, ecstasy, psilocybin and ayahuasca that are increasing in popularity as alternative therapies used to address a host of mental health challenges.
When You Trip Upon A Star
Unraveling the inspiration behind various acclaimed Disney films. Can psychedelics be used to address childhood trauma and better understand imagination?
A Magic Medicine Journey
Firstly, the medicine completely shot us into space and, at the same time, through the Earth, rivers and oceans. What initially overwhelmed me was this incredible sense of oneness.It was as if all boundaries dissolved and I was left with the sheer magnificence of our planet.
Mind Medicine Australia Celebrates 2-Year Anniversary
This week Mind Medicine Australia turns two years old! In our two years, we have made remarkable progress in growing public awareness of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy in Australia.
Psychedelic Healing Stories: Michael Raymond
In late 2018, I was medically retired after battling with mental and physical illness, including, Major Depression, Anxiety Disorders and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Psychedelic Hedonism — The Ethics Of Psychedelic Therapy
Despite the growing body of empirical work regarding the efficacy of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, the socio-cultural history of these compounds along with their unique psychological effects raises a host of normative ethical questions which need to be addressed.
Medically Assisted Psychotherapy in a Global Context
Psychedelics and plant medicines have been used around the world since early humanity for spiritual, ritual, divination and recreational purposes.
Psychedelics: The Reason for the Season
It’s that time of the year again. According to that popular carol, it’s apparently the most wonderful time of the year. The festive season calls us to gather with loved ones and celebrate surviving another year — and what a wild one it’s been. While 2020 was a memorable moment in time, it might be a
On the Need for a Bioethics of Psychedelic Psychotherapy: A Few Preliminary Challenges
Psychotherapy assisted by psilocybin, a naturally occurring compound in ‘magic mushrooms’, has recently received ‘Breakthrough Therapy’ status from the FDA, in recognition of the substantial benefits witnessed in clinical trials investigating treatment-resistant depression.
Common Views and Attitudes Towards Psychedelic Medicines and Therapies
The current COVID-19 situation and the modern history of psychedelics share a distinguishable commonality, they illuminate a looming war on knowledge and a pervasive division in views and understandings. The dispersion of information plays a powerful role in shaping beliefs and attitudes.
Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy For Criminal Offenders — A New Paradigm For Rehabilitation?
I have a lifelong interest in decreasing violent crime and imprisonments rates. For 21 years I was a proudly activist judicial officer seeking to reduce both — definitively a barbed-wire fence proposition.
Breaking Down the Stigma and Shame of Psychedelics
Psychedelics have a history rich in stigmatisation and misunderstanding. For example, during the 60s (whilst psychedelics research and trials occurred in reputable universities around the world) the anti-Vietnam counterculture, who were associated with psychedelics, rose up against the establishment
How Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy Changed My Life
I don’t drink or smoke. I’ve never taken any drugs till four years ago. Yet today, my life revolves around psychedelic medicines — heavily stigmatized substances still illegal in this country and most others across the world.
Psychedelics Can Raise The Collective Consciousness
As a human being in the current social-political and economic climate we are faced with many challenges such as the rise of mental health, the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, gender inequality, unemployment, poverty, and climate change, to name only a few.
Pushing Taboo: Exploring the Role of LSD in Transpersonal Psychology
“It does not seem to be an exaggeration to say that psychedelics used responsibly and with proper caution, would be for psychiatry what the microscope is for biology and medicine or the telescope is for astronomy.“ - Stanislav Grof
Science not Stigma: Safety of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy for Mental Illness
The conversation of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has moved from the scientific community into the mainstream. In Australia, the two psychedelic compounds that have been proposed for rescheduling as controlled medicines are psilocybin and MDMA
Investigating the profound and bizarre link between creativity, psychedelics and music
Is the popular Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds really an acronym for LSD? Or was it innocently inspired by a drawing created by John Lennon’s son? This question has exercised the minds of Beatles fans since the song first appeared in the 1967 album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely-Hearts Club Band.
How to Explore Altered States of Consciousness Without Psychedelics
Psychedelic assisted psychotherapy puts the recipient into an altered state of consciousness, which enables them to explore and tune into their inner experience in order to enhance the quality of their lives and capacity to show up in the world.