Overview
Compounds that have long been considered recreational drugs by conventional standards are finally being recognized through science as powerful tools for overcoming hard-to-treat health issues like PTSD, depression, addiction, and more. For the right person, psychedelics can provide a sense of peace and hope that helps heal their inner wounds and allows them to live with more freedom.
In today’s episode, I talk with Rick Doblin, Alberto Villoldo, and Wade Davis about the ancient healing mechanisms of plant medicine. Rick Doblin, PhD, is the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He received his doctorate in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. His professional goals are to help develop legal contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription medicines but also for personal growth for otherwise healthy people, and eventually to become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist.
Medical anthropologist Alberto Villoldo, PhD, is an international bestselling author who has researched the shamanic healing practices of the Amazon and Andes for over 25 years. He is the founder of the Four Winds Society, an organization dedicated to the bridging of ancient shamanic traditions with modern medicine and psychology.
Wade Davis is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker. Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society from 2000 to 2013, he is currently Professor of Anthropology and the BC Leadership Chair in Cultures and Ecosystems at Risk at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of 23 books, including One River, The Wayfinders, and Into the Silence, and he was the winner of the 2012 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction (formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize), the top nonfiction prize in the English language.
Full-length episodes of these interviews can be found here:
Apple
