Letting Go

Psychedelics can work by allowing us to face our biggest traumas without being re-traumatized. But first, Black people (rightfully skeptical) must trust enough to let go.

Photography: Walid Azami

Wow, just wow.

Thank you for all of your feedback on the first episode of Truth Be Told: How To Get Free! It’s a tremendous feeling to know that so many of us are collectively healing, whether it’s through the use of psychedelic therapy or other therapeutic measures like talk therapy, working out, journaling, and meditation.

In a few weeks, we’re going to devote an entire show to your questions about psychedelic-assisted therapy and wild therapy, which is the use of psychedelics outside of a clinical setting. So please keep your thoughts and questions coming!

Email me directly at tonya at deartbt dot com. You can also leave a voice message at 424-279-8425.

Your questions will be answered by two special guests who are experts in the field of medicine and psychedelic therapy. Now to EP2: Letting Go…

Researchers believe psychedelics can serve as an emotional valve - and paired with talk therapy, drugs like MDMA and psilocybin mushrooms have shown promise in allowing people to identify, mourn and heal some of their deepest wounds, including racial trauma. While most psychedelics are illegal, there are efforts underway to regulate MDMA for use in conjunction with talk therapy.

In Episode 2, we explore whether traditional therapists, most of them white, are ready to take on and deal with Black grief. There’s already talk and concern within the medical and therapy community about the need for more training. This makes me ask, for the purposes of healing – do we need a medical or clinical setting to feel the healing impacts of plant medicines?

Writer Nicholas Powers shares his experiences with LSD as a form of wild therapy. You’ll need to hold on because Nicholas is a master storyteller. He shares a riveting story of how he discovered psychedelics after 9/11 and again after reporting in Haiti. Nicholas has a book coming out soon on trauma, political systems, and race titled “Tripping on Race: How Psychedelics Heal Historical Trauma.”

You’ll also hear from Camille Barton, a social imagineer and psychedelic advocate who breaks down the insidious nature of how colonialism has separated us from ourselves. “Colonial activity disconnects us from our bodies,” says Camille, “Making our bodies these working machines that are in service of capital. And for us to be these working machines, it means that we can't feel too much. We have to numb out to keep going at the levels we're going at because it's not really a healthy balance for most of us.”

What makes Camille’s words powerful for me is that over the last few years, so many of us have deepened our understanding of what she’s talking about. We’ve been numbing ourselves in service of capitalism. We are all teetering - trying to find our way back to something that feels sustainable. Make sure to share your thoughts with me after this one!

Also, check out deartbt.com for a growing list of resources about psychedelic therapy and healing racial trauma. You can also find our archive of past seasons and catch up on our current season.