508: Ancestral Wisdom + Trauma Therapy: Healing Our Roots with Dick Schwartz, Phd & Thomas Hübl, Thomas Hübl, Phd

Our physiology and our mental health are linked. We’ve all heard about the ACE Study, which describes the long term impact of unresolved trauma. But why does unresolved trauma lead to poor physical health over the lifespan? This week’s guest, Naturopathic Doctor Erin Kinney, explains an important piece of the puzzle: Cortisol! Combatting the confusion and misinformation that is out there about Cortisol, Dr. Kinney explains what happens to our bodies when Cortisol is too low or too high; how the nervous system plays a part; and small actions we can take to create an abundant “Cortisol Bank account,” as she calls it. Dr. Kinney shares some of the strategies detailed in her new book, The Cortisol Cure, and how simple changes you make can contribute to abundant health and well-being over your lifetime.

Continuing our exploration of embodiment, healing, spirituality and wisdom, this week I’m joined by Manuela Mischke-Reeds, a somatic psychotherapist who is a senior trainer in the Hakomi Method and co-founder of the Hakomi Institute of California. Manuela has developed her own method as well, called Innate Somatic Trauma Therapy Approach (ISTTA). In this discussion you’ll learn about the Hakomi method and its principles; movement as a healing modality; the importance of embodiment in trauma processing; somatics and psychedelic therapy; deconstructing from our indoctrination in medical models; accessing Flow and tuning into our innate lifeforce while recovering from trauma, and so much more.

This week we dive deeper into working with Internal Family System and our family of parts with my incredible guest, Tamala Floyd. We discussed Tamala’s book, Listening When Parts Speak, and how her ancestors participated in the process. Our conversation wound back and forth through time and space. You’ll hear us discuss intergenerational trauma, breaking cycles, how healing ourselves heals our ancestors, both those who came before us and those who follow us, inner child work, and so much more!

This week, continuing our discussion of psychedelics and therapy, I’m honored to be joined by three amazing guests who are leaders in the IFS and psychedelics worlds. So HOW does a therapist “do” psychedelic assisted psychotherapy? A number of therapists are already using IFS or IFS informed parts work in their practices. Now, we are fortunate to have a clinical manual co-authored by today’s guests, Sunny Strasburg, LMFT; Martha Sweezy, PhD; and David Lovas, MD, together with the founder of IFS, Dick Schwartz, PhD. In our conversation, you’ll hear our guests share their perspectives on the neuroscience involved; how Protector parts can arise in these experiences; ethics and consent in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy; some descriptions of various psychedelic medicines; and the need for additional research in this field.

Psychedelics are a hot topic lately. People are seeking healing experiences, with or without the participation of their therapists. Some are finding their journeys to be transformational but struggle to integrate what occurred when they return to their ordinary lives. Others need help integrating traumatic material that arose. Yet many therapists, especially those who are more seasoned in the field, are unaware or suspicious about these medicines. This week’s guest, Erin Atkinson, LCSW-C, is the founder of Prism Wellness, a holistic, somatic, and psychedelic therapy practice with a team of therapists providing this specialized work across multiple states. In addition to her clinical training in this work, Erin weaves somatic trauma therapy with earth-based wisdom and plant medicine traditions. She is an animist minister, rooted in Celtic and European traditions and her own ancestral practice. In our conversation, you’ll hear Erin and I discuss aspects of our own processes of connecting with our European ancestors; how psychedelic work can help us connect with nature and the collective; and the importance of integration, often a missing piece of the healing process in psychedelic work. Erin Atkinson, LCSW-C is licensed in Maryland, Colorado, Texas, and Hawaii, a board-approved clinical supervisor, and a psychedelic-assisted therapist. Alongside her clinical work, Erin mentors, supervises, and trains therapists who want to bring spirituality, earth wisdom, and a liberation focus into their practice. If you’re curious about what psychedelic integration is, and what it can be, you’ll want to listen to this episode!