Beyond Healing: Consciousness Expansion With Psychedelic Medicine

02/13/25 • 53 min

Dr. Keith Heinzerling, MD, is the Director of the Pacific Treatment and Research in Psychedelics (TRIP) program at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute, where he develops psychedelic-assisted therapies for conditions such as addiction, depression, anxiety, and PTSD. He is also an Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine Specialist at the Pacific Brain Health Center at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute, focusing his clinical research on treating alcohol, drug, and substance use problems. Before joining the Pacific Neuroscience Institute, Dr. Heinzerling was an Associate Professor in the UCLA Department of Family Medicine and a founding member of the UCLA Comprehensive Chronic Pain Integrated Practice Unit.

In this episode...

Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy offers a paradigm shift to treating mental health conditions beyond traditional pharmacotherapy. However, integrating these treatments into mainstream medicine presents challenges, including regulatory hurdles. How can professionals balance scientific rigor with the profound and spiritual experiences that psychedelics induce?

Dr. Keith Heinzerling believes that psychedelics offer more than just symptom relief; they provide a pathway to deeper healing and consciousness expansion. These medicines facilitate access to core psychological and emotional issues, allowing patients to process trauma, reconnect with their sense of self, and cultivate a greater awareness of their place in the world. Unlike conventional psychiatric treatments that focus on symptom suppression, psychedelic medicine fosters transformation by dissolving rigid mental patterns and opening individuals to new perspectives. Dr. Heinzerling maintains that this approach requires careful guidance, integration, and a framework that respects both the scientific and spiritual dimensions of these experiences.

In this week’s episode of Living Medicine, Dr. Keith Heinzerling, the Director of the Pacific Treatment and Research in Psychedelics (TRIP) program at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute, joins Dr. Sandy Newes to talk about psychedelic healing as an alternative to traditional medicine. Dr. Heinzerling discusses his psychedelic spiritual activation retreats, the barriers to FDA approval for integrating psychedelic medicine into clinical settings, and how to conduct research for ketamine-assisted psychotherapy.

In this episode...

Previous Episode

Clinician to Clinician: Bill Richards’ Fun and Good Advice

Bill Richards, PhD, is the Co-founder and Senior Advisor at Sunstone Therapies, which delivers psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in medical settings. In his role, he oversees, guides, and trains new therapists from educational, medical, and religious perspectives. Bill is also a Clinical Psychologist at the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. With over five decades of experience researching psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, Bill focuses on its legal and safe integration into palliative care for cancer patients.

In this episode...

Psychedelic-assisted therapy enables patients to access profound states of consciousness, which can facilitate healing and self-discovery. How can therapists create the optimal environment for such breakthroughs while maintaining ethical and supportive practices?

Bill Richards, an early pioneer in psychedelic research, emphasizes the importance of trust, attunement, and presence in therapeutic settings. Psychedelics like psilocybin and ketamine unlock the psyche's capacity for healing, but therapists must provide a grounding presence and guide patients through challenging emotional terrain. By fostering openness and curiosity and remaining neutral, therapists can support clients in exploring fear, grief, and transcendence, often leading to transformative shifts in perspective and self-understanding.

In this week’s episode of Living Medicine, Dr. Signi Goldman sits down with Bill Richards, PhD, the Co-founder and Senior Advisor at Sunstone Therapies, to discuss how therapists can navigate clients’ alternate states effectively. Bill explains why rationality doesn’t work in psychedelic states, the concepts in his book, Scared Knowledge, and the role of somatic sensations and touch in psychedelic therapies.

Next Episode

Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy and Physician Burnout

Mel Herbert is the Founder and CEO of EM: RAP (Emergency Medicine: Reviews and Perspectives), which provides engaging, high-quality educational content for emergency care providers. As a renowned emergency medicine physician, he established the nonprofit EM: RAP GO to extend emergency medical training to underserved communities. Mel is also the author of The Extraordinary Power of Being Average.

In this episode...

As the demands of emergency medicine take a heavy toll on clinicians, many struggle with depression and anxiety, often finding little relief in traditional treatments. For medical professionals seeking solutions, could ketamine therapy provide a breakthrough in combating burnout and restoring mental well-being?

After struggling with severe depression and suicidal ideation and failing to find relief with conventional medications, emergency medicine physician Mel Herbert turned to ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, which he describes as life-changing. Ketamine lifted his depression and reshaped his brain’s neural pathways, allowing him to experience joy and gratitude in ways he hadn’t for decades. However, Mel warns against the dangers of unregulated ketamine use, stressing the importance of controlled administration with a professional therapist, proper dosing, and integration therapy.

In this episode of Living Medicine, Dr. Sandy Newes interviews Mel Herbert, the Founder and CEO of EM: RAP (Emergency Medicine: Reviews and Perspectives), about his experience with ketamine therapy for professional burnout. Together, they discuss training considerations for professionals entering the ketamine-assisted psychotherapy field, how providers customize treatment to patient needs, and the ideal candidates for ketamine-assisted psychotherapy.