22 - Queering Psychedelics and Sex Positivity Within Medicine

08/16/23 • 45 min

PUNK Therapy | Psychedelic Underground Neural Kindness

CW: sexual content, trauma

Dr. T and the Truth Fairy welcome Temptress (she/her they/them), sex worker and advocate for psychedelics, to the show to discuss sex positivity and queerness in the psychedelic ecosystem. Temptress shares psychedelic healing and sexual experiences from their own past and addresses the need to define safe and sensitive psychedelic care for trans and queer individuals.

Temptress explains the gender trauma that defined much of her formative years and how psychedelics started her on the path towards healing. She did a lot of solo work, exploring on her own, until she was able to connect with a partner with whom she connected and could share psychedelic exploration. The experiences allowed them to reunify aspects of themselves that had been disconnected due to trauma.

Temptress, Dr. T and Truth Fairy talk about sex positivity within psychedelic healing, psychedelics in rave culture, queer connection and expression, and the need for language in psychedelic healing to shift to better support trans and queer folks as well as gender trauma. Temptress has a lot of personal insight and advocacy knowledge that opens valuable conversations that the psychedelic community needs to have.

“You know, cisgender folks tend to be able to access health care with much more ease than transgender folks do and queer folks do. Cisgender folks and straight folks alike are able to access employment opportunities, as well as just the sexual economy, a lot easier. And so as practitioners, being educated on these differences can I think really help with establishing a sense of safety for other trans folks and queer folks who are entering those spaces.” - Temptress

Resources discussed in this episode:

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Punk Therapy: website |email

CW: sexual content, trauma

Resources discussed in this episode:

---

Punk Therapy: website |email

Previous Episode

21 - Moral Distress, Ethics, and Psychedelic Therapy with Michelle Gagnon

CW: End of life care and distress

Dr. T and the Truth Fairy welcome Michelle Gagnon, a registered nurse with a background in medical assistance in dying. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of British Columbia where her research focuses on ethics, therapeutic psychedelics, and health care practices, specifically where they intersect. Michelle shares a wealth of health care experience and knowledge with Dr. T and Truth Fairy.

Michelle’s masters’ research examined moral distress among intensive care nurses losing patients. She explains what moral distress encompasses and how she is researching the potential for psychedelics to help treat folks struggling with it. Dr. T shares a related personal experience that lends perspective to what Michelle is exploring.

In conversation with Michelle Gagnon, Dr. T and Truth Fairy learn about Michelle’s work with non-profit association TheraPsil, her hopes for the legalization of psychedelics like psilocybin for medical use, the limits of the current health care structure, and how ethics must factor into every aspect of research and practice. There is a lot of insightful information imparted about Canadian research into psychedelics and the individuality of approach necessitated by each person’s reaction to medicines in this episode.

“I think sometimes with psychedelics as it's framed now, there's a lot of excitement about it and sometimes we can get lost in the hype that this could change things drastically. And it could, but it's not an easy cure, like you said, it's not necessarily even a cure or an assist for everybody. It's not right for everyone. It's just the way I kind of see it is it's another potential tool under our umbrella of other tools. And it's so unique in so many ways. And I think it is, like you mentioned, disrupting potentially a lot of the way we do things, which is exciting.” - Michelle Gagnon

About Michelle Gagnon, RN:

Michelle Gagnon is a registered nurse with a background in emergency critical care and medical assistance in dying. As a by-product of her master's research, which focused on moral distress in pediatric critical care nurses related to the death and dying of child patients, Michelle became interested in the use of psychedelic medicine for distress. She is currently a PhD student at the University of British Columbia with a research focus on the intersection of ethics, therapeutic psychedelics and health care practices.

Michelle worked for nonprofit TheraPsil to support Canadians seeking access for medical psilocybin through Health Canada. She also spends time volunteering with the Psychedelic Association of Canada's Ethics Working Group to draft and disseminate articles related to pressing ethical topics in the psychedelic field.

In her free time, Michelle is an avid baker and enjoys reading mystery and fantasy. Through mud and snow she enjoys mountain biking the trails where she lives in the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy, the Tsuut'ina, the Stoney Nakoda nations and the Metis Nation, and all who make their homes in the treaty seven region of Southern Alberta.

Resources discussed in this episode:

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Punk Therapy: website |email

Next Episode

23 - Solo Journeys in Psychedelic Medicine with Gam and Rachael

CW: talk of rape and sexual dysregulation

Dr. T and the Truth Fairy welcome guests Gam, a sociologist, activist, and soon-to-be craniosacral therapist from Scandinavia, and Rachael, a somatic sex educator, intimacy guide, and body worker in Canada, to the show to talk about solo psychedelic medicine journeys. Both Gam and Rachael have worked in cohorts with Truth Fairy and come from experiences in guiding themselves on solo journeys, and they share what the solo journey is like.

Gam embarked on solo journeys out of necessity, due to a lack of support and community in psychedelic therapy in Scandinavia. He admitted he also wasn’t particularly comfortable in groups so decided to start a long exploration into solo work and appreciates the deep understand he got from both good and bad experiences on his own. Rachael began in group work but explored solo work through the pandemic. Through that she found a certain strength in having external support she could reach out to if solo work became rough.

Dr. T., Truth Fairy, Gam, and Rachael discuss the benefits of ceremony and community, the necessity of inner work and preparation to precede solo journeys, relationship with the erotic self in solo work, and how our systems respond to psychedelics according to need. The conversation sheds light on how bodily integration and internal work are part of psychedelic medicine and the nature of support even within solo journeys.

“Psychedelics are an opportunity to open up our trust in our erotic bodies, to trust that we can hold that incredible life force and not inflict pain or desire in unwelcome spaces, not open ourselves to violation, and just be in the pleasure of our erotic body in community.” - Rachael

Resources discussed in this episode:

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Punk Therapy: website |email