My Psychedelic Roots

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Podcast by Amy Bartlett

My Psychedelic Roots

My Psychedelic Roots shares stories from people from a broad swath of lived experience to explore their psychedelic beginnings, or roots: what motivated them to start using psychedelics, what those early experiences were like, and how those roots have impacted their understanding of themselves and the world around them. My goal in these conversations is to give voice to the unique, transpersonal and human side of psychedelics and non-ordinary states of consciousness--- allowing guests to talk about their personal stories, not just their professional ones. I hope that listeners of the podcast will have an opportunity to gain insight into the lived reality of psychedelic experiencing (both the shadow and the light), hear about how people found their way into the psychedelic space, and to have an opportunity to get curious about the resonance, contrasts and connections between the podcast guests experience and their own psychedelic roots.

Latest episodes

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01 May 2026

Ep29: Deva Arani on early challenges, embodiment, self-trust & compassion

Deva Arani’s life and work explores what it means to integrate profound experiences into our lives. A teacher of yoga and meditation for over two decades, she has walked the intertwined paths of somatic healing, contemplative practice, and sacred plant medicine—learning that insight alone is not what transforms us, but the way we come back into the body, into relationship, and into presence. She is the author of Integration Alchemy: The Real Ceremony Is Your Life, a book devoted to the art of integration-- and The Mother Ache, which explores healing early relational wounds through compassion, embodiment, and feminine wisdom. In our conversation together, we hear about Arani’s complex and painful childhood, and the embodied connections to nature and her body that helped resource her as she navigated these confusing foundational experiences. We also learn about her deep mediation experiences of non-duality and self-compassion, all of which set the stage for her first psychedelic encounter with ayahuasca in Peru many years ago.

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Arani's personal webiste: www.devaarani.com

Integration Alchemy: The Real Ceremony Is Your Life --- link: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Integration-Alchemy/Deva-Arani/9781591813675

The Mother Ache: Healing The Wounded Daughter Within --- link: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Mother-Ache/Deva-Arani/9781591813750

Music credit: Music by Mass X Audio from Pixabay

#psychedelics #podcast #tripreport

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15 April 2026

Ep28: Pam Kryskow on learning to ground in complexity, and embracing the abundance of the world around her

Dr. Pamela Kryskow is a medical doctor, advocate, practitioner and life-loving human. She serves as the medical lead of the non-profit “Roots To Thrive” Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Program in BC, volunteers as a founding board member of the Psychedelic Association of Canada, and serves as the Medical Chair of the Vancouver Island University Post Graduate Certificate in Psychedelic Medicine Assisted Therapy. Prior to studying to become a doctor, she was a City of Coquitlam Firefighter for 8 years and provincial forestry firefighter for 4 seasons. Pam is someone who thrives in complexity, abundance and the ‘and’ of the human experience. Wending our way through her roots, in our conversation we explore her childhood moving all over North America with her professional-hocky-playing father and family, and the resilience and groundedness she cultivated in that unique childhood context. We explore her evolving relationship with religion and spirituality, from her Catholic roots to her deepening relationship with nature. And we dive into what she calls her ‘meandering’ life path, and talk about what she is learning about herself, her truth and the world around her, all while her roots continue to nourish and ground her unfolding.

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Music credit: Music by Mass X Audio from Pixabay

#psychedelics #podcast #tripreport

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03 April 2026

Ep27: Bradford Martins on his feral childhood, and reconnecting with a sense of community and home

Bradford Martins, MD, PhD is a board-certified addiction psychiatrist based at a psychiatric clinic in New Haven, Connecticut where he supports folks navigating substance use disorders, including through implementing community-based models for the prevention and treatment. Dr. Martins is also an Assistant Professor Adjunct at Yale University conducting research in both the Bassir Nia Lab to study the therapeutic potential of dimethyltryptamine (DMT) for alcohol use disorder, and the ENACT Lab to study the therapeutic effect of psilocybin on OCD, while also working towards greater equity and accessibility in the psychedelic space. We hear about the origins of that community and equity focus in Brad’s psychedelics roots, exploring his experience growing up as a self-proclaimed 'feral child' in the woods of Arkansas, later leading him to his first psychedelic experience where he deeply reconnected to the land he grew up on while in community with friends and fellow ‘Children of the Forest’.

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Music credit: Music by Mass X Audio from Pixabay

#psychedelics #podcast #tripreport

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19 March 2026

Ep26: John Gilchrist on connection and community in childhood, a complex first experience, and supporting end-of-life advocates

John Gilchrist is Director of Communications at TheraPsil, a Canadian not-for-profit working for psychedelic access for folks at end of life and other issues about accessibility, regulation and choice in the psychedelic space. In our conversation, we talk about his own personal psychedelic roots: his connection to community, family and lived experience, and a first experience that contained both the light and the shadow of psychedelic trips in a lot of ways. This conversation with John is being published as part of the Podcasthon movement, an annual global initiative that encourages podcasts to dedicate one episode of their show to a charity of their choice, and to release these episodes in a coordinated effort in mid-March to shine a light on some of the good work being done in communities around the world. And so, beyond John's personal psychedelic roots, we also talk a bit about the work of Therapsil, and he shares about some of the end-of-life patients who have been supported by Therapsil, and some of the ways he has been personally touched by his role working there.

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Music credit: Music by Mass X Audio from Pixabay

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06 March 2026

Ep25: Karen Pascal on experiencing a ‘life quake’, finding relief with ketamine therapy, and rediscovering connection with the natural world

Trigger Warning: discussions of suicidality

Karen Pascal was born and raised in Ottawa, Canada, and spent much of her childhood outdoors, birdwatching and camping with her family—feeling playful, carefree, and deeply connected to the natural world. This was an anchoring Karen lost touch with as life unfolded, and as she grew older, she struggled with anxiety and depression. After exploring many different therapeutic approaches without lasting relief, it wasn’t until her marriage unexpectedly ended and she experienced what she calls her “life quake” that psychedelics entered her life and she began ketamine-assisted therapy. We talk about what the clinical experience was like for her, the benefits she received, and how that led her to deepen her work with an experienced facilitator. We also talk about her deep reconnection with nature and how she has worked to resource herself with the community and experiences that have helped to ground in her body and the world around her.

A reminder that this episode contains mentions of suicidality. This warning is meant to empower you with the knowledge you need to make healthy decisions about how and if you should consume this podcast content. We invite you to practice self-care and do what feels right for you. And if you need support, please connect with someone who can help: family and friends, professionals, or a crisis line. There are both Canadian and international recommendations in the show notes below. You are not alone-- not in your pain, nor in your healing.

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Below are some Canadian and international mental health resources to access if you are in distress or need support:

Music credit: Music by Mass X Audio from Pixabay

#psychedelics #podcast #tripreport

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23 February 2026

EP24: Erika Dyck on her grounded childhood, and connecting with the past as a meaningful experience of the present

Erika Dyck is a professor in the Department of History at the University of Saskatchewan. Her work focuses on 20th century medical history, including the history of psychedelics, psychiatry, eugenics and population control. Erika grew up not far from the Weyburn, Saskatchewan, the birthplace of the word ‘psychedelic’, and where a lot of psychedelic research was happening in Canada in the early days. And yet, Erika’s roots were very much outside of that world. In our conversation, we wend our way through her relatively secular upbringing, her desire to leave rural Saskatchewan and experience the world, and we talk about some of her early exposures that led her to become interested in the field of psychedelic studies. We also dive into one of her more recent and deeply meaningful psychedelic experiences which she had in communion with others and with the natural world-- allowing her to connect not just to the geography but also the history and communities that continue to shape both her research and her own lived experience.

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Music credit: Music by Mass X Audio from Pixabay

#psychedelics #podcast #tripreport

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