136 - Alyssa Gursky on Psychedelic Art Therapy & The Future of Communication

FUTURE FOSSILS

A bit about this week’s amazing guest in her own words:

“I’m finishing up my Masters in Transpersonal Art Therapy at Naropa University. I've been studying Transpersonal Psychology for 6 years now. My focus has always been the theoretical and practical orientation to psychedelic assisted psychotherapy. I was raised by dead heads and frequent cannabis users, who simultaneously maintained deep professionalism and family values. So, drug culture was really inherent in my development. I have so much to say about Psychedelic Art Therapy.

I've worked on the MAPS MDMA PTSD study as a night attendant for 4 years now. I work both in Boulder and in Fort Collins on this. I'm a trained Ketamine therapist (trained by three different institutions over the last year) and have done tons of above ground ketamine and cannabis work myself. While undergoing somatic psychedelic therapy (using ketamine, mostly), I made art throughout the whole process.

I'm a freelance training coordinator. I've coordinated a training for the Ketamine Training Center, headed by Dr.Phil Wolfson, in addition to my role as Education Outreach Coordinator for Innate Path. I had the gift of being a resident workshop facilitator this summer at Meow Wolf in Santa Fe. I ran workshops on astrology, non ordinary states, and art therapy, In addition to recycled art jewelry making (with recycled scraps from Meow Wolf Denver and Vegas), AND, couples art therapy workshops. Basically, I like to consider myself a servant to the progression of psychedelic medicines. I'm an artist, an art therapist, an integration specialist, a community organizer, and a thought leader.”

Alyssa’s Instagram

Innate Path’s Website

My 2018 conversation with Saj Razvi of Innate Path on Psychedelic Psychotherapy

My playlist of music that made it into the MAPS MDMA clinical trials

Future Fossils Podcast is entirely listener-supported. Support the show on Patreon for more inspiring extras than you probably have time for.

• Mentioned in this episode:

Rick Doblin, Marcela Otolora, Sarah Gail, MAPS (Multidisciplinary Disciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies), Zendo Project, Innate Path, Mister Rogers, Ann Shulgin, Saj Razvi, Aubrey Marcus, Kristin Karas, Dancesafe, Meow Wolf, Alex Grey’s The Mission of Art, Allyson Grey, Brian Browne Walker's Translation of The Tao Te Ching, Terence McKenna, Wim Hof, Margaret Wertheim, Onyx Ashanti, The Teafaerie, Spider & Jeanne Robinson’s Stardance Trilogy, Geoffrey West’s Scale, Anthony Thogmartin, Mi.Mu, Imogen Heap, Diana Reed Slattery’s Xenolinguistics, Donna Haraway, Mitch Mignano

Buy any of the books we mention in this episode through my Amazon Shop and I’ll receive a tiny kickback at no extra cost to you.

• Alyssa quotes:

“I think that my early psychedelic experiences showed me that I was something outside of depression.”

“Mister Rogers by day and Ann Shulgin by night.”

“I love getting to be a spokesperson for a scapegoated substance.”

“Art helps us create the map of our psyche.”

“It’s not that I’m a powerful therapist and you are this wounded person. We are co-adventurers in the psyche.”

• Future Fossils Theme Music:

“God Detector” by Evan “Skytree” Snyder feat. Michael Garfield

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