Medicine With The Medals

What happens when trauma, medical wounding, and decades of psychedelic exploration converge into a life of healing and service? In this deeply reflective episode of My Psychedelic Story , licensed clinical social worker Alan Romano shares his remarkable personal and professional journey from fear-based LSD use in the 90s to intentional entheogenic medicine work, addiction recovery, and psychedelic...

What happens when consciousness expands so far that your identity has to rebuild itself from the ground up? In this deeply personal episode of My Psychedelic Story , Stephanie shares how a powerful Golden Teacher mushroom experience reshaped her understanding of autism, ADHD, mental health systems, and reality itself. From corporate work and hospitalization to homelessness and service, her journey...

What does it really mean to say yes to psychedelic healing? In this powerful episode of My Psychedelic Story , therapist Micah Stover explores trauma-informed psychedelic therapy, somatic healing, and the ethical responsibility behind working with psilocybin, ketamine, MDMA, and cannabis. She shares why preparation and integration matter more than the peak experience, how consent must be conscious...

What happens when food as medicine becomes a doorway to ayahuasca ministry? In this episode of My Psychedelic Story (12:37), Lauren Pounds shares her evolution from off-grid organic farming and gut health research to founding Seraphaya Spiritual Center , a trauma-informed ayahuasca church. Her journey bridges plant-based nutrition, addiction recovery, psychedelic integration, and conscious leaders...

What does it mean to walk between worlds as both healer and student? In this powerful episode of My Psychedelic Story , Pat Miller, a massage therapist and sound healer, shares her decades-long journey through shamanic apprenticeship, energetic medicine, and the sacred art of guiding others through transformation. From her early experiences in Andean cosmology to her deep work with ayahuasca and n...

What happens when the medicine that saves your life also rewrites your understanding of it? In this episode of My Psychedelic Story , Dr. Maria Clara Restrepo , a medical doctor and psychiatry nurse practitioner, shares her extraordinary journey through near-death, cancer, and the healing power of psychedelics. Diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer, Maria found herself at the threshold betwe...

What if the secret to healing isn’t just physical, but deeply spiritual? In this deeply reflective episode of Medicine With The Medals , Anthony Palacin shares his extraordinary journey of recovery, spiritual awakening, and rediscovery of purpose after years of battling chronic pain and inner conflict. His story unfolds through the lens of plant medicine, breathwork, and emotional healing, reveali...

What happens when chronic illness becomes a teacher instead of a life sentence? In this powerful episode of Medicine With The Medals , herbalist and functional medicine advocate Teri Olson shares her story of transformation, from battling multiple autoimmune conditions and cancer to reclaiming health, identity, and purpose through holistic medicine, psychedelics, and integration. Her journey remin...

What if your deepest pain was the key to your greatest healing? In this transformative episode of Medicine With The Medals , grief coach and psychedelic guide Alix Kirshner shares how loss, addiction, and illness became the catalysts for her awakening,  and how she now helps others move through soul transitions with courage, compassion, and ceremony. What You’ll Learn: How grief can emerge from an...

What happens when modern medicine runs out of answers? In this transformative episode of Medicine With The Medals , Emily “Lovey” Johnson shares how her journey through chronic illness, surgeries, and pharmaceuticals led her to rediscover healing through Kambo and plant medicine . From pain and prescription dependency to purpose and self-awareness, Lovey’s story shows what can happen when you reco...

What happens when grief becomes the doorway to growth? In this episode of Medicine With The Medals , licensed marriage and family therapist Jacqueline Robertson explores how unprocessed trauma, inherited conditioning, and intergenerational pain shape who we become, and how true healing starts in the body, not the mind. Through her work with somatic therapy, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, and...

What happens when Western psychology meets ancient wisdom in the psychedelic renaissance? In this transformative episode of Medicine With The Medals , licensed psychotherapist and founder of the Psychedelic Guide Network , Ashley Carmen , explores how consciousness work, trauma integration, and embodied ethics are reshaping the future of healing. From ego dissolution to the neuroscience of surrend...

What happens when the body becomes the messenger for a spiritual awakening? In this episode of Medicine With The Medals , Heather Lee shares her extraordinary journey from physical collapse to emotional and energetic rebirth. Through her story of deep healing, surrender, and reconnection with her inner wisdom, we explore how the body speaks what the soul cannot, and how true medicine begins when w...

What happens when neuroscience, faith, and psychedelics meet recovery? In this transformative episode of Medicine With The Medals , David Wade Pope , founder of BGD Ministries , shares his remarkable journey from battling depression and alcoholism to pioneering a bridge between medical science, spirituality, and conscious healing. His story reframes addiction recovery as a neurospiritual evolution...

What if the medicine you fear the most is the one that finally brings you home to yourself? In this intimate story, visionary artist and medicine woman Aimee Peña shares how her decade-long path with ancestral medicines, rooted in Iboga, Ayahuasca, Bufo, Huachuma, and Kambo, turned addiction, shadow work, and personal awakening into a living spiritual curriculum. With uncommon clarity and humility...

What does it mean to lead with radical faith in the face of devastation? In this moving episode, Joey shares the unfiltered truth of parenting through the unimaginable: their child Jameson’s diagnosis with a rare and aggressive brain cancer. More than a story of medical trauma, this is a conversation about energy, embodiment, and the healing power of music, movement, and soul-aligned community. Yo...

What if the 12 steps helped save your life, but eventually, you outgrew them? In this moving episode, Gillian Lepisto shares her bold journey beyond traditional recovery frameworks and into the world of sacred medicine, intuitive healing, and spiritual integration. Listeners will explore the deeper layers of trauma, embodiment, and devotion that unfold after sobriety, and how tools like Kambo, mic...

What happens when a certified sex educator and feminist wellness coach unpacks the body’s wisdom after trauma? In this episode of Medicine With The Medals , Suzannah Weiss dives into somatic intimacy, nervous system regulation, and the myths that keep people disconnected from their own pleasure and healing. From dismantling sex-negative conditioning to reconnecting with the body’s innate intellige...

What if every rebirth begins with a creative act? In this episode of My Psychedelic Story , we meet psychedelic mentor and alchemy coach Liz Chernett, who explores how psychedelics, motherhood, and mythic storytelling shape the modern path to integration. Through her deeply personal journey, from Ivy League creative director to soul-led healer, Liz shares how grief, ritual, and imagination converg...

What happens when a decorated trauma surgeon, military veteran, and healthcare CEO walks away from it all? Dr. Charles “Charlie” Powell shares his astonishing path from success to surrender, and how plant medicine and purpose-driven healing gave him a second life. In this raw and revelatory episode, Charlie reveals the invisible wounds behind high-performance careers, the crisis of meaning plaguin...

What if your healing wasn’t something to hustle toward, but something to slow down and receive? In this grounded and honest conversation, Chase Healey, host of The Chasing Healing Podcast , shares her path from startup burnout to embodied healing, one microdose and nervous system shift at a time. This episode redefines what it means to integrate plant medicine into everyday life. What You’ll Learn...

What if burnout wasn’t a breakdown, but a breadcrumb? In this soul-expanding episode of Medicine With The Medals , Dr. Hector Rodriguez invites us into the quiet brilliance of curiosity-driven healing and functional psychiatry. Drawing from his cross-disciplinary background in neuroscience, trauma therapy, and theology, Dr. Rodriguez offers a radically integrative approach to high-performance emot...

What happens when a classroom teacher becomes one of the most influential voices in psychedelic entrepreneurship? In this episode of Medicine With The Medals , we sit down with Luna Stower, educator, legacy operator, and cannabis industry leader, for an unfiltered conversation on safe access, policy advocacy, and why real healing starts with real sovereignty. Luna shares how her experience growing...

What happens when a veteran firefighter confronts the emotional cost of a career spent saving others and discovers healing in plant medicine? In this powerful episode, we sit down with Paul Walton , a Bernalillo County firefighter and co-founder of Firefighters for Plant Medicine , to explore his deeply personal journey through trauma, cannabis reform, and psychedelic-assisted healing. This is a c...

What happens when a rational man surrenders to the unknown and discovers a deeper version of masculinity? In this potent episode of Medicine With The Medals , Expanded States Guide Michael Tierno shares how plant medicine and sacred container work transformed his relationship with emotional repression, leadership, and identity. This conversation uncovers what true integration looks like for men, a...