The Healing Impact Of Psychedelics On Trauma & Addiction

— It is believed that humans have been using psychedelic drugs since the dawn of civilization. In Western culture, however, only recently has science begun to understand how psychedelics may aid trauma healing. Whenever something terrible happens to you or you're in a harmful place for a long time, you are traumatized. Trauma can occur when you experience something terrible. In some cases, trauma develops when you are subjected to an extended period of harmful circumstances. It affects both the mind and body. Traditionally, mental health treatment has focused on talk therapy and medication, interventions that are often quite effective at relieving psychological distress. However, many mental health practitioners are now working with psychedelics and transforming their perspective on healing trauma. As a result, psychedelic treatment may provide a less painful means of accessing the interface between the unconscious and the body. 

Valeria interviews Megan Salar  — She is the author of  “EMDR For Dummies and The EMDR Workbook for Trauma and PTSD: Skills to Manage Triggers, Move Beyond Traumatic Memories, and Take Back Your Life.

Megan Salar, MSW, ACADC, is an EMDR Clinician, Trainer and Author who earned her Master's Degree in Clinical Social Work from Northwest Nazarene University in 2011. She has extensively been trained on the use of EMDR and other trauma based interventions and specializes in the areas of trauma, abuse, attachment and substance abuse. Megan has trained thousands of clinicians across the U.S. as well as internationally to get the most out of EMDR, trauma and addiction-based skills and practices. Megan previously owned/operated an intensive outpatient treatment center that was voted best in practice in 2019. She currently owns and operates her own Coaching, Consulting, and Training Business and is passionate about genuinely changing the landscape of mental health and trauma treatment through an authentic hands-on perspective that is uniquely her own.

Megan is the author of the EMDR Workbook for Trauma and PTSD: Skills to Manage Triggers, Move Beyond Traumatic Memories; and Take Back Your Life released by New Harbinger Publications in May of 2023 and EMDR for Dummies  with Wiley Publishing set to release in June 2024. 

To learn more about Megan Salar and her work, please visit: https://thementalsurvivalist.com