Dr. Sandra (Sandy) Newes, PhD, is a licensed psychiatrist and the Co-founder and Programming Director of Living Medicine Institute, which offers psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy training programs. With over 25 years of clinical experience as a psychedelic-assisted psychotherapist, she specializes in anxiety, chronic stress, trauma, and recovery. Dr. Newes is also an educator and speaker offering workshops, events, and education on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and the intersection of nature connection, trauma, and mental health.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [1:14] How psychedelic treatment can produce spiritual experiences
- [2:53] Matt Zemon talks about turning psychedelic experiences into a spiritual life
- [4:03] Why Keith Heinzerling, MD, approaches spirituality with humility
- [5:29] Embodiment as a pathway to spiritual awareness
- [7:37] The role of collective wisdom in psychedelic healing
In this episode…
Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy can open the door to experiences that feel deeply spiritual, relational, and transformative — but those experiences can also unsettle a person’s worldview and challenge clinicians to be supportive without imposing their own beliefs. How can spirituality be approached in a way that deepens healing while keeping the work grounded, ethical, and connected to everyday life?
Five psychedelic therapy and spirituality experts offer practical ways to bring spiritual awareness into psychedelic work. Roman Palitsky, PhD, encourages clinicians to recognize that profound spiritual experiences may arise unexpectedly and to create space for patients to process them responsibly. Matt Zemon suggests treating integration as an ongoing practice by bringing psychedelic insights into daily life, relationships, and the supportive community. Keith Heinzerling, MD, recommends approaching consciousness and spirituality with humility rather than positioning oneself as an authority on another person’s experience. Rohini Kanniganti, MD, emphasizes slowing down, resting the nervous system, and returning attention to the body to ground spiritual awareness in lived experience. Will Van Derveer, MD, encourages practitioners to acknowledge the possibility of a deeper, collective wisdom that may emerge through psychedelic work. These approaches can help spiritual insights become meaningful, integrated parts of a person’s life.
In this episode of Living Medicine, Dr. Sandy Newes looks back on her most insightful episodes. Roman Palitsky, PhD, Matt Zemon, Keith Heinzerling, MD, Will Van Derveer, MD, and Rohini Kanniganti, MD, discuss the spiritual dimensions of psychedelic experiences, the importance of integration and community, and the role of humility and embodiment in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Quotable Moments:
- “These are profound spiritual effects, and we can’t ignore them if we want to do responsible treatments.”
- “Integration isn’t a part of community-based culture because they already have community as the foundation of their culture.”
- “So how do we work with medicine in our culture?”
- “As a physician … when it comes to consciousness or spirituality, I am just a student like everyone else.”
- “Within a calm and alert mind, one can see divinity within oneself and all others.”
Action Steps:
- Prepare clients for spiritual experiences: Acknowledging that psychedelics can produce unexpected mystical or spiritual experiences helps clinicians support clients without minimizing or overinterpreting what arises.
- Treat integration as an ongoing practice: Bringing psychedelic insights into daily routines, relationships, and community helps turn a meaningful experience into lasting change.
- Approach spirituality with humility: Staying curious rather than acting as an authority helps practitioners avoid imposing their own beliefs on a client’s experience.
- Use embodiment to ground spiritual insight: Slowing down, resting the nervous system, and paying attention to the body can help clients connect spiritual awareness to lived experience.
- Strengthen connection and community: Helping people move beyond isolation and toward supportive relationships gives psychedelic insights a stronger foundation for integration.
Sponsor for this episode…
This episode is brought to you by the Living Medicine Institute.
LMI is a training, resource, and membership program educating providers about the legal and safe use of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.
To learn more or participate, visit https://livingmedicineinstitute.com.
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