In this episode of Punk Therapy, Dr. T and the Truth Fairy continue their deep dive into dissociation, trauma, and psychedelic healing. They expand the conversation started in the last episode with a deep dive into how trauma is stored in the body through sensory motor responses, and the complex relationship between psychedelics and dissociation. Through personal examples and powerful client stories, they describe the ability of psychedelics to help survivors of childhood abuse and sexual trauma reach clarity and healing.

One aspect of trauma being stored as a sensory motor response that Dr. T and Truth Fairy warn about is the possibility of retraumatizing clients by pushing them too quickly. Psychedelics can bring buried trauma and memories to the surface, but these revelations may appear as symbolic or literal experiences, and careful therapeutic understanding is essential. They explore the need for relational safety and trauma-informed approaches.

They also review risks outlined in a recent academic paper on Psychedelic Iatrogenic Structural Dissociation, including emotional dysregulation and flashbacks, as well as identity fragmentation and depersonalization, among others. While healing can be reached through medicine work, it requires years of preparation. Dr. T and Truth Fairy stress how important it is to approach the work with empathy and gentleness, focusing on somatic processing and integration rather than pushing for outcome-driven trauma confrontation.

“So I wanted to say that this sensory motor storage, this trauma stored in the emotional part, it is sensory motor. So it shows up as body reactions, as sensations, as reflexes, as emotional flashes. Emotional intensity and high affect. Very little or no words or clear story. These disorganized narratives. And so if you have a survivor of childhood abuse, they may not be able to talk about what happened, but their body will show you through how they move, how they defend, or how they shut down.” - Truth Fairy

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Resources discussed in this episode:

• “Psychedelic iatrogenic structural dissociation: an exploratory hypothesis on dissociative risks in psychedelic use” by Steven Elfrink and Leigh Bergin, ‘Frontiers in Psychology’, 3 March 2025
• “A House in the Sky: A Memoir” by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett
• Steven Elfrink and OmTerra

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Contact Punk Therapy:

• Patreon: Patreon.com/PunkTherapy
• Website: PunkTherapy.com
• Email: info@punktherapy.com

Contact Truth Fairy:

• Email: Truth@PunkTherapy.com

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Dr. T and Truth Fairy are reunited for this episode and introduce a new episode structure to listeners. Each episode will examine, in three parts, the research and clinical research angle of a topic, then practical clinical perspectives, and, finally, a potential guest to weigh in on the topic. In this, part one, Dr. T and Truth explore the relationships between trauma, dissociation, and psychedelic therapy. They dig into how dissociation shows up on a spectrum - from everyday experiences like daydreaming to severe structural dissociation rooted in early trauma and survival responses.

In the trauma model of dissociation, Dr. T and Truth Fairy discuss how the mind and body protect us each against overwhelming pain by sequestering traumatic memories. Truth names several books by people who have survived extremely traumatic situations to illustrate this. They also explore the role of the dorsal vagal complex in shutdown and numbing states, and how attachment wounds contribute to dissociation. Understanding these is key to safe and effective psychedelic therapy.

Together, drawing on clinical research and personal insight, they highlight the protective and harmful aspects of dissociation, how it overlaps with conditions like PTSD, DID, and depression, and they examine how trauma can be carried in the mind and body. Part of their discussion involves how psychedelic medicines can offer healing by bringing suppressed experiences to the surface, alongside care and trauma-informed awareness and guidance.

“And so, yeah, the idea is that in the process of dissociation as a response to trauma, it's protecting in the moment. But those memories and those experiences are still - if dissociation is happening in the moment of a traumatic experience, it might be protective - but then it might be sequestering and pushing some material into a different place within the psyche. And if that remains unresolved, you know, then it can wreak havoc and produce a lot of follow-on distress.” - Dr. T

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Resources discussed in this episode:

• “Psychedelic iatrogenic structural dissociation: an exploratory hypothesis on dissociative risks in psychedelic use” by Steven Elfrink and Leigh Bergin, ‘Frontiers in Psychology’, 3 March 2025
• “The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State” by Nadia Murad
• “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor E. Frankl

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Contact Punk Therapy:

Patreon: Patreon.com/PunkTherapy

Website: PunkTherapy.com

Email: info@punktherapy.com

Contact Truth Fairy:

Email: Truth@PunkTherapy.com

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Dr. T hosts this episode solo and welcomes, as his guest, Joe Strummer, partner of Truth Fairy. Joe Strummer was instrumental in helping set up Punk Therapy and had his own therapeutic psychedelic experience a decade ago alongside Truth Fairy and Dr. Gabor Maté. Joe shares how that experience has stayed with him, how he works with Truth in supporting her workshops, and how the psychedelic healing and therapy both factor into his own work in corporate leadership coaching. Joe’s background with the arts and team facilitation fuse into his embodied leadership approach, which he shares with Dr. T.

Many key themes weave through the conversation between Joe and Dr. T. as they discuss Joe’s own history and work. Leadership development is something Joe is very involved in. He stresses the importance of integrating left-brain strategic thinking with right-brain relational and somatic skills to assist leaders in self-awareness and being fully present. Joe also works in the overlap between leadership coaching and psychedelic therapy, drawing on his training in somatic relationship trauma-informed practices and personal experiences with ayahuasca, MDMA, and psilocybin, to help his clients.

Dr. T and Joe talk in detail about Joe’s personal journey with imposter syndrome and outsider syndrome. Joe was able to trace the roots of those struggles back to childhood experiences, and through psychedelic-assisted therapy, he was able to reframe old narratives. He and Dr. T explore how Joe is now able to pause, ground, and adapt in high-pressure facilitation moments. Joe advocates for leaders to recognize and integrate the parts of themselves they’ve felt pressured to cover or suppress to foster greater authenticity and inclusion, as well as human connection, in the workplace.

“... maybe another good metaphor is the work that the Truth Fairy leads through somatic relational informed practices for psychedelic medicine. And, you know, that somatic relational is really important. Somatic meaning of the body, being present in the body in that moment. So being aware physically of what's going on with your body and where you are and how you're sitting, but also just being in that moment rather than in your head.” - Joe Strummer

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Resources discussed in this episode:

• Gabor Maté
• Joe Strummer at PsychedelicLeadership.ca or info@psychedelicleadership.ca

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Contact Punk Therapy:

Patreon: Patreon.com/PunkTherapy

Website: PunkTherapy.com

Email: info@punktherapy.com

Contact Truth Fairy:

Email: Truth@PunkTherapy.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.