Can ayahuasca heal the severe PTSD experienced by military veterans? What impact does that ayahuasca healing have on a veteran’s relationship to military politics and their impact on the world?
As for the first question, apparently yes.|There is a growing number of stories emerging from veterans who found relief from the post-traumatic stress disorder they developed due to their military service.
As for the second question, about the impacts of ayahuasca healing on a veteran’s relationship to military politics, well… that’s much more complicated.
Thankfully, we have Jesse Gould on the show to explore both of these questions with us.
Jesse is the CEO and founder of Heroic Hearts Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that helps veterans who are interested in pursuing psychedelic treatment options, through reputable ayahuasca retreat centers. Their program is designed to ensure veterans get the most out of this valuable opportunity and are set up for success when they return home, and they also provide financial scholarships to veterans who are struggling financially. To date, they have provided more than $200,000 in support to veterans applicants.
Jesse started Heroic Hearts Project back in 2017 to spearhead the acceptance and use of ayahuasca therapy as a means of addressing the current mental health crisis among veterans. A cause he was called to as a consequence of his own experience of PTSD after having been deployed as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan three times and finding profound healing from that PTSD through ayahuasca.
Jesse is on the show for this episode to talk about his own battle with PTSD and his recovery through ayahuasca therapy. We also talk about the challenges of integrating back into civilian life after combat, the tragic mental health and suicide statistics amongst veterans, and the role Heroic Hearts Project is playing to help those veterans.
More than that though, and in response to the second question presented above, Jesse and I speak about what it’s like as a soldier to find out that their government lied to justify the war they were traumatized by being in; the impact of military expansionism on the climate crisis; whether or not “the psychedelic cure” will be used by governments to justify continuing war; and, whether or not ayahuasca healing has any noticeable effects on one’s political stance on the military.
*** Extra BIG thanks to my patrons on Patreon for helping keep this podcast alive! Especially, Andreas D, Clea S, Joe A, Ian C, David WB, Yvette FC, Ann-Madeleine, Dima B, Eliz C, Chuck W, Nathan B, & Nick M
Jesse is the CEO and founder of Heroic Hearts Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that helps veterans who are interested in pursuing psychedelic treatment options, through reputable ayahuasca retreat centers. Their program is designed to ensure veterans get the most out of this valuable opportunity and are set up for success when they return home, and they also provide financial scholarships to veterans who are struggling financially. To date, they have provided more than $200,000 in support to veterans applicants.
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