Will Siu MD, DPhil, completed medical training at UCLA and a doctorate in immunology at the University of Oxford. He completed his psychiatric training at Harvard Medical School, where he was on faculty for six years; his interest in psychedelics as healing tools began there in 2012. He has trained with MAPS in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy and has been practicing with ketamine since 2017. His work as a public educator has been featured in outlets including The Goop Lab on Netflix, HBO, and The Wall Street Journal. Will is co-principal investigator on a pilot research study exploring MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of fibromyalgia. He maintains a clinical office in Los Angeles for patient care, trains psychiatrists/psychologists in the use of psychedelics, and is an advisor to a number of companies in the wellness space.

How do you know if you’re a candidate for microdosing? Can MDMA therapy help heal trauma? What are the long-term impacts of SSRIs? Amanda sits down with Will Siu, MD, DPhil, psychiatrist, speaker, and educator. They talk through the root cause of anxiety and depression, the differences between plant-based and lab-made psychedelics, and connecting with spirit guides.

Curious about a specific topic? Here’s what they cover:

  • Will’s background and story (1:00)
  • Western psychology (3:00) 
  • Unlearning Western medicine (5:40)
  • Key to transformation (9:25)
  • Jung vs Freud (10:25) 
  • Commonalities between Jung and Freud (12:30)
  • Differences between Jung and Freud (13:08)
  • Role of dreams (13:36) 
  • Patient-therapist relationship (14:38) 
  • Pathology vs explorative therapy (16:00) 
  • Realm of doctor spirits (20:40) 
  • Time, space, matter (23:00)
  • We all have helpers (26:10) 
  • Ayahuasca spirit guides (31:00)
  • Spiritual artistry (32:30)
  • Root of anxiety, depression, anorexia, ADHD, suicidal thoughts (36:35)
  • 5 basic emotions (41:05)
  • How we teach children not to feel (41:40)
  • Experiencing suppressed emotions (42:30)
  • Non-specific amplifiers of the unconscious (43:38) 
  • Psychedelics are not a magic bullet (44:20)
  • What makes a guide helpful (45:35)
  • MDMA’s heart-centeredness (47:08)
  • Walkthrough of the major psychedelics (47:50)
  • Sources of human suffering (50:45)
  • MDMA for healing relationships (51:20)
  • DMT for deep connection (52:25)
  • Plant spirits (56:00)
  • Ergot (fungus) derivatives (59:50)
  • Plant vs synthetic lock and keys (1:00:15)
  • Ketamine doesn’t exist in nature (1:00:40)
  • Amanda’s “non” Ayahuasca experience (1:02:20)
  • Macro experiences (:10:50)
  • Microdosing (1:15:15) 
  • Know why you’re doing it (1:16:15)
  • You can't microdose MDMA (1:18:00)
  • What is a microdose (1:20:15)
  • Are marijuana, sugar, and caffeine psychedelics (1:21:35)
  • Things can go wrong (1:23:00)
  • Missing the elders and mentors (1:24:00)
  • How to find your microdose (1:26:10)
  • Key to healing (1:29:33)
  • Who is not a candidate for psychedelics (1:33:50) 
  • How medications interact with psychedelics (1:38:20) 
  • Serotonin syndrome (1:40:00)
  • Impact of SSRIs on the brain (1:41:15)

Watch the full interview here or listen below.

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