Introduction to Psychedelics as Medicine Benjamin Greenzweig

From the Cuban Missile Crisis to Covid19: Understanding all Types of Childhood Trauma and the Promise of Psychedelic Therapy

Childhood trauma takes many forms; from intergenerational trauma to navigating large, society-impacting events. Ask any baby boomer about the Cuban Missile Crisis, and you are certain to get an emotional response where they share the deep fear they experienced and how that continues to impact the adult they are today. There are many similarities to the anxiety and fear from the Cold War playing out today with Covid19 and society must recognize the deep, mental health impact lockdowns, mask mandates, race riots, protests and general unrest have and will continue to inflict on our children. Unfortunately these traumas aren't the only ones as children are also exposed to the more common traumas of abuse and neglect that plague our society.

Chris Becker is a scientist and inventor as well as author. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from UC Berkeley and was a postdoctoral associate at MIT in chemistry and physics. He is author on 130 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles and 20 U.S. patents. He’s managed laboratories and research groups, and he co-founded two companies. Blending science and spirituality, Chris has practiced Buddhist meditation for many years. Chris is a father and husband, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Chris will be joining Ben on the next installment of the Balanced podcast series to discuss the following:


adult symptoms because denial and amnesia about childhood trauma are so prevalent
childhood trauma and its treatment with psychedelic-assisted therapy
common resulting symptoms including bouts of depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive behavior
types of addiction including shopping, sex, overeating, anorexia, money, power, work, gambling
types of symptoms such as unstable or unhappy relationships
potential connection between childhood trauma to physical ailments like auto-immune disorders and cancer

Sanjay is a father, husband, an entrepreneur, an investor, and a permanent student. He has started and destroyed companies, gone bankrupt, and enjoyed great success with his founding of, and exit from audiobooks.com. His long-term passion is addressing mental health disorders through novel forms of treatment and created the Nikean Foundation (nikean.org) to fund research and invest in a new generation of psychedelic treatments for bipolar, depression, and eating disorders.

Sanjay has experienced psychedelics on many levels, as a patient, parent, investor and advocate.

Hear his story during this latest installment of Balanced’s webinar series.

Frank started a journey of self-discovery in 2007 when he started having panic attacks and depression that would be triggered by high levels of anxiety. In response, he took anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds to get out of the critical situation, but he felt these drugs would not lead to a sustainable balance. Through his own curiosity, he began to explore new modalities including body therapy and, eventually discovered the power of psychedelics and was able to “enjoy reality and focus on the things that makes us closer and the same.”

Hear his journey during this latest installment of Balanced’s webinar series.

Depression and anxiety can take over and make daily living seem unbearable and any relief feels impossible. The seeds of depression and anxiety can be planted by way of childhood instability, neglect or abuse, or even events later in life. By shifting perspectives, the opportunity to break the cycle of negative and destructive thoughts and behaviors is possible.

Joe, as a child, experienced a dysfunctional home-life and the instability of foster care. As an adult he struggled on and off with depression, anxiety, and self-esteem issues. Most recently, he struggled with the lack of a sense of direction and bouts with pretty significant depression.

He eventually turned to the healing power of psilocybin and as a result, has come to believe that, “Coming away from the experience, my depressive thoughts and the fear of the potential consequences of those thoughts completely evaporated. Life and I aren’t perfect, but it is far, far better than the alternatives.”

Aviva suffered from low to medium level depression and mood swings from her twenties through her early forties. She has a heavy genetic tendency toward anxiety disorders and first started hearing about micro-dosing LSD as a method of improving mood issue. She eventually turned to the healing power of psilocybin, driven by the potential for the "ultimate combination" of evidence-based protocols and mystical, ancient traditions. The perfect way to come at the “set and setting” piece which was so important to her.



Hear her story on:


How she educated herself about the variety of psychedelics available

Why did she choose psilocybin?

What role did her family history play in her decision?

What her experience was like and what has been the result?

What does integration look like?

Unexpected results from his treatment?

What advice she has for others

There is little doubt that one of the biggest impacts of COVID19 will be to our society’s mental health, and sadly there is no shortage of statistics to support this. For every 1% hike in the unemployment rate, there has been a 3.3% increase in drug overdose deaths and a .99% increase in suicides. 60% of human illness and disease are based on stress, and 60 percent of U.S. adults are feeling daily stress and worry, a new Gallup poll shows. A recent study indicated that addiction in rats increases 19 times when in isolation.

I battled depression and anxiety for more than 30 years and one day, after I hit yet another rock bottom, I decided that there just had to be another way to manage my mental health than with medicine and what seemed like inconsistent and ineffective talk therapy. I stumbled upon Michael Pollan's How to Change Your Mind and from that book, discovered the rabbit hole known as psychedelics. Over the next 14 months, I read, watched and listened to every article, research paper, video interview and talk I could find on psychedelics as I wanted to better understand if this medicine could help me.

My journey concluded in March of 2020 when, after a successful MDMA session, I was able to identify and release a long-hidden, deeply buried, and painful trauma that explained virtually everyone one of my behavioral health challenges. Today, I consider my depression and anxiety in remission and have refocused my efforts on condensing the 14+ month journey I underwent to better understand the psychedelic treatments available into an easier to navigate resource for those who are curious to learn more.

Join me, Samantha Raddochia and Wyly Gray as we talk about how we found relief from our suffering with psychedelics. For me, it was MDMA and depression, for Sam, it was psilocybin and LSD for her anxiety and for Wyly, a combat veteran, it was ayahuasca for his PTSD. 

The goal of this podcast is  to provide a starting point for the psychedelic-curious as I believe everyone deserves to find their own mental health balance, and the more knowledge one has, the more empowered they are. 

For more information on other webinars and resources, please visit https://www.balancedtrail.com.