Addiction and Ancestral Healing with Dr. Jennifer Mullan

Is addiction genetic, or an inherited coping mechanism for unhealed ancestral trauma? In this episode, Ruby talks to Dr. Jennifer Mullan, the clinical psychologist and community organizer behind Instagram account @DecolonizingTherapy, about otherness, feeling safe in our bodies, and an awakening to mental health issues as part of our evolutionary process.

Jenn is on a mission to democratize access to talk therapy, and in this wide-ranging and super-enlightening conversation she and Ruby get deep into the weeds of the inequalities and core, systemic wounds that underlie so many addictions and self-soothing behaviors—and which have often be passed down from generation to generation.

In this episode we also discuss:

-Alcohol vs. cannabis as a coping mechanism

-Feeling safe to be yourself in a world that fears the "other."

-The power and importance of peer-to-peer counseling.

-The cult of individualism vs. our collectivistic needs.

-How to recognize and use our privilege.

-How generational trauma gets passed down – along with coping mechanisms.

-The danger of framing healing as “work," with a specific goal or outcome attached.

-The pros and cons of the rise of Instagram therapists.

You can discover more about Jenn and her work with Decolonizing Therapy HERE and follow her on Instagram. Learn about anti-racism work with The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond HERE.

This episode was created in partnership with Grüvi—get 20% off any online order with the code Ruby20 at www.getgruvi.com.