Mushrooms, MDMA, and Ketamine - oh my!

I didn’t set out to become a coach. For a long time, I was really good at playing by the rules. I built a successful corporate career, climbed ladders, made impressive decks, and led important meetings. I was respected, well-compensated, and deeply unfulfilled.

It was a slow ache at first. A feeling that there was more to life than deadlines and KPIs. But I kept going. I knew how to push through. I had learned early on that achieving was a way to be safe — to belong.

Then came the mushrooms.

My First Glimpse of Something More

I still remember the moment during my first psilocybin journey when the trees started breathing. I was in nature with a trusted guide, and as I looked around, everything pulsed with life and intelligence. And for the first time in years, I did too.

That journey cracked something open in me. I felt the presence of parts of myself I’d forgotten: a playful part, a creative part, a grieving part. They showed me memories, longings, fears — and, surprisingly, so much love.

It wasn’t all bliss. There were moments that were raw and uncomfortable. But I saw clearly that I had been living a very narrow version of myself. And once I saw it, I couldn’t unsee it.

MDMA: Meeting Myself with Love

If mushrooms opened the door, MDMA sat me down and said, “Let’s talk.”

In a carefully guided session, I experienced a kind of self-love I’d never known. I saw how hard I had been on myself, the relentless striving, the inner critic who never rested. But instead of judging that part, I felt deep compassion. I understood why she worked so hard to keep me safe.

I also met the part of me that longed to create, to connect, to serve. She had been waiting patiently, buried under years of perfectionism and people-pleasing. Under the warm glow of MDMA, she got to speak. I promised I would listen.

IFS: The Missing Link

Psychedelics opened the door, but Internal Family Systems (IFS) gave me the map.

I found IFS shortly after those early journeys, and everything clicked. The idea that we are made of “parts” wasn’t just a theory — it was exactly what I had experienced on medicine. I had met my parts. And now, I had a framework to deepen those relationships, to bring healing not just in ceremony, but in everyday life.

IFS helped me understand that my high-achieving part wasn’t bad — she was brilliant. She had protected me for years. But she didn’t have to run the show anymore. With practice, I began to lead from my Self — that calm, curious, compassionate presence that psychedelics had first introduced me to.

Ketamine: Softening the Armor

Later, ketamine arrived in my life like a gentle wave. It helped me soften into the spaces that still held tension — the trauma my body hadn’t yet released. In ketamine journeys, I could feel the armor I had built start to melt. And underneath it? Tenderness. Grief. Beauty. Possibility.

Ketamine didn’t give me answers, but it gave me access — to emotions that had long been frozen, and to a truth that lived deeper than words.

Leaving Corporate, Becoming Me

All of this — the mushrooms, MDMA, ketamine, IFS — slowly rewired my life. They helped me remember who I was before the titles, the spreadsheets, the masks. And they gave me the courage to make a different choice.

It wasn’t an overnight leap. It was a series of small, soul-led decisions. One by one, I released the pieces of a life that no longer fit, and stepped into a new one — one where I now guide others through the same kinds of transitions, awakenings, and integrations.

Today, as a transformational coach and psychedelic integration guide, I don’t pretend to have all the answers. But I do know this: there is profound wisdom inside each of us. Sometimes it’s buried. Sometimes it’s guarded. But it’s always there.

And when we find the right conditions — inner and outer — that wisdom blooms.

Final Thoughts

Psychedelics didn’t save me. They showed me the path. IFS gave me the tools to walk it. And coaching became the way I share what I’ve learned.

So yes, the title is a bit cheeky — Mushrooms, MDMA, and Ketamine — Oh My! But for me, they aren’t just substances. They were sacred portals that changed the trajectory of my life.

And if you’re reading this, maybe your own path is starting to whisper. I’d be honored to walk with you as you listen.