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Healing trauma with psychedelic plants

My individual experiences with people and cultures have sparked my interest in how traumas shape our interactions with ourselves and others. I was specifically curious about how sexual, physical and emotional abuse during childhood manifests itself as trauma and changes our self-image, identity, and personality later in life.
Written by
Aysu Naz Atalay
March 3, 2023

Traumas can cause internalized shame and make us build negative narratives and rigid self-beliefs for ourselves which are often learned behavior from our past experiences. Naturally, our way of engagement with ourselves influences our actions, and self-expression in life. Consequently, many people feel disconnected, isolated, estranged, and lonely. I feel sensitive towards the individuals who are not able to express themselves because of their limiting beliefs which are often thoughts provoked by traumas, judgments, and negative opinions they encounter in their lives. This feeling has evolved into my interest in paradigm shifts in mental health as well as my motivation for being involved with psychedelic research and education.

Psychedelic plants embrace both individual and collective change through transformative experiences. They help people to overcome their negative self-beliefs and narratives. I believe change is a great way to discover and go beyond our limitations. It is a great experimental route for growth. I personally understood the concept of change through my experiences in different countries and interpersonal connections. My community, and our shared insightful experiences, helped me to overcome my obstacles and limitations. 

The earth is constantly in transition. We are evolving. We should feel aligned with our nature and embrace the change within our internal and external spaces. Embracing this transformation can also be a way to understand our current relationship with technology. The current power of virtual spaces and digital connections in our lives is vital. I believe one of the strongest ways to change happens through the pragmatic use of our digital world. Bringing people together is an influential and powerful way to create a big transformation for the future of society. 

I have a strong hope for the future of our generation. I see technology and psychedelics working together in the notion of change. Through psychedelics, we have a space to love, connect, and unite. Through technology, we have a space to communicate, empower and educate each other. We can find our safe, creative space in both. That is why we need living communities to bring people together from all around the world. Creating these safe spaces for everyone is one of the most useful ways of using technology and digital tools. Community helps us to unite in a safe and understanding environment to follow our collective passion. People give value to each other, they engage and interact. That's us. We need constant, living interaction. I believe that's one thing we require in our society as a whole. I desire to empower people to find their community where they are able to reveal themselves authentically. 

Being a part of my psychedelic community, being in an accepting, non-judgmental and supportive environment, allowed me to express my passion and love to help others. I want everyone to feel this way and share their stories without internalized shame, guilt, and judgment. I hope to see a future where we have a better emotional connection with each other, but also with our nature, plants, and the magical world we live in!

Aysu Naz Atalay, is from Turkey. Her educational background is Biology (B.Sc) and Biomedicine (M.Sc), and she lived in Finland for 2 years to do her master's studies. She has also lived in Berlin and worked voluntarily in the field of psychedelic research. She believes in the transformative potential of psychedelics for psychological traumas, and wishes to disseminate her personal experiences through contributions to research, and education. Her aim for the future is to work to empower and educate individuals about their health, body, mind, sexuality, and traumas with the help of science, and plant medicine.

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