The Psychedologist

Keeping the next generation human: Karen Kieffer returns

The wise and refreshingly real Karen Kieffer returns to The Psychedologist to talk shop about keeping the next generation human. She speaks about how to become a conscious parent (not a perfect parent), and how to protect and nurture our children in a world that is not protective and nurturing; creating a web of community and care; being in solidarity and taking action while the world is making us more isolated; and finding hope in dark times - all while living with terminal illness. Some highlights include: * how important it is not to lose ourselves in outrage and despair * Tending to relationships, growing out of relationships * How parents contribute to shaping their baby’s nervous system, and the merit of understanding your childhood stuff before having a baby so things don’t operate through you unconsciously * That trauma is one way that the nervous system learns something, therefore the term “heal my trauma” could also be understood as, “help my nervous system learn a different thing” (and how to create new experiences for ourselves that help us learn a different thing, in our own way and that aligns with our own values) * Going through the body to understand and change a behavior * Cancer, and human beings as the most complex entity in the universe * The adaptive human drive to try to avoid uncertainty * Transformation in the year of the fire horse * Psychedelic Integration coaching Bio: Karen Kieffer, MSW, LICSW, CCTP, CTNC I’m Karen and I run Snowfields Coaching. I’m a trauma therapist and coach trained in a bunch of different modalities like EMDR, Feedback Informed Treatment, expressive therapies, Finnish Open Dialogue, PSIP and other psychedelic therapies, etc. I am also eligible to sit for the Health and Wellness Practitioner Board exam, and I bring a holistic, non-clinical approach to all of my work. I want to help people make practical use of tools that they can use on their own forever that are based on their uniqueness so that they can become more of who they are, to grow and change in the direction they want to go without endless therapy or unwanted medications. I use my own experience of navigating the mental health system plus formal training and education to support people to achieve their own goals through coaching that is informed by clinical, anti-clinical, political, nonviolent, dialogical, physiological, organizational, social, evolutionary, and ecological principles – and probably more! I am a not-perfect mother of one amazing adult and I am blessed with a whole network of wonderful friends and family who really know me and hold me up. I offer coaching in several specific areas. To explore working together, the fastest way is to set up a quick meeting at this calendar link: https://calendly.com/snowfields-coaching/let-s-meet-for-coffee [https://calendly.com/snowfields-coaching/let-s-meet-for-coffee] . I do have Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram pages, but my home and the best place to find me is really at the Motherhood Alliance here: https://www.motherhoodalliance.com/snowfields-coaching [https://www.motherhoodalliance.com/snowfields-coaching] .

Appreciating the jewel in ourselves with Filip Velimirovic

A liberatory episode with special guest, Filip! Here are some highlights from our conversation: * Supporting the spiritual gifts of children * Shame as a genius protective mechanism of the psyche * Filip’s experience growing up in Serbia / former Yugoslavia, the culture’s hypermasculinization due to war creating a climate where it was very unsafe to be trans * The revelation of realizing one’s own internalized prejudice and starting to unpack and work with the shame * Inner healing intelligence; healing takes as long as it takes! * Transforming trauma * Finding MDMA as a fascinating medicine for ptsd, which is endemic in the Balkans * Indigenous teachings around transgender topics Filip Velimirovic (they/them) is a Serbian-born transgender non-binary healing teacher based in France. As part of their practice "Heal With Fil", they support women & people socialized as women to be mentally and emotionally fortified and transform trauma into renewed energy & hope. Filip has been an activist since they were 15. First for transitional justice & reconciliation in their native Balkans, then for drug policy reform and psychedelic science in the US & at the UN level, and more recently for community healing in the Trans / Queer community. After studying political science at a prestigious French university, they were quickly disillusioned by the potential of institutional politics to bring about a needed change. Upon finishing university, they designed their own curriculum: studying the interior world through yoga, meditation, psychotherapy, healing themselves and their female ancestral line with psychedelic-assisted therapy. In parallel to working in the cannabis, psychedelic, and tech spaces (to pay the bills), Filip worked to distill the best methods for healing & personal transformation. Using proven methods such as Internal Family Systems and Brainspotting, they now offer a safe space for folks who hold the vision of a better, more just world in their heart. Favorite conversation topics: divine feminine, healing ancestral lineages, transformation of trauma into community leadership, history of patriarchy, visions of ancestral future, Star Trek, psychedelics & homecooking recepies. Filip is guided in their practice by the following beliefs: * Healing happens in community. * Trans liberation = collective liberation. * Our mental & physical health is a direct reflection of the state of all our relations—not only with other humans, but with our ancestors, the Earth, rivers, lands, animals, and plants.

From Startup to Spirit: Remembering the Soul in Leadership with Emily Ana Levy

In this episode, the brilliant Emily Ana Levy speaks to themes of ocean life, compost, healing from chronic illness, sovereignty, evolution and transformation, Ayahuasca, spiritual awakening and coming out of the spiritual closet, stepping into our gifts, and prioritizing play, pleasure, and connection to the Earth. She provides a beginner friendly introduction to topics such as plant dietas, Kambo and kambo self application, and shares about her experience with these healing modalities. Links: Personal Website: Emily Ana Levy | Entreprenuer, Speaker, Thought Leader [https://www.emilylevy.co/] Shepherd Website: Shepherd ✳︎ | Collaborating with socially conscious leaders + entrepreneurs [https://www.guidedbyshepherd.com/] Mighty Well Website: Mighty Well | Patient-Powered Products That Make Life Simpler [https://mighty-well.com/] IG: @‌Emilyana_levy

Imani and Julian of Entheogen Melanin Collective

In this special episode, Kufikiri Hiari Imara returns to the podcast, to guest host an amazing conversation with the brilliant individuals behind Entheogen Melanin Collective - Imani Turnbull-Brown and Julian Fontaine Fox. Imani and Julian share the stories of how they each came to their advocacy and community work. They speak about the many intersectionalities of Blackness and Melanated Empowerment through storytelling. Entheogen Melanin Collective is fostering connection within the psychedelic space and offering healing in BIPOC spaces throughout and beyond the Boston area. Check them out and support their work at @‌EMCmass on IG Bio: Imani Turnbull-Brown is a U.S. Navy veteran and holistic health & wellness consultant with a deep commitment to ancestral healing and community empowerment. She is the cofounder of the Entheogen Melanin Collective, an organization that uses entheogens as one of many tools to support education, integration, and accessibility to melanated joy, healing, and community. Rooted in her Afro-Caribbean heritage, Imani blends traditional wisdom with modern wellness practices to help others reclaim their wholeness. Bio: Julian Fontaine Fox is a passionate and longtime psychedelic entheogen advocate, poet, and storyteller. He began his advocacy while in Santa Fe New Mexico where he founded a chapter of SSDP and worked with Synergetic Press as a volunteer consultant and advisor. He is the co-creator of Entheogen Melanin Collective and a resident of Boston in Roslindale. In his role with EMC he facilitates community building and outreach. He plans and holds events in the Boston area for community members to attend holding workshops centered on intergration, healing and education. He also reaches out through tabling at bus stops and train stations offering a place for locals to ask and get answers about these substances are. Links: linktr.ee/entheogenmelanincollective [http://linktr.ee/entheogenmelanincollective]

Earl and Matty from The Wildflower Alliance

What happens when you combine respect, mutuality, self determination, potential for change, genuine human relationships, and healing environments? Welcome to The Wildflower Alliance! In the words of Earl Miller, “it’s so basic that people think it’s profound.” The Wildflower Alliance supports healing and empowerment for the broader community and people who have been impacted by psychiatric diagnosis, trauma, extreme states, homelessness, problems with substances and other life-interrupting challenges. They do this through peer to peer support and genuine human relationships, alternative healing practices, learning opportunities, and advocacy. In this episode, Earl Miller, Director of Community Support and Matty Hollander, Hampden coordinator, come on the podcast to discuss their journey with this project. They share about the Alternatives to Suicide support group, the Peer Support Line, the Bowen center, the importance of autonomy and agency, the poverty industrial complex, and “a return to community that is accountable to you, that holds value in your existence. If you believe in community - that includes everyone.” Bio: Earl Miller’s life and work are deeply shaped by his lived experience navigating the psychiatric and foster care systems from the age of 12, and facing homelessness, hospitalization, and trauma—part of which was featured in The New York Times Magazine in December 2024. Since joining the Wildflower Alliance in 2011, he has channeled his resilience into advocacy, community building, and creative expression as a storyteller, musician, and poet with several albums to his name. A proud father of two, Earl has held roles at the Center for Human Development and the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, and served as the inaugural Director of Amherst’s Community Responders for Equity, Safety, and Service, where he helped establish a municipal alternative to traditional policing. He now serves as Director of Community Supports at the Wildflower Alliance, championing anti-racist, humane, holistic, and community-based responses to emotional distress. Bio: Mathew Hollander serves as the Hampden Coordinator for the Wildflower Alliance, a grassroots peer support organization. He is a Northampton-based artist whose practice includes intricate ink drawings and mixed media sculptures. He is a longtime performer and member of the punk/hardcore music scene in the greater Boston area.