Joining me today is Jennifer Chesak, the author of The Psilocybin Handbook for Women.

Jennifer is an award-winning freelance science and medical journalist, editor, and fact-checker, and her work has appeared in several national publications, including the Washington Post. Chesak earned her master of science in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She currently teaches in the journalism and publishing programs at Belmont University, leads various workshops at the literary nonprofit The Porch, and serves as the managing editor for the literary magazine SHIFT.

Today we’re talking about the use of psilocybin, a psychedelic plant medicine, and its potential benefits. 

While psilocybin has potential benefits for everyone, today we’re diving into the specific ways in which it may be helpful for women including regulating our stress and trauma response, helping with depression and anxiety, facilitating healing and behavior change, and promoting hormone health in every stage of life.

Psychedelics and psychedelic assisted therapy are somewhat controversial, but they’re a subject that I’ve been curious about and wanting to cover for a long time, and I couldn’t ask for a better expert to talk with about it.

Jen dispels some of the common myths and fears around psilocybin and educates us on how it can be used safely and effectively.

Please be aware that psilocybin is a schedule one drug and is still federally illegal. However, it has been legalized on a state level in CO and OR, and is currently in the works in other states. It is illegal but decriminalized in Washington DC and Ann Arbor, MI.

If you decide to pursue psychedelic assisted therapy, it is imperative that you do thorough research on who you work with beforehand. I’ve included several resources below and Jennifer also includes detailed information on safety in the book.

The Psilocybin Handbook for Women 

http://www.jenniferchesak.com

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferchesak/

On Instagram, Threads, TikTok, X (Twitter) and Facebook: @jenchesak

https://www.instagram.com/jenchesak/

https://twitter.com/jenchesak

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https://www.facebook.com/jenchesak

Resources:

APPA (American Psychedelic Practitioners Association) - The APPA provides accreditation after practitioners have gone through a comprehensive training. 

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The Flourish Academy

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