June 26, 2023- Two physicians appeared on the final day of the” “Rewiring The Brain Summit”, speaking on the topic of overcoming past trauma. Both advocated for carefully controlled use of hallucinogens, a practice I have never used and would not recommend, given the sad experience of far too many, in the 1960s and’70s.

That said, the general thrust of the doctors’ practice is holistic healing-with a focus more on rooting out the bases for trauma, clear to early childhood and into the prenatal experiences of a patient, thus the limited use of legal hallucinogenic substances. They both also stress that healing is never a one-off; rather, it is a constant effort on the part of the person seeking it.

For many of us of a certain age, those particular substances conjure the notion of experimentation, concerns about uncontrolled flashbacks and “magic” mushrooms-all of which are still valid. The outlying extreme behaviours tend to make the headlines, as outlying behaviours so often do. The effects that the physicians, Molly Maloof and Andrea Pennington, look for are generated memories that have been forgotten or repressed by the course of trauma. These, similar to epigenic, or genetic, memories, can affect a person’s reactions to current social cues. The difference is that trauma-based residue can lead a person to misinterpret the behaviours of others around him/her and spark a vicious circle of overreaction and rejection.

I mention all this because such misinterpretations were all too common in my repertoire, until a few years ago. It took a lot of intense personal reflection, thankfully done without the aid of hallucinogens, as well as a lot of hard work-and spots of fortunately successful experiences, to get control of my autism and its accompanying feelings of unworthiness and inadequacy. In my case, at least, it did not take any “magic” to overcome the trauma. I wish the doctors success, though, in demonstrating proper use of those substances. Perhaps those whose afflictions are more severe will be able to turn their lives around, as the practice of hallucinogenic-based treatment gets more refined.