The Permission Slip

LeRoy Gordon's life reads like no one would believe — Cabrini Green housing projects to Walter Payton High School, college athlete to police officer, pro wrestler on Canadian and international tours to yoga teacher and men's circle facilitator. In this conversation, LeRoy opens up about growing up without a present father, enduring physical and emotional abuse, and the core wound of needing to be seen that drove everything from his athletic pursuits to his relationship patterns. We dig into how he almost joined the Navy SEALs out of sheer restlessness, how a CM Punk sighting at a WWE show finally gave him permission to chase his childhood dream of pro wrestling, and how the pandemic brought that chapter to a close and cracked open a new one. LeRoy shares how Landmark Forum was his first real taste of sitting with other people and processing what he'd been through, how an MDMA ceremony on his birthday helped him finally connect with his mother in a three-hour conversation that changed everything, and how ayahuasca and men's group work took him even deeper. We also get into his experiments with polyamory and how the radical communication it demands made him a better partner across the board, his recent ADHD discovery and how it reframed decades of restlessness and relationship patterns, and how Reiki, tarot, and yoga have become the unexpected through-line tying it all together. LeRoy is now leading his own men's circles, teaching yoga at Fourth Movement Studio in Logan Square, and building something that bridges the worlds of physical transformation and inner healing — and this conversation is a front-row seat to how he got there. Bio LeRoy Gordon is a fitness coach, yoga instructor, and men's group facilitator in the city of Chicago. After over six years of working the professional wrestling circuits of the US and Canada, LeRoy shifted his focused from his physical pursuits to healing his heart and mind with the help of men's work and plant medicine. He has led men's circles for nearly five years. He hopes to guide and inspire men to be the most open hearted and authentic versions of themselves so that they may continue the work of reducing harm and helping our communities thrive. Email: Leroygordoncoaching@gmail.com Instagram: /royflashgordon Threads: /royflashgordon Substack: https://sovereignsols.substack.comSpecial Guest: LeRoy Gordon.Support The Permission Slip

Karen Kubicko grew up steeped in Catholic school traditions — but something always felt bigger just beneath the surface. In 11th grade, on her first day at a new public school, she heard a voice tell her she'd had a past life with a complete stranger in the hallway. She dismissed it. Decades later, that moment makes perfect sense. In this episode, Karen walks me through the pivotal experiences that cracked her open: a near-fatal emergency C-section that may have briefly stopped her heart, a vision of her deceased grandparents holding her newborn daughter, and years later, a car accident in which an archangel took her on a tour of what felt like her future. Each experience deepened her abilities and ultimately led her to train directly under renowned psychiatrist and author Dr. Brian Weiss at the Omega Institute in New York. Today, Karen offers "whole soul readings," past life regression sessions, intuitive development classes, and Reiki — all aimed at helping people identify and clear the root causes of patterns that are holding them back in this lifetime. Whether it's recurring abusive relationships, irrational fears, chronic anxiety, or a general sense that something is missing, Karen's work helps clients trace those threads back to their source — and release them. Our conversation goes deep on several fascinating topics: How past life regression works and what a session with Karen actually looks like The empath problem — why highly sensitive people absorb other people's emotions, how childhood trauma (hypervigilance, unsafe environments) keeps the "feelers" turned all the way up, and practical tools to dial them back down Discernment — how to tell the difference between your own inner voice, ego chatter, and genuine intuitive guidance Spirit guides and channeling — Karen's experience receiving information, and how she sets clear boundaries with the beings she works with Dr. Brian Weiss and the origins of past life regression therapy — how a skeptical psychiatrist accidentally regressed a patient 5,000 years and changed the field of healing forever Manifesting and timeline choice — the idea that every moment offers a choice between vibrational states, and how awareness of that gap between stimulus and response is itself a form of freedom Karen and I also connect the dots between indigenous wisdom traditions, empathic experience, and the growing global awakening — weaving in references to Paul Selig, Bashar/Darryl Anka, and the power of trusting what you receive, even when it first shows up as a horse and buggy in your living room. This is a beautiful, wide-ranging conversation for anyone curious about the soul's journey across lifetimes — and how understanding that journey can heal the one you're living right now. About Karen Karen Kubicko is a past life hypnotherapist, and intuitive psychic reader passionate about teaching and helping others heal through working with their spirit guides, angels, and healing the patterns found in their own past lives. She is the author of: Life Is Just Another Class—One Soul’s Journey through Past Life Regression, an account of 16 of her own past lives and Making True Love—Healing Relationship Patterns Through Past Life Regression which explores common root causes of relationship issues, plus provides insight on how to heal these patterns so you can find true love. Karen also utilizes her psychic skills to intuitively see someone’s whole soul experience including their past lives. Karen completed the Past Life Therapy Professional Training course with Dr. Brian Weiss. She received her hypnotherapy certification through the National Guild of Hypnotists. She has personally remembered over 200 past lives and has helped numerous others remember their own past lives. Connect with Karen Email: Karen@KarenKubicko.com Website: www.KarenKubicko.com Book a Personal Session: https://calendly.com/karen-kubicko YouTube: @KarenKubicko ~ https://www.youtube.com/@KarenKubicko Instagram: @KarenKubicko ~ https://www.instagram.com/karenkubicko Facebook (page): Karen A. Kubicko ~ https://www.facebook.com/KarenAKubicko LinkedIn: Karen Kubicko ~ https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-kubicko/ X (Twitter): @KarenKubicko ~ https://x.com/KarenKubicko Pinterest: Karen Kubicko ~ http://pinterest.com/karenkubicko/ RedBubble (art & merch): Karen A. Kubicko ~ https://www.redbubble.com/people/KKubicko Karen can be seen supporting her youngest child on the LMN Lifetime television show Ghost Inside My Child (S2 E1, 2014). For more on Karen Kubicko, please visit: https://www.karenkubicko.com/about-karen/Special Guest: Karen Kubicko.Support The Permission Slip

In S2•E3, I speak with Christopher Sunyata, a former medical device engineer turned Buddhist meditation teacher and men’s coach based in Boulder, Colorado . We met at an Osho-inspired Deer Tribe workshop in Cave Creek, Arizona—an intensive container exploring sacred sexuality and polarity work . Christopher shares his origin story: • Raised Catholic in Decatur, Illinois, bullied through childhood  • A sensitive kid who later became a college rugby all-star—yet carried a fractured internal self-image  • A near-death suffocation accident in childhood that left a deep imprint in his nervous system  • Ten years of Jungian analysis, divorce after discovering an affair following a mushroom journey  • Intensive Buddhist practice and eventual immersion in embodied tantric work We explore how women’s somatic intuition became one of his greatest teachers—how feminine bodies read tension, contraction, and presence instantly . We discuss: • Why resting as “open awareness” makes men more trustworthy and attractive  • Breath-rate recovery and training the parasympathetic nervous system  • Why meditation, psychedelics, and sexuality all intersect as portals into death practice and ego dissolution  • His extensive work with plant medicines, including 5-MeO-DMT  • Sexual practice as spiritual practice • The difference between effort-based “techniques” and relaxed energetic openness • How men can access sustained, non-ejaculatory, full-body orgasmic states • Why relational polarity requires stability, not performance • The nervous system as the foundation of spiritual and relational growth Christopher’s central thesis: A man’s depth is revealed in how much intensity he can open through—without collapsing, grasping, or dissociating . We also explore how shame around sexuality has been weaponized socially and spiritually—and what happens when that shame is removed. This conversation bridges: • Trauma work • Buddhist meditation • Tantric polarity • Somatic nervous system regulation • Psychedelic awakening • Masculine leadership It’s an unapologetically honest conversation about embodied masculinity in a time when many men feel disconnected from purpose and presence.Special Guest: Christopher Sunyata.Support The Permission Slip

Dr. Jodie NewDelman shares her evolution from a hard-science neuropsychology background at UCLA studying autism genetics to embracing a more integrated biopsychosocial-spiritual model of care. We examine: • The limitations of purely symptom-based psychiatric models • ADHD and neurodivergence as neurotypes, not simply disorders • Trauma as both psychological and somatic — and how it presents as chronic pain, fibromyalgia-like symptoms, digestive disorders, and “mystery” illnesses • The Quadrintity framework (cognitive, emotional, physical, spiritual) and how imbalance across these domains manifests as dysregulation • Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy as a non-specific amplifier that accelerates subconscious material to the surface • Why preparation, safety, and integration are non-negotiable in psychedelic work • Transference and countertransference as essential considerations in altered states • The difference between being “fixed” and reclaiming agency This episode invites listeners to examine whether their current healing path is addressing root causes — or merely suppressing symptoms. • Nervous system regulation • Trauma stored in the body • Neurodivergence & ADHD • Chronic pain & somatic symptoms • Internal Family Systems (IFS) • Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy • Psychedelic preparation & integration • Transference & countertransference • Biopsychosocial-spiritual model • Experiential medicine • Personal agency in healing Dr. NewDelman's website is https://essensuate.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091764967649 LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/essensuate-integration/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/essensuate/Special Guest: Dr. Jodie NewDelman.Support The Permission Slip

I discovered the channeled work of Paul Selig and his "Guides" (whom have called themselves "Melchizedek") in late summer of 2020. I had fortunately been "softened" up considerably with psychedelic work including Psilocybin, MDMA, Ayahuasca and Mescaline in addition to some deep myofascial work by that point in my healing journey. A friend shared a link to a YouTube video and it was as if a tractor beam took hold of me. I was mesmerized and, after checking their stock online, was on my way to a bookstore 30 minutes away where I purchased three books. This work is one of the three pillars of my transformation - up there with psychedelics and somatic work. And it may not resonate with you. It was one of the clearest example of "When the student is ready, the teacher appears" I've experienced. Others have told similar stories. In this episode of The Permission Slip, I sit down with Paul Selig for a conversation about consciousness, channeling, and what it means to live in alignment with a higher order of truth while fully embodied as a human being. Paul shares his personal origin story — from an accomplished academic life to an unexpected spiritual awakening that opened him to hearing and working with the Guides. We explore how his abilities unfolded gradually, the role discipline and integrity played in stabilizing the work, and why true channeling is less about being “special” and more about becoming transparent to something greater. We move into the core teachings brought through the Guides: the nature of divine union, the Christ as a universal principle rather than a historical figure, and humanity’s current reckoning with fear, separation, and self-denial. We also discuss discernment in spiritual work, the difference between inspiration and channeling, free will, presence, and how awakening does not bypass the human experience — it transforms how we meet it. This conversation is not about belief systems or spiritual bypassing. It’s about lived experience, embodiment, and the practical integration of higher consciousness into daily life. Paul's website is https://paulselig.comSpecial Guest: Paul Selig.Support The Permission Slip

Join me as I sit down with someone who has been a beautiful and powerful force in my healing journey — my Pilates instructor and friend, Janell Riedl. After resisting the call of Pilates for a long time, three years ago I found Janell. She has been guiding me unwinding my twisted fascia, waking up dormant muscles, getting overactive muscles to calm down and helping me release decades of stored tension and trauma. She is not your typical Pilates instructor; Janell is also an intuitive, an energy worker, and a teacher in the truest sense — someone who learned the hard way, followed her intuition, and kept leaning into the deeper layers of her own evolution. We talk about her path from theater major to bartender and aspiring rock star, to leaving a toxic relationship, to living with an energy intuitive in Oregon who cracked her open to her real gifts. We chat about how the body stores emotion and how shaking can reprogram the nervous system. Our talk ventures into why letting go is harder than holding on, and how intuition guides her work with clients. We also dive into spiritual openings, core unwinding, fear conditioning, ego, and why you can’t heal a body you’re judging. This episode is a small window into the magic that happens when someone merges technical mastery with intuitive knowing. This is a conversation about healing, trusting your path, and remembering that the journey is the point.Special Guest: Janell Riedl.Support The Permission SlipLinks:Elite Integrated Pilates

In this episode, I sit down with Clinical Nutritionist, Author and Noetic Gield Practitioner Jessica Brown for a powerful exploration of the emotional, energetic, and spiritual roots of healing. Jessica shares her remarkable story — from growing up between two very different parents, to experiencing depersonalization/derealization after marijuana use, to finding an energy healer who helped her rebuild her inner world. Her journey opened the door to noetic field therapy, compassionate inquiry, and the innovative work she now does at the intersection of trauma, belief systems, energy, nutrition, and chronic health conditions. We discuss: How childhood fragmentation becomes unconscious belief structures What sits in one's auric field and how it influences behavior The mechanics of noetic field therapy Why the heart — not the mind — is what clears deep-rooted patterns The emotional origins of food struggles How GLP-1 medications create psychological spaciousness How trauma echoes through the nervous system, the emotions, and the body Why “spiritual growth” doesn’t mean bypassing human fear Re-inhabiting the body and returning to one’s own wholeness This is a rich, grounded conversation for anyone interested in inner work, trauma healing, consciousness, and especially the relationship between food and emotional safety. About Jessica Brown Jessica Brown is a Stanford-certified compassion teacher, functional medicine clinical nutritionist, and author with over 25 years of experience helping people heal physically and emotionally. With more than ten years of specialized clinical practice in self-compassion-based reparenting and mindset work, she has guided thousands toward lasting transformation. Jessica is the author of "The Loving Diet," which pioneered mind-body approaches for autoimmune conditions, and served as visiting faculty at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, where she helped create their Mindful Eating program. She maintains a thriving practice as a consultant to practitioners and clients nationwide and continues to influence the health community through her innovative approaches to healing. Her work bridges the gap between medical treatment and emotional healing, offering practical tools for those ready to transform their relationship with food, body, and self from the inside out. Learn more at www.thelovingdiet.com or www.glp1nutritionacademy.com Book: Beyond the Shot Inner Work for Lasting Success on Weight-Loss Medications By Jessica Brown About the Book With millions turning to GLP-1 medications like Ozempic®, Wegovy®, Mounjaro®, and Zepbound™, one question looms large: What happens after the prescription? Beyond the Shot is the first book written for patients themselves navigating life on GLP-1s. Clinical nutritionist and compassion educator Jessica Brown blends the science of GLP-1s with the psychology of eating, showing readers how to quiet food noise, stop self-sabotage, and create lasting change. Highlights The first book for GLP-1 users, filling a major gap in obesity care. Blends science with psychology: medication, mindset, and self-compassion. Case stories illustrate real transformations beyond weight loss. Practical anchors: protein, fiber, hydration, sleep, and structure. Supports the urgent call from the American Society for Nutrition for multidisciplinary care alongside GLP-1 therapy. About the Author Jessica Brown is a clinical nutritionist, author of The Loving Diet, and founder of Inner Well Press, the GLP-1 Nutrition Academy, and the Menopause Heart Project. She is a sought-after speaker and educator, known for combining warmth, practicality, and compassion in helping people transform their relationship with food and body image.Support The Permission SlipLinks:Jessica Brown's Instagram Jessica Brown's GLP 1 Education WebsiteJessica Brown's Primary WebsiteJessica Brown's YouTubeJessica Brown's TikTokJessica Brown's TikTok

In this episode of The Permission Slip, I sit down with Shweta Shyamani, a clinical hypnotherapist, energy intuitive, and co-leader of Rewilding Retreats for Women. Shweta shares her powerful journey from corporate success to soul-centered healing—walking away from an MBA-driven marketing career just days before 9/11 and eventually finding her calling in energy medicine and Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT). We talk about how unresolved emotions and energy imbalances can manifest as physical illness, why traditional talk therapy often keeps us looping in old stories, and how techniques like RTT, EFT tapping, and hypnotherapy help people access deeper layers of healing. Shweta also opens up about her mother’s decades-long illness, which became the catalyst for her path as a healer, and about her retreats that help women reconnect with their feminine essence, emotional truth, and sense of belonging. It’s a rich, heartfelt conversation about courage, intuition, and what happens when we finally choose alignment over achievement.Special Guest: Shweta Shyamani.Support The Permission SlipLinks:Shweta's Website

In this intimate and wide-ranging conversation, I sit down with licensed psychotherapist Ben Goldberger, LCSW—founder of We Are Medicine. Ben shares his personal journey from depression, disconnection, and rebellion in his 20s to finding healing through men’s work, psychotherapy, and holotropic-style breathwork. They explore how non-ordinary states of consciousness can open pathways to integration and wholeness, what it means to reclaim personal agency in healing, and why deep breathwork can be as transformative as psychedelics—without the pharmacology. The episode also weaves in themes of trauma release, body-based therapy, spiritual awakening, meditation, and miracles, offering listeners both inspiration and grounded tools for inner work. ** Ben's Bio ** Ben Goldberger is a breathwork facilitator and trauma-focused psychotherapist practicing in the Chicago area since 2010. He is passionate about helping others access their innate abilities to heal and change through the use of intuitive, somatic methods, combined with more conventional analytical approaches. Ben offers monthly breathwork workshops, private breathwork and a variety of talk and somatic therapy modalities meant for all ages including EMDR, Jungian-informed psychotherapy, and family therapy of all kinds. Website: https://wearemedicine.netSpecial Guest: Ben Goldberger.Support The Permission SlipLinks:Ben Goldberger's Website

In this episode, I reconnect with Lizzi Cutler, an intuitive and transformational energy worker who once guided me through a powerful healing process that helped clear energetic blocks around abundance—blocks I didn’t even uncover during years of therapy or plant medicine journeys. Lizzi shares her story of growing up in suburban Chicago, always feeling like an outsider and spiritually aware from a young age. Her path led her through yoga, meditation, and eventually discovering her unique intuitive gifts, which she now uses to help clients identify and clear deeply embedded energetic patterns. Lizzi describes her work as communicating soul-to-soul, often receiving playful, grounded messages in her own language. Her approach is part energetic scanning, part intuitive guidance, and part energetic “cleaning lady,” as she calls it—helping people release energetic blockages that manifest as chronic scarcity, emotional pain, or confusion. We discuss the importance of listening to the body for intuitive yes/no responses, the trap of trying to manifest from a place of resistance, and the need for more play in our adult lives. Lizzi’s clients range from spiritual seekers to medical professionals, all seeking clarity, healing, and permission to live in alignment with their higher selves. Lizzi's Bio Lizzi Cutler is a transformational coach with a proven track record of helping high achievers and individuals seeking deeper personal growth overcome stress, remove emotional and energetic blockages, and elevate both their personal and professional lives. Known for delivering lasting results, Lizzi uses a variety of techniques, including energy work, guided visualization, and emotional clearing, to empower her clients to release tension, realign their focus, and unlock their full potential. Her approach is infused with hope and optimism, creating an environment where clients can break through limitations and see new possibilities. Whether you're aiming for peak performance or seeking balance in your everyday life, Lizzi’s holistic, results-driven methods offer a path to breakthrough achievements, renewed confidence, and sustained success. Her mission is to equip high performers with the tools for self-awareness, balance, and long-term personal and professional growth, while fostering a sense of hope for a brighter future. https://lizzicutler.com IG: https://www.instagram.com/lizzicutler/Support The Permission SlipLinks:Lizzi Cutler's Website

The guest on upcoming Episode 6, Laura O'Malley, introduced me to Alefyah Lindo in early 2024. I was laid up in bed, literally unable to walk on the day of our first appointment. She was kind enough to come to my home and did her best to assist me. Since then we've worked together several times, most recently in a "Deep Dive" into some stubborn remaining blocks. In this episode of The Permission Slip, I sit down with Alefiyah–modern mystic with roots in social work and psychotherapy, healer, and feminine wisdom guide—for a soulful conversation about what it means to truly live from the heart. Alefiyah shares her journey of awakening through the heartbreak of being raised a woman in the highly patriarchial Middle East and how she came to embrace her path as a mystic while navigating motherhood, marriage, and the pull of modern life. Together, we explore how feminine power doesn’t shout or hustle—it listens, receives, and guides from a deeper intelligence. We talk about the difference between intuition and fear, the ways our bodies speak long before our minds catch up, and how trusting the unseen is a radical act in a culture that worships control. Alefiyah offers practical wisdom on how to cultivate embodied presence, honor your cyclical nature, and live in alignment with what she calls the “current of truth.” This episode is an invitation to let the heart—not the mind—be your compass, and to reclaim your inner mystic in a world that has forgotten the sacred. Alefiyah's Bio I am a Mind-Body-Energy Intuitive, and I access other aspects of my being than just my mind. I use a Holistic and Non-Dual approach. My practice includes highly effective techniques, intuitive guidance, and almost 20 years of experience as a psychotherapist. Finding Buddhism and doing a 10-day silent Vipassana Meditation retreat in my early 20s started my spiritual journey. Early in my career in attachment and trauma work, I started incorporating mind-body techniques in my practice, like mindfulness-based stress reduction, breath work, yoga, etc., to help my clients decrease symptoms, as I encountered the limitations of talk therapy. Ten years ago, I learned about the Chakra energy system taught by Caroline Myss. Then as I reached a plateau, I discovered EFT, which was my entry into energy work, and pivotal for my healing journey. I also became fascinated by the Lymphatic System and the world of Fascia (connective tissue), and their interconnection to our physical and mental health. Our lymphatic system and fascia are closely connected to the energy meridians running throughout our body. During my study of energy medicine, teachers like Marie Manuchehri, Dr. Jennifer Vest, and Suzanne Giesemann have helped me become more skilled in my energy-intuitive abilities, recently extending it to animal/inter-species communication. I have an undergraduate degree from Purdue University, a master's degree from University of Illinois and I am a licensed therapist in Illinois. My 20+ year journey has allowed me to gain a deep understanding of many disciplines, and I am in a unique position to take all that training and create tailored care for my clients. Every technique or skill I teach my clients is something I have personally used and found extremely helpful at some point in my life. And in a nutshell, I LOVE what I do! Even though my ethnicity is Indian, it wasn’t until I was an adult and studied yoga and Ayurveda did I learn the meaning of Namaste, saying it with the posture of our hands together by our heart. It means “the light in me bows to the light in you.” Namaste! 🙏🏾 Website https://www.alefiyahlindo.comSpecial Guest: Alefiyah Lindo.Support The Permission Slip

It was late 2019 and, in spite of a lot of personal growth work, including a beautiful solo psilocybin journey, guided MDMA journey with an underground therapist and a 12 day Ayahausca retreat in the Ecuadoran Andes, I was still in excrutiating physical pain. I was guided to Jonathan Tripodi, mystical fascial magician and talented astrologer by a power greater than myself. A five day intensive that ended three days before the 2020 Covid lockdowns gave me a great deal of relief and left me well-equipped to navigate the next six months and beyond. Tune in for an expansive conversation with Jonathan, creator of Body Memory Recall (BMR) where we explore the profound wisdom held within the human body. Jonathan shares his journey from athletic performance and massage therapy to a spontaneous emotional awakening that changed everything. That moment revealed to him what so many of us miss: that the body is not just a vessel—it’s a living archive of every experience we’ve never fully felt. From that awareness, Jonathan developed a somatic healing modality that helps people access and release the unconscious memories, traumas, and emotions stored in their tissues. Our conversation uncovers the deeper truth about pain, memory, and the body’s capacity for transformation. We discuss why surrender—not control—is the key to healing, how breath and gentle touch can unlock what the mind cannot access, and why true freedom often begins with vulnerability. Whether you’re holding onto pain you can’t explain, or you’ve tried to think your way to healing and hit a wall, this episode offers a radically different approach: drop into the body, trust its timing, and allow what’s ready to rise. This is an invitation to feel what’s been waiting, and to finally let it go. Jonathan's Bio For 30+ years Jonathan has explored body memory and its relationship to chronic pain, stress, illness, and behavior. His Body Memory Recall – BMR – approach has supported thousands of individuals to heal old wounds and experience, renewed states of of health, peace, power, joy, and wisdom. International Author, Healer, & Educator 30+ Years Experience Specializing in the transformation of Suppressed Pain, Emotion, & Trauma Author of Freedom from Body Memory Founder of the Body Memory Recall (BMR) Approach Creator of 365 Online Learning for Transformation & Awakening Featured on GAIA Featured on E-Motion BS Physical Therapy BA Sports Science Website https://jonathantripodi.com Instagram @freedomfrombodymemory YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/bodymemorymanSpecial Guest: Jonathan Tripodi.Support The Permission Slip

In the first episode of The Permission Slip, I touch my journey healing from decades of depression, addiction, and physical pain to a place of deep presence and purpose. For much of my life, I felt like I didn’t belong here—as in on Earth, here, in a body. Despite building a successful business and raising two beautiful daughters, I was deeply disconnected, numbing myself with alcohol and later navigating chronic pain through a medical system that was not designed to deal with spiritual issues. My healing truly began after a psilocybin journey cracked me open, leading me to explore alternative modalities, spiritual practices, and inner transformation. This podcast is my offering to others who are seeking their own way out of pain and into authenticity, embodiment, and joy. My first guest, Renee LaVallee McKenna, has played a pivotal role in my healing. She’s a former multi-substance addict turned spiritual psychologist who brings a grounded, no-BS approach to deep inner work. In our conversation, we talk about addiction as a search for the right algorithm, the hero’s journey as a framework for healing, and the ways unresolved trauma lives in the body. Renee shares how her own rock bottoms became portals to growth and how she found her calling by surrendering to something bigger than herself. Our discussion touches on themes like self-responsibility, spiritual awakening without substances, and the intelligence of our body and nervous system. If you’ve ever felt stuck, numb, or like your life is “fine” but missing something essential, I hope this episode offers a glimpse of what’s possible when you give yourself permission to heal. Reneé's Bio I'm a Boston-born mentor, hypnotherapist and Shamanic healer who guides people to heal and transform on a soul level. My individual sessions, workshops, groups and mentorship programs in Spiritual Psi-Kology offer a unique blend of neo-Shamanism and Buddhist philosophy with hypnotherapy and body-based mindfulness. I bring my 30+ years of experience as a recovering addict and ex-crazy person to my weekly podcast, sharing snackable teachings on spirituality, psychology and all things personal growth. All of the work I do with clients, I have experienced in my own therapy and personal growth work. I consider myself a mentor, guide and navigator for your own soul's journey. I DO NOT practice as a licensed psychologist or counselor. I have a Masters degree in Transpersonal Psychology and am a certified clinical hypotherapist. For 14 years I studied DepthHypnosis, Shamanism and Energy Work with Dr. Isa Gucciardi and have been a student of Lifespan Integration, Hakomi Method and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and healing methods. Through my own inner work and practice, I have come to believe that spiritual and intuitive methods of healing are more effective and transformative than the more intellectually and physically based approach of Western psychology. The work of Spiritual Psi-Kology is intended as an alternative and a compliment to Western psychology and many find this work to be a great addition to traditional talk therapy, psychology and psychiatry. My book, workbook and guided audio series Allies & Demons: Working With Spirit For Power And Healing is available on Amazon and Audible. Allies and Demons guides you through the 15 basic inner journeys of Spiritual Psi-Kology. This powerful book is filled with inspiring client stories, soul level wisdom, and my personal journey of healing and empowerment. I know the extremes of success and failure. From bankruptcy to grad school, from divorce and homelessness to motherhood and art teacher, from addict and alcoholic to lead of Women's March 2017, I bring the wisdom gained from my many life experiences to my students and clients world-wide. My passion is to bring this work that has healed and transformed my life to all who need it. My free content includes a weekly podcast, healing workshops on Insight Timer and content on Youtube. My year-long Mentorship Program trains therapists, counselors and healers in the grounded and practical tools of Spiritual Psi-Kology. I also offer Healthy Healer Workshops offering tools for healthy boundaries, energy medicine and spiritual connection for other practitioners. Check out my artwork here.Special Guest: Renee LaVallee McKenna, MA.Support The Permission Slip