Psychedelics & Living Your Truth with Dr. Michael Sapiro

The Origins of a Healer: Trauma, Buddhism, and Dr. Sapiro’s Career Path to Psychedelic Work

Dr. Sapiro attributes his approach to trauma and psychedelic work to three defining elements of his early life, the first being the hardships his family endured.

He describes his early life as growing up in the “shadow of the Holocaust.” With grandparents who survived Auschwitz and Russian prisoner-of-war camps, his early environment was shaped by generational trauma and the need for solitude.

As he looks back now he can see the symptoms of PTSD in his family members— the dysregulated nervous systems and hyper-vigilance, but also resilience. 

Driven by a curiosity about the divine and a need to soothe his own trauma responses, Sapiro began experimenting with psychedelics at age 15.

These experiences allowed his perspective to expand exponentially— going beyond what was physically in front of him, but also formed a deep connection to nature within him. 

When he discovered Buddhism at 18, he found the structural framework he needed to understand these states and the nature of suffering.

His innate passion for helping others is what truly puts the finishing touches on the basis for which all of his work is built upon, and Dr. Sapiro was acting as a guide long before he knew it would be his career path. 

By the ripe age of 18, he found a way to hold space for his friends by leading psychedelic groups to help them navigate difficult mental landscapes under altered states of consciousness. 

Through all of these early experiences, Sapiro realized that we are all descendants of trauma and historical violence, but we are not helpless. Buddhism taught him that there is a tangible “way out” of suffering—a path to healing that now defines his clinical practice.

So while the hardship of his lineage gave him empathy, and his early psychedelic use gave him insight into altered states, his Buddhist training gave him the discipline and cosmology to navigate the mind. As he puts it, “the hardships of my family, wanting to help people through their own hardships, and doing my own work, that is the basis for everything I do now.”

“The Four Noble Truths within Buddhism addresses the suffering, the root of suffering, the possibility of that shifting and changing, and then the way that we can bring that into how we live our lives.” — Jimmy Nguyen 

Sapiro’s path shows us that we don’t really need to know where we’re going in life, as long as our intentions are pure, we are living our truth and following our passion, everything else can fall into place. 

Early on, Sapiro helped people through being a Buddhist teacher, which allowed him to do deep psychological work, but he recognized that he didn’t have the skillset to meet everyone where they are. 

Trauma looks different for everyone, but what arises in psychedelic experiences is unpredictable and shrouded in mystery. It also leaves people in their most vulnerable and intimate state— which needs to be treated with respect in the form of proper preparation and training. 

That’s when he decided to go back to school and get a doctorate in clinical psychology to grow his skillset and expand the ways in which he can ethically help others without risking retraumatization or harming them further— an incredibly important pillar to psychedelic work.

Recommended Reading: A Facilitator’s Guide to Ethical Psychedelic Practices Ft. Ashley Carmen

Now at 47 years old he can confidently say he’s accomplished most of his goals and that he’s looking forward to where life takes him next, not that he knows where that will be.

Pain: The Biggest Driver of Positive Change

It’s no big secret, but it may seem counter-intuitive. It’s easy to turn your focus outward, right? Like you might think signing up for a yoga class is a positive change, which it very well is, but it’s a superficial change. We’re talking about changing things from the ground up. 

Our founder, Jimmy Nguyen, sees Dr. Sapiro as an example in action of someone really “living their truth,” and Sapiro’s response? He attributes this to turning to his pain instead of running from it. 

“I just couldn’t deal with my pain and my emotions and my dysregulated nervous system and my difficult attachment styles. My God, I can be a mess. Just ask my sister. The point is though, I finally learned to turn toward it. To turn toward it. And I now know to do what’s hard first.” — Dr. Sapiro

And that’s exactly what he tries to teach others who are looking for the stability and groundedness that exists when you gain the courage to face the darkest and most painful parts of yourself. 

Because there’s what it looks like on the surface, and then there’s all the inner workings and the depth of all actions, behaviors, pain and suffering that led you to this. 

A core notion in Dr. Sapiro’s book, Truth Medicine: Healing and Living Authentically Through Psychedelic Psychotherapy, states that coming into better relationship with ourselves is the biggest driver of positive and actionable change.

Achieving Inner Peace By Turning Towards Your Pain

Most people who come to Dr. Sapiro are looking for healthier relationships, healthier behaviors, and to be less depressed or anxious. 

He believes that if you’re feeling anxious or depressed, there’s most likely going to be a mismatch between how you are acting, speaking and showing up in the world, and who you are deep down, leading to misalignment in life. 

We often interact with the world based on our conditioning, habits and patterns that we learned early on in life. If we have learned trauma responses or grew up in a dysregulated household, we may not be operating in the most authentic way, which is a disservice to ourselves. 

Part of the reasoning behind the title of his book, Truth Medicine, is that psychedelics can help us realize and come into our own true, authentic way of being, one that completely aligns with our own personal values, not someone else’s.

If you tuned into our last podcast episode, we dove into how one can rediscover joy and contentment with psychedelics, and we determined that contentment can be described as feeling like you’re exactly where you need to be, doing exactly what you need to be doing, with the right people. 

This definition of contentment echoes Dr. Sapiro’s belief that long-term inner peace (contentment) can be achieved once we align ourselves with our own goals and values.

A Unique Perspective to Psychedelic Healing: Active Psychotherapy in Altered States of Consciousness

There are two schools of thought regarding the role of a facilitator, one taking a more passive approach and one actively participating, meaning helping their client work through the content that arises.

The general consensus in the psychedelic community is that the medicine does the work, meaning facilitators or guides are there in case they are needed for a bathroom break, space holding or an emergency, but generally will take a backseat during the experience. 

Dr. Sapiro advocates for active psychotherapy during altered states, meaning he believes positive change can start in psychedelic-induced altered states of consciousness in the form of “practice rounds,” and that when it does, it has a higher chance of carrying over into everyday life. 

Sapiro advocates for a variety of approaches to psychedelic work. He gives reverence to the ceremonial work done by shamans in the jungle, psychedelic therapy which involves a passive approach of a facilitator, and even recreational experiences where you may just giggle with your friends, but he also sees a need for a more hands-on, clinical option.

Active Therapist Participation Isn’t Without Risk

When taking a more active approach, the role of power dynamics, trust, and transference come into play, and there’s more room for things to go wrong, but it also presents a unique opportunity to engage in psychotherapy in an altered state of consciousness, when neuroplasticity is at its height and our egos fluctuating.

It’s extremely important to tread lightly and have an extensive skillset to properly carry out this method, and even Dr. Sapiro himself admits there’s been times where he’s taken the wrong approach.

“When a person’s in an altered state, I have to be very mindful and careful with making direct statements because they may or may not be ready to hear that or they might not want it. I had a thought and I knew it to be true because when this client is in a non-altered state, he tells me, I’m doing things that push my daughters away. And he’s doing it here in the psychedelic state. So I know there’s a connection. In my mind, I heard the wisdom that says, this is what he’s doing with his daughters. But I also heard myself say, Mikey, don’t say that right now. Don’t say that. But I said it. So I heard my own intuition going, this is not the right time for you to drop that insight. But I dismissed that. I said the thing and he got so hurt and angry, and rightfully so. I crossed an emotional boundary that he wasn’t ready to cross. I even knew better I still did it.” — Dr. Sapiro

As Mikaela de la Myco says, “conflict is generative,” so even when mistakes do happen, a unique opportunity arises to be able to strengthen the facilitator-client relationship by addressing the mistake, which can establish trust. 

“The cycle of rupture and repair is actually very important, especially when you’re in the world of psychotherapy, where a transference and counter-transference can happen.” — Jimmy Nguyen

Through these mistakes he’s been able to hone in on a passive-active approach, which includes less coming up with meaning and more prompting or asking questions, like working in tandem with the medicine but not directing the experience.

Real-Time Transformation

The altered states of consciousness that arise from psychedelic substances like psilocybin-containing mushrooms, ketamine and MDMA is the perfect landscape to have deep discussions of the heart that are often inaccessible to us in everyday life due to the walls built up by our ego and our default mode network. 

The pathways in our brain that determine how we think and what we believe can become so rigid, that we almost need altered states of consciousness to be able to break out of our old thought patterns and really enact positive change from within.

This is where psychedelic psychotherapy comes into play. When our ego drops and our heart opens, this is where Dr. Sapiro can ask questions that evoke a response from the heart, or ask them questions about what they’re experiencing in real time and how that might relate to their healing goals. 

His goal is not to manipulate their answer, but to use questions as a means of drawing out what might arise from their psyche that doesn’t come from conditioning, and instead might benefit them in some way.

Dr. Sapiro finds that old emotions are often dealt with by old versions of ourselves. In emotionally charged situations, many of us are letting our teenage or child self answer for us. Is it you fighting with your significant other or your angry teenage self?

Once again, under altered states of consciousness that dominant part of ourself relaxes, and we’re able to exercise other parts of ourself, the mature, patient, caring, loving parts. 

Dr. Sapiro believes that once we access these parts of ourselves in altered states of consciousness, taking time for “practice rounds” can ensure that we’re able to access these parts of ourselves in integration where we practice further, and consequently in everyday life.

The Patchwork Persona

Here’s some food for thought, what if there’s a million of you floating around in the universe right now as we speak. Well, maybe not floating around in the universe but living in the heads of everyone who’s ever met, known and loved you.

That’s the idea behind Dr. Sapiro’s “patchwork persona,” that he discusses in his book, but how do we know which version of ourselves is our “truth,” and how do we begin to live in accordance with our truth?

Simply put, it takes courage. To come to a place where you recognize a need for change, and wanting to change takes courage. Partaking in psychedelic healing takes courage, especially when it’s so easy to tune out nowadays and live on autopilot. 

Not everyone is in a position to make drastic life changes, like switching careers or getting divorced, and that isn’t Dr. Sapiro’s goal. His real goal is to help those on their healing journeys to learn how to vocalize what’s true for them. 

“It’s not always radical, this transformational change in a way that’s rooted in nonviolence. What I mean by that is that for folks who are going through a lot of transformational change, they’re like, this is who I am now. I have new boundaries. I have a different way of relating that oftentimes can come at the cost of a relationship where somebody knows you in a certain way, or somebody expects to interact with you in a certain way.“ — Jimmy Nguyen

It’s about gaining the courage to have those constructive conversations with your employer, spouse, parents, etc, and sharing the need for a change, where again the concept arises of conflict being generative. 

And then begins the task of integrating this “new you” into an old landscape of who you used to be, which can come with its own set of challenges. 

Ordinary Mysticism: Transformational Change in Mundane Acts

Most people coming to psychedelics for healing are seeking a big change, a transformational experience that changes them forever, but what they don’t realize is that it’s in the moments we’re washing the dishes or making ourselves lunch that real, sustainable change happens.

Many studies have shown a correlation between mystical-type experiences and mental health/wellbeing improvements— so just by a heightened sense of belonging to the universe, reconnecting with the fabric of the universe, by feeling the “oneness” that we’re all a part of something bigger, we can start the process of enacting positive change. 

Not only that, but Majić et al., 2015 & Nour et al., 2016 suggest that mystical experiences can improve empathy, which means we can show up as a more conscientious, kinder person just by feeling the sense of interconnectedness that comes with mystical experiences.

So while the effects of the substance will fade, the feelings and truth we feel during the experience carries into our everyday life. 

Many individuals have reported to Dr. Sapiro feelings of being “awakened” to the world around them, hearing birds sing in the morning for the first time, noticing the sunlight peeking through trees, the wind on their face for the first time in years after having a psychedelic experience. 

And that’s what mysticism is all about! It’s about tasting your food to the full capacity of your senses, it’s life expressing and living itself through you to the fullest capacity. 

Why Healing Comes First

We see so often people wanting to enact changes in their lives in order to achieve their own healing, but what if it’s actually quite the opposite? We propose that instead, try putting your healing first, meaning you only have to accept and love yourself, and allow the rest to follow. 

“There’s an innate innocence, a quality of pureness that exists in all of us. You see it in babies and children. It doesn’t disappear, it gets fragmented and filtered and conditioned, but it still exists within us. If we can touch that in any of our sessions, that innate pureness, original essence, you are more likely then to treat yourself better, automatically.” — Dr. Sapiro

Really all you have to do is have the courage to show up for yourself, set aside time for your own healing because you deserve it, and you may just be amazed by what happens next.

Work Being Done for Veterans and First Responders

Military, veterans, and first responders have a unique relationship with trauma. Instead of running from it, they run to it, accepting jobs to protect other people knowing they will have to face trauma themselves to do it. 

“There is nothing more sacred than someone, a man or woman showing up at the edge of life and death, where life and death meet and they’re showing up to support our community through the traumas on that edge of life and death.” — Dr. Sapiro

These populations deserve and need specialized support that is accessible and readily available, and that’s just what Dr. Sapiro is drawn to in his work. 

Recognizing this need and coming from a slight familial military background with experience working in VAs for combat vets, he has been drawn to these communities and takes on roles such as a negotiator, psychological consultant for police and SWAT teams, as well as working for organizations like Mission Within to bridge the gap between veterans and psychedelic healing.

Through doing this work, he’s learned that many first responders would give up their life for someone else before ever offering themselves that same grace, and so being able to help them through their trauma he’s able to give back to them and remind them that they matter too. 

Dr. Sapiro may think he has accomplished all of his goals, but he’s certainly not slowing down any time soon. We can look forward to a new podcast coming out in January 2026 called “Marcus and the Monk,” put out by VETS, where Sapiro sits down with Marcus Capone to talk about all things psychedelic from two very different but complimentary perspectives. 

His co-host, Marcus Capone’s story encapsulates what true psychedelic healing looks like for combat vets in the Netflix documentary In Waves and War, where Capone, a SEAL team 6 leader shares his intimate healing journey with the world after his return from Afghanistan as he embarks on a journey to heal from his PTSD, TBI and TRD.

Our interview was done just before Dr. Mike Sapiro was gearing up to go on a 4-month hiatus from helping others to live in the woods with his dog, which serves as a stark reminder that even caregivers need to care for themselves, and the first step in living our truth as Sapiro has so graciously done, is focusing on our own inner healing. 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is “Psychedelic Psychotherapy,” and how does it differ from the typical approach?

Psychedelic psychotherapy is Dr. Sapiro’s method where the facilitator actively engages with the client during the psychedelic experience. This differs from the common passive approach, where the guide is mostly hands-off, believing “the medicine does the work.” 

Sapiro argues that active engagement creates valuable “practice rounds” during a period of peak neuroplasticity, increasing the chance of positive change carrying over into everyday life.

2. According to Dr. Sapiro, what is the biggest barrier to inner peace (contentment)?

He believes that feeling anxious or depressed often stems from a mismatch or misalignment between how you are acting, speaking, and showing up in the world, and who you are deep down (your “authentic self”). 

Contentment can be achieved when you align yourself with your own true goals and personal values, not someone else’s conditioning.

3. What is the significance of the “Patchwork Persona” concept?

The “patchwork persona” is the idea that many different versions of you exist in the minds of everyone who has ever known you. 

Living in accordance with your truth requires the courage to vocalize what is true for your authentic self, which can sometimes lead to conflict—but this conflict can be “generative” and lead to necessary, healthy transformation.

4. How does Dr. Sapiro define “Ordinary Mysticism” in the context of healing?

He explains that transformational change isn’t only found in “big” mystical experiences, but in the mundane, ordinary acts of life (like washing dishes or noticing the sunlight). 

The feeling of interconnectedness (oneness) that comes from a psychedelic experience carries over, allowing individuals to become “awakened” to the full capacity of their senses and fostering sustainable, positive change.

5. Why does Dr. Sapiro specifically focus on providing care for veterans and first responders?

Dr. Sapiro is drawn to these communities because they have a unique and often suppressed relationship with trauma, frequently running toward danger to protect others. His work is aimed at giving back to this population, providing them with specialized support (often through organizations like The Mission Within) to process their trauma and reminding them that they, too, deserve grace and healing.

References

Kangaslampi, S. (2023). Association between mystical-type experiences under psychedelics 

and improvements in well-being or mental health – A comprehensive review of the evidence. Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2023.00243

Majić, T., Schmidt, T. T., & Gallinat, J. (2015). Peak experiences and the afterglow phenomenon: 

When and how do therapeutic effects of hallucinogens depend on psychedelic experiences? Journal of Psychopharmacology, 29(3), 241–253. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881114568040

Nour, M. M., Evans, L., Nutt, D., & Carhart-Harris, R. L. (2016). Ego-Dissolution and 

Psychedelics: Validation of the Ego-Dissolution Inventory (EDI). Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10(269). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00269