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Sara is a scientific advisor forJourney Colaband a current board member for theBoard of Psychedelic Medicines and Therapies.

My journey to becoming a mental health therapist wasnt an intentional one.

The loss of two significant family members after I graduated college ultimately changed the course of my life.

With a full schedule, I had little time to think or connect with the pain I was experiencing.

Despite not knowing much about mental health, I trusted and surrendered to this call.

There were two therapists in the room getting ready for my journey.

Soon after I was given the MDMA.

The onset effects of MDMA can be physically and emotionally intense.

Tears flowed down my face and joy filled my heart.

It had been years since I had felt her presence like this.

Seeing her in this bright, liberating light was an important part of my grieving process.

She took me to a place I knew existed but had never seen.

I call that place home.

And for the first time in my adult life, I felt freedom.

Me, a young Black woman.

My body became more sluggish with each breath.

I asked my therapists, What can I do to speed up my body?

My body is slowing me down.

A teacher once taught me that You cant release what you dont feel.

I had significantly underestimated the psychological impact of living in a racist and anti-Black society.

And I wasnt prepped on how to navigate between my personal and political worlds during this experience.

As a Black woman, Ive learned the performance of whiteness so you can survive.

Do you know what that narrative can do to the psyche?

Denying parts of yourself to be accepted, respected, and unharmed through thewhite gaze?

Living through that distortion is its own kind of suffering.

Normally I self-regulate by dismissing or disconnecting from this painbut those mental reflexes no longer worked in this session.

It was like my body was speaking a language that my mind did not know how to understand.

And it was difficult for me and my therapists to navigate.

Maybe there is a part of you that doesnt want to be understood, one of the therapists said.

There is nothing more I want in life than to be understood.

Id like to add misunderstood to that phrase too.

Cultural sensitivity is particularly critical in psychedelic-assisted therapy because participants are in emotionally vulnerable open states.

As psychedelics become more medicalized, its important tonormalize and destigmatize the use of these medicines for mental wellness.

Psychedelics can act as a catalyst or a companion in the treatment; they are not the cure.

Is psychedelic therapy effective?

What does the future look like if psychedelic therapy is accessible to those in need?

These are just some of the questions experts are attempting to answer.

I envision a future in which someone like me is deeply seen in all of her complexity.

A future in which she has the space to safely navigate between the worlds of her humanity and Divinity.

A future where her return home is a return to herself.