EP 016 | SHAWN PATTERSON, ARMY COMBAT VETERAN ON HEALING PTSD WITH AYAHUASCA

On this episode of The Psychedelic Integration Podcast, we’re sharing a remarkable plant medicine and integration success story from one of our closest friends and integration coaching clients. Shawn Patterson is an Iraq combat veteran who served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army. In this episode, he speaks openly about the traumas he experienced both on and off the battlefield, and how those traumas ultimately led him to a path of healing PTSD with ayahuasca and other plant medicines. We are honored to share this very personal and inspiring story with you.

EP 016 | Shawn Patterson, Army Combat Veteran on Healing PTSD with Ayahuasca

In this episode, Shawn shares about…

• Growing up in the 90’s era of street crime, drugs, and choosing to join the Army as a way out
• Enlisting and heading into basic training one month after September 11th
• Transitioning from civilian life into military life, where emotions like fear were not encouraged or expressed
• Going into combat in Kuwait in 2003, at the beginning of the Shock and Awe phase of the Iraq War
• The reality of life in the military, getting into a rhythm, and normalizing living in a war zone
• Surviving, training, and the strong character of people living with the daily threat of combat
• Coming to terms with possibly not making it home
• Returning home after a year on the front lines, feeling older than your age, and feeling alien after the experience
• Feeling anger around veterans being portrayed as victims in the media
• What the PTSD and trauma experience looked like for him
• Using drugs and alcohol as an ineffective coping tool and hitting multiple rock bottoms
• Deciding to work with ayahuasca in Ecuador and facing unrealistic expectations
• Working with plant medicine over time with a spiritual community
• Getting help from the VA, and why the pharmaceutical approach doesn’t solve the whole problem for everyone
• The problem with 12 step programs
• Finding a winding spiritual path with plant medicine and digging into core issues
• Getting reminders and new perspectives from ayahuasca and feeling empowered to make life changes
• Shifting his consciousness toward self-care and away from the victim mentality
• Cultivating gratitude
• Making big decisions and life changes with the guidance of the medicines
• Building a long term, respectful relationship with ayahuasca, San Pedro, and peyote
• Following a minimum effective dose strategy coupled with integration and doing the work
• The BIG integration lesson
• Plant medicines and appreciating being sober
• Avoiding patterns of taking plant medicine without purpose
• Advice for veterans who are interested in working with plant medicines