OM DENNE EPISODE
In this episode, host James Maskell sits down with holistic psychiatrist Dr. Ellen Vora to discuss her new book, Season of the Witch: The Psychiatrist's Case for Magic.
Dr. Vora's first book, The Anatomy of Anxiety, directly translated her functional medicine approach to mental health. This book came from a deeper, more spiritual inquiry. She describes it as part grief memoir, part cultural commentary, and still a prescriptive functional medicine book. Her central argument is that many of us learned to perform a left-brained, rational type of intelligence while suppressing our mystical, intuitive side. That adaptation opened doors for her through medical school, residency, and a research fellowship. Now she believes it's time to integrate the parts we disavowed.
Dr. Vora shares how she grew up in a secular environment where science was worshipped and skepticism was a virtue. When her mother died suddenly, the view that death is random and final no longer held. She chose to open to the possibility that her mother's spirit continues, and signs and synchronicities followed. Eleven years later, she describes an ongoing connection with her mother. She also cites Dr. Lisa Miller's research at Columbia showing that a sense of something larger protects against depression and suicidal ideation.
Maskell and Dr. Vora explore intuition as "the witch's compass" and the nuanced role of wearables in self-awareness. They also discuss her practices of embodiment and presence, which she grounds in integrity and sovereignty. The conversation closes on community and the collective: leaving the world better than we found it, finding our unique contribution, and learning about love as part of the evolution of consciousness.
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About the Guest:
Dr. Ellen Vora is a holistic psychiatrist who takes a functional medicine approach to mental health. She is the author of The Anatomy of Anxiety and Season of the Witch: The Psychiatrist's Case for Magic, which explores intuition, spirituality, grief, and the cultural conditioning that leads us to suppress our intuitive selves. Trained in conventional medicine, Dr. Vora integrates root-cause care with embodiment, presence, and spiritual inquiry to help patients heal.
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