Healing With Psychedelic w/ Gv Freeman #20

In this vulnerable and expansive episode of PsychedelicIQ: Guidance for Guides, host Gv Freeman takes the mic as a guest, interviewed by Wilde Lawson-King. Together, they explore Gv’s journey from Nebraska to Peru, from corporate burnout to spiritual awakening, and how that journey shaped his work as a coach, ceremonialist, and author of Healing with Psychedelics. Topics include personal transformation, trauma healing, medicine lineage, the creation of the Psychedelic Safety Wheel, and the bridge between science and spirituality. A must-listen for guides, seekers, and anyone serious about integration, ethics, and personal growth.

Show Notes

[00:00] Introduction to the “reverse episode” and guest host Wilde Lawson-King

[01:12] Meeting at Psychedelic Science and 150-person breathwork session

[02:15] Gv’s background: corporate career, queer identity, and growing up in Nebraska

[07:31] Early trauma, substance use, and becoming a foreign exchange student

[08:40] Cruise ship DJ, rave culture, and eventual transition to tech

[09:47] First therapy experience in 2012 and the beginning of inner healing

[10:50] Psychodrama, EMDR, psychoanalysis, and getting sober in 2007

[11:55] Discovering psychedelics in 2015 and journey to Peru

[12:26] Coaching, ceremony work, and founding the Conscious Shala

[14:31] Learning to feel anger and sadness through therapy

[17:00] Psychodrama as a method to reconnect with suppressed emotions

[20:13] Gv’s spiritual path: childhood curiosity, yoga, and bhakti influence

[22:00] Yoga teacher training with Saul David Raye and its life-changing impact

[23:44] Serendipitous moments of grace: from AA dances to spiritual teachers

[24:36] Introduction to Advaita Vedanta and study with Jyoti Shom

[25:00] First shamanic journey and encountering the divine feminine

[26:39] Early ayahuasca experiences in Peru and connection to his current lineage

[27:59] Becoming an assistant in a retreat and initiation into shamanic apprenticeship

[29:10] Spiritual emergency and the concept of “shamanic sickness”

[31:15] Moving from hosting ceremonies to trip sitting and space holding

[33:00] “Spotter not guide”—philosophy of support without hierarchy

[34:37] Receiving the name Govindass and training in LSD facilitation

[36:56] Shift to MDMA and mushrooms after LSD hit a plateau

[38:01] Current practice and church container using mushrooms

[39:52] Advice to new facilitators: go slow, be asked, train deeply, and stay humble

[41:22] Writing Healing with Psychedelics: the practical and spiritual origin

[42:33] From blog post to book: developing the Psychedelic Safety Wheel

[45:18] Medicine journeys that catalyzed deep energetic transformation

[50:49] Receiving the “tools to love” during a Wachuma heart surgery

[52:17] Writing 60,000 words in 6 weeks after spiritual permission was granted

[54:01] Overview of the 12 spokes in the Psychedelic Safety Wheel

[56:07] Difference between integration (understanding) and activation (action)

[59:13] Human responsibility and karma-clearing through action

[01:02:35] Who the book is for: beginners, curious seekers, and those who’ve been harmed

[01:04:14] Three psychedelic safety “containers” throughout history

[01:07:12] Bottom-up harm reduction and empowering seekers over systems

[01:08:23] Red flags, green flags, and the questions to ask your facilitator

[01:11:41] Resource announcement: upcoming workbook and live training

[01:13:29] The missing appendix that became Chapter 1: how psychedelics heal

[01:16:56] Psychedelics as energy cleansers—vibration, trauma, and consciousness

[01:20:08] Atman and inner healing intelligence—bridging Grof and Vedanta

[01:22:25] Paradox of being both 100% human and 100% divine

[01:23:20] The sacred and the secular—how it all comes together in the book

Gv Freeman

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Free eBook: Beginner’s Guide to Psychedelics

Gv Freeman is an opti-mystic, tipper of sacred cows, and dynamic force in the world of human transformation. As a transformational coach and facilitator, he teaches his clients to use centuries-old tools to solve modern-day problems. With one foot in the sacred and the other in the secular, Gv offers a unique blend of coaching and Sacred Medicine work to help individuals “unstuck” themselves in pursuit of purpose, prosperity, happiness, and freedom.

After two decades as a serial entrepreneur, Gv's life now forms a Venn diagram of psychedelics, spirituality, mental health, and entrepreneurship. Having been initiated into an ancient Peruvian medicine lineage, Gv now studies under the direction of maestro Roberto Flores Solís. Gv, short for Govind Dass (a name given to him by his first teacher, Ram Dass), has also been a devoted student of Advaita Vedanta, yoga, and somatic psychotherapy.

He is the visionary behind PsychedelicIQ and the Conscious Shala, and when he's not leading retreats or being a spiritual tourist, Gv is a foodie, lover of all things music, and deeply cherishes his time with friends and soul family. Healing with Psychedelics is his first book.