This article explores ten key mechanisms through which psychedelics can facilitate healing from problematic substance use and other addictive behaviors. In doing so, I hope to provide an alternative framework for understanding recovery and suggest how psychedelics may play a key role in the recovery process. The ten mechanisms outlined within work together to address both the psychological and neurobiological underpinnings of addictive behaviors while honoring each person’s innate capacity for growth and change.

This article examines a troubling trend in the psychedelic community where advocates who use psychedelics condemn other forms of drug use, perpetuating the same stigmatizing attitudes they claim to oppose. The piece explores how this "psychedelic exceptionalism" undermines harm reduction efforts and contradicts evidence-based approaches to drug use. Drawing on historical context, it argues that the psychedelic renaissance risks repeating prohibitionist mistakes by creating artificial hierarchies between "good" and "bad" drugs, calling instead for a more nuanced and compassionate approach to all substance use.