Episode 1 | Understanding Psychedelics for Depression
Stand in the Circle Podcast Episode 1
There's a lot to be angry about right now. But rage can't be the only thing we feel, and the news can't be the only thing we hear. This is a place to come for stories of people moving from disconnection to connection. From numbness to feeling. From isolation to belonging.
In this first episode, clinical psychologist Ros Watts introduces Stand in the Circle. What it is. Where it came from. And the night she walked out into the rain and ended up with her arms around a tree. She names the pattern most of us know too well: the breakthrough that opens us up, and the ordinary life that slowly closes back over the top of it. Then she shares the three small, repeatable practices that decide whether an opening fades or takes root.
In this episode:
Ros tells the story of her years running one of the first clinical trials treating depression with psychedelic therapy, and the strange truth underneath it: she was publishing research on connectedness while living a deeply disconnected life. She traces how that gap, and the night by the Field Maple, became ACER, and became this podcast.
The heart of the episode is the difference between the pyramid and the circle. The shape most of us were raised inside, where you climb, perform, and hide what's hard. And the shape we're learning instead, where no one stands above anyone else and the question shifts from "how am I doing" to "how are we doing."
She walks through the three principles for sustaining openness after the opening:
Honesty with yourself. Telling the truth about what you actually feel, before you override it or numb it.Letting yourself be witnessed. Finding one place where you can say one true thing to one person who can hear it. Belonging to the living world. Remembering you are inside it, not floating above it. Contact, not scenery.
She also lays out how each month on the podcast will work: four episodes, beginning with a solo episode like this one, then a conversation with someone from the ACER community, then a thinker or researcher, then your questions answered.
Mentioned in this episode / LINKS
ACER Integration. To join a free, live ACER circle, have a look at the live events link. https://acerintegration.com/acer-live-events To try a tree journey, come to the Introduction to ACER Integration
The Watts Connectedness Scale, Ros's research measuring connectedness across self, others, and world. Open-access paper, free to read in full:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9358368/
bell hooks, on healing as an act of communion rather than something we do in isolation. From her book All About Love: New Visions (2000):https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_About_Love:_New_Visions
Dacher Keltner, on how human contact calms the nervous system. His work on the science of touch at the Greater Good Science Center:https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/video/item/dacher_keltner_on_touch
Suzanne Simard, on forests, mycorrhizal networks, and mother trees feeding their saplings through the soil. Her TED talk, How Trees Talk to Each Other:https://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_simard_how_trees_talk_to_each_other.
Maria Sabina, the Mazatec medicine woman whose ceremony reached LIFE magazine without her consent. A story Ros returns to another time.
Michelle Baker Jones, who set up the first online sharing circles with Ros during the pandemic.
If you need support: This podcast holds some tender ground, and listening can bring things up. If you are struggling, please reach out. You don't have to carry it alone.
In the UK and Ireland, you can call Samaritans free, any time, day or night, on 116 123. The call is free from any phone and won't show on your bill. If you would rather text, SHOUT runs a 24/7 crisis text service on 85258.
In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, free and confidential, any time, day or night, just dial 988. You can also chat online at 988lifeline.org. If you would rather text with a counselor, Crisis Text Line is available 24/7. Text HOME to 741741.
If you are listening from elsewhere, please look up your local crisis line. Help is there, and asking for it is a choice to stand in the circle.
Connect with Dr. Rosalind Watts:
https://www.drrosalindwatts.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-rosalind-watts/
https://www.instagram.com/acerintegration
https://medium.com/@DrRosalindWatts
UPDATED FOR LENGTH
There's a lot to be angry about right now. But rage can't be the only thing we feel. This is a place to come for stories of people moving from disconnection to connection, numbness to feeling, isolation to belonging.
In this first episode, clinical psychologist Ros Watts introduces Stand in the Circle. What it is. Where it came from. And the night she walked out in the rain and ended up with her arms around a tree.
Ros tells the story of her years running one of the first clinical trials treating depression with psychedelic therapy, and the truth is: she was publishing research on connectedness while living a deeply disconnected life.
The heart of the episode is the difference between the pyramid and the circle. The shape most of us were raised inside, where you climb, perform, and hide what's hard. And the shape we're learning instead, where no one stands above anyone else and the question shifts from "how am I doing" to "how are we doing."
Each month on the podcast will include 4 episodes: a solo episode, a conversation with someone from the ACER community, a thinker or researcher, then your questions answered.
Mentioned in this episode:
ACER Integration. Free live ACER circles: https://acerintegration.com/acer-live-events To try a tree journey, come to the Introduction to ACER Integration.
The Watts Connectedness Scale, on connectedness across self, others, and world: https://bit.ly/3Qe5KJK
bell hooks, on healing as communion, from All About Love: New Visions (2000): https://bit.ly/44261Tb
Dacher Keltner, on human contact and the nervous system: https://bit.ly/3Q8qRgx
Suzanne Simard, on forests, mycorrhizal networks, and mother trees: https://bit.ly/4dZK2SQ
Maria Sabina, the Mazatec medicine woman whose ceremony reached LIFE magazine without her consent.Michelle Baker Jones, who set up the first online sharing circles with Ros.
If you need support: This podcast holds some tender ground, and listening can bring things up. If you are struggling, please reach out. You don't have to carry it alone.UK and Ireland: call Samaritans free, any time, on 116 123. Or text SHOUT on 85258.US: call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, free and confidential, any time, by dialing 988. You can also chat online at 988lifeline.org. Crisis Text Line is available 24/7. Text HOME to 741741.Elsewhere: please look up your local crisis line. Help is there and asking for it is a choice to stand in the circle.
Connect with Dr. Rosalind Watts
:https://www.drrosalindwatts.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-rosalind-watts/https://www.instagram.com/acerintegration
Submit a question for a future episode: https://forms.gle/jVcGniTN3uS1bjz18Find out more about ACER, the year-long community Ros founded: www.acerintegration.com