Balancing Medicalization and Community Healing

Healing Before Leading: Psychedelics and Political Integrity

In this episode of The Psychedelic Podcast, Paul F. Austin speaks with Laura Dunn, civil rights attorney and congressional candidate, about trauma, leadership, and the role of psychedelic healing.

Find full show notes and links here: https://thethirdwave.co/podcast/episode-352/?ref=278

Laura shares how her work advocating for survivors led her to confront the deeper limitations of legal and institutional systems. While policy change can create meaningful protections, it often fails to address the underlying trauma individuals carry.

They explore how psychedelic experiences became part of her personal healing journey, and how that informs her approach to leadership, public service, and political integrity.

Laura Dunn is an award-winning civil rights attorney, former public school teacher, and congressional candidate in New York's 12th District. She helped shape Title IX protections, contributed to the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization, and founded SurvJustice, a nonprofit supporting survivors of sexual violence. Her work bridges advocacy, policy, and trauma-informed leadership.

Highlights:

• From survivor advocacy to policy reform
• Limits of legal systems in trauma healing
• Why leadership requires inner work
• Psychedelics as tools for self-awareness
• Breaking stigma in political leadership
• Bipartisan support for reform
• Veterans and policy momentum
• Trauma and leadership integrity
• A vision for conscious governance

Episode Links:

• Laura Dunn (Congress campaign Instagram)
• SurvJustice (founded by Laura Dunn)

Episode Sponsors:

• The Microdosing Practitioner Certification at Psychedelic Coaching Institute.
• The Practitioner Certification Program by Third Wave's Psychedelic Coaching Institute.
• Golden Rule - Get a lifetime discount of 10% with code THIRDWAVE at checkout

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