This episode of The Body Knows Podcast is with Michelle Baker Jones. We met and spoke at her private practice in Kingston Upon Thames, London, where she works as an integrative psycho-therapeutic counsellor.  Michelle is also a member of Imperial College’s Psychedelic research team where she is a lead guide on their trials comparing psilocybin to anti-depressants for the treatment for depression. She also offers individual psychedelic integration for people struggling to process psychedelic experiences, and co–facilitates a monthly Psychedelic Integration group in London. This in-depth interview with Michelle explores her experiences on the clinical trials for psychedelic-assisted therapy, as well her personal experiences with psychedelics and her work in the integration groups. As one of the lead therapists on the trials she outlines their design and context in which the psilocybin sessions occur. We spoke too about the history of the trials, the qualifications for a psychotherapist to use psychedelics and how this transpersonal, and ancient and medicine, with its mystic, shamanic tradition of communion with nature, fits in to a Western scientific, positivist model. We also discuss methods used by the program for integration of the psychedelic experience. The subjects of state chasing and spiritual bypassing are also addressed, as is the need for an authentic, Western cultural container for the experience, equivalent to those found in indigenous communities. Psilocybin mushrooms have been part of religious rituals for thousands of years. The Aztecs of Mexico referred to the mushroom as teonanácatl, or “God’s flesh”, in homage to its believed sacred power yet Psilocybin remains in the most restricted category today, which David Nutt, professor of neuropsychoparmacology at Imperial, and who is overseeing the current trials, calls “one of the most atrocious examples of the censorship of science and medicine in the history of the world”.  The work Michelle and the Imperial team are doing is set to revolutionise the treatment of depression, if not the Western medical model its self, by placing the individual, and our innate propensity to heal ourselves, at the centre of treatment. LINKS Find out more about Imperial’s ground-breaking work on Psilocybin for major depression at - https://www.imperial.ac.uk/psychedelic-research-centre/ | For more information on psychedelic integration go to – https://integration.maps.org/ | Michelle’s private counselling practice can be found at - http://mbjcounselling.co.uk/ OTHER RESOURCES – Michelle & Greg Donaldson at Breaking Convention - https://youtu.be/HKZywjeXKQc | Breaking Convention https://www.breakingconvention.co.uk/ OUR SPONSORS  We're sponsored by Made by Coopers, a modern Apothecary, crafting products for your skin and soul. Head to their shop at https://madebycoopers.com/ and use BODY20 at checkout for a discount.  We’re running a competition to win Made by Cooper products, as well as ceremonial grade cacao for an online cacao ceremony run by Marcela to celebrate our launch. To enter subscribe on Apple Podcasts, download, rate, review and send a screenshot to [email protected]. Closing date Nov 30, 2020. THANK YOU Please share this conversation with someone who you think it would benefit. If you share on socials, please tag and follow us too on Instagram or Facebook @thebodyknowspodcast. Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed it, we’ll be back every two weeks with more, and in the meantime remember, listen to your body because your body knows.