Isolation, Loneliness, Alienation (ILA)

What I told podcaster, Jock Putney, about the least expensive antidotes I created for ILA

Dear Friends,

I was back on Jock Putney’s show, The Pathway to Peak Performance, this week, and we spent the hour discussing isolation, loneliness and alienation.

I opened by naming it plainly: 30-40% of America is isolated, alienated, and lonely, and the antidote is to care more about each other.

We talked through the practices I keep coming back to in these letters: calling people vs texting, introducing yourself to people you see in daily life, and how much of our overeating (over 70% overweight or obese) is really emotional medicine.

Then I gave him something new I’ve just started trying.

“Waving at stop signs. You come to a four-way stop, you can just wave and say hello. It’s safe. You don’t get out of your car… I’ve been doing it. And guess what? Most everybody waves back and smiles.”

We can all create little gestures which make real contact with other people.

I invite you to join us for the entire stimulating conversation. Below, a small practice to connect with those around you.

Today’s Practice: Wave at the Stop Sign

A simple thing to take with you from this week’s conversation.

Try this the next time you’re at a four-way stop: give the other driver a small wave and a smile. You don’t have to get out of the car, and you don’t have to know a thing about them.

I felt a little foolish doing it at first, but I kept at it. About two out of every three people wave back.

Golden light,

Dr. Richard Louis Miller

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My daughter Evacheska is hosting a conversation I think many of you will want to be part of.

More people are having psychedelic and plant medicine experiences, through retreats, ceremonies, and guided journeys. The experience itself gets all the attention. What almost nobody addresses is what comes after: whether it becomes part of a person’s life, or slowly becomes a story they tell at dinner.

Evacheska is a somatic and psychotherapeutic practitioner in New York. She’ll be joined by Jennifer Byxbee, founder of CAP Therapy NYC and a licensed psychotherapist with over 20 years of clinical experience. Together they’ll discuss what actually happens during these experiences, physiologically and psychologically, and what genuine integration support looks like afterward.

Live on Zoom, Tuesday August 26, 7:00 PM EST. Open to everyone, and questions are welcome. 2 CE contact hours available for NY State licensed clinicians (LCSWs, LMHCs, LPs, LCATs).

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A note on working together

I offer a small number of one-on-one sessions for those who want to work with me directly.

This is not traditional therapy. You bring whatever is troubling you, and we practice the simple tools I have used with patients for six decades — ways of quieting the mind and easing anxiety that you can carry into daily life.

We go at your pace, and we work on what helps.

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My New Book

The Adverse Effects and Therapeutic Potential of Psychedelic Medicines was recently reviewed by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos in the Journal of Psychedelic Studies. I was honored by it. Read the review here.

A few words from the front of the book:

Dr. Richard Louis Miller is a true elder and wisdom keeper of the psychedelic community, and his credentials come honestly, through hard-won experience. In this book, he continues his role as an educator by sharing his knowledge of both the perils and the promise of psychedelic substances. The reader will find valuable advice on how to avoid pitfalls while realizing the maximum benefits from the thoughtful and safe use of these remarkable medicines.

— Dr. Dennis McKenna, ethnopharmacologist and author of The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss

Putting forth the adverse effects of these substances in readable form contributes to their understanding and separates psychedelic scientists from those who would cover over, or even hide, negative effects of pharmaceuticals.

— Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco

It’s the fifth book in my series on psychedelic medicine. You can find it on Amazon.

My Other Books

• Psychedelic Medicine at the End of Life: Dying Without Fear

• Freeing Sexuality: Psychologists, Consent Teachers, Polyamory Experts, and Sex Workers Speak Out

• Integral Psychedelic Therapy (co-edited with Jason A. Butler & Genesee Herzberg)

• Psychedelic Wisdom: The Astonishing Rewards of Mind-Altering Substances

• Psychedelic Medicine: The Healing Powers of LSD, MDMA, Psilocybin, and Ayahuasca

• Master Your Mind: Practical Tools to Calm Anxiety, Silence Your Inner Critic and Stop Overthinking