In this episode of Ayahuasca Podcast host Sam Believ (founder of www.lawayra.com) has a conversation with Danielle Herrera, a California-based licensed psychotherapist and psychedelic-assisted therapy specialist. Danielle blends somatic and Jungian work with harm reduction, draws on Indigenous lineage and Sufi mysticism, and trains new facilitators with Beckley Academy. We explore how love, right-relationship, and spiritual technologies help people heal trauma and integrate psychedelic experiences into daily life.
00:01–01:22 — Intro and Danielle’s background
01:22–08:14 — Origin story: chaotic childhood, harm reduction path, ketamine/MDMA training, founding Tender Heart Healing Arts
08:41–12:48 — “Loving people for a living”: centering love in psychotherapy; Indigenous and Sufi lineages
13:14–17:11 — Trauma as absence of holding; parenting parallels; harm-reduction lens
17:12–22:03 — Why some grow from pain: “jet fuel,” ayahuasca discomfort, meaning-making
22:32–25:10 — Transmutation of pain; rites of passage and village containers
26:01–29:46 — Shamanism vs “psychosis”: the role of container (Crazywise reference)
29:46–36:30 — Sufism 101: Rumi, polishing the heart, spiritual technologies; resonance with ayahuasca/Icaros
37:32–42:43 — Mystical experiences in therapy; clinician competence and frameworks
42:43–47:02 — Spiritual emergence: signs, tenderness, intuition, “magic is real”
47:02–51:40 — Addiction: “don’t ask why the addiction—ask why the pain”; right-relationship with medicines
51:40–54:19 — Real integration: becoming better to those you’re responsible to love
If you would like to attend one of our Ayahuasca retreats go to www.lawayra.com
Find more about Danielle Herrera at tenderheart.us (yourtherapistlovesyou.com) and Instagram: @yourtherapistlovesyou
