PT 652 - Esme Dark - Psychedelics, Somatics and the Shadow
Psychedelics Today
Psychedelics Today, LLC
4.6 • 598 Ratings
🗓️ 25 March 2026
⏱️ 74 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dr. Esme Dark joins Kyle Buller for a conversation on psychedelic therapy, somatic psychotherapy, and shadow work. Based in Australia, Dark is a clinical psychologist, somatic psychotherapist, and psychedelic therapist. She shares her perspective on Australia's authorized prescriber model, the role of psychotherapy in psychedelic care, and what it means to work with the body before, during, and after a psychedelic experience.
The discussion stays practical. Dark draws on her work in research settings, including psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for generalized anxiety disorder at Monash University. She explains that Australia has not decriminalized psychedelics. Instead, psilocybin and MDMA can be prescribed in limited cases through a psychiatrist-led system. That distinction matters, especially as public discussion often moves faster than the actual clinical infrastructure.
Kyle and Dark also explore what happens in the therapy room. They talk about nervous system activation, body-based awareness, co-therapy, breathwork, and the challenge of knowing when to intervene and when to stay out of the way. The episode also turns toward creativity, self-expression, and the parts of the self that often remain split off or underdeveloped.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome back to psychedelics today. This is Joe Moore. Today in the show, Kyle Buller speaks with Dr. |
| 0:24.6 | Esmate Dark, an Australian clinical psychologist, somatic psychotherapist, and psychedelic therapist. |
| 0:30.8 | They explore Australia's authorized prescriber model, the role of somatic psychotherapy and psychedelic |
| 0:36.0 | care, and why shadow work, embodiment, |
| 0:38.2 | and careful integration are important. It's a great exploration of what psychedelic therapy actually |
| 0:44.3 | asks of both clinicians and clients. Turns out it's quite a bit. For those of you who are working |
| 0:49.9 | as clinicians or building something in the space, remember, we do much more than just the podcast. |
| 0:55.8 | Our Navigator's membership includes access to a robust education library and ongoing |
| 1:00.7 | live learning for people practicing in the field. If you're further along and working on a clinic, |
| 1:06.4 | practice or startup, we also offer loads of programs to support your path at psychedelic education center. |
| 1:12.0 | Plus, we offer integration focused tools like our workbook and TripTurnal. You can learn more and see |
| 1:16.5 | everything we're offering at psychedelics today.com or in the show notes. That's it for now, |
| 1:20.6 | everybody. Enjoy this episode and we'll see you on the other side. |
| 1:24.6 | Here at Dr. Esmeadark. We had a few conversations around collaborating on this podcast. You have your own podcast, beyond the trip. And we thought it would be fun to just collaborate on this live stream, this live podcast. And I think start talking about policy around Australia, also the US. I think I always find it |
| 1:48.4 | fascinating. That feels like Australia beat us to the legal framework. So Dr. Dark, can you just |
| 1:56.3 | introduce yourself to everybody? Yeah, sure. Thanks, Kyle. So I'm Dr. Esmead Duck. I'm a clinical psychologist |
| 2:04.0 | and a somatic psychotherapist, and I've worked as a psychedelic therapist on research trials here |
| 2:12.0 | at the clinical psychedelic lab at Monash University and on some clinical projects. And so, yeah, I'm kind of really excited |
| 2:19.6 | to be here today. I've been, I've followed psychedelics today for a long time. It was such a, |
| 2:24.5 | I really wanted to start a beyond the trip podcast to kind of highlight, I guess, what's going on |
| 2:29.5 | here in Australia with as we roll out the regulations. And I was listening to one of your |
| 2:33.8 | podcasts, Kyle, where you listening to one of your podcasts, |
... |
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