Stuart Preston - The Grief Trip

Stuart Preston is fascinating. In this episode we find out how a straight-laced guy, who’s father worked for The D.E.A. and had never taken drugs in his life, learned to heal and deal with the grief over his 19 year old son’s suicide, by using psychedlics. Stuart is a comedian, public speaker, podcast host and the author of a book called “The Grief Trip.” He’s trying to break the stigmas of mental health, suicide and psychedlics. Originally, the idea was somehow to try and be close to his son, and that maybe this could be a way. Here’s the book: https://bit.ly/thegrieftrip. Grief is a really challenging emotion. Everyone in my immediate family has passed and I’ve experienced other loss. But losing a child, that is something that I just can’t imagine. What Jennifer and I talk about is like with all feelings, the biggest challenge with grief, is to feel it, to be present and to make space to allow it. It’s just so unfamiliar to be present with such strong emotions. But here is the story of Stuart, who not only is being present with grief, he’s exploring it using a tool, and that is psychedlics. There is a lot of research happening about how Psychedlics can enhance mental health. I know some people who’s lives have been transformed. And this is in no way advocating that people should run out and use psychedlics. It’s not for everybody and it’s a very careful, conscious process with the help of experienced practitioners. Michael Pollan has written a book called “How To Change Your Mind.” Here’s a talk he gave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuhmZSFvhL0. Find out more about Stuart’s work and podcasts here: https://stonedapecomedy.com/ and some good organizations for suicide prevention and grief support here: https://didihirsch.org/services/suicide-prevention/therapy-support/ , https://samaritanshope.org/our-services/grief-support, https://www.missfoundation.org/ more about Jennifer’s amazing work here: https://connectedparenting.com/ talk to us about anything you’d like Jennifer to answer, mental health resilience skills, issues, brain hacks here: ed@makelightmedia.com Subscribe, share, write a review, it all helps. Social media and our new network is here: https://bleav.com/podcastshow/mental-health-comedy/ https://www.facebook.com/mentalhealthcomedypodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/thementalhealthcomedypodcast/ And you can now trade your therapy hours for frequent flyer miles! Not really, but wouldn’t it be a better world if you could. Take care!