Episode 75

Written By Michaela Carlin
 
 
 
 

How does one navigate the complex intersection of identity, facilitation, and healing within the psychedelic experience? In this episode Michaela Carlin and Tony Pham (Butterfly), a facilitator deeply rooted in Buddhism and queer and BIPOC identities, dive into the complexities of psychedelic training programs, the art of facilitation, and the importance of self-care and integration on the path of psychedelic service. 

With insights into the challenges of navigating facilitation within diverse communities and the responsibility towards ethical practices, this conversation shines a light on the layered experiences of connecting with ancestral wisdom and bridging traditional healing practices with modern needs.

Tony Pham (Butterfly) started meditating in 2010 during a difficult time when he was questioning all the stories people told him about who he was supposed to be. He is a heritage Buddhist, facilitator, and healer that occupies the intersection of queer and BIPOC identities. He is also a 2nd generation Vietnamese American whose parents immigrated to the United States as refugees from war. 

Butterfly is a ceremonial leader and ethical steward of spiritual practices rooted in compassion, indigeneity, and sacred lineages. In addition to supporting private medicine clients as a sitter in the U.S., they are a guest facilitator and integration specialist with Tandava Retreats, a wellness center in Mexico that responsibly offers 5-MEO-DMT. 

Beyond 1-on-1 work, he facilitates group heart ceremonies and is also honored to be a guest teacher with respected programs such as Psychedelic Liberation Training, Psychedelic Therapy Training, and F.I.V.E MEO Education. Their dharma teacher is Lama Rod Owens and one of their Bufo teachers was Pit Prieto, a co-organizer of the World Bufo Alvarius Congress before transitioning out of the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Butterfly is also an alumnus of the East Bay Meditation Center’s PiTA8 trauma informed mindfulness program for social justice activists. In addition to teaching meditation and Compassion Cultivation Training classes at Tibet House US, he has also completed anti-racist, death doula and non-violent communication training.

Episode Highlights

  • Butterfly's journey: from meditation to psychedelic facilitation

  • The varying intensity of different psychedelic training programs

  • The practice of reciprocity in psychedelic culture

  • Butterfly’s path to psychedelics: personal stories and insights

  • The role of psychedelics in healing and identity

  • Embracing non-duality and paradoxes of enlightenment

  • Butterfly’s powerful iboga initiation

  • Integrating psychedelic experiences in daily life

  • Navigating the challenges of expansion and self-compassion

  • The role of therapy and alternative healing modalities

  • Non-duality: free will and the ego

  • Ethics and responsibility in psychedelic facilitation

  • Training and education in psychedelic work

  • Reflections on personal growth and the path of service

  • The importance of community and self-care in healing work

Tony Pham’s Links 

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

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Special thanks to Jeremy Colbert (Taragápe) for the original podcast theme music.

You can find out more about Jeremey’s work here:
taragape.com and @taragape

Michaela Carlin
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