🫠 Psychonaut POV

Welcome to Tricycle Day. We’re the psychedelics newsletter that’s got our mind on our mushrooms and our mushrooms on our mind.

Rome Shadanloo is all in on microdosing with therapy—not because it’s a cheat code to permanent happiness, but because it lets people actually feel their feelings for once. She’s built a whole practice on that idea, and it all started with her own connection to the mushroom.

We asked Rome why someone would microdose with a therapist, how to tell if microdosing is “working,” and when microdosing while on SSRIs can make sense.

FROM OUR SPONSORS

Dry January doesn't have to mean boring January.

Fun Guy's Flow chews combine kanna, cordyceps, and damiana to help you loosen up and connect—without the morning headache.

Each citrusy bite contains 25mg of high-potency kanna, nature's favorite social lubricant. Take two to feel noticeably more open and euphoric in about 30 minutes.

Perfect for sober(ish) nights out. (Or in. We don't judge.)

Take 20% off with code TRICYCLEDAY.

Can you tell us about your personal relationship to mushrooms and what led you to create Mycology Psychology?

It feels like the mushrooms found me. I know it's cheesy to say—like when you rescue a dog, “who rescued who?”—but I really believe that yes, we choose to meet the medicine, but the medicine is also calling to us. I had a lot of trauma, depression, and anxiety at an unmanageable level until I met this medicine. I see now that my relationship with the mushroom is really a relationship to my own heart. It helps me connect with other people and the world in a deeper way. It changes the vocabulary of my reality. It allows me to trust life and the intelligence of nature.

I got reintroduced to mushrooms in my mid-thirties, when my prefrontal cortex was already fully developed and I had some life experience. That journey was illuminating, and I believe I got even more out of it because I had done so much work beforehand. I’d been through years of therapy, shadow work, and 12-step work, but none of it had really landed in my nervous system. Everything was just a cognitive concept until I was able to connect with my heart through the mushrooms.

As for Mycology Psychology, it all started during the pandemic. I began working with clients and saw extraordinary results because people were finally able to embody the work we were doing. Traditional talk therapy is wonderful to an extent, but if you keep relying on it, you can end up reinforcing the same story over and over. You become trapped in it. The medicine got my clients out of the story and into their bodies.

Eventually, more people came than I could support on my own, so I started working with other practitioners to build a network. I wanted to create a win-win-win situation: for the clients getting quality care, for the practitioners having quality medicine and protocols, and for me sustaining the work.

Your practice focuses on microdosing rather than the larger doses used in clinical trials. What drew you to this approach, despite the gap in research?

I was drawn to microdosing for two main reasons. One was accessibility. When doing larger medicine journeys, I can only see so many people a month because I refuse to wear myself thin and not fully show up. Microdosing allows me to work with more people more efficiently.

The other piece is that there are a lot of people who aren't ready to sit with macrodoses. Many people who are attracted to us have had no relationship with psychedelic medicine yet. In some ways, I see us as a bridge to deeper work for our clients. They dip their toes in, work with microdosing, get in touch with their body, and are able to integrate it day-to-day at their job and with their families. Sometimes they feel called to a larger journey later, but often they're content. It's about meeting people where they are.

Many people feel comfortable microdosing on their own. Why do you think therapeutic support is important during microdosing protocols?

If you're microdosing as a social lubricant or for creativity or athletics, you may not need to work with someone. But if you're microdosing because you're really trying to get to the bottom of something that's lodged in your body and psyche, microdosing works better with reflection and connection. The plasticity during microdosing can really open you up to having a reparative experience with another human being.

Sometimes people say "it's not working" because of expectations or blockages. I had a client tell me they didn't feel anything, but then 20 minutes into our call, she mentioned pulling over on the freeway to cry about childhood trauma with their sister. The medicine was clearly working; it just wasn’t working in the way she’d anticipated. It's not always about floating and feeling amazing. Having someone to witness you through your experience and talk it out helps you recognize the subtle or unexpected ways the medicine is working.

People often don't expect anger to come up, but microdosing can bring up rage, too. The mushrooms didn't make you angry; they're letting you feel your anger for the first time—maybe because you were terrified of that feeling. What's interesting about mushrooms and these "negative" emotions is that they allow you to feel them without perseverating. It's more of a straight line. We're going to walk through this fire, feel it, and process it. And then it dissolves.

You have several proprietary blends for specific needs. What are the differences between these formulations, and how did you develop them?

Yes, we worked with a medicine man in Mexico, who brings both scientific and intuitive knowledge, to develop our medicine. They’ve all been through extensive client feedback and practitioner testing, as well. Today, we have six main mushroom blends, each using specific strains with different properties, and four others that contain different plant medicines.

Over the years, we've noticed that albinos tend to be more body-oriented and introspective, while gold caps and truffles are more extroverted and energizing. Our Sun blends use gold caps and truffles. They're great for people who suffer from "bed rot" depression and freeze mode. The Moon blends with albinos tend to work well for people who are tightly wound and anxious. We also have some in-between blends that combine both.

But it's important to understand these are just tendencies we've noticed. The mushroom is going to mushroom. It's going to scan you and make a deal with your nervous system for what you ultimately need. With clients, sometimes I compare the mushroom to a DJ. You can make your request, but if it determines that the song isn't right for the room, it's going to play what needs to be played.

What’s your perspective on microdosing while on SSRIs? How do you handle the stigma some people feel about pharmaceutical medications in psychedelic spaces?

I was put on SSRIs at age 13, and I believe they saved me. I've had doctors and shamans tell me I might be someone who needs to stay on them forever, and I accepted that. Over time, working with various medicines including mushrooms, ayahuasca, and Bufo, I noticed I needed a lower and lower dosage of my SSRI and could stay off longer between cycles. It took 10 years, but I'm finally at a point where I haven't needed them for a year.

In my experience, microdosing while on SSRIs can actually be a better choice for some people than microdosing alone. Yes, SSRIs can blunt the medicine, but that isn’t the case for everyone. Also, blunting the medicine might be a good thing. For some people, taking a “non-specific amplifier,” such as psilocybin, when they have so much unprocessed emotion below the surface can be overwhelming. The SSRIs can provide a healthy buffer that allows them to handle what the mushrooms reveal.

While I believe SSRIs are overprescribed and that they shouldn't be the automatic first line of defense, they absolutely have their place. If you have stigma towards pharmaceuticals, think about all the people that perpetuate stigma around psychedelic medicine. Anytime we're in judgment, we're missing the message. Anytime we're not in nuance, we're missing the truth. We need to trust ourselves and really ask: is this helping me or hurting me? Both medicines can serve in the right context.

Want more from Rome?

Learn more about Mycology Psychology’s healing and integration community and in-person retreats, or book a free consultation with an in-house therapist.

UNTIL NEXT TIME

That’s all for today, Cyclists! Whenever you’re ready, here’s how we can help.

• 📣 Put your brand in front of 63k psychedelic enthusiasts by sponsoring Tricycle Day. Book an ad.

• 📈 Grow your psychedelic business with our marketing agency. Apply to work with us.

• 🫂 Get professional support from a vetted therapist, guide, or coach. Browse Maria’s List.

• 😎 Style yourself out in our iconic merch. Collect a shirt.

• ✍️ Need something else? Reply to this email. (We read every response.)

ONE CYCLIST’S REVIEW

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here.

DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. The use, possession, and distribution of psychedelic drugs are illegal in most countries and may result in criminal prosecution.