Podcast Summary: "What Psychedelics Taught Glennon"

We Can Do Hard Things
Hosts: Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, Amanda Doyle
Release: October 14, 2025

Overview

In this intimate and characteristically candid episode, Glennon Doyle tells the story of her foray into therapeutic psychedelics—a subject she had previously hesitated to share publicly. Through warmth, humor, vulnerability, and a lot of accidental comedy (including an infamous dosing mishap), Glennon, with Abby and Amanda, explores how psychedelics intersect with her recovery from anorexia, the nature of rigid thinking, generational trauma, and familial love. The episode centers on Glennon's deeply personal therapeutic experience, weaving in neuroscience, emotional inheritance, and family anecdotes, making the discussion both raw and profoundly relatable.

Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. Why Talk About Psychedelics? & Community Trust

• Glennon confesses her reluctance to “be another white lady from LA whose life was changed by psychedelics,” noting how she originally shared these stories only on tour, treating those large audiences as trusted “family meetings.”
  • "I can't believe we're doing this episode." – Glennon (02:27)
  • "Because our community is freaking amazing." – Glennon on why secrets stay (04:04)

2. The Rationale Behind Psychedelics in Treatment

• Glennon shares her recent history: an anorexia diagnosis, the challenges of rigid thinking, and resistance to using psychedelics therapeutically due to misunderstandings and her identity as someone in addiction recovery.
• She introduces the metaphor of neural “ski tracks:”
  • Rigid thoughts are like deeply worn ski grooves; psychedelics can help create "new paths in fresh snow."
  • “Psychedelics are a way to create new paths that suddenly the fresh snow is everywhere.” – Glennon (07:25)

3. The Science Side—Neuroplasticity

• Abby interjects with the science of neuroplasticity, emphasizing the brain's capacity for change if we try new things.
  • "If we don't do new things, we don't unlock that adaptability." – Abby (08:04)

4. The Accidental Overdose – Comedic Interlude

• Glennon’s attempt at microdosing goes hilariously awry due to misunderstandings about dosing instructions:
  • She takes an entire envelope of 8 pills, thinking it's a single 0.2mg dose, instead of just one pill.
  • Abby finds her about to “boost” with the next envelope, realizes what happened, and chaos (and much laughter) ensues.
  • "I don't know if you're with me right now, but I thought that the 0.2 meant that all these pills together equal 0.2." – Glennon (18:21)
  • "I'm tripping balls." – Glennon (19:10)
  • On not understanding math in drug-taking: “I don't think I should have to do math in my drugs." (22:04)

5. The Microdose Mishap Fallout

• Glennon recounts fleeting memories: being put "in timeout" on the patio, watching a paisley neighbor's roof, her daughter Tish asking for college essay edits mid-trip, and the overall confusion surrounding the event.
  • "All I can think of is that my wife talking—is this my life? Is this my beautiful wife?" – Glennon (19:57)
  • Amanda on witnessing: "That was one of the funniest moments of my life." (20:41)

6. The Real Journey: Preparation and Intention

• Once the accidental “test” proves psychedelics can “break through” her antidepressants, Glennon describes preparing for the real therapeutic journey.
• She highlights the importance of intention-setting:
  • “I was supposed to come up with three intentions … that I would want to be explored and answered in this journey that I thought … would be helpful for my recovery.” – Glennon (39:21)
• Abby and Amanda offer metaphors for psychedelics as mental "unknotters" and lights revealing previously unseen spaces.

7. The Therapeutic Trip: Entering the Darkness

• Glennon details the actual guided psychedelic session at home. Initial hours are dominated by fear, darkness, and sensation of dragons.
  • "My consciousness was that I was in a very strange, scary, dark world that I couldn't figure out where I was or what it was. And it felt like kind of dragony." – Glennon (44:16)
• Glennon endures hours of this before she acknowledges her fear aloud.

8. Breakthrough Moment: Intergenerational Trauma

• Turning point: The therapist prompts Glennon to ask the “medicine” why she is so scared.
  • “So I just say, ‘Medicine, why am I so scared?’” – Glennon (51:17)
• Glennon is taken to a vision of being in a basement with Amanda and a relative—a child terrified of being beaten.
• She realizes her intense, anticipatory fear is “not mine”—it’s a family inheritance passed through traumatic survival strategies.
  • "I knew this and I never knew this ... I knew it in my body then." – Glennon (55:27)
  • “This armoring up, this rigid fear is a family legacy. That was a survival technique.” (56:05)

9. Integration: Compassion and Transformation

• The embodied realization brings Glennon massive compassion for her lineage, less judgment about herself and her family, and new language for talking with her children.
  • "It really adds all kinds of compassion … what every generation goes through and what we pass on." (57:26)
  • Amanda describes Glennon after the journey as unusually open-hearted: “She was a puddle of love.” (58:53)

10. The “I Don’t Know” Epiphany

• In the second phase of her trip, Glennon is a child in a magical forest, filled with awe. Anytime she wonders "why," things go dark; when she releases the need to know and simply says “I don’t know,” the universe bursts into celebration.
  • “It was like the words, ‘I don't know,’ were magical words that made the entire realm celebrate.” – Glennon (63:54)
• The lesson: awe and curiosity open the world, and it’s freeing to relinquish over-analysis—a direct parallel to her recovery and family legacy work.
  • "Your job has always been in here. Just be amazed and write down what is.” (65:37)

11. Biological Inheritance of Trauma

• Abby ties the experience to scientific research, referencing how trauma changes DNA expression and is passed down generations ("emotional inheritance").
  • “Your actual DNA expression changes because of the trauma that someone experiences.” – Abby (66:07)
  • "We're constantly trying to figure out where it is and make it make sense ... And that will make you feel a little crazy." (68:49)

12. Hope, Healing, and Generational Change

• Glennon and Abby reflect on how each generation lessens the burden:
  • “But it will be smaller, just like it was smaller to me, it will be smaller to my people, and then it will be smaller again. And that ... is the generational work.” – Abby (70:09)
• Glennon concludes with the importance of finding language to explain and alleviate inherited fears for her children.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "I just could not be another white lady from LA whose life was changed by psychedelics." – Glennon (02:30)
• "Math is something separate that shouldn't be interjected into this." – Glennon (22:04)
• "Is this my life? Is this my beautiful wife?" – Glennon, mid-trip (19:57)
• "The not being mushy and the not talking about love all the time ... just a defense mechanism, just like a protection thing ... I think this is just an unblocker." – Glennon (59:43)
• "You're always above your pay grade, honey. Just be astonished and tell about it and let us handle the why." – Glennon (65:37)
• "I'm going to do what I can to ... burden you the least that I can." – Abby (70:15)

Timeline & Key Timestamps

• 02:27 – Glennon introduces the decision to talk about psychedelics openly
• 07:25 – “Fresh snow/ski tracks” metaphor for new neural pathways
• 15:03–22:04 – Dosing mishap: microdosing gone rogue
• 24:09 – Abby puts Glennon “in timeout” during her bad trip
• 31:03 – College essay editing mid-trip
• 39:21 – Intention-setting for the real journey
• 44:16–45:50 – Glennon’s “dragon/darkness” psychedelic experience
• 51:17 – Breakthrough: “Medicine, why am I so scared?”
• 55:27–56:05 – Realization of trauma as family legacy
• 58:53 – Amanda: “She was a puddle of love.”
• 63:54 – "I don’t know" magic phrase and the celebration forest
• 66:07 – Abby “trauma changes DNA expression”
• 70:15 – The generational hope: “it will be smaller again”

Conclusion

This episode is a deeply honest, surprisingly funny, and ultimately hopeful exploration of using psychedelics for healing intergenerational trauma. Glennon's vulnerability strips away stigma, her storymaking converts suffering into communal wisdom, and Abby and Amanda’s participation makes for a masterclass in familial support and curiosity. The journey is less about drugs and more about finding compassion, breaking family cycles, and making space for awe.

For newcomers: This episode stands as both a practical and metaphoric guide for anyone wrestling with inherited fear, rigid thinking, or anxieties whose origins are buried deep in family history. The conversation is both light and dark, scientific and spiritual. And, in classic Pod Squad style, it's all wrapped up with laughter and love.