Q&A with Heather Lee // Modern-Day Witch

Heather A. Lee, LCSW, is a licensed Psychotherapist and Certified Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapist with over 25 years of experience in Mind/Body Medicine and Integrative Mental Health. Heather has worked in diverse fields, including the medical industry, spa industry, transformational travel sector and in private practice.

Heather has developed exclusive wellness programs for renowned spas and resorts, such as The Golden Door and Four Seasons Hualalai and the One & Only. She is the Founder and Director of Medicine Woman Retreats and designs and delivers exemplary psychedelic wellness retreats and services in Colorado, Spain and Mexico.

Passionate about the power of plant medicine, Heather believes psilocybin holds immense potential for connecting people with their inner wisdom to live with a deeper sense of connection to themselves, the world and their well-being. Her personal cancer journey has deepened her connection to psilocybin as a soul medicine, highlighting the profound connection between thoughts, emotions, and physical health.

What three words would you use to best describe yourself?

Inspired, Optimistic, Soulful

What activities or things do you like to do in your free time?

I feel the most alive and at peace when I am out in nature. As a rule of thumb I always choose places to live where I can easily hop on a hiking a trail, head into a forest or stare out to sea. I also love to cook and make delicious and beautiful meals and serve them to people I love. I love to create amazing women’s retreats and host them in fabulous locations around the world. Each retreat becomes a mini community, and it is really amazing to be a part of peoples transformation.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your journey as a Psychotherapist and educator? How did you begin your work with psychedelics, and where do you see the future of your passion taking you?

In high school I was the girl everyone came to and told their worries and problems. They felt safe with me emotionally and trusted my support and advice. I think being a therapist was what I was born to do. I came out to Colorado my freshman year and found a great group of environmentally conscious hippie friends who introduced me to magic mushrooms. I became known as the “field Trip” girl because I would take groups of people out for the day to do mushrooms with backpacks filled with journals, art supplies, magnifying glasses, binoculars and snacks. My work as a therapist has always focused on guiding people to connect with their own inner wisdom. I have always worked with non-ordinary states of consciousness as a way to connect to inner wisdom and intuition. My practice has always included dreamwork, mindfulness,guided imagery, ecotherapy. So when the opportunity came to become one of the country’s first Certified Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapists……..done!!!All the stars aligned and it all came together. I am now living the most magical life I could have imagined. Creating safe and soulful plant medicine retreats for women around the world and introducing them to the art and science of psilocybin.

Define the term “Modern-Day Witch” in your own words and how does it differ from traditional historical associations?

As a woman working with and reclaiming plant medicine as a path to psychospiritual healing and wholeness I feel very much like a modern day witch. I think women who work as healers, whether it be healing body, mind or spirit, with an understanding of the role of spirit in all things, these are witches. My business is called Medicine Woman Retreats and I have had a few haters tell me that as a white middle class woman I shouldn’t use that name, I disagree. Medicine women have existed in cultures around the world and were at times called witches. My ancestors in Scotland who worked with the healing power of plants and herbs were witches, were medicine women. It is a name and identity I proudly identify with.

Tell us about Wellness and Wisdom Journeys and Medicine Woman Retreats – describe how what this organization does, your role and how you feel this is a new “right of passage” for women?

I founded and co-founded these two businesses as a way to introduce women to plant medicine in small, safe and soulful settings. We seek out amazing natural setting with comfortable accommodations and gourmet food to host our retreats. We keep them small and personal, ten women max. Each retreat is a beautiful synergy of time in nature, connection, reflection, supported plant medicine journey work and meaningful integration to support transformation. The majority of women who join our retreat are 50 and older. We feel we are creating a new rite of passage for women at midlife and beyond. We refer to it as aging and saging with psychedelics. We are women embracing our wisdom, intuition and power by reclaiming the plant medicine path.

Can you share a memorable or particularly impactful experience you’ve had while conducting one of your retreats or taking part in one? How did your experience impact your outlook on life today?

Last May I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The first think I did was a 5 gram journey on psilocybin to explore the psychospiritual and energetic parts of the dis-ease. That was a scary trip but also life changing and profound. I got a huge download of information about how my cancer was fear turned cellular and that my fear based patterns of thinking were intergenerational and carried through my female ancesors. As part of my healing I was told I needed to release and change the fear based thinking and I needed to live joyfully and in full trust. I had a double mastectomy a few weeks later and that was all that was needed to move on from that. My husband and I rented our house out for a year, moved to the Portugal coast for a few months and have been vagabonding for over a year now living joyfully and trusting that everything we need is already here and coming our way. In this year my business has grown exponentially, my health is thriving and I have more peace and calm then ever before. I owe much to the mushroom.

What is plant medicine? How is it being reclaimed in today’s age? And do you feel that there is a stigma surrounding plant medicine alternatives to modern healthcare?

The plant medicine I work with is psilocybin or magic mushrooms. When consumed in doses of 4 to 6 grams this is known as a hero dose and elicits a psychedelic journey which is a 4-6 hour experience. A journey is much like a lucid dream state. You are in another level of consciousness with a bit of awareness that you are the dreamer in the dream. The journeyer is lying all cozy with eye shades and earphones listening to a curated soundtrack designed for the psychedelic experience. The music has no words and is a powerful part of guiding the experience. On the journey there are visions and insights, symbols and emotions. I always tell clients “what meets you is meant for you”. The mushrooms truly seem to know what needs to come to the surface to be healed. Just like when you get a cut and your body knows how to heal, so too are we designed to heal emotionally and the mushrooms are an amazing tool for this psychospiritual healing. It is an exciting time in mental health to see these medicine starting to be accepted and destigmatized.

Give us three examples of plants that we can use every day to improve our lives? What are they and what effects do they have?

I am all about the mushrooms. They are powerful allies for our health and wellness. Psilocybin for psychospiritual healing and growth. Lions Mane for memory and neuroprotective effects. Turkey Tail for booting and supporting our immune system

Modern witchcraft places emphasis on self-care and personal empowerment. How do these concepts play a role in your practice?

One of the biggest takeaways from my most recent journey was to live by three principles. Keep it SIMPLE, SOULFUL and JOYFUL.

In what ways have you faced misconceptions or stereotypes about witchcraft/your practices, and how do you address these misunderstandings?

Just still fighting the old narrative that psychedelics are just drugs that are dangerous. The absolute fact is that psilocybin is far safer then anything in your bar or medicine cabinet

Plant medicine is beautiful form of alchemy in what ways do you connect with nature and the elements as part of your practice?

I love that mushrooms are more animal then plant. I think of them as ancient wise sentient beings that are rising up at this time to try to help us heal the world and ourselves. Using psilocybin makes people feel and become more pro-social and pro-enviornmental. The mushrooms literally make us kinder and more conscientious.

What does spirituality and wellness mean to you?

Living in a state of awe and wonder in recognition that everything is energy and magic and were are all spirits dancing in the energy and magic

What are your social media handles/websites/business profiles and where people can find and contact you?

www.medicinewomanretreats.com

www.wellnessandwisdomjourneys.com

@heatherleewellness (TikTok and Instagram)