Eddie LeShure, CADC

Eddie LeShure, a certified alcohol and drug counsellor (CADC) and spiritual emergence coach in Asheville, North Carolina, works with people in recovery from addiction and with people preparing for or integrating psilocybin experiences. He runs A Mindful Emergence with Margaret Kirschner, a counsellor and yoga therapist.

Approach

Addiction took hold when he left for college at 17, and at 22 he was jailed for selling narcotics, serving time in Attica during the 1971 uprising in which 43 people died. He taught himself yoga in his cell, later took up meditation, and has since lived in two Buddhist retreat centres and studied with teachers including the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh. He entered addiction treatment in 2007 and worked through his trauma with Somatic Experiencing and EMDR. Sessions combine slow movement, somatic mindfulness meditation, breathing practices, Internal Family Systems and self-compassion.

Who it is for

He works with people protecting their recovery from substance use or eating disorders, people in spiritual emergence or emergency, and anyone who wants to explore psilocybin with care.

Practical details

Sessions are one to one, online or in Asheville. The standard fee is $110 a session, with discounted packages of four or six sessions and discounts for couples. The psilocybin programme is priced separately: three preparation sessions, one of them a two-hour Integrative Breathwork session, then a day-long ceremony that ends with a meal, then two integration sessions. The practice does not supply the psilocybin. A free monthly online integration circle adds support.

Care and safety

Work begins with a free discovery call on Zoom about the protocol and any contraindications, then intake and disclosure forms. The practice states that psychedelics are largely illegal and presents its psychedelic work as harm reduction. Eddie and Margaret are members of The Divine Assembly, a church that holds psilocybin mushrooms as a sacrament.