#67 - Deep Fix - Addiction In Silicon Valley, Recovery, and Plant Medicines with Alex Olshonsky

The Evolving Man Podcast

Alex Olshonsky, aka “Olo,” is a writer and the founder of Deep Fix - a newsletter, somatic coaching practice, and fast-growing digital community. He is also the co-founder of Natura Care Programs, an interdisciplinary entheogenic program combating addiction.

Alex is a former Silicon Valley executive at companies like Twitter, Salesforce, Copper, Slack, and VentureBeat. He joined me to share his story of his battle with addiction and his recovery. We also explored “Second Stage of Recovery” and the nuance of plant medicines, Ayahuasca, and the intentional use of psychedelics for healing.

In this episode we discuss:

• Alex’s upbringing in a culture of wealth and consumerist values
• Imposter syndrome
• The seeds of addiction
• Living a life for others, vs for yourself.
• The absence of mentorship for men
• Alex’s early work in finance which led to the tech start-up world
• Severe poly-substance addiction in Silicon Valley.
• “High-Functioning Addiction”
• Family intervention for addiction.
• Alex’s “bottom” which led him to recovery
• The value of AA and 12 step meetings
• The limitations of the 12 step model and the disease concept of addiction
• Buddhism, Yoga, and plant medicines
• “Second Stage Recovery”
• Ayahuasca as a tool for healing and transformation
• The proper use of psychedelic therapy.
• The importance of leveraging counseling, groups, and ceremony when engaging plant medicines.
• Bringing about Natura - a holistic plant medicine recovery program for people suffering from addiction.

Links from this episode:

• Deep Fix - Alex’s website

• Alex’s Twitter

• Alex’s Instagram

• Natura Care Programs

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chapters

1. Deep Fix- Addiction In Silicon Valley, Recover (00:00:00)

2. Marker (00:05:20)