A Chinese POV on Psychedelic Therapy: Breaking Cultural Stigma ft. Mei Yuan | EP20

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When we had our friend Zhifei from Xiaogua Chinese on the podcast to talk about psychedelics, the response was overwhelming. So many of you reached out saying you wanted to hear more, to keep learning how to talk about this topic in Mandarin. So we knew we had to do a follow-up, and this time we wanted to bring in someone with a completely different perspective.

Meet Mei Yuan, a first-generation Chinese-American who grew up in mainland China, came to the US in 1992 for graduate school, and now works as a life coach and therapist. Mei has experienced the life-changing benefits of guided psychedelic therapy firsthand, and her journey to getting there is one that many of us, whether first-gen or second-gen, can deeply relate to.

From "Drugs Are Scary" to Spiritual Journey

One of the most fascinating parts of this conversation is hearing Mei describe how she went from having zero awareness of psychedelics to eventually embracing guided 靈修之旅 / 灵修之旅 / líng xiū zhī lǚ / spiritual journey work with a trained healer.

Growing up in China, Mei had only ever heard of 毒品 / dú pǐn / drugs, and the association was entirely negative. When she came to the US, she still had no interest in any of it. But about twenty years ago, after her daughter was born, Mei went through an incredibly difficult period. She realized that if she wanted to become the kind of mom she wanted to be, she had to face the 創傷 / 创伤 / chuāng shāng (CH) / chuàng shāng (TW) / traumas from her own childhood that she had never truly healed from, only hidden away.

That realization led her to a psychedelic therapist, a healer who had studied with indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico, where 致幻蘑菇 / zhì huàn mó gū / magic mushrooms have been used in ceremonies for over a thousand years. Mei worked with this teacher for over three years both with the medicine and through talk therapy, and the experience fundamentally changed her life, eventually leading her to become a therapist herself.

Guided Therapy vs. Recreational Use

Angela and Mei spend a good chunk of this episode distinguishing between guided psychedelic therapy and recreational use. This is something that came up in the Zhifei episode too, but Mei's experience adds another layer because she did her work with a trained 心理癒療師 / 心理愈疗师 / xīn lǐ yù liáo shī / psychological healer who combined indigenous shamanic traditions with Western-style 心理諮詢 / 心理咨询 / xīn lǐ zī xún / psychological counseling.

The preparation matters just as much as the experience itself. Before the ceremony, Mei's teacher helped her prepare both mentally and physically, understanding what 挑戰 / 挑战 / tiǎo zhàn / challenges she was carrying, setting her 意願 / 意愿 / yì yuàn / intention, and getting ready to face whatever came up. The actual ceremony lasted nearly seven hours, with the teacher present the entire time.

This is worlds apart from taking something at a party. As Mei puts it, the preparation and the guidance are what make it truly healing.

The Cultural Barriers to Healing

What makes this episode especially powerful is the conversation about cultural 抵觸 / 抵触 / dǐ chù / resistance. In both mainland China and Taiwan, psychedelics carry an overwhelmingly negative connotation. For older generations especially, this is not something you talk about, let alone try.

But Mei also noticed something interesting from her work as a therapist. Many of her Chinese-American clients around her age find it incredibly helpful that she can understand Chinese. Being able to 互換 / 互换 / hù huàn / switch between both languages during therapy sessions makes a real difference in allowing them to open up, because some feelings and experiences are simply easier to express in one language versus the other.

Even for someone like Mei, who grew up speaking Mandarin as her first language, expressing deeply personal and emotional experiences in the context of therapy brought real language challenges. The vocabulary for psychology and mental health, things like 心理健康 / xīn lǐ jiàn kāng / mental health, wasn't something she grew up learning in China. She actually learned many of these concepts first in English and then had to translate them back.

A Generational Shift Is Happening

The episode ends with a really hopeful conversation about how attitudes are changing. Mei shared that she's been meeting more and more Chinese and Chinese-American people who are open to exploring psychedelic therapy. There's a clear 代溝 / 代沟 / dài gōu / generational gap here. Younger generations tend to be much more 開放 / 开放 / kāi fàng / open-minded about it, while older generations carry more resistance rooted in cultural background.

But even among older first-generation immigrants, Mei is seeing shifts. With the growing 危機 / 危机 / wēi jī / crisis in mental health, more people are reaching a point where they're willing to try new approaches to face their challenges head-on. Sometimes it takes hitting a real crisis point in life before someone is ready to explore these options, and that's okay.

Key Vocab From This Episode

心理健康 | xīn lǐ jiàn kāng (mental health)

抵觸 / 抵触 | dǐ chù (resistance / conflict / contradict)

靈修之旅 / 灵修之旅 | líng xiū zhī lǚ (spiritual journey)

創傷 / 创伤 | chuāng shāng (CH) / chuàng shāng (TW) (trauma / wounds)

癒合 / 愈合 | yù hé (healing / fusion)

意願 / 意愿 | yì yuàn (intention)

挑戰 / 挑战 | tiǎo zhàn (challenge)

代溝 / 代沟 | dài gōu (generational gap)

開放 / 开放 | kāi fàng (open-minded / liberal)

危機 / 危机 | wēi jī (crisis)

Ready to Express Your Own Journey?

While we don't talk about psychedelics specifically in Real You Mandarin: Self-Expression, the final module is all about Self-Growth, covering everything from emotional regulation and self-compassion to breaking cycles and facing your inner critic. That, combined with the modules on Expressing Your Feelings and Interpersonal Relationships, would give you a powerful toolbox of Mandarin vocabulary to share your own experiences and personal insights with the people you love.

Not sure if it's for you yet? Try a free lesson first and see what it feels like to learn Mandarin through content that actually matters.

Get the Full Transcript

Want the full transcript of this episode in Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Pinyin, and English with key vocab highlighted? Download the EP1 transcript for free here. If you find it useful, check out our Podcast Transcript Membership to unlock all episode transcripts.

You can also learn more about Mei and connect with her at journeystowholeness.com.

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