Jeremy Van Wert: His Own Way

Jeremy Van Wert’s path hasn’t been linear. Therapist, psychedelic guide, podcast host—but before any of that, he was just a kid in California, raised Mormon, feeling like he didn’t quite fit.

Music was his first escape. Drumming in a competitive marching band gave him a taste of something bigger—the rush of performance, the high of collective energy. One night, during a show in North Carolina, something clicked. The crowd’s roar, the rhythm in his hands—it was the first time he felt alive in a way church never offered.

Pedaling Toward Something New

Not long after, he biked across the U.S. with a group of strangers he’d met online. A hundred miles a day, sleeping in churches and community centers. It wasn’t about the destination; it was about the rhythm of the road, the weird, fleeting friendships that form when you’re all just tired and moving forward.

That trip stuck with him. So did the question: What now?

Therapy, Systems, and Fighting for Kids

He went into family therapy, working with families the system often ignored. At first, he fumbled—textbook training didn’t always help when faced with real, messy lives. But he learned to listen. To fight for kids who needed advocates. It mattered, even when it drained him.

The Night Everything Felt Different

Then, at a Roger Waters concert, a psychedelic experience rewired something in him. Not in a flashy, cinematic way—just a quiet, undeniable sense of Oh. There’s more here. That curiosity led him deeper: studying psychedelics, guiding others, learning how to help people navigate their own shifts.

Climbing Ladders That Didn’t Fit

For a while, he chased conventional success—hospital administrator, even a CEO role. But his body and relationships paid the price. The titles looked good, but they didn’t feel good. Eventually, he stepped back.

Now: Holding Space for Others’ Journeys

These days, Jeremy’s work is about integration. Not just psychedelics, but all the ways people get stuck—and unstuck. He doesn’t have a grand manifesto, just hard-earned lessons:

• Healing isn’t about fixing. It’s about noticing.

• Sometimes the bravest thing is to stop climbing and ask, Wait—why am I on this ladder?

• The most profound shifts often start as whispers, not earthquakes.

You can hear more of his story on the Blue Dragon Healing Podcast or his own show, Mindful Mutiny.