On paper, everything looks pretty good. For a long time, I strived to make it look that way. I was your classic overachiever, perfectionist, and people pleaser who thought I could achieve my way to peace and happiness. But with each achievement unlocked, the satisfaction became more fleeting, and I would return to a baseline level of stress, dissatisfaction, anxiety, and vague mistrust in life.
When I matched into a competitive surgical subspecialty for residency, I thought I would have been the happiest I had ever been. Yet, I was feeling more disillusioned than ever. I matched into an old-school training program that didn't abide by work hour restrictions or professional workplace norms. The stress from school had already taken a toll on my health, manifesting as disordered eating, binge drinking, hormonal and sleep disturbances, and irritable outbursts. When I started my first year of residency, feeling disconnected from my calling and purpose as I sat in front of a computer running outdated Windows software for 95% of my workday in a government hospital, I was deeply troubled by the person I was becoming and wondered whether I would survive this five-year training. The golden handcuffs felt heavy. Quitting didn't feel like an option.
In a small attempt to manage my stress and anxiety, I started a meditation practice. From there, I crossed paths with kindred spirits who introduced me to psychedelic plant and fungi medicines. I explored MDMA, ayahuasca, and psilocybin, and that's when my entire world began to shift. Experiencing these expanded states of consciousness revealed to me, with shattering clarity, the profound truths buried deep in my heart under the heavy weight of childhood and intergenerational trauma that I wasn't even aware I was carrying.
Those first few psychedelic experiences were exquisitely beautiful as I reawakened to the beauty, awe, wonder, and play that I had lost along the way into adulthood. Several ceremonies later, I began to process the deep grief, guilt, and shame I was carrying from my father’s death and for the deaths of my patients. Along the way, I began formulating my own philosophy of health and healing, which runs counter to what I was conditioned to believe in mainstream medicine with its over reliance on pharmaceuticals and surgery.
Through these experiences, I developed a profound connection to Mother Earth and all her inhabitants - flora and fauna alike. Having healed the chronic PTSD, moral injury, and burnout that I was experiencing at the start of my career, I have reawakened my purpose of serving the health and flourishing of humankind, as I believe it is directly connected to the healing of the planet.
We are living through extraordinary times, which call for extraordinary medicines. Thanks to the renewal of scientific research into psilocybin therapy and the trailblazing legalization unfolding in Oregon for the use of this medicine, there is now a legal pathway for serving psychedelic medicine in a safe and accessible way.
Healing with Earth medicines has given me roots that run deep through my body and deep down into the Earth. I no longer feel rootless and know that home is wherever I am. I currently live in Portland, Oregon with my husband Michael and our two beautiful children.
If any of this resonates with you, there are many ways to further connect:
Through the practice at Meadow, I work with an interdisciplinary team of heart centered professionals offering legal psilocybin facilitation for anxiety, depression, chronic PTSD, alcohol use, and chronic physical conditions that are not being adequately addressed in the conventional healthcare setting.
I work with clients on health, mindset, and embodiment coaching, as well as pharmaceutical medication tapering support
I share educational content on my YouTube channel
I also host the Tracy Townsend, MD Podcast (found on Spotify all major podcasting platforms) where I interview other facilitators, therapists, physicians, scientists, and seekers on the path of healing.
If you would like to hear a bit more about my backstory, you can listen to this conversation I had here, hosted by Andrea Firpo: Healing The Mother Wound
You can listen to a conversation I had with fellow medical doctor and coach Dr. Sogol Pahlavan diving into psychedelic medicines on the Mindful Living podcast
My mission is to help expand consciousness and assist in the flourishing of all life on planet Earth through transformational experiences with psychedelic medicines.
May all beings be free from suffering.
May all beings know their wholeness.
May all beings dwell in the heart.
May all beings know peace.
With warmth,
Tracy
Welcome to this little corner of the internet where I attempt to introduce myself. I trained as an orthopaedic surgeon and now practice as an integrative physician, licensed psilocybin facilitator, and vitality coach. I’m also the Co-Founder of Meadow, a licensed psychedelic medicine practice based in Portland, OR.
Whenever I get to know someone, I like to learn where they grew up, understanding their roots. For much of my childhood, I felt somewhat rootless. I had a nomadic upbringing in a nuclear family with parents who worked for the U.S. military and government. I spent my early childhood in East Asia and the Gulf Coast of Florida, then my high school years in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
I attended the University of Virginia for my undergraduate studies, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry. I spent a gap year volunteering for a grassroots education non-profit in La Vallée de Jacmel, Haiti. I then obtained my medical degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. I completed a five-year residency in general orthopaedic surgery at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA, followed by a fellowship in pediatric orthopaedic surgery at Boston Children's Hospital of Harvard University. I graduated in the first class of state-licensed psilocybin facilitators in the U.S. from Innertrek. Also, my husband, Mike Townsend, is the founder of Trellia, an online platform connecting people to legal psilocybin providers.