Ali John Zarrabi, MD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, who is trained in palliative care. He is a key member of the Winship supportive care team and has been awarded grant funding for research into the use of psilocybin assisted therapy. In this podcast Dr Zarrabi describes his early life experiences doing rounds with his father who was a physician with the VA. After witnessing the issues in his father's own medical care, Dr Zarrabi dedicated his career to finding ways to help people find peace even as they grapple with spiritual or existential distress during their medical journey. Dr Zarrabi shares how he protects his own sense of wellbeing with a career in academic medicine by cooking, spending time in nature and practicing meditation. This podcast also includes details about Dr Zarrabi's experience with psychedelic research, the role of talk therapy in psilocybin assisted therapy and the cautions with regards to patient participation in this research.