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How Veterans Are Revolutionizing the Treatment of Trauma…Again

Unable to get the care they need from the VA, Veterans found this wildly-successful therapy that may change your life.

Matt Gangloff
6 min readNov 29, 2021

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The Life of Tony Macie

In 2008, Tony Macie was drinking a fifth of Vodka to put himself to sleep most nights. Today, he splits time between the corridors of power in Washington, D.C. and quarterbacking humanitarian missions in Cambodia. And it was one dose of MDMA, commonly known as the party drug “Ecstasy” that made it possible.

[NOTE: This is Part 3/3 of a series entitled “How the VA Accidentally Started a Psychedelic Revolution (and What It Means for Your Mental Health)”. Click here to read Part 1 entitled “The VA Protest Suicides” and for Part 2 entitled “The History of PTSD”.]

In 2006, Macie deployed for 15 months to Southeast Baghdad. For the first few months, nothing happened. But that changed in the blink of an eye. He saw friends hit with an IED. A car bomb was driven into his patrol base and detonated. As a first responder, he had a front-row seat to the death and destruction.

The experience changed him and after his tour and separation from the Army, he became one of the 20% percent of Post 9–11 Veterans diagnosed by the VA with…

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Matt Gangloff
Matt Gangloff

Written by Matt Gangloff

I teach the how-to’s of Post-Traumatic Growth: How to heal and grow, find a new mission, become your best self and build a meaningful life. www.mattgangloff.com

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