Behind The Shield

Dr. Pamela Kryskow is the medical lead for the Roots To Thrive Program. She is a founding board member of the Psychedelic Association of Canada and the medical chair of the Vancouver Island University Post Graduate Certificate in Psychedelic Medicine assisted Therapy. Pam is also a a clinical instructor at UBC and adjunct professor at VIU.
Dr Kryskow is actively involved in research related to psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine, front line health care workers and first responders mental wellness. She is co-investigator on the largest microdosing study Microdose.me which is ongoing with 22,000+ enrolled participants.
Prior to studying medicine she was a City of Coquitlam Firefighter for 8 years and provincial forestry firefighter for 4 seasons.
Phil Danes is a co-founder, the Lead of Operations and playlist curator (soundscapes that guide psychedelic journeys) for the Roots to Thrive Society for Psychedelic Therapy. Phil is a graduate of Vancouver Island University’s Psychedelic assisted Therapy Graduate Certificate program and alumni of the Positive Deviants program through the Wolf Willow Institute
Phil is passionate about men’s health and the cultivation of environments that promote emotional awareness and expression. He has a keen interest in the intersection of music and psychedelic-assisted therapies and the creation of different playlists to use during therapeutic sessions.

Chad Robichaux is a former police office, Recon Marine and the Author of "Saving Aziz". Azizullah Aziz is an Afghani interpreter assigned to Chad as part of a unique JSOC Task Force team.
We discuss their respective childhoods, fleeing the Taliban as a young man, Chad's career call as a police officer, some of the heroism from our Afghan allies, the travesty that was the Afghan withdrawal, how Chad's team of veterans liberated thousands of our allies, their powerful mental health stories and much more.
Aziz was more than an interpreter for Force Recon Marine Chad Robichaux during Chad's eight deployments to Afghanistan. He was a teammate, brother, and friend. More than once, Aziz saved Chad's life. And then he needed Chad to save his.
When President Joe Biden announced in April 2021 that the United States would be making a hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan, Robichaux knew he had to get Aziz and his family out before Taliban forces took over the country. As the rescue team he'd pulled together began to go to work, they became aware of thousands more--US citizens, Afghan allies, women, and children--facing persecution or death if they were not saved from the Taliban's terrorist regime. Chad began leading the charge that would go on to rescue 17,000 evacuees within a few short weeks--12,000 of them within the first ten days.
This gripping account of two heroes and a daring mission puts human hearts and names alongside the headlines of one of the most harrowing moments in our history, giving you a closer look at:
The resilience of Afghanistan and its people
Chad's direct interactions with the Taliban
The twenty-year war that took place under four presidents
Saving Aziz is a story of war and rescue. It is a story of a mission accomplished and work still to be done. It is a story of how looking into a stranger's eyes breaks down prejudice and apathy--and why risking it all is worth it when it comes to loving one another.

A renowned speaker, and bestselling author, Dr. Gabor Maté is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics including addiction, stress and childhood development.
Rather than offering quick-fix solutions to these complex issues, Dr. Maté weaves together scientific research, case histories, and his own insights and experience to present a broad perspective that enlightens and empowers people to promote their own healing and that of those around them.
After 20 years of family practice and palliative care experience, Dr. Maté worked for over a decade in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side with patients challenged by drug addiction and mental illness.
Dr. Maté has written several bestselling books, including the award-winning In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction; When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress; and Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder. He is also the co-author of Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers and The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture.

Morgan Englund's life has been nothing short of a wild ride. He first gained widespread recognition as an actor for his portrayal of Dylan Lewis on CBS's Guiding Light. But, his passion for serving others led him to become a firefighter/paramedic for the city of Los Angeles, a role in which he served with distinction.
Since leaving the fire department, Morgan has embarked on a new journey, choosing to focus his attention on healing through music, public speaking and sound meditation. Through this work, he hopes to heal himself and others overcome past trauma and the debilitating effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. Morgan's willingness to explore unconventional paths to healing is a testament to his ongoing commitment to lifting others and making a positive impact on the world.
Morgan Englund is a 2× TEDx speaker, former firefighter/paramedic, and cultural change leader committed to reducing firefighter suicide and mental health injuries through meaningful cultural reform. His work is grounded in a sobering reality: firefighters are three times more likely to die by suicide than to be killed in the line of duty. After more than two decades in the fire service, Morgan understands the toughness, compartmentalization, and endurance the job demands. He also witnessed the cost of a culture that never teaches how to stand down—losing friends and colleagues to suicide, burnout, and despair.
Morgan didn’t just survive that environment; he did the work to heal from it without losing his edge. Today, Morgan speaks to firefighters, leaders, and organizations about completing the culture they already value—honoring toughness while adding the missing skills of recovery, integrity, and connection. His talks are practical, grounded, and firefighter-credible, focused on outcomes that matter: fewer mental health injuries, reduced sick time, improved quality of life, and lives saved. This work exists for one reason: to protect the people who protect everyone else—by changing the culture that’s quietly costing them their lives.
https://morganenglund.com/about

Tim Spradlin is the director and EAGALA Certified Equine Specialist for Finally Home Farm, a 501c3 nonprofit charity providing equine therapies to veterans and first responders with emotional wounds near Xenia, Ohio. He and his wife Susan provide support services to wounded warriors at no charge.
Tim is retired from a 40 plus year civilian career as a firefighter, paramedic and law enforcement officer. He also served in the US Air Force on active duty in Crash - Fire – Rescue and later retired from the USAF Reserve where he was a SMSgt / First Sergeant with the Security Forces squadron.
Tim is a certified Community Service Chaplain, certified Peer Recovery Support Specialist and volunteers as the Chaplain for Xenia Township Fire Department. He is a life member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2402, and is the Chaplain for the Ohio VFW 3rd District.