In this deeply personal episode, Steve opens up about his decades long battle with addiction and shares groundbreaking research on Ibogaine, a treatment showing an 88% reduction in PTSD symptoms after just one dose.

Steve traces the path from childhood trauma to compulsive comfort seeking and ultimately, to healing. As he records, his fiancée Lia's brother Justin, missing for months and struggling with methamphetamine addiction, has just made contact. The urgency is real, and the treatment they're hoping will save his life is illegal in the United States.

He explains:
⬛ Addiction is compulsive comfort seeking—a nervous system that never felt safe looking for relief.
⬛ 92% of people struggling with addiction have significant childhood trauma.
⬛ Dysregulation comes first, addiction comes after—substances are the best tool an overwhelmed nervous system can find.
⬛ Ibogaine resets dopamine receptors in one treatment, eliminating the 6-18 month "gray fog" of traditional recovery.
⬛ Stanford research shows 88% reduction in PTSD, 87% in depression, 81% in anxiety after one Ibogaine treatment.
⬛ Ibogaine triggers 2,000-3,000% increases in BDNF, the protein that helps neurons grow and repair.
⬛ Ibogaine keeps the brain in an open, changeable state longer than any other psychedelic, up to four weeks or three months.
⬛ Ibogaine opens a window of neuroplasticity, but lasting change requires integration, therapy, and ongoing work.
⬛ Most compulsive comfort seeking looks "normal"—scrolling at 2am, binge shopping, needing alcohol to be social.
⬛ Corporations engineer products to hijack dopamine systems just like drugs do.
⬛ Ibogaine was made illegal in 1970 without evaluation, despite having no recreational value.
⬛ American veterans are medical refugees, including decorated Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell.
⬛ Texas committed $50 million to Ibogaine research with bipartisan support led by Rick Perry.
⬛ Just one person who shows care can be the difference between life and death.

Chapters:
00:05 - Reframing addiction as compulsive comfort seeking
02:26 - First blackout at age five
04:46 - From childhood trauma to hedge fund success and crack cocaine
07:10 - Steve's father's WWII trauma and untreated PTSD
09:35 - The addict's body: Daily pressure building
11:50 - Dysregulation comes first
14:08 - Why people relapse: 6-18 months of gray fog
16:31 - Helen Sapourn: Breaking three ribs to attend her son's wedding
17:29 - Losing his mother at 27
19:10 - The friend's first line and 40 rehabs later
21:17 - Lia's brother Justin reaches out
23:05 - We're all compulsively comfort seeking
25:33 - What Ibogaine actually i
28:00 - The Stanford study: 88% PTSD reduction
30:27 - Witnessing transformation in veterans
32:44 - One and Done integration center
34:51 - Why is Ibogaine illegal?
37:16 - Rick Perry and Marcus Luttrell unite
39:20 - Veterans as medical refugees
41:49 - You are not broken, you are not weak
43:40 - Breaking the cycle

About Steve:
Steve Sapourn is a longtime entrepreneur and storyteller who spent decades achieving external success while battling childhood trauma and addiction. Through somatic therapy, psychedelic work, and nervous system rewiring, he rebuilt his life from the inside out. The Neuro's Journey is his mission to explore healing, courage, and the human experience with depth and honesty.

Follow Steve:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneurosjourney/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theneurosjourney

Resources:
Americans for Ibogaine - americansforibogaine.org - 404-368-9923
One and Done (Texas) - Integration center for veterans
Beond Clinic (Cancun, Mexico) - https://beondibogaine.com/

In this episode of The Neuro’s Journey, Steve sits down with his partner, Lia, for an intimate and vulnerable conversation about trauma, safety, love and healing while in relationship. Together, they explore how past experiences shape present reactions, how fear can take over even in moments of deep connection, and what it means to grow alongside someone while still carrying old wounds.

Lia shares a powerful story about how a small interaction triggered a deep survival response right before Steve proposed. She describes the fear of abandonment that surfaced, the belief that one argument could leave her unsafe, and how her nervous system still prepares for danger even inside a loving partnership. Their conversation offers a rare look into trauma activation, relational healing, ibogaine preparation, and the courage it takes to build trust in real time.

She explains:
⬛ Trauma can distort threat perception, making small triggers feel like catastrophic danger.
⬛ Hypervigilance and fear responses often come from old experiences, not present reality.
⬛ Feeling safe enough to speak needs in the moment is a major step in nervous system healing.
⬛ Ibogaine preparation for her is centered on grounding, stability, and a desire to feel truly safe.
⬛ Shame creates self-protection patterns that hide parts of the self from love, connection, and joy.
⬛ Being with someone who is open and unguarded can become a powerful teaching in releasing shame.
⬛ Healing in partnership requires curiosity, communication, and the willingness to see each other clearly.
⬛ Growth is not linear, and even spiritually advanced teachers see life as a path of learning until their final breath.
⬛ Sharing personal stories publicly requires courage and deep inner work.
⬛ Healing expands when we are witnessed with compassion, especially by the people closest to us.

Chapters:
01:18:09 Living with trauma while in a loving relationship
01:18:46 The trigger that surfaced before the proposal
01:19:26 Fear, abandonment, and old survival patterns
01:20:25 How the body prepares for danger even when none is present
01:21:27 Safety as a core intention for her ibogaine journey
01:21:52 Longing for wholeness and connection to all parts of self
01:22:01 Navigating shame and openness in partnership
01:22:42 Learning from each other’s differences
01:22:59 Growth as a lifelong path
01:23:00 Seeing life as a game for learning
01:24:39 Meditation, lineage, and the desire to grow until the last breath
01:25:23 Preparing for ibogaine and the adventure ahead
01:25:55 The vulnerability of speaking publicly for the first time
01:26:40 A new understanding of what Steve carries by sharing his story
01:27:36 Closing reflections on courage, vulnerability, and partnership

About Steve

Steve is a longtime entrepreneur and storyteller who spent decades achieving external success while quietly battling the internal effects of childhood trauma and addiction. Through somatic therapy, psychedelic work, and nervous system rewiring, he rebuilt his life from the inside out. The Neuro’s Journey is his mission to explore healing, courage, and the human experience with depth and honesty.

Follow Steve:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneurosjourney/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theneurosjourney

About Lia

Lia is a practitioner, healer, and trauma-informed guide who brings deep emotional awareness and grounded wisdom to her work. Her personal healing journey, combined with her commitment to truth and embodiment, offers a powerful lens on relational growth, safety, and transformation. This episode marks her first time

In this solo episode, Steve opens the door to a story he has carried for decades. What begins with a humorous memory from childhood quickly turns into a profound exploration of vulnerability, trauma and the armor we learn to build long before we understand what it costs us.

With honesty and grace, he speaks about surviving sexual abuse, growing up with a stutter that made speaking feel like danger and the shame he inherited from a father who could not show love in the way he needed.

This conversation is raw, human, and generous. It is an invitation to remember the parts of ourselves we hid to survive and to begin choosing courage in the moments that matter.

He explains:

⬛ Childhood experiences often register as life threatening in the nervous system, even when the danger is emotional not physical.

⬛ Armor begins as protection but becomes a prison that keeps us from the love and connection we want most.

⬛ Shame tells us we are bad rather than we did something bad, and it often forms when a child cannot understand why they do not feel loved.

⬛ Vulnerability feels like danger because the brain learned early that truth equals threat. Your body is not broken. It is protecting you.

⬛ Sharing trauma in safe spaces helps the brain convert frozen fragments into integrated memory.

⬛ Regulating the nervous system is essential because you cannot think your way out of activation.

⬛ Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is choosing truth while fear is present.

⬛ Small and honest statements are powerful first steps in taking off the armor.

⬛ Real vulnerability is not spectacle. It is authenticity without the guarantee of how it will be received.

⬛ The things we want most love, belonging, joy, creativity, meaningful connection only exist when we allow ourselves to be seen.

Chapters

00:00 The Streaking Analogy: Understanding Vulnerability

02:37 Childhood Trauma and Its Impact on Vulnerability

05:52 The Armor We Build: Protecting Ourselves

08:31 The Role of Vulnerability in Connection

11:33 The Science of Vulnerability and Courage

14:15 Shame and Its Roots in Childhood

17:22 Forgiveness and Reframing Our Stories

20:03 The Importance of Vulnerability in Relationships

23:13 Overcoming Societal Expectations of Masculinity

25:47 The Neuroscience of Vulnerability

28:51 Healing Through Storytelling

31:29 Practical Steps to Embrace Vulnerability

34:23 The Journey of Self-Discovery and Authenticity

37:13 The Call to Courage: Letting Go of Armor

About Steve:

Steve is a longtime entrepreneur and former finance professional who achieved significant external success while quietly battling the internal impact of severe childhood trauma and addiction. After years of intensive healing work through somatic therapy, psychedelic-assisted processes, and brain-based interventions, he experienced a profound internal shift that reoriented his life toward service, storytelling, and mental health advocacy.

Follow Steve:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneurosjourney/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theneurosjourney

In this episode of The Neuro’s Journey, Steve sits down with Dr. Ryan Phillips to explore the profound experiences that shaped his life, his purpose and his work healing men in a system that was never built for them.

A physician specializing in men’s mental health, trauma, and nervous system healing, Dr. Phillips shares the deeply personal story of losing his father to suicide and violence, and how that tragedy became the catalyst for a lifetime of service.

He explains:

⬛ The mental health system is built around a feminine model of healing, which often leaves men feeling unseen, unsafe, or unsupported.

⬛ Many men base their self-worth on achievement because early trauma creates a void that success can never fill.

⬛ Connection is the foundation of mental health, yet modern culture isolates men more than any generation before.

⬛ His years living in the remote Himalayas taught him that health is a system, not a single state, and that community is essential for human thriving.

⬛ Psychedelic medicine, including psilocybin and ketamine, can catalyze deep change when combined with true therapeutic support and integration.

⬛ Healing begins when a person decides they are worthy of help, worthy of relief, and worthy of their own presence and care.

Chapters:

00:00 Why mental health feels feminine to men
02:49 The mismatch between men and today’s therapeutic model
05:24 Why high achievers often carry the deepest trauma
07:51 Self-worth, achievement, and the masculine wound
10:12 Loneliness, isolation, and the collapse of male connection
13:12 Life in the Himalayas and what true health feels like
15:40 Community, purpose, and the rewiring of identity
18:30 Returning to the United States and seeing a culture in crisis
21:12 The self-made man myth and its psychological cost
23:54 Navigating trauma, masculinity, and identity
26:47 Breaking generational trauma and redefining fatherhood
54:49 Psychedelic healing and the limits of the medical model
57:01 Why integration matters more than the journey itself
59:36 Neurofeedback and the physiology of healing
01:04:55 Strength, vulnerability, and redefining healthy masculinity
01:11:09 Adventure as a healing modality
01:19:00 The role of challenge in building a resilient nervous system
01:27:40 Healing generational patterns through presence
01:32:47 You matter simply because you exist

About Steve

Steve is a longtime entrepreneur and former finance professional who achieved significant external success while quietly battling the internal impact of severe childhood trauma and addiction. After years of intensive healing work through somatic therapy, psychedelic-assisted processes, and brain-based interventions, he experienced a profound internal shift that reoriented his life toward service, storytelling, and mental health advocacy.

Follow Steve:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneurosjourney/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theneurosjourney

About Dr. Ryan Phillips

Dr. Ryan Phillips is a physician specializing in men’s mental health, trauma healing, psychedelic-assisted therapy, neurofeedback, and nervous system regulation. As the co-founder of Neurogrove Clinic in Colorado and one of the first licensed psilocybin facilitators in the state, Dr. Phillips brings together neuroscience, psychedelics, community, and a deeply human approach to healing that supports people in becoming their healthiest, most grounded, and most authentic selves.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NeuroGrove

Website: https://neurogrove.com/