Raving Is Having a Mental Health Renaissance

Good morning, and happy Monday! Welcome to another edition of The Drop In, DoubleBlind’s newsletter delivering independent journalism about psychedelics straight to your inbox.

Today’s lead news story is about the mental health benefits of raving and a therapist who is helping her patients work through life’s myriad issues on the dance floor. Maybe you’ve seen her on TikTok? If not, don’t worry — we interviewed the TherapyRaveGirl for this edition of The Drop In! If you scroll past that story, you will also find pieces on MDMA for dogs (!?), how to find underground raves near you, and what doctors say about “bad trips.”

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Finally, A Therapist Who Gets Why Raving Heals

Madison Liddle recommends her patients to rave as a means of healing trauma and connecting to the spiritual realm.

We all have that friend who compares the experience of going to music festivals or raves to church. They say it’s something about the connection between the music and the crowd. Or they tell you about a time they shook trauma out of their bones on a dance floor during a three-hour Four Tet set. Or they invite you to Ecstatic Dance, where you watch them weep in gratitude at the end of an interpretive dance marathon. Maybe you are this friend. And if so, you’re not alone. Millions of people find healing on dance floors. And now, there’s a mental health professional carving out a niche at the blessed intersection of therapy and raving.

Madison Liddle goes by “TherapyRaveGirl” on TikTok, where she’s building a platform not just around raving as therapy, but also around healing trauma through dance, having therapeutic experiences on the floor, and becoming a healthier raver (and partier) overall.

“I’m not advocating for raving as a replacement for therapy,” Liddle tells DoubleBlind. “I am recommending it as adjunct to treatment or as a tool in your mental health toolbox.”

A licensed therapist with a degree from Columbia University, Liddle is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Internal Family Systems. She’s a seasoned raver who grew up in Miami and believes that the dance floor offers the psyche something that sterile therapy rooms sometimes cannot.

“Raving is healing because it helps us access our bodies,” she says. “It enhances our physical wellbeing, improves motor skills and cardiovascular health, positively impacts neuroplasticity, regulates the nervous system, and releases feel-good chemicals like serotonin.” 

@therapyravegirl

#stitch @twigs.archive Raving can be an embodied practice used to heal trauma and recover from difficult experiences in our lives. The w... See more

Her TikToks have become a kind of gentle intervention: Not an invitation to party, but a call to consider how we do it — and why. “I recently had a spiritual experience on the dance floor in Mexico City. I felt so connected that I wanted to cry,” Liddle says. “It was beautiful, and I was so grateful for that feeling. That kind of transcendence is what I’m after when I rave — it's why I often rave sober. I want to access that connection to self, others, and the spiritual realm more deeply.”

Still, being open about raving hasn’t come without some pushback. Liddle’s comments are occasionally punctuated by skeptics, accusing her of glamorizing a party scene entangled with drug use.

“The research tends to agree that dancing can be useful for most anyone, especially those experiencing depression and PTSD,” she says. “However, just because dancing can be helpful for anybody does not mean I am recommending everybody rave.”

She makes it clear over the phone that her emphasis is on embodiment, not intoxication. “I am recommending dancing, not drug use, “ she says. “Only people can judge for themselves if they are open to [raving] being as impactful as it can be. Anyone who sort of gets there, or is genuinely curious about it, probably will love it and, most likely, find it helpful.”

Liddle’s perspective lands at the intersection of rave and ritual, aligning with a broader cultural reimagining of the dance floor as a ceremony rather than an escape. In DoubleBlind’s essay “Why Tripping at Raves Can Be Just As Healing as Ceremony,” journalist Julian Wildhack makes a case that mindless hedonism can be its own form of mindfulness — that a spontaneous drop into joy and sensation might be just as medicinal as a silent mushroom retreat. Liddle echoes the sentiment.

“You’re surrounded by people, time is suspended, it’s you and the music, and you’re connected to yourself, everyone around you, and the spiritual realm,” she says. “That feeling of transcendence? That’s what I’m after when I go to raves. I want to leave everything on the dance floor.”

This notion — that a rave might offer something sacred — feels both radical but also completely obvious to anyone who’s cried on the dance floor, leaving the experience feeling more whole than when they arrived. While Liddle doesn’t claim that dancing is a panacea, she insists it belongs in the conversation.

“Dance neuroscience is a growing field,” she says. “There was a recent study at Virginia Tech that showed dance enhances connection and embodiment. It's hard to study because it uses so many overlapping brain regions, but the consensus is that dance helps us relate to each other and connect with ourselves.”

Another meta-analysis, published in the journal Behavioral Sciences in January 2024, found that dancing led to a significant drop in depressive symptoms among older adults, especially when compared to doing nothing at all. While it wasn’t more effective than other active interventions like talk therapy or exercise, the findings still show that dance is a powerful, embodied way to lift mood and support our mental health.

For a generation searching for new ways to feel good, reconnect, or simply feel anything at all, Liddle’s approach to therapy offers a unique kind of solace: The chance to process pain through expression, movement, and in community. She reminds us that healing trauma doesn’t have to be clinical. Sometimes it’s loud. Sometimes it’s messy. And sometimes it involves wearing sequins and a wig.

“The experience of healing through dance isn’t rare,” Liddle says. “People have been doing this forever — moving their bodies in rhythm, in community, to process emotion and find connection. I think the dance floor is one of the most powerful places we have to remember who we are.”

The Mystical Roots of Mushroom Chocolate

This Friday, we’re tracing the rise of chocohongos — psilocybin mushrooms wrapped in cacao — with a history that stretches deep into Mesoamerican ritual and myth. Journalist Andrea Aliseda traces how this sacred pairing of fungi and chocolate made its way from ancient altars to underground markets and secret menus. Let’s just say: that mushroom chocolate bar you bought last week? It’s carrying a lot more than flavor.

“The chemical compounds of cacao make it so it helps to relieve anxiety,” says Luciana Helguera, a chocolatier from Guadalajara’s specialty chocolate shop and café, La Broma de Teo. “It helps create neuronal connections very similar to dopamine.”

…And the Mexica and Nahua people of ancient Mexico knew that. 

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DoubleBlind Digs

Here are today’s recommendations to help you live more psychedelically… 

DONATE: The Huachuma Collective is a Peru-based nonprofit protecting the sacred legacy of the San Pedro cactus. Led by Indigenous leaders, curanderos, and Andean community members, they’re on a mission to restore wild Huachuma populations, revive endangered cultural knowledge, and empower the next generation of plant stewards. With wild San Pedro at risk of disappearing, their work isn’t just preservation — it’s cultural survival. Support them, and you’re helping keep 4,000 years of wisdom alive and growing. Learn more about Huachuma Collective and donate here.

JOB OPP: Looking for a high-impact gig in the plant medicine space? The Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund is currently hiring for two contract positions. One is a Communications Director, and the other is a Web Designer. Learn more and apply here!

LEARN: On April 8-10, Join Fungi Academy for the Sacred Mycology Summit. It’s a FREE 3-day summit bringing together mycology, psychedelics, and permaculture. Register today and get instant access to 3 bonus masterclasses.

PARTICIPATE: This Earth Month, join PSYCA at NeueHouse in New York on April 9 for an evening of talks and collaboration with mental health leaders, land stewards, and climate activists exploring how personal healing and planetary regeneration go hand in hand. Free and open to the public, guests may RSVP here.

ATTEND: On April 27 Indigenous wisdom, psychedelics, and depth psychology intersect in an ancient practice called “Soul Retrieval.” But how do we relate to this in a post-modern world? Join Dr. Ido Cohen and an incredible group of teachers for a powerful, mythic journey into Jungian psychology, archetypes, and ancestral wisdom. Get your tickets here.