The Chemistry of Connection

The Chemistry of Connection

“If you get to some of the fundamental issues that are causing the unrest, you don’t need these Band-Aids,” says Julie Holland, a psychiatrist who specializes in psychopharmacology. Holland is the author of Weekends at Bellevue, Moody Bitches, and most recently, Good Chemistry. Today, she’s explaining the science of connection—with self, with partners, with family, with the cosmos. Holland has researched and studied what good chemistry looks like in the body and how someone can develop it using tools beyond prescription medications. She shares techniques and practices that support the production of oxytocin (a neurotransmitter and hormone that’s key for connection) and allow us to operate from the parasympathetic state, which is conducive to healing and connecting. And she breaks down profound lessons from psychedelic experiences and research that can inform and potentially revolutionize the way we relate to one another. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)