Sassafras, Rebecca Huntley
Sassafras, Rebecca Huntley
List: $25.99 | Sale: $18.20
Club: $12.99

Sassafras
A memoir of love, loss and MDMA therapy

Author: Rebecca Huntley

Narrator: Menik Gooneratne

Unabridged: 6 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/28/2024


Synopsis

When you've experienced trauma and conventional treatments have failed, where do you turn? After unsuccessfully trying traditional therapy, renowned author and social researcher Rebecca Huntley chose an unconventional path to healing: MDMA.

The drug MDMA is made from the root of the sassafras tree. It is known as a party drug, taken to have a good time, to dance, to shed inhibitions. It has also, since early 2023, been authorised in Australia for use in treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder that has not responded to treatment.

For those with PTSD, the goal is not to have a good time and dance: it is to find a way forward in their lives after trauma, and to find their way back to the person they were before they were traumatised. For Rebecca, this meant reconciling with the violence, trauma, death and despair that had taken root in her life. It also meant stopping a crushing cycle of intergenerational trauma for the sake of her children.

She had three sessions of MDMA therapy, delivered by an underground healer. The treatment changed her life, her view of the world and the way she saw the past, present and future. It led to greater wisdom, compassion and awareness of the connections between humans and the natural world.

Sassafras is the story of a woman determined to confront her traumatic past head on. In doing so she discovered something that could be of great benefit to us all.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Hutch on December 28, 2024

Compelling and sad tale of having to parent and then process living with and then extracting yourself from dysfunctional parents. The book is vulnerability personified from someone is a public figure with a Dad who was revered. And fascinating insights into MDMA therapy as a way of dealing with trau......more

Goodreads review by Kate on January 10, 2025

This book was an easy read, I was surprised how quickly I finished it. The author is as vulnerable and aware as she can be, sharing her experience with an outlawed drug to explore trauma. It’s difficult to write a review on the book itself without being influenced by the political nature of the conte......more

Goodreads review by Jen on November 18, 2024

Book Review: Sassafras by Rebecca Huntly Sassafras by Rebecca Huntly is a profoundly moving and soul-stirring book that resonated with me on a deeply personal level. Rarely does a book feel like a direct conversation with my heart, but this one achieved just that. From the very first page, Huntly’s g......more

Goodreads review by Alice on May 16, 2025

CW: abuse, domestic violence, cruelty In this memoir Rebecca Huntley tracks both her life, as a child of cruel and violent parents, and her experiences with MDMA therapy to heal the trauma. While it is hard to read in parts, the stories of trauma are interspersed with stories of the MDMA and how it h......more

Goodreads review by Cath on January 01, 2025

A fascinating insight into the effects of childhood trauma and its ongoing repercussions through adulthood. Rebecca’s writing is conversational and relatable on one hand, while the content is devastatingly upsetting. Her vulnerable memories of childhood hurt and pain, strained family relationships and......more