OUR STORY
VETERAN FOUNDED & LED
A FOUNDER’S JOURNEY
JESSE GOULD, A FORMER ARMY RANGER, WAS PLAGUED BY SEVERE PTSD AFTER HE RETURNED HOME FROM COMBAT.
After leaving his career as an investment banker and searching for answers around the world, Jesse Gould eventually found himself at an ayahuasca retreat in the jungles of Peru. To his surprise, the experience helped resolve the PTSD symptoms he had carried since his military service.
The experience changed the course of his life.
In April 2017, Jesse founded Heroic Hearts Project to help other veterans access the kind of healing he had discovered.
“I started Heroic Hearts Project because I wanted to give my fellow veterans a healing option that works along with the support I wish I’d had during my own journey.”
SINCE THEN, HEROIC HEARTS PROJECT HAS HELPED OVER 1500 VETERANS AND SPOUSES OVERCOME THEIR SUFFERING FROM PTSD
What started as a small effort to help veterans access psychedelic retreats has grown into a global movement supporting hundreds of veterans and their families each year through preparation, retreats, coaching, and long-term integration support.
As the need has grown, so has the mission. Today HHP is also working to expand access to these treatments through research partnerships, practitioner training, community education, and advocacy efforts that aim to bring psychedelic care into the systems where veterans already seek help. HHP also has independently-run branches in The UK, Canada, and Australia.
REAL LIVES CHANGED
TESTIMONIALS
One of the most meaningful parts of the Heroic Hearts Process was being in a setting where I did not have to explain every layer of military culture or prove that what I carried was real. I was given space to lower my guard, face parts of myself that I had avoided, and receive support without being treated as broken or as a problem to be solved.
Joan
HHP Participant
Since the retreat, the biggest shift has been internal. I feel more present in my own life. I am more patient with myself. I feel less like I am carrying everything alone.
Travis
HHP Participant
Going through this program saved my marriage. I fundamentally changed my perspective in life by becoming hyperspace of how my actions affect others. My experience with the medicine was one of unearthing deep empathy for others.
