Founder & Author
Eric
Schwarz
Combat Veteran
Founder, Minds Awaken
Author, The Foundation Course
"I built what I needed to find and couldn't."
"I built what I needed to find and couldn't."
Minds Awaken exists because Eric Schwarz needed it to exist. After leaving military service, he carried what many combat veterans carry — the hypervigilance that doesn't switch off, the sleep that doesn't come easily, the distance from people who haven't been where you've been, the self-criticism that runs constantly in the background. The things that are hard to name and harder to explain.
He spent years reading the research, talking to clinicians, and eventually going through the preparation and integration process himself. What he found was that the information — real, honest, evidence-grounded information about psychedelic therapy — was scattered, jargon-heavy, or buried behind paywalls and affiliate links. The people who most needed it were least likely to find it.
So he built Minds Awaken. Not as a business first, but as the resource he wished had existed when he was starting.
Eric served in combat. He came home changed, as most do. The transition out of service — the loss of mission, of structure, of the people you served with — is its own kind of difficulty. That chapter stays with you.
Like many veterans, Eric tried the conventional pathways. Therapy helped. Medication helped, partially. What he was looking for — something that could address the root, not just manage the surface — he found in the research on psychedelic-assisted therapy. Specifically the ibogaine and psilocybin data for veterans with PTSD and TBI.
He prepared carefully, worked with qualified facilitators, and did the integration work afterward. The Inner Compass Course is built from that preparation — what he learned, what he wished he'd known earlier, and what the research actually shows versus what gets sensationalized in coverage of this field.
The Foundation Course — Learning to Love Yourself — came from a different thread. The book he wrote because he needed to write it. The inner work that runs underneath everything else: the self-criticism, the worthiness questions, the relationship with yourself that determines the quality of every other relationship. Combat veterans know how to fight. Learning to stop fighting themselves is a different kind of work.
"The information that could change a veteran's life shouldn't be behind a paywall or buried in a research journal. It should be free, clear, and honest."— Eric Schwarz, Founder
Both courses on this site — the Inner Compass Course and the Foundation Course — are completely free. No account, no payment, no email required. That's a deliberate choice, not a temporary state.
Eric has been on the other side of this. He knows what it's like to be a veteran trying to figure out if psychedelic therapy is real, if it's safe, if there's a legitimate pathway to access, and whether the $5,000 retreat you're looking at is worth it or a risk. He knows what it's like to be someone who needs the inner work but can't afford the therapist.
The information and the courses are free because that's what they should be. If Minds Awaken generates revenue — through retreat center partnerships, through people who choose to support the work — that's what sustains it. But access to the courses themselves will remain free.
For veterans specifically: if you are a combat veteran considering psychedelic therapy for PTSD, TBI, or the weight of what you've carried home, and cost is a barrier, reach out directly. There are programs, grants, and pathways. Eric knows what they are because he's researched them. He'll share what he knows.
Everything on this site is grounded in peer-reviewed research. When the evidence is preliminary, we say so. When there are genuine risks, we name them clearly. No hype. No agenda beyond accuracy.
The veteran content on this site was built with combat veterans in mind — not as an afterthought, but as a primary audience. The ibogaine cardiac safety information, the PTSD and TBI research, the veteran-specific programs — these exist because they matter.
The courses are free. The resource center is free. The information is free. This is not a lead generation funnel or a content marketing operation. It is a genuine attempt to put useful information in front of people who need it.
If you're a combat veteran navigating this, Eric will respond personally. If you have feedback on the courses or the research content, he wants to hear it. If you're a clinician, researcher, or retreat center interested in the work — reach out.