Ep 173. Dancing Through the Dark, Depression and Psychosis, with Taylah KingEp 173. Dancing Through the Dark, Depression and Psychosis, with Taylah King
Behind The Smile with Ash Butterss
Ash Butterss talks with embodied dance artist Taylor King about her journey from teenage drinking and a drug-induced psychosis to faith, sobriety and daily embodied practice. The conversation focuses on movement, boundaries and spiritual connection as central parts of her recovery from alcohol and severe mental health challenges.
55:10•3 May 2026
Dancing Through Psychosis: Taylor King on Sobriety, Faith and Finding Herself
Episode Overview
- Alcohol became Taylor’s early tool for escape, offering a sense of freedom and detachment from her problems, but also masking deeper issues and red flags.
- A poorly screened ayahuasca experience in a fragile period contributed to a severe, two-year psychosis in which she experienced voices, dark visions and believed she was dead.
- Consistent support from her family, especially her mum, and long-term work with holistic psychologist Laura Corcoran were crucial in stabilising her mental health.
- Faith and giving her life to Christ, alongside daily practices of prayer, breath and movement, now form the core of her emotional and spiritual grounding.
- Dance, somatic awareness and clear boundaries help her stay connected to her body, honour her values and support others to move without substances.
“I loved getting to the end of the week knowing that I wouldn’t remember the weekend.”
What makes a recovery story truly inspiring? This conversation between host Ash Butterss and embodied dance artist and coach Taylor King gives a raw, gentle and surprisingly hopeful answer. Taylor shares how alcohol first became her escape at fourteen, offering a weekly blackout from a life she often wanted to run away from. She talks about her twelve-year relationship and marriage, the safety it gave her, and the quiet, persistent whisper that something wasn’t right.
Leaving that relationship meant leaving the only life she’d ever known, and on the outside she was “holding it together”, but inside she says she felt “really lonely, isolated, confused” and completely lost. Things spiralled further after an ayahuasca ceremony with no medical screening, which contributed to a drug-induced psychosis and two years of disconnection from reality.
Taylor describes hearing voices, intense dark visions, believing she was dead and had no heart or brain, and being locked in a hospital room while terrified she’d never come back. Support from her family, especially her mum, the crisis team, and ongoing therapy with holistic psychologist Laura Corcoran all played key roles in her gradual return. Today, Taylor lives in Byron Bay, dancing daily on the beach and teaching movement as medicine.
Faith has become a central anchor; she speaks about giving her life to Christ, building a daily practice of prayer, breath and dance, and learning to feel anxiety and heartbreak in sobriety rather than run from it. Her non‑negotiables now include a consistent personal practice, clear boundaries, and living in line with her values, even when it means saying no.
If you’re curious how someone can go from believing they’re beyond help to dancing freely in public without substances, this story might be the gentle nudge you need—what small step towards yourself could you take today?
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