After decades of battling monsters on-screen, Eliza Dushku has traded Hollywood scripts for healing sessions—helping real people fight their demons.
The actress known for her fiery roles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Bring It On, and True Lies quietly left the entertainment industry in 2017. Today, she’s a licensed therapist working with military veterans facing trauma—and she’s using psychedelics to help them recover.
“I realized I wasn’t living my highest purpose,” Dushku, now 43, says. “I couldn’t keep living the life I was leading.”
Her journey from teen stardom to mental health professional began when she was just 9 years old. A trip to her brother’s audition in Boston accidentally landed her a role in the 1992 film That Night. From there, her career skyrocketed—working with legends like Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jamie Lee Curtis before her breakout as Faith on Buffy.
But behind the fame, Dushku faced dark realities. She’s spoken publicly about being sexually assaulted at 12 and later winning a settlement after alleged harassment on the CBS series Bull. In 2018, searching for healing, she turned to MDMA and psilocybin-assisted therapy, describing it as “a mental health deep dive.” That experience changed everything.
“I knew instantly something had to shift,” she says. “It became crystal clear what my next chapter was.”
She returned home to Boston, earning a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling at Lesley University and certification in psychedelic-assisted therapy. She now works with Home Base, a partnership between Massachusetts General Hospital and the Boston Red Sox Foundation, where she helps veterans explore trauma recovery through psychedelic science.
“I wear my badge every day with pride,” she says. “There’s an epidemic of veterans dying by suicide, and we need more tools. This work matters.”
Dushku recently reemerged in the spotlight—not as an actress, but as an executive producer of the Netflix documentary In Waves and War, which follows Navy SEALs using psychedelic therapy to heal PTSD.
“It’s a crucial time to rethink what it means to heal,” she says. “This film shows what’s possible.”
Though she’s left red carpets behind, Dushku’s found purpose in helping others find peace. “True growth, energy, and passion—manifested,” she wrote on Instagram after earning her degree.
And she’s not done learning yet. “When my kids are a little older, I’m going for my doctorate,” she says. “I love my work. I love my life. I finally found my purpose.”
