Plant Medicines in Recovery
Plant medicines, including fungi, (also called psychedelics or entheogens) have been used for mental and physical wellbeing for millennia around the world. Their healing effects, including unprecedented neuro-regenerative properties (regrowth of atrophied neurons), have a profound effect on addiction recovery and general mental wellbeing. Plant medicines induce a reflective mental state that allows individuals to confront the psychological roots of their addictions or traumas to work through and overcome them.
Hundreds of studies have shown the benefits of plant medicines for treating conditions such as: treatment-resistant depression, addiction, PTSD, alcoholism, heart disease, diabetes, anxiety, cluster headaches, obsessive-compulsive disorder, end-of-life anxiety, dementia, autism, as well as reducing rates of intimate partner violence and recidivism, among other conditions.
Iboga
(Ibogaine)
Iboga is a shrub native to Central West Africa traditionally used in rites of passage and healing ceremonies. Its main alkaloid is ibogaine, which has been used since the 1960s for the treatment of addictions. Iboga has potent neuro-regenerative effects that that have an unprecedented effect of eliminating withdrawals and addiction, especially to opioids. U.S. citizens are traveling to the numerous ibogaine clinics in Mexico to treat their addiction.
Psilocybin
(Magic Mushrooms)
Psilocybin mushrooms have been highly revered for their healing properties by ancient civilizations across the globe for thousands of years. Psilocybin is the most researched plant medicine. It has been studied in as treatments for alcoholism, addiction, and other maladies for centuries. One dose of psilocybin mushrooms proved to reduce depression symptoms one month later. On October 2018, the U.S. FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for studies on psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression.
Ayahuasca
Ayahuasca is made from combining two plants (one of which contains naturally occurring DMT) and brewing into a drinkable tea. Ayahuasca was traditionally used for medicinal and spiritual purposes throughout the Western Amazon basin and found worldwide attention in the 1930s for its healing properties. DMT is found naturally in humans, many plants, and other living things. Ingesting the tea is compared with having 20 years of therapy in one night due to the ability to see traumas in a new light and get to the root cause of suffering.
Cacti
Entheogenic cacti, including Wachuma (San Pedro) and peyote, are beneficial in healing drug and alcohol addiction and for individual and spiritual growth. They have been utilized in sacred initiation and community healing by diverse religious and cultural traditions for millennia, including by indigenous communities in Arizona.
Please see the Events page for any upcoming healing retreats and see the News page for updates on the decriminalization of these healing plant medicines.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: The plant medicines discussed above remain illegal in the U.S. per the Federal Controlled Substances Act. Hopefully, this will soon change as more and more U.S. citizens recognize and resist the control exercised by the government and pharmaceutical companies over our mental health and freedom to choose how we heal and access our own consciousness. However, until that happens, nothing on this website is meant to condone any illegal activity. There are legal ways to access and use plant medicines and I encourage everyone, regardless of addiction status, to seek out those opportunities to discover your personal happiness and authentic self, in a way that respects the plant, its spirit, conservation, and the cultures which hold these medicines sacred.
Also, whether to use plant medicines to aide your recovery is YOUR personal choice and is not required to work with me or receive my services.