Substance Abuse or Drug Addiction

We understand the underlying cause of addiction mainly as an inability to manage the current emotional or physical pain that a person may be feeling due to various situations that create suffering in life. A unique property of substances that create addiction or dependency is to numb or cut off emotions, which allows people to cope with the circumstances they are living in.

The usual period of addiction or abuse ranges from 10 to 15 years or more. It is important to understand that only a long and deep healing process can compensate in a significant way for all the physical, energetic and neurological damage that these substances have created over time. People with substance abuse usually have little emotional development because the habitual numbing or cutting off from emotions has not allowed them to grow and mature emotionally during the years of substance abuse.

The treatment for substance abuse or drug addiction is framed in a process that lasts for 6 to 12 months depending on the history of usage, type of substances and also objectives of each participant. It is extremely important to come out of the idea that only the mere taking of an entheogen such as Iboga, Psilocybin, San Pedro or Ayahuasca can create a type of miracle that transforms the person into a new being with no cravings or tendencies to abuse substances anymore. It is vital to comprehend that a profound healing process is required to heal the wounds from their root and overcome the need to numb or escape from the emotional or physical pain.

The treatment requires a complete disconnection from the exterior world. It is required from participants to give themselves the sufficient space to be able to feel who they truly are without the influence from their current surroundings and circle of influence. This includes: no phones or computers, no Ipod or music, no books or related material that is linked to the participant’s culture, family or social background.

Complete disconnection from everything that was linked with the participant’s substance abuse is of the utmost importance for the success of the treatment.

The treatment is divided in the following 7 stages:

I Interruption of Abuse

The interruption of the intake of a substance can be done by either tapering off the substance or cold turkey. Whatever route the participant wishes to take, our recommendation is that the interruption is done here at the center so assistance and support can be provided. In either case the withdrawal symptoms that may occur can be properly managed here, which lessens the discomfort and increases the likelihood of success. Tapering off is recommended with the abuse of Alcohol, Nicotine, Benzodiazepines, Opioids and Opiates since the withdrawal symptoms can easily be managed as the tolerance systematically becomes reduced. Once the participant has come off completely of the substance(s), there can be very little to no withdrawal symptoms at all. This is done by bio-hacking the participant’s system with specific natural supplements, physical exercise, food diet and purges with Kambó that help restore and balance the system of the participant.

We use many natural supplements. Some are as basic as Omega DHA/EPA, Magnesium, Vitamin C, Vitamin D3, B-Complex, GABA, L-Thyrosine, Melatonin, Valerian and Passion Flower. Others are designed natural supplements like Elimidrol daytime/night time and Heantos. These supplements can help restore the neurological balance of the brain while tapering off the substance to minimize the withdrawal symptoms once the substance is fully out of the participant’s system. Heantos is given once the tapering is coming to an end to facilitate even further any type of withdrawal symptoms that may arise and reduce or eliminate the Post-Acute Withdrawal Symptom (PAWS) as much as possible. The administration of Kambó is done regularly to speed up this process and obtain a deeper restoration, cleansing the system in a cellular and energetic level. Between the organic food, natural supplements, Heantos and Kambó, the withdrawal symptoms and the PAWS are almost non-existent.

Ibogaine is known to interrupt cravings and clutches of dependency in a very short period of time, but we prefer to administer this medicine once the participant is fully out of the withdrawal stage as a safety measure. Only in severe cases we take the chance to administer Ibogaine or Iboga TA during this stage as it carries a greater risk to the health of participants if their system is overloaded with Benzodiazepines, Opioids and Opiates related substances.


II Detoxification: Mental, Physical and Spiritual

The detoxification process is first carried out by the mental cleansing through the total disconnection from the exterior world. It is then deepened with isolation and silence exercises that allow the excess of mental noise to subside. At the same time, participants begin to purify their physical bodies with a colon, bladder and liver flush that help remove the excess of toxins. That increases their levels of energy and overall health. This is complemented with the de codification and energetic cleansing through a series of gastric and emetic purges with medicines like Tobacco, Rosa Sisa, Mucura, Spell Breaker and Kambó. In this stage, depending on the needs of each participant, we administer Ibogaine, Iboga TA or Iboga Rootbark to obtain a deeper resetting and rebooting the system to its natural state.

This stage is complemented with Acupuncture, physical activities like Yoga, hiking on nearby volcanoes and swimming in the lake to help the system to re-awaken and the body to purge itself from toxins. Participants also have daily saunas with plant baths that serve to circulate the blood and cleanse the body even deeper by washing away high levels of toxicity.

Once this stage is completed, we begin the work with Entheogens like Ayahuasca, Psilocybin, San Pedro and others that may help each participant on their own individual healing journey that will help them understand the opportunity for growth that their suffering has brought into their lives.

III Emotional Management

Understanding how to manage emotions in a healthy way is vital for anyone who wants to free themselves from substance abuse. The treatment includes various isolation exercises with the intake of specific master plants that allow participants to heal themselves in a beautiful stress-free environment. This exercise provides an opportunity for understanding the thought patterns and emotions that are causing turmoil in ones life. They allow participants to build greater awareness of the inner dialogue and to observe the structure of their minds from a different perspective that master plants can provide. This form of observation and feeling helps participants to differentiate between the illusions of the mind and the truth that resides in their hearts.

Emotions stem from thoughts, there is no emotion without a thought first.

Through the isolation process participants are able to understand the origin of their emotions and the circumstances that drove them to acquire a thought methodology that is working against them and is creating negative emotions or pain. There is a need to decodify the current thought methodology which is usually based on fear and illusions and begin to replace or transform it into one that is based on love and truth.

Is important to realize that once an emotion enters into action, one becomes identified with the emotion. Everything will be seen through the lens of that emotion which distorts reality. Participants are taught several tools to overcome or disconnect emotions so they can recover their true self and see what is real. For this we use tools like breathing or Pranayama and physical exercises that move the energy of emotions and redirect them so they don’t create overwhelming or overboard reactions. The isolation process with Master Plants can teach participants to strengthen their capacity to allow thoughts to just pass by, without the need to follow them.

Once participants begin to realize that following thoughts is unnecessary and is just taking them far into the illusion of the mind, they can begin to recover the control of their lives and redirect their attention to here and now.

This stage allows participants to be able to endure feeling themselves and accepting what is.

IV Meeting the Self and Healing the Wounds of the Soul

The healing ceremonies with entheogens and the isolation process with master plants provide participants an opportunity to have an encounter with their higher self. The main purpose of the isolation exercises is to force participants to be with themselves and to feel what is living in the heart. Participants can bring into the conscious level the wounds that need attention and healing through the communication with master plants that takes place usually in the dream state throughout the treatment.

The direct experience of the encounter with the higher self is of utmost importance. Usually participants describe this experience as coming back home. Meeting the true self can bring participants to remember states of the soul that have nothing to do with the circumstances they are living in this life.

The main importance of this stage is for participants to understand the current situation they are living in as only a mere circumstance they are going through and stop identifying themselves with it as their absolute truth or reality.

The main tools we use for healing the wounds of the soul are sacred therapeutic experiences with Entheogens such as Ayahuasca, Psilocybin, San Pedro, Iboga TA, Bufo, Datura, Salvia, Peyote, among others. The main Master Plants used for this purpose in the context of isolation range from plant teachers that help to open the heart chakra like Chiric Sanango and Uchu Sanango or Iboga root bark that helps root us to earth. Work with these plants is prescribed only after participants were able to obtain a deep cleansing and after they have acquired the understanding of the isolation process from where their mind has significantly lowered the excess of noise or inner dialogue.

Healing the wounds of the soul takes place in the context of infinite compassion that leads to comprehension of the reason and purpose that these wounds bring for the participants own spiritual growth. The wisdom that descends from the universe through the entheogen allows overcoming of the illusion and confusion that participants may have regarding the life circumstances they had to live in so that they can reach a certain understanding.

V Reinventing Oneself or Transformation

Throughout the experience of isolation with Master Plants and the sacred ceremonies with different Entheogens, participants are able to feel who they truly are aside from the circumstances in which they were living. In this stage, participants begin to integrate the different insights they have acquired through the daily life in the center, which helps them change their perspective on themselves and the world. The change of perspective allows the transformation of the current thought methodology into one that is serving them towards their own self-realization.

It is important that participants are able to endure this stage so their understanding can be embedded into their core. In other words, their intellectual understanding begins to become a living reality as they integrate their own realizations into their hearts.

Participants will need to nourish their capacity for resilience in order to be able to reinvent themselves according to what they have discovered during the process. Usually by this stage participants begin to have a clearer idea of what they truly want to do with their lives. The inspiration they have felt during the process serves them as a guide which helps them see their next steps in life and understand where their motivation resides. Also they begin to see themselves as separate from their old self and surroundings. They describe their past almost like a dream they had which they no longer identify themselves with. They recall their circumstances as only an experience that was necessary for them to have in order to get where they are now. Participants are now completely free of the need to numb their emotions and are able to manage them in a healthy way that is bringing them opportunities for comprehension and growth.

VI Harmonization of Family or Intimate Circle Dynamics

We encourage the intimate circle or family members who have been directly affected by the abuse of substances or addiction to join the treatment for a period of one month to establish a healthy dynamic between them. This stage serves as a beginning of a transformation in the participant’s intimate circle. Everyone involved will need to reconnect to each other on a different level. The participant is no longer the one who is sick or ill and the family members are no longer the rescuers. Someone in the intimate circle needs to find the courage to confront their side of the story that co-created the abuse or dynamic of dependency so that transformation can be taken to the rest of the circle.

This stage also serves for participants to begin to present themselves from a different position, which allows them to strengthen their new approach to life. Our recommendation is that this stage is done during the last months of the treatment. It will carry a significant amount of confrontation that will need to be addressed from many levels so there is a closure of the chapter of the abuse of substances and dependency and a transition into a new one that is directed to the development of the aspirations and goals of the participant.

It is important for the intimate circle to give as much support as possible for participants to redirect their lives towards their own personal goals and dreams. The people from the intimate circle need to prepare themselves to let go the old person they knew as ill or sick and begin to accept the new self of the loved one with an approach that allows them to be free from the world of addiction.

VII Solidification & Action

The last stage of the process is designed to solidify the transformation that participants have obtained through the entire treatment. This is done through plants that ground the participants and help them build inner strength. Here we seek to see the participants solidly connected with their goals, objectives and aspirations. In this stage we help them create an action plan that they can follow once they leave the center and face the world.

Also in this stage participants begin to reconnect with the exterior world to evaluate their options for their upcoming adventure. Usually participants in this stage feel like it is their first time living. They are very excited to confront the world once again with the new perspective they have embedded about themselves and life.

Our recommendation is to encourage participants to give themselves a space from one year or more in a new location that can bring them opportunities to continue building themselves up with no surrounding influences from their past life.

We are not against the intimate circle and past surroundings of the participant, only aware that their existing relationships will need sufficient time and space to heal.

Participants in the end of their treatment have the opportunity to stay at the center as collaborators if they feel the need to continue re-enforcing their own comprehension and go deeper into their own healing. They will only cover their food and lodging to the extent of their serving capacities.

The true healing from substance abuse does not stem from taking Master Plants and Entheogens. The real healing happens when participants begin to confront the world with a new approach, taking real action towards their own self-realization and happiness. It will depend on each participant to rise up again and direct their life from the feeling coming from their hearts.

We offer support after the treatment and keep a close follow up to evaluate if they were able to continue their action plan towards their own self-realization and freedom. Once participants leave the center, they can stay in contact with us. We will continue giving them our time and love because we invariably develop a very deep relationship with each participant.

Treatment Outline:

1st to 3rd Month – Interruption of Abuse / Detoxification / Emotional Management

3rd to 6Th Month – Meeting the Self / Healing the Wounds of the Soul

6th to 9th Month – Reinventing Oneself or Transformation

9th to 12th Month – Harmonization of Intimate Circle Dynamic / Solidification & Action

*Some of the stages begin to happen simultaneously and others develop throughout the entire healing process. Not necessarily they fit into the time outline per se, but they serve as a reference to understand around when the stages begin or come to an end.

3 Months 6 Months 12 Months
US $ 25 000 US $ 40 000 US $ 70 000 *

*US$5800 per each additional month

Articles about it: