Supporting Ibogaine Therapy for Health Professionals

The ibogaine experience can be deeply transformative, and provide a unique and powerful anchor for recovery.


This course is designed for therapists, clinicians and other health professionals interested in providing supportive services for individuals in ibogaine-assisted recovery. It is not designed to instruct people how to administer ibogaine or provide detoxification services.

Overview

Supporting Ibogaine Therapy for Health Professionals is a 6-part online education program designed to equip mental health and medical professionals to provide preparation and post-treatment therapeutic support for individuals undergoing ibogaine therapy and/or ibogaine-assisted detoxification.

Over 6 in-depth classes we look at ibogaine therapy from a number of angles that each provide insight into treatment models and the ibogaine experience itself. Each class will include a series of video presentations with guest lecturers and short content quizzes, as well as lots of bonus content including case study discussions and suggested readings.


Teachings are appropriate for healthcare professionals as well as the general public. Healthcare professionals will be able to incorporate the tools and practices offered in this program in ways beneficial to clients or patients.

We are pleased to offer a total of 6 Continuing Education (CE) Credits for this course through our co-sponsor, the Spiritual Competency Academy (SCA).

Ibogaine Therapy


Since the 1980s, ibogaine has increasingly been used as an aid to detoxification from opioids and other drugs. Most people who take it experience a significant alleviation of withdrawal symptoms from opioids, as well as other long-term benefits that provide a strong starting point for recovery.

The ibogaine experience has been described as oneirogenic, suggesting that for some people it stimulates “waking dreams.” Regardless of whether people have strongly visual or insightful experiences, it is common for people to experience a significant shift of perspective that unfolds over time.




Supporting the Process


Ibogaine is categorically and qualitatively different, both from other psychoactive substances, and from other approaches to recovery.

Experience and research both show that those who go through ibogaine benefit from further therapeutic support. Our goal is to inform those who are prepared to provide this support with a strong theoretical framework for these qualitative differences and how to approach them.

Some of the themes that we discuss include:

  • The history and pharmacology of ibogaine
  • A variety of clinical protocols
  • The qualities of the oneirogenic experience
  • Traditional perspectives on iboga
  • Radical perspectives on addiction and recovery
  • A framework for post-treatment support


What some of our participants are saying

"This course is a great introduction to the responsible, therapeutic use of iboga and ibogaine. Whether you're a therapist or healthcare provider, or an individual interested in learning about plant medicine, this course is approachable, inspiring, informative, and engaging. I appreciated the diversity of voices and perspectives shared, and Jonathan himself is a wealth of information. I'm an expert in psychedelic medicine and still learned a lot."




"We have looked to Jonathan for years as an authority in the world of ibogaine. He has always been of great help to us. He's put together a very well rounded course with people we have admired and looked to for inspiration and advice throughout our years working with ibogaine. It was important information regarding both our approach to medical detox and fostering our connection with the greater ibogaine community. It has definitely helped us to hone our skills."


Syllabus


This course will provide a broad understanding of ibogaine from various perspectives that are relevant to supporting its clinical use. Each ±1 hour session will include a video presentation followed by a quiz.

There is also lots of bonus material, including optional clinical case-study discussions and suggested readings.



Part 1: Ibogaine history and pharmacology

Guest: Benjamin Malcolm, PharmD, MPH, MCPP

  • Iboga and ibogaine history
  • Approaches to treatment
  • Medical subculture
  • Forms of ibogaine
  • Ibogaine pharmacology/pharmacodynamics
  • Mechanisms of action
  • Variables with root bark or iboga TA
  • Contraindicated conditions/medications

Part 2: Clinical protocols

Guest: Jose Inzunza (Nouvelle Vie)

  • Alternatives to ibogaine for detox
  • What does an ibogaine treatment look like?
  • Screening protocols
  • Dosing/detox protocols
  • Flood dosing
  • Cumulative dosing / Co-administration
  • Low/Booster doses
  • Microdosing
  • Treatment preparations
  • Taking ibogaine at home

Part 3: The oneirogenic experience

Guests: Asha Caravelli & Rocky Caravelli (Awakening in the Dream)

  • Oneirogenesis
  • Effect of different dosing protocols/forms of ibogaine
  • Withdrawal, disappointment, discomfort/PAWS
  • Psychoanalytic framework
  • Stages and timing
  • The “grey day”
  • Extreme cases

Part 4: Continuing care after ibogaine


Guests: Lindsey Slater White, M.Ed., LPC (Root Recovery) & Anders Beatty (Ibogaine Counseling Services)

  • Duration/nature of recovery support
  • Dealing with PAWS and cravings
  • Working with boosters
  • Resourcing / family support
  • Psychedelics in Recovery
  • Aftercare options
  • Support groups

Part 5: Traditional perspectives on iboga and healing


Guest: Stephanie “Mama Djedje” Moussounda (Traditional Practitioners Association)

  • What is Bwiti
?
  • The initiatory experience
  • Traditional medicine in Gabon
  • Challenges specific to traditional initiation

Part 6: Ibogaine and addiction recovery

Guest: Dimitri Mugianis

  • Changing conversation about relapse
  • Humanizing people who use drugs
  • Contextualizing recovery
  • Deconstructing narratives of "treatment" and "outcome"
  • Time and space to explore
  • Understandings of addiction: Spiritual emergence


Meet the Team


Jonathan Dickinson

Jonathan Dickinson is a recovery coach and consultant who has been working with iboga and ibogaine in both clinical and ceremonial contexts in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica since 2009. He is the former Executive Director of the Global Ibogaine Therapy Alliance (GITA), and led the development of the Clinical Guidelines for Ibogaine Assisted Detoxification. He currently resides in Tijuana, Mexico and is the director of Ceiba Recovery, supporting people through the ibogaine treatment process. In 2014, Jonathan was initiated into the traditional practices with iboga and remains actively involved with both clinical and ceremonial approaches.

Benjamin Malcolm, PharmD, MPH, BCPP

Dr. Benjamin Malcolm has a earned his bachelor’s degree (BS) in pharmacology at the University of California at Santa Barbara, prior to his Masters in Public Health (MPH) and Doctorate of Pharmacy (PharmD) at Touro University California. He completed post-graduate residencies in Acute Care at Scripps Mercy Hospital and Psychiatric Pharmacy at the University of California at San Diego Health. After residency training he began his career as an Academician at Western University of Health Sciences (WUHS), College of Pharmacy and obtained Board Certification in Psychiatric Pharmacy (BCPP).

Jose Insunza

Jose Insunza is a paramedic and firefighter with over 11 years of experience in emergency response. In addition to his work with ibogaine, Jose currently works with the Mexican Red Cross. He is also certified as an instructor with the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians in the majority of their programs, as well as with the American Heart Association. Jose has worked with a number of recognized ibogaine clinics throughout his career, developing and implementing medical safety protocols. As part of his preparation to be an ibogaine provider Jose went through his first treatment in 2014, which he attributes it to a major positive change in his life.

Asha Caravelli

Asha Caravelli is the co-owner and business manager of the Awakening In The Dreamhouse. She first received Ibogaine in February 2007 with the intention of breaking free from habitual thought patterns, depression, and reconnect to a sense of self, and joined the time in 2009. She works closely with clients through their entire process, receiving initial phone calls, extensive communications, treatment facilitation, after care plans, and post-treatment follow up. She is the mother of two and worked 30 years in the service industry, experiences that taught her how to provide structure and stability, as well as open-hearted compassion.

Rocky Caravelli

Rocky Caravelli first took ibogaine in 2003 for opiate and meth addiction. After training and experience working in underground treatments, he opened the Awakening in the Dream House in San Pancho, Mexico, a licensed rehabilitation center. For the past 10 years, he has offered a holistic treatment model, honoring the spirit of iboga, and providing over 850 treatments. He currently lives and works in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Stephanie “Djedje” Moussounda

Mama Djedje is 59 years old and a mother of 6 children. Since 1988 she has been a traditional doctor, who specializes in schizophrenia, eye diseases, sterility and diabetes. She is an empress and initiator to the Mboumai Yanou ritual (Abiale Mone Mur), which is associated with traditional Bwiti initiation, and was recently appointed the President of the Traditional Practitioners Association in Gabon. She lives and works at her therapeutic center, Foundation Djedje Stephanie Moussounda, in Libreville.

Dimitri Mugianis

Dimitri Mugianis has worked for nearly two decades with ibogaine and other psychedelics. He is known for his pioneering work with harm reduction modalities, as a writer, poet, musician, activist, and organizer with an anarchist critique of the psychedelic movement. He ended his own 20 year habit with heroin by taking ibogaine 18 years ago, and went on to work underground with ibogaine as an act of radical service. He has since established ibogaine clinics and worked with other psychedelic modalities. He works in Harlem with the New York Harm Reduction Educators (NYHRE) breaking ground in the use of holistic methods for active drug users, sex workers, homeless and formally incarcerated people.

Lindsey Slater White, M.Ed., LPC

Lindsey Slater White possesses 17 years of therapeutic experience in working with addiction and trauma, and is the director of Root Recovery, an aftercare and recovery center in Austin, Texas. Her modalities include an overall trauma informed/harm-reduction orientation with a focus on the mind-body connection. She has been fully trained in EMDR since 2005, which she has adapted as a therapeutic integration tool for those who have recently undergone a peak experience.

Anders Beatty

Anders Beatty trained as an Integrative Psychotherapist at Roehampton University before founding Ibogaine Counseling Services (ICS). ICS specializes in preparing and integrating individuals seeking ibogaine and plant medicine experiences and works with many clinics and facilitators worldwide. Anders was in addiction for 25 years.

Special organizational pricing is available for teams or groups of 3 or more. For more information please contact [email protected].


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)


When does this course take place?

  • This is a recorded home-study course. You can purchase the course at any time and work through the materials independently.


How long will I have access to the materials?

  • Even after the end of the course you will have ongoing (lifetime) access to all of the materials.


Will this course prepare me to administer ibogaine?

  • No. This course is not intended to prepare you to conduct screening, monitoring, or administration of iboga or ibogaine. While we review clinical protocols, the intent is that helping professionals understand the variety of treatment contexts in order to therapeutically support someone who is going through an ibogaine experience. This includes preparing you to identify who might be a good candidate, some of the complications that might arise, how to guide helpful expectations, and also what kinds of support might be necessary at various stages of the process.


Will this course certify me to be a psychedelic therapist?

  • No. While this course will give a theoretical framework about ibogaine and its treatment context, the assumption is that individuals who will be supporting people going through an ibogaine experience after taking this course will have some other kind of applicable experience or clinical training.


Will this course discuss any other psychedelic therapies?

  • We will discuss some other psychedelics briefly, mostly in terms of how they interact with ibogaine. In general, the subject of this course is very specific to ibogaine and addiction recovery. If you are interested in psychedelic therapies more broadly, Dr. Erica Zelfand offers a course on the Science of Psychedelics (CE and CME credits), and the folks at Psychedelics Today offer Navigating Psychedelics for Clinicians and Therapists (CE credits).


Will the CE credits that you offer apply for my license requirements?

  • CE credits for psychologists are provided by the Spiritual Competency Academy (SCA) which is co-sponsoring this program. The Spiritual Competency Academy is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Spiritual Competency Academy maintains responsibility for this program and its content.


  • The California Board of Behavioral Sciences accepts CE credits for LCSW, LPCC, LEP, and LMFT license renewal for programs offered by approved sponsors of CE by the American Psychological Association.


  • LCSW, LPCC, LEP, and LMFTs, and other mental health professionals from states other than California need to check with their state licensing board as to whether or not they accept programs offered by approved sponsors of CE by the American Psychological Association.


  • SCA is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN Provider CEP16887) for licensed nurses in California. RNs must retain their certificate of attendance for 4 years after the course concludes.


  • For questions about enrolling in CE or receiving your Certificate of Attendance, contact Jonathan Dickinson at jonath[email protected] For questions about CE, contact Spiritual Competency Academy at [email protected].


Do you offer any scholarships or discounts?

  • On request, scholarship pricing is available for BIPOC professionals, as well as for professionals whose full-time employment is through not-for-profit community initiatives.


  • Discounted organizational pricing is available for groups of 3 or more.