The Importance of Medical Detox in Psilocybin-Assisted Addiction Recovery
From our inception, it has been our policy that any participants coming to us for any program involving psilocybin-assisted addiction recovery must undergo an evaluation with an addiction specialist. If they are currently using an addictive substance, we provide an interventionist who can support them to gain admission to and complete a medically supervised detox process. There are a number of reasons for this, which are based on the life-threatening nature of detox as well as psychological risks. Once retreat candidates have completed a medically supervised detox, our recovery coaches support them to gain a period of stable sobriety before beginning their intake for our services. The importance of medical detox for addiction was highlighted by a recent worst-case scenario covered by Double Blind Magazine.
In December 2023, an indigenous healer in the Peruvian Amazon was stabbed six times by a participant who was preparing to take ayahuasca at their jungle retreat. The healer, named Xanen Weni, was rushed by boat to the nearest hospital and has fortunately recovered from his near-fatal wounds. The participant, an 18-year-old male named Aubin Marseilles, had come to the remote village in search of healing from addiction. In the aftermath of the stabbing, his blood tested positive for cocaine, which others at the retreat reported he had been seeking.
Our heart truly goes out to Xanen Weni, also known as Don Pedro Sinuiri. This 76-year-old man appears to have an authentic practice and good intentions, and it is a very unfortunate tragedy to see good people being harmed in the process of trying to help. We hope that he continues to heal and that his life-span and quality of life are not affected. It is clear from his family’s statements that they are doing their best to learn the needed lessons to try and prevent anything like this from happening in the future.
It is not clear at this time if Aubin had gone to a medical detox beforehand, but it seems likely that he had not achieved a stable period of recovery and was struggling with cravings. It seems apparent that Xanen Weni and his team did not have the proper training and protocols in place in order to safely handle an addiction client seeking plant medicine services. This points to the critical support and expertise that are needed in balancing traditional approaches and clinical care.
After our clients are safely detoxed and stable, our team of professionals continue to monitor their psychological and physiological needs. They regularly administer assessments to retreat participants throughout time at our recovery programs. In addition, our team members are trained in de-escalation methods, which are critical when working with retreatants in early recovery. Our team maintains unconditional positive regard and open communication with our guests to ensure that they are safe at all times.
These important protocols provide a critical framework for the safety of our staff and our participants. This begins with supporting our clients to complete a medically supervised detox before their retreat admission and ensuring they meet our criteria for attendance at our programs by first working with our addiction recovery team. Only a medical detox facility or provider is properly equipped to handle the types of potentially dangerous responses that a participant may have when coming off of addictive substances.
We do not encourage our clients who are in need of addiction care to simply take psychedelics, which are contraindicated with several addictive substances. It is important for those seeking the potential benefits of natural plant and fungi medicines to seek out and attend programs that employ a properly trained and experienced addiction recovery staff in addition to highly trained psychedelic facilitators and guides.
