Ibogaine treatment for addiction

Domain VII · Transpersonal, psychedelic & altered states

What it is

Ibogaine is a psychoactive alkaloid from the West Central African shrub Tabernanthe iboga. Its long-lived active metabolite is noribogaine. Programmes use it mainly as an opioid detoxification and interruption treatment, followed by psychosocial aftercare. It is a medical procedure with a…

Format

• No programme publishes a fixed number of psychotherapy sessions. The phases below are common to the sources; durations come from the named programme.
• Programme examples: Mash et al. recruited self-referred adults with DSM-IV opioid or cocaine dependence, with active use confirmed by urine screening. Schenberg et al. required strong motivation for abstinence, willingness to take part in psychotherapy, and family support. Noller et al. required…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Settings described: a 12-day stay in a 12-bed freestanding facility with physicians, psychiatrists, a licensed therapist and consulting cardiology (Mash)
• Legal and regulatory status (as of the sources' dates):
• Colorado: SB23-290 decriminalised personal possession and use, but sharing remains a crime. Use in regulated healing centres depends on a Natural Medicine Advisory Board recommendation, first discussed in June 2025.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• the client's belief that relapse is impossible.
• the client dropping off contact once the acute benefit fades.
• a coercive family member a support person who also uses substances
• imminent travel without screening. Consider an urgent addiction-medicine referral.
• early relapse, which is common: most of Schenberg's men relapsed after the first treatment depression after a brief high.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.