Iboga Detox for Substance Dependance
A medically supervised holistic path to freedom & self-reconnection with Iboga held in the Bwiti container, and heartled hospitality and care.
Medically Supervised Detox Within the Bwiti Container
Most Ibogaine detox programs ask you to choose: clinical safety or deep spiritual work. We don't believe that's a choice anyone should have to make.
At Root Healing, our detox programs are held within the Bwiti tradition — the same framework that has guided people through profound transformation with Iboga for thousands of years. Within this container, we bring together traditional Iboga ceremonies, Bwiti teachings and rituals, modern medical oversight, professional counseling, and genuine hospitality — so you can focus entirely on your healing while we take care of everything else.
This isn't Iboga in a hospital. It isn't ceremony without safety. It's everything working together — body, mind, and spirit — the way it's meant to be.
Your Safety Is the Foundation
Our onsite medical team — including licensed doctors, nurses, and paramedics — is present throughout your entire stay.
Every guest undergoes thorough medical screening before arrival, and our team monitors you continuously during and after your detox process and each ceremony.
But safety at Root Healing goes beyond medical protocols.
Our spiritual care and facilitator teams are woven into the program from day one, providing emotional and psychological support throughout. Our facilitators, medical staff, and support team work together as one unit — there are no gaps in care, no handoffs between departments. You are held by people who know you, your story, and your goals.
Our Approach
Physical
Mental
Spiritual
The Importance of the Tradition
The Missoko Bwiti tradition, which is utilized in all of our programs is a powerful system to help people reconnect to themselves and their life and also remain connected.
The "Language of Iboga"
When we say that Bwiti is the Language of Iboga, we mean that Bwiti provides the framework through which Iboga's teachings can be fully understood and received. Just as you would need to speak French to truly understand a teacher speaking French, you need the context of Bwiti to truly comprehend what the spirit of Iboga is communicating to you. It is through these traditional teachings, practices, and perspectives that Iboga reveals what lies at the root of your suffering and shows you the path toward lasting healing. Without this language, the messages may still come — but with Bwiti, you gain the ability to hear them clearly, integrate them deeply, and carry them forward into your life long after the experience itself.
Authentic Bwiti Guidance
All Iboga sessions are led by facilitators trained and initiated in the Missoko Bwiti lineage, drawing directly from a tradition that has worked with Iboga for thousands of years. Guests experience traditional Iboga ceremonies, including fire talks, ritual teachings, and sacramental use of the whole Iboga plant, rather than isolated ibogaine.
Holistic Healing: Beyond Detox
Addiction doesn't live only in the body. It takes root in unresolved trauma, disconnection from self, emotional patterns that run on autopilot, and a loss of meaning and purpose. A treatment that only addresses withdrawal is only addressing a symptom.
Our approach — rooted in the Bwiti understanding of Iboga — treats the whole person. Physical detox happens alongside deep psychospiritual work, professional counseling, and a structured integration program that ensures your healing doesn't end when the retreat does. This is what it looks like to heal from the root.
Addiction doesn't live only in the body. It takes root in unresolved trauma, disconnection from self, emotional patterns that run on autopilot, and a loss of meaning and purpose. A treatment that only addresses withdrawal is only addressing a symptom.
Everything Working Together
What makes our programs effective isn't any single element. It's that everything is designed to work together:
Medical supervision ensures your body is safe and supported throughout the physical detox. Full-plant Iboga ceremonies within the Bwiti tradition address the spiritual and psychological roots of addiction in a way that isolated ibogaine simply cannot. Professional counseling helps you process, understand, and integrate what you experience. Post-retreat support ensures that the transformation you begin during your stay continues to grow and solidify.
With this approach, people leave not just free from physical dependence, but with a renewed connection to themselves — clarity about who they are, what they want, and the tools and support to build the life that's been waiting for them.
Iboga vs. Ibogaine
Iboga doesn't just block physical withdrawals — it helps heal the wounds that led to addiction in the first place. That's what makes it so effective, and it's something most clinical ibogaine programs simply can't offer.
Ibogaine is just one of the many active alkaloids found in the Iboga plant. Working with isolated ibogaine is like using one ingredient of a perfect dish — you lose the synergy that nature designed. Iboga's full spectrum of alkaloids work together, each with individual benefits that amplify one another for deeper, more complete healing. This synergy also means Iboga doesn't require the high doses that ibogaine does, making it both more effective and safer.
Combined with our Bwiti-informed ceremonies and professional support, the mental, spiritual, and physical healing our guests receive goes far beyond what a sterilized clinic can provide. Why change what nature already made perfectly?
Please read our article “Why Iboga is better than Ibogaine” to learn more:
Anti-Addiction Benefits & Neuroplasticity
One of the most remarkable aspects of Iboga's active alkaloids — including ibogaine — is their long-term anti-addiction effect. Research suggests this is largely due to ibogaine's impact on neuroplasticity: the brain's ability to adapt, form new connections, and essentially rewire itself (1). Laboratory studies show that ibogaine activates several neurotrophic growth factors critical to this process (2), including Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is often depleted by long-term substance use (3). Restoring BDNF may be one of the key mechanisms through which Iboga helps break the cycle of addiction and supports lasting abstinence.
Ibogaine also activates Glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), which promotes brain cell survival and the formation of new synaptic connections — essentially supporting the brain's ability to heal and rebuild (4). Combined with ibogaine's effects on dopamine and serotonin levels, clinical trials have shown significant reductions in symptoms of depression even 30 days after treatment (5). This is what we mean by a complete reset — not just freedom from physical dependence, but a neurological foundation for a new way of living.
References
If you have any questions about our programs, let us know and we will be happy to help you.
As a small, heart-led team experiencing a high volume of inquiries, we must focus our personalized correspondence on those who have completed our Application Form. This form helps us ensure medical safety and alignment for the path ahead, but also helps us understand your needs better.
Once you submit your application, we will review it thoughtfully and personally reach out to guide you through the next steps.
If you don't hear from us right away, please know we are carefully working through requests in the order they were received. We appreciate your patience and your sincere interest in our community.