Published on:

May 11, 2026

Updated on:

Sarah joins the Iboga Leadership Summit Podcast

“What happens when we [label patterns] is often an individual's identity kind of metastasizes to that diagnosis. And then that can even reify the patterns.”

In this searching conversation, Ros Stone speaks with Sarah Siegel of. Sarah is a certified alcohol and drug counselor, recovery coach, IFS-trained therapist, chaplain, and co-founder of Bassé Root, for an exploration of trauma, addiction, dissociation, and the profound limitations of the Western mental health paradigm.

Drawing from her own lived experience of recovery, Sarah reflects on the ways contemporary psychiatric frameworks can collapse complex human suffering into static identities, often stripping people of context, agency, and meaning in the process. Opening with the story of her own encounter with Ibogaine treatment, she describes both the life-changing clarity the medicine offered and the uncomfortable recognition that insight alone is not healing without a deeper shift in relationship to self, patterning, and truth.

“All of my patterns were there. I hadn't shifted my relationship to them. And in the Bwiti tradition, how we're relating to whatever it is we're experiencing is the most important thing. Because that's where we have agency.”

The conversation moves through the Bwiti understanding of Iboga as a force of radical self-honesty, the tension between Indigenous healing systems and their medicalization within Western clinical frameworks, and the ways dissociation functions both psychologically and culturally. Sarah draws a parallel between the mechanisms of colonialism and the mechanisms of trauma itself: both operating through erasure of context, community, land, ancestry, spirituality, and relationship.

“Erasure is one of the main impulses of colonialism. Erasure of context, of language, of community, of spiritual tradition, of connection to the earth, to plants, to herbs. And erasure is also the main thing that creates dissociation.”

Ros and Sarah also explore the staggering WEIRD bias underpinning modern psychological research, the increasingly institutional trajectory of modalities like Internal Family Systems (IFS), the outsourcing of primary human satisfactions into addictive substitutes, and the possibility that many symptoms currently pathologized by the mental health system may in fact be intelligent responses to conditions humans were never designed to endure. This is ultimately a conversation about learning to come home to yourself an ongoing practice of truth, relationship, and remembrance.

“Primary human satisfactions are really like sitting around a fire together. That's what we're wired for as humans.”

At the Iboga Leadership Summit, Sarah Siegel will join conversations exploring the future of Iboga and Ibogaine at the intersection of Indigenous knowledge, recovery work, spirituality, and mental health care.

The Iboga Leadership Summit is hosted by Moughenda and the Bwiti community in Gabon, for physicians, pharmacists and providers, neuroscience researchers, farmers and agricultural technicians, students and community leaders, lawyers, policymakers, environmentalists, and everybody called to Bwiti, Ibogaine and Iboga.

22–28 June, Libreville, Gabon
Details and tickets: www.ibogaleadershipsummit.com

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FAQ's

Ayahuasca vs. Iboga or Ibogaine

Which is stronger, Iboga or Ayahuasca?

Both are powerful master plants, but they work in fundamentally different ways. Iboga produces a deeper, longer, more singular experience — a single ceremony unfolds over the course of a day and delivers insights that integrate for years. Ayahuasca offers shorter, cyclical journeys (4–6 hours) that most participants repeat many times over a lifetime. Strength depends on what you're seeking: Iboga's depth and durability, or Ayahuasca's ongoing visionary dialogue.

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Should I do Iboga or Ayahuasca First?

There is no universal answer, but the two medicines tend to serve different purposes. Ayahuasca is typically worked with over many ceremonies as an ongoing path of exploration and teaching. Iboga, by contrast, is generally a complete healing in itself — most people do not need further plant medicine work for healing afterward, and any continued ceremony tends to be for exploration rather than resolution. If you are seeking lasting resolution to a specific pattern such as addiction, trauma, or behavioral compulsion, Iboga is generally the more direct path.

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Which is more effective for addiction — Iboga or Ayahuasca?

Clinical research points to ibogaine as the most-studied direct intervention for substance use. In one of the largest trials, 30% of 88 participants completely eliminated their addiction after ibogaine therapy and 54% remained abstinent for more than a year. Ayahuasca shows anti-addictive properties in research but typically requires sustained, repeated ceremony work.

Importantly, research has also documented anti-addictive activity in the other principal Iboga alkaloids — coronaridine, ibogamine, and voacangine — which together with ibogaine are referred to in the research literature as the "CIVI-complex." At Root Healing, our experience confirms what the Bwiti have held for thousands of years: whole-plant Iboga is the most effective path, because its full spectrum of alkaloids works synergistically. This is why our work is rooted in Iboga itself, supported by ibogaine-grade safety protocols and boutique, lineage-led care.

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Is Iboga safer than Ayahuasca?

Each has its own risk profile. Ayahuasca is generally well tolerated but interacts dangerously with SSRIs, certain medications, and tyramine-rich foods. Iboga requires more rigorous medical screening — particularly cardiac and liver function — because it can prolong the QT interval. With proper screening and medical oversight, Iboga is very safe. At Root Healing, we hold ibogaine-grade safety protocols, including continuous EKG monitoring throughout ceremony, alongside our boutique, lineage-led care.

How long does an Iboga ceremony last compared to an Ayahuasca ceremony?

An Ayahuasca ceremony typically lasts 4–6 hours. An Iboga ceremony is significantly longer, generally unfolding over the course of a day, with an extended visionary phase followed by a long reflective integration period. The duration of healing also differs: Ayahuasca's benefits generally last 1–2 months and are reinforced through repeated ceremonies, while Iboga's effects often last from many months to a lifetime, with most people completing their core work in 1–3 ceremonies.

Why does Ayahuasca require so many more ceremonies than Iboga?

Ayahuasca teaches through symbolic, visionary experience that takes time to decipher and can fade with daily life, which is why ongoing ceremony is part of the tradition. Iboga delivers direct, unambiguous insight into a person's patterns, behaviors, and relationship with self. Because these realizations are concrete rather than symbolic, they integrate more durably, and most people complete their foundational work in 1–3 ceremonies.

How do I know whether Iboga is the right medicine for me?

Iboga tends to call those ready for direct, grounded clarity — people seeking lasting resolution rather than open-ended exploration. It is often chosen for substance use, behavioral addiction, trauma, neurological conditions, or a felt disconnection from self and life. Those drawn primarily to visionary, symbolic experience may resonate more with Ayahuasca, and we hold deep respect for that path. For those seeking a complete, lasting healing rooted in an ancient tradition and supported by modern research, Iboga is uniquely suited. Our application and medical screening process at Root Healing help us assess alignment together.

Where are Iboga and Ayahuasca legal?

Ayahuasca is legal in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and Costa Rica, and is permitted in the United States only within specific religious exemptions. Iboga and ibogaine are legal in Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, South Africa, Gabon, New Zealand, and the Netherlands, among others. In the United States, ibogaine is federally Schedule I, though sacramental Iboga ceremonies are protected within recognized religious traditions. Root Healing operates retreats in Mexico (our flagship center in Tepoztlán), the United States (through the Missoko Bwiti Alliance, our 501(c)(3) church entity in Oregon), and Europe — each within the appropriate legal and traditional framework.

What are the cultural and spiritual origins of Iboga and Ayahuasca?

Iboga is the sacrament of the Bwiti tradition of West-Central Africa, centered in Gabon, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bwiti is one of the oldest continuous spiritual lineages on earth, and Iboga is regarded as the master plant that initiates a person into truth, ancestry, and self. Ayahuasca originates with indigenous tribes of the Upper Amazon Basin — Peru, Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador — where shamans, or ayahuasqueros, prepare it ceremonially with icaros (sacred songs) and visionary work. Both are profound traditions; Root Healing's work is rooted specifically in the Missoko Bwiti lineage, in direct relationship with our Bwiti elders.

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Do Iboga and Ayahuasca cause purging?

Both can, but in different ways. Ayahuasca is well known for la purga — vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, and emotional release that is traditionally understood as the medicine clearing what no longer belongs. Iboga can also produce nausea or vomiting, particularly as the body releases stored substances or trauma, though this is generally less central to the experience than with Ayahuasca. With Iboga, the deeper "purge" is psychological and emotional — a clarifying release of patterns, dishonesty, and dissonance with the self. At Root Healing, our medical team and traditional facilitators support participants throughout to ensure both safety and ease.

Can Iboga and Ayahuasca help with depression and anxiety?

Both have shown therapeutic potential, but Iboga offers a more comprehensive path for depression and anxiety. Pharmacologically, Iboga works on a broader range of neurotransmitter systems than Ayahuasca — modulating dopamine, serotonin, and acetylcholine, while activating sigma-1 receptors and upregulating key neurotrophic growth factors including GDNF and BDNF. This combination supports mood regulation, nervous-system resilience, and long-term neuroplasticity in ways that Ayahuasca's primarily serotonergic (DMT-driven) mechanism does not fully reach. Clinical research reflects this depth: studies have reported significant reductions in depression after ibogaine treatment, and one PTSD trial documented relief from anxiety, cognitive impairment, and suicidal ideation in all 51 participants.

Equally important is what comes alongside the medicine. The Missoko Bwiti tradition that holds Iboga is itself a complete framework for working with depression, anxiety, and emotional disconnection — offering ceremony, ancestral connection, and a way of relating to the self that integrates the insights of the medicine into daily life long after retreat. At Root Healing, this lineage-led care is woven through every stage of the journey, from preparation through retreat to post-retreat integration, which is where lasting healing for depression and anxiety is most often built.

Can you microdose Iboga or Ayahuasca?

Microdosing Iboga is a recognized practice within the Bwiti tradition and in modern wellness contexts, where small daily or periodic doses of root bark are used to support clarity, focus, mood, and gentle neuroregenerative effects. Ayahuasca is generally not microdosed in the same way, as its effects depend on the synergy between DMT and the MAOI in the brew, which becomes complicated at sub-perceptual doses; some practitioners microdose the Banisteriopsis caapi vine alone for its mood and nervous-system benefits. At Root Healing, microdosing is approached with the same care as full ceremony — aligned with tradition, supported by science, and never a substitute for full healing work when that is what is called for.