Peace on Drugs

An Adverse Event

It is our sad duty to inform everyone that we have lost one of our clients during an Ibogaine treatment in late June 2013.

This will now be the subject of a detailed inquest and inquiry, and until the results from this are in and analysed thoroughly we have decided to stop all treatments at the Iboga Clinic.

For those who are still wishing to have a treatment please check out the list of other providers on our Links page

Positive Feedback

We love it when we get positive feedback – the more the better!

And we are getting lots of it – and next to nil negative feedback. Usually the negative feedback comes on Day 1 or Day 2 – its not uncommon to get feedback on the morning after treatment like “I’m NEVER EVER going to do that again!!!!” – but by the next day its “Well, maybe in twenty years time!” – and a few days later its “Oh My God! –  I’m going to have to tell all my friends about this!!!!

We have some very clear and amusing memories of feedback – like the time Jimbob  – (you know who you are mate!) –  got to Day 3 and decided he would try and smoke a cigarette again. What we remember is him sitting on the front step with a tremor so bad he couldn’t get the lighter flame to connect with the end of the cigarette, meanwhile muttering curses under his breath and complaining to us – “This is the house of horrors man!” – But again, a few days later he was calling his friends and telling him they had to do this also it was so amazing!

Anyway here is another heart warming letter- with the names changed to protect identity. This letter was from the parents of one of our clients, who wrote the letter to another detox clinic in Auckland – we just had to share it with everybody and got their permission to do so

Dear Michelle,

We thought you would be interested in an update about how Dilly is going.  After doing some research we agreed with Dilly that she would have treatment with ibogaine.  I’m sure you must have heard of this form of treatment for addiction, although it is still regarded as an alternative approach. On 19 November 2012, Dilly travelled to Kaitaia and came under the care of Dr Cornelius and Anah Van Dorp who have successfully treated many people with drug addictions.  On 22 November, Dilly underwent ibogaine treatment.  She then spent the next three weeks in Anah and Cornelius’ care.  Since then she has not had an addiction to methadone or any other drug and has now been clean for over four months.

She has decided to make a new life in the Far North and is living in a supportive environment with two other people who have both also had successful ibogaine treatment.  She is receiving ongoing support and counselling as well as lifestyle assistance from Anah and Cornelius which has helped her to establish a whole new life.  She is involved in a number of community activities and is growing every day.

She spent three weeks with us in Auckland over December and January and another few days this month.  We cannot believe how well she is and the positive change in her and her life.   We have our daughter back!

Given the established success rates for drug addiction, which we now know to be very low, we thought you would be interested in Dilly’s story.

Regards

 

Will’s Journey.

Hi Folks! Now that we made it through the end of the Mayan Calendar, and into the next great cycle, let us wish everyone a very happy Galactic Cycle, and may everyone be able to have a beautiful journey, with or without iboga!  For those who are wondering why they might need iBoga alkaloids in their Central Nervous System, here is a bit of lovely feedback from our friend Will about his journey with us! This is what makes all the hard work seem worthwhile! 

My Iboga Journey

I found my way to Kaitaia via my parents’ networks, who funnily enough were there when I needed help the most, at a time when the lifestyle I chose to live by eventually caught up with me – and that which I hold so precious was removed from my care ie my son.  This was my wake-up call and defining moment that caused me to seek help in the form of rehabilitation with the van Dorp whanau of Kaitaia.

I’d like to acknowledge my parents, for their support and prayers throughout my ordeal, through thick n thin have stood by me and reminded me they still loved me, although some of my poor decision making sucked and ultimately directly affected those closest to me that I loved so much. I’d also like to thank Sheryl and Whare for their moral and spiritual support that also influenced my direction into drug rehabilitation. KIA ORA KOUTOU!

I have used methamphetamine for 12years on and off, and at my height of usage let it consume my entire lifestyle, to the point where my only biological  lovely special daughter  was taken by her Tupunas via sudden infant death syndrome (S.I.D.S). I directly attribute her death to the lifestyle I was leading at that time and have had to accept my responsibility over time, and on reflection would be my hugest consequential learning curb to date in terms of my drug usage spanning over 19 years.

I eventually started selling meth to support my habit and to cash in on the quick money there was on offer in a thriving underworld trade and I quickly became accustomed to the high risk games and antics that came with the territory. It was this lifestyle not the drug, I would later realize was to become my addiction.

Upon arrival to the van Dorps’ whare, I was assessed by Anah regularly to gauge my substance abuse and usage. I was then put on the waiting list for an Iboga treatment which I knew nothing about at all!

To think of it now, I had at least 3weeks preparation leading up to my treatment date, which in my view assisted hugely in what I was to receive from my experience  with Iboga and Ibogaine. Many informal discussions with Dr Cornelius van Dorp and also Natural Herbalist Anah van Dorp proved more knowledge was vital to get the most I possibly could from the treatment.

My date was set, I took it upon myself initially to start fasting two days prior to treatment, and after consulting with the doctor and the herbalist it was OKed. On advice,I got in a final aerobic workout running Ahipara beach and let tangaroa wash over the old me one last time, I prepared our kai and readied my clothes  for initiation into the Iboga family,I WAS READY!

I was administered the total alkaloid of the iboga plant after sunset and was monitored for an hour before been given the flood dosage in comparison to my weight. Now previously, I’d been told to think mainly about the intention of what I wanted from the treatment. So approximately an hour into taking the iboga I thought long and hard at where I wanted to be after it and what I wanted to achieve. It was a simple answer to me. I wanted fresh change and a renewed, reformatted commitment to the ones I loved in my life, firstly with my children who are dependent on me, and just as importantly my whanau.

I first noticed the psychedelic’s and hallucinogenic effects of the iboga. When the doctor came to monitor me, the torch he was holding started shooting at first little lightning bolts and then larger ones above his head, whilst he was talking about the instruments the Bwiti people played. His whole being morphed into a comic illustration and one of his eyes seem to protrude larger than his entire head and winked at me and also started laughing while leaving the room. I knew from then on I was in another unchartered realm for me.

I won’t detail every aspect of my visions and experiences I had over the 13hour period I was conscious and subconscious, in and out of sleep in what seemed a week’s worth of a journey in my mind. What I will say, is everything I experienced had meaning and purpose. From as far back as childhood to the present day, I was shown many life tapes of many people who are involved or have influenced my life or even ventured onto my footpath of life thus far. My nine children and their respective mothers absorbed a lot of my energy. My daughter Emerina flew in as a brownbird and did a lovely dance for her dad, she then perched on my bedside lamp and watched over me. I cried with sadness and happiness.

I was put in the shoes of the people I’d hurt in the past and learnt how it had felt to be them. I felt ashamed, guilty, betrayed and kicked in the guts all at once. It was quite sickening really, but a lifetime reality of pain I’d inflicted on others, it seemed a harsh but honest reflection, I felt ashamed again!

It did feel like an emotional rollercoaster at times. But like I said before, everything had it’s meaning and purpose, and all of which I am totally grateful for, my last visions were more joyous. I was sitting in what I believed to be a gathering of village people, possibly the Bwiti, I was playing a drum and listening to an elder who had a beaded headpiece on. He seemed like he thought I knew what he was saying, even though it wasn’t English. It felt great anyway, being a part of  whatever the occasion was……my last recollection was me opening my eyes and thinking I had red army ants all over both of my arms, when I looked closer they were some sort of indigenous tattoos. I felt a bit warrior like and in my own opinion felt I’d been left a trademark of my own personal Iboga journey.

Simply Lifechanging!

 

A Journey to Canada and Mexico

Hi Folks! We have just returned from a month away overseas in Canada and Mexico. It has been a few months since our last update, but we have been very busy at the Iboga Clinic, with quite a few happy drug-free new friends.

In Canada we attended the 3rd International Conference for Ibogaine Providers in Vancouver – a very inspiring meeting of Iboga providers from 17 different countries. We presented what we are doing here in the Far North of New Zealand, and also presented some of the 38 cases we have treated to date. The convener of the conference, Canadian Jonathon Dickinson, has since posted an excellent summary of the proceedings on the GITA website

We learnt a lot, not only from the Conference, but also from the clinics we visited in Mexico following the Conference. Our intention now is to update our blog quite regularly over the next few months and share some of the presentations and some of what we learnt.

Flying to Mexico City, we paid a visit first to Barry and Veronica in Tepoztlan, about an hour by bus south of the megalopolis. These two providers we had met in Vancouver at the Conference, then became fast friends with them in their amazing hidden valley in which they have been offering treatments for a few years now.

Corn and Anah at the living pyramid overlooking the valley of Tepoztlan

From there we took an overnight bus over the mountains to the west coast, getting off the bus at 6am in Puerto Vallarta and catching another bus north to Sayulita, where we were picked up by Asha Carravelli and taken to the Dream House in San Pancho, set up by Rocky Carravelli about 7 years ago.

Rocky was in fact the very first Iboga provider Anah and I met – for the first time in Auckland in November 2009 – when he came to New Zealand to share his knowledge of the medicine, and then again at the second International Conference in Barcelona in 2010, and then again in Vancouver. We had been trying to get to his Dream House for a visit ever since, so it was delightful to find it even more impressive than we had imagined it to be – have a look at some of the pictures on this Dream House album we just posted on our Iboga Clinic facebook site.

A Psycho-Spiritual Journey

We have recently been doing quite a few methadone and heroin treatments, with increasing co-operation – thankfully – from Drug and Alcohol doctors around New Zealand. All the recent treatments have been successful, but they are also quite hard work at times – the longest one took 13 days – with a very happy, but tired, customer at the end of it.

It was a great joy last week then to take a break from the opiate detoxes and help someone on a profound psycho-spiritual journey. We were overjoyed then to receive a written report of the journey, with permission to post it on the website…

Psycho Spiritual Iboga Journey

My journey with Iboga started three weeks before I was due to have the treatment. I stopped drinking alcohol, started mediating and praying more, becoming more in tune with the environment around me. So when Cornelius and Anah arrived I was ready for my Iboga journey.

We commenced the evening with prayers and clearing the room with white sage. I took 2 pills at 8pm and lay down in bed with my eyes closed, listening to music. I felt quite relaxed, focussing on inhaling and exhaling. My mantra was ‘sweetly, softly, gently’. My body felt very relaxed, like it had not been ever before. I had 3 pills an hour later and another 4 the following hour. I knew that the Iboga was having an effect when I could see the fan above my head and my eyes were closed. I could also hear a buzzing sound that sounded like a high pitched whistle. I opened my eyes, amazed that I could see through my eyelids and when I closed them again I saw the darkest black that I had ever seen. I had a drowning sensation and my body tensed up and then I remembered ‘sweetly, softly, gently’ and relaxed back into it, knowing that there was nothing to be afraid of.

I saw a tree in the distance and instinctively knew that I would meet that Bwiti people there. I waited near the tree and then saw small, black African people come to me. I then saw a small, skinny African woman reach over to my sleeping figure and put her hand on my stomach. She lifted my stomach like there was a flap there and reached into this dark blackness with her hand and when she withdrew it, she opened her palm and reached out and showed me it. There was a small black jellybean like shape in her hand. I knew that it was me as a baby, my seed that I had grown from. She then reached back into my stomach and returned the baby. Later on, she did it again but this time there was another skinny African mama with her. They took the tiny baby seed out of me again and this time they moved their hand and held it in front of my eyes so I could see what they were holding. At first I thought that they were handing it to me to hold but then I realised they were just showing me what it was. I saw the details of the baby. I saw myself as a baby. They then placed the baby again back in my stomach. I knew that they were showing me my connection to them and my connection to Iboga. They had known me since I was a baby, they had always known me and that was my connection to Iboga. Bwiti music was playing in the background. I could hear the Bwiti sisters, they were in the tree with their bells, singing and laughing. It was a beautiful feeling, like I was surrounded by people who had always known me and loved me. They were celebrating with me.

They then showed me my life. It was like a media player on fast forward times 1,000. It was a stream of images and memories. Stopping at ones where it would show me incidents that had happened but turn it around so instead of experiencing any pain, shame or negative feelings, I would then see it with compassion, love and forgiveness. That memory would then be swept away with all the other ones. Everytime this happened the Bwiti sisters would laugh and celebrate my new understanding of the situation.

I saw my approach to everything was so structured and complicated. Everytime I would receive a message about my life I would immediately start processing it and turn it into something complicated and stressful. Iboga showed me that it was my approach that led to the stress and complication. It showed me as a Dr Seuss like character, with my big pen and pad, taking notes and putting up barriers everytime I heard something. It showed me that I would set of a chain of events which triggered other events but at the end of it – it always took me back to the initial message so I was creating a whole lot of unnecessary and pointless hurdles for myself. I looked so ridiculous and comical that I would end up cracking up laughing. At this stage I was literally cracking up laughing on the bed. The Bwiti sisters were also finding this hilarious and would be singing and laughing in the tree behind me. They celebrated every understanding I reached. This kept happening over and over again. I kept finding myself in the same place – like I had forgotten the lesson that I had just learnt. I realised then how stupid I had been with the complicated and stressful approach I was taking to life.

The message was STOP THINKING. I was over thinking everything all the time. Just let it be. Understanding and listening is far more important that taking notes and thinking that you are understanding.

I saw that I had been blessed so many times in my life and that Iboga was now blessing me. It was about being in the right place at the right time. It showed me that so many times in my life had been the right place at the right time. When I had given birth to my children, I had been blessed. When I had prayed about the pain and suffering in the world and seen the Creator, that was the right place at the right time. All my interactions in life had been taking me to the right place at the right time. The Bwiti sisters kept dancing and singing and they would say ‘oh well, still the same, still the same, hehehehe’. It was about understanding that life is always here, creation is always here and nothing we do or think changes that.

I was then ready to see the Creator of the Universe. I saw the Creator in a mass of powerful orange clouds. All around me was a profusion of colours, action, noise and life. I could see the world and all creation in the world. It was packed with colourful chaotic life. A mass of pulsating energy. I was in wonder and in awe at creation. I saw my nephew (who had passed away 2 years previously). He was smiling and I saw a beam coming from his face. I followed the beam and saw him staring at his wife and their three sons. I asked the Creator – my children are growing up – what am I supposed to do now? The Creator showed me myself and I knew that I had to focus on being right myself and on my relationship with the Creator. It wasn’t about anything else. I asked the Creator what we are all supposed to do. And I was shown all life in the Universe worshipping the Creator and celebrating life. I asked to see the universe and was sucked up into the sky and was looking down and could see the Earth. I asked to see more and was sucked out again and saw planets and stars. I said ‘more, more!’ and was sucked back further and could see many galaxies. I was amazed and wanted to see more but the Creator said you have seen enough for now and then showed me the beauty of creation on the planet. I saw the most amazing plant life and appreciated the beauty and sacredness of life on the planet. I was so grateful and humbled by all I had seen and at times I wept.

When I felt the Iboga leaving my system the next day I went back to say goodbye to the Bwiti people. I didn’t want to leave the Iboga experience. I loved everyone there and everything I saw. I was crying as I was saying goodbye and thank you to them. Then I knew that they were always around me, they were always there so that there was no reason to be sad.

My body loved the Iboga. When I was drinking water early on it whispered to me ‘too much water…’ I could see my Iboga baby in my stomach being sloshed with water so I would take little sips of water which made it happier (and also ensured that I didn’t bring anything up). Throughout the next day I drank nu (baby coconut) and ate fresh papaya. Iboga liked that. It is such a sacred plant and I knew that as soon anything impure went into my body Iboga would leave. Because it stopped me from moving and kept me in bed for 2 days it also stopped all the bad habits that I had developed. It stopped me from physically tensing up and rushing off all the time to do other things. It slowed my talking down so I actually had to think clearly before I said anything. It bought realisation into my life.

The next few days I spent in bed reflecting on my experience. It changed my life. It made me slow down and be more honest with myself and those around me. It changed my relationship with my children because I had to stop and listen to them and I realised how much I had been expending my energy elsewhere rather than home. I felt as though I had been reborn. I was seeing everything with new eyes and I kept stopping to enjoy the beauty of nature and give thanks and praise to the Almighty Creator for everything.

Feedback April 2012

This is some positive feedback from a client who was treated at our Iboga Clinic a few weeks ago. He had a history of polydrug and alcohol abuse for many years, with latterly a serious daily addiction to methamphetamine for the last 6 years. He had detoxed with the help of AA and other psychotherapy – and was now free of drugs and alcohol for 21 months.

His purpose and intention for the Iboga journey was to deal with the demons that still afflicted him from his earlier days addicted to drugs- He had a lot of memories that caused him a lot of shame- and these indeed were the memories that came up for clearing. There were some difficult times during the treatment, and at several points he thought he was gong to be left in a bad place in the middle of all his shameful memories. However, the plant medicine took him though all of this, and at the end of the treatment he was very happy with his progress

His comments a few weeks later were as follows

‘I spoke last night at one of our AA meetings about Iboga and me. I was received with interest and a degree of curious scepticism at the meeting but definitely no criticism and some people are watching me with considerable interest especially with regard to my Liver function which brings me to my next point; which is that each day i am feeling decidedly well!

‘My urine this morning which is usually darkish was clear almost. Also a grittiness and sensitiveity of my eyes to light first thing in the morning is just not present! I wake and my eyes are open and do not sting at all! I sleep well. I went to the Gym yesterday for the first time since before Iboga and had the best workout i can remember,. Especially that i did not fatigue. Just tired as anyone would. That is the other very noticeable aspect – no fatigue. There is not a hint of depression either in the air like there generally was upon waking every day and it was effort to motivate myself.

‘The real unusual aspect to all this is that, unlike what it must be like for people who use artificial medications to deal with say depression or anxiety,..I feel decidedly normal! And in a way that is a little foreign to me having not experienced feeling this well since i was a teen i think.

‘So my friends – you deserve a medal for your commitment to service for posterity and humanity.’

Lots of Love              I bags IBOGA!  ……….IBOGA BOOGIES!

March 2012 UpDate

Hey There Folks! Our Iboga Clinic is moving along! We are now doing regular treatments at Te Whare Rongoa, attached to the Herb Shack Cafe.

We have 2 treatment rooms set up that are now getting booked in advance, mainly by Aussies and Kiwis, but we have seen an increasing number of hits from other countries – UK, USA, Mexico – even Guatemala! Our one opiate addict who went back to opium returned for another treatment, so – for a brief period – we had a 100% success rate.

Another doctor, an MD from the US came along for a treatment, and was so impressed he is planning to come back and help us grow the service here in the Far North. Synchronously, we had a visit from another good friend who owns a perfect piece of land here in the Far North for a large healing retreat centre, but – for now – things are ticking along beautifully at the IBOGA CLINIC!

Many of the enquiries we are getting are about other addictions, or just cleaning up the demons after decades of self abuse and poly-drug abuse. As I said to one of the people enquiring about the treatments –

These are not the specific applications that are becoming accepted Internationally – ie opiate addiction, but I think iBoga is equally useful as a complete brain reset – in this way it can be useful for any addictions, – you kind of set your intent and then the plant medicine supplies the energy – the kick in the pants – to allow you to put your intent into action. At the same time it can bring a deep realisation of where one has  been messing things up – for example with Romance or Relationships.

You need to be aware however that the journey can be quite traumatic – purgative to some extent, and some people dont like ike it – although I think everyone benefits from the anti depressive and anti anxiety effects it has for a minimum of 30 days post dose and normally up to 90 days – and often this period allows people to get their lives together …

So in summary I think it can really help in these situations, being careful to say also that no promises are made, except that we focus a lot on keeping you safe if you wish to experience this amazing plant healer.

Let us know if you want to do it, and when your preference would be …

Hello world!

Welcome to the iBoga Clinic, in the Far North of New Zealand Aotearoa.

It is more than a year since we attended the second International Conference in Barcelona, and completed the Ibogaine Provider Training organized by Ben de Loenen at the School of Gestalt Therapy in Barcelona.

Since our return we have renovated our Coffee shop and Herbal Dispensary in the Far North of New Zealand, and added an iBoga treatment room. Australian Ibogaine providers  joined us in February 2011 and helped us initiate the new clinic with our first opiate detox, and since then we have been quietly building up our experience and learning about the safe use of the medicine.

To date, we have now supervised 9 opiate detox and 2 methamphetamine, as well as several “other addictions”. We are now starting to receive calls from all over NZ and Australia and are ready to move full time into drug detox, as well as developing an aftercare facility house at the beach, where young people can receive instruction and education in life skills such as cooking, building, surfing etc

The latest development is that we have been referred a methamphetamine detox from the NZ Department of Justice, which went very well, so we are quietly building up a record of successful cases, – all but one of the people treated here has continued drug free.

The Ibogaine Conference In Barcelona was a really enjoyable experience, and amazingly valuable in our learning on how to use this medicine. Meeting the International Iboga tribe was a very warming experience, and we look forward to renewing our connection.

Many Thanks and Much Love to everybody

Cornelius and Anah van Dorp