My training for this work began with seven years of struggling with opioid dependency, subsequently going through traditional rehabs, opioid maintenance therapy, incarceration, and 12 step programs before finally finding freedom with Ibogaine in 2011. Although the treatment was a success, the clinic did not follow proper safety protocols and I ended up in the hospital. Due to this experience, my work has been focused on ibogaine treatment safety and ethics, leading me to author a Guide to Finding a Safe Ibogaine Clinic amongst other projects. After my treatment, I became a certified EMT and worked in three ibogaine clinics in South Africa, Costa Rica, and Mexico, acting as a provider and lay-therapist. I am a licensed psychotherapist with a Masters in Social Work from NYU, am an Advisor for the Etheridge Foundation, a board member for Alma Institute, and previously was the Psychedelic Program Coordinator at The Center for Optimal Living in New York City. I have presented and been a panelist at multiple Ibogaine, Psychedelic, and Harm Reduction conferences. My story and writing have been featured in Chacruna, Double Blind magazine, and in Psymposia and I have been quoted in The New York Times and Rolling Stone. I have also taught about ibogaine at Charite University in Berlin.
I have been working with individuals and their families over the last ten years, supporting them in preparation integration of their ibogaine experiences, as well as acting as a consultant for those working on ibogaine related projects. I see ibogaine as an amazing door opener down a path of healing that requires a number of other supportive tools and approaches, and my work is meant to offer that crucial adjunct support. My therapeutic work centers on helping people to find and honor their own inner guidance, and to give them a safe space where they get to decide what they want for their lives, without the outside agenda or pressure that mainstream drug treatment often includes. My philosophy is guided by the principles of harm reduction, in which everyone has a valid and unique path that led them to their substance use which requires an individually tailored type of support and set of techniques that will guide their healing.