Ayahuasca, an Amazonian psychedelic plant compound, may serve as a valuable therapeutic tool for treating substance dependencies. Interviews with 13 therapists (four indigenous healers and nine Western mental health professionals), two expert researchers, and 14 individuals who underwent ayahuasca-assisted therapy for addictions in South America suggest that, in carefully structured settings, ayahuasca can catalyze neurobiological and psychological processes supporting recovery and relapse prevention. Treatment outcomes are influenced by multiple variables, and the study discusses ritual transfer and strategies for minimizing undesired side-effects.
Ayahuasca, a psychoactive beverage used in ritualized settings such as Santo Daime and neo-shamanic rituals, is often called a 'healing ritual' by participants. Interviews with 15 people who used ayahuasca for conditions like chronic pain, cancer, asthma, depression, alcohol abuse, or Hepatitis C revealed diverse motivations, subjective effects, and user types. Most participants believed ayahuasca positively influenced their illness or improved their coping, and enhanced their general well-being. The authors conclude that ayahuasca's effects should not be reduced to a pharmacological model; instead, it acts as a psychological catalyst shaped by sociocultural ideas.
Members of the Santo Daime Church in the Netherlands primarily use ayahuasca for religious or spiritual reasons, as well as for medicinal-psychotherapeutic self-treatment. Among 21 participants interviewed over a longitudinal study (2003–2012), 20 showed these motives. Other important reasons included the desire for social interaction (16 participants) and seeking new or extraordinary experiences (17 participants). Hedonistic motives, performance enhancement, or underlying pathologies were negligible. The findings indicate that reasons for ayahuasca use are diverse and not limited to addiction.