Alcohol addiction manifests as uncontrolled drinking despite negative consequences. Many recovering alcoholics describe their past alcohol use in this way, “one drink is too many and a thousand is never enough”. At one time in their drinking career the pleasure may have outweighed the pain, but in the end the pain is much greater. People addicted to alcohol end up feeling trapped. Some will try traditional western methods to get sober, but relapse rates are extremely high. The alcohol use is usually just a symptom to a larger underlying problem. If this problem isn’t addressed and worked on by the alcoholic, chances are they will relapse after getting sober. At the Iboga House we focus on not only helping the patient get healthy physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. After all, alcoholism is a three fold condition. By the time a patient gets help for their alcoholism in most cases they are physically, mentally and spiritually bankrupt.

Moughenda has detoxed many people from alcohol here at the Iboga House. Iboga and Ibogaine, an alkaloid in iboga, have been shown in animal studies to reduce or eliminate alcohol self administration. Most drugs including alcohol, activate the “reward” neurocircuitry in the brain where specialized neurons release dopamine. Iboga works physiologically by resetting these dopamine pathways in your brain. But there is also a mental and spiritual aspect to iboga’s effect on a patient that modern science simply cannot measure.

Moughenda uses ground iboga root bark as well as iboga root extract here at the Iboga House. Many people ask why we do not use Ibogaine for detoxes. Ibogaine is just one of the alkaloids within the iboga root. There are many other alkaloids that have beneficial healing properties. Also, Ibogaine has been extracted so many times that it no longer possesses the spirit of the plant. Moughenda gets his high quality and potent iboga from his homeland in Gabon, Africa where iboga is native to. He performs the extraction on the iboga himself using organic methods. Although Moughenda has worked with Ibogaine in the past for detoxes, he prefers to use the extract with all of the alkaloids for maximum healing potential.

Safety is a big concern for patients and family of patients that are detoxing from alcohol and it is something that the Iboga House takes very seriously, especially with alcohol detoxes. Although the Iboga House is a Shamanic Treatment and Healing Center, our doctor is on call 24 hours a day. We use our doctor regularly as every patient has unique circumstances and needs. When calling the Iboga House for a pre-screening, an Iboga House representitve will go into this in further detail.

When detoxing from alcohol at the Iboga House, Moughenda will perform the initial iboga detox the night of your arrival. The iboga will detox your body from the alcohol and Moughenda stays with you the entire night, keeping a close eye on you. The next morning we have an aftercare team that checks on you regularly. Moughenda will be checking on you as well. We make sure you are comfortable and that you are getting enough fluids through this process. The initial detox helps you to heal physically from the alcohol abuse. A few days later, after you are eating and sleeping well, you will have a guided psycho-spiritual journey with Moughenda. This is when you will get to root issues. You can prepare questions to get answers to, you may have a life review where you identify negative thought and/or behavioral patterns and correct them. Every patient has a unique experience. At this time, Iboga will bring you to the truth where you will face it head on. Moughenda counsels each patient through the time you are here. If you have questions or information that you need help processing, Moughenda will help you with that.