MYEBOGA Conversations

Shea Prueger - Expectations & Inclusion

DIRECTOR, IBOGAINE ADMINISTRATOR - IBOGAINE REVELATIONS

Shea Prueger was introduced to ibogaine therapy by Eric Taub who she met while seeking treatment for suboxone addiction in 2010 while working as a full time fashion model. Following her own transformation, Shea began an apprenticeship under Lex Kogan at I Begin Again's ibogaine facility in Guatemala and then Costa Rica, eventually taking over as director of the center.

Shea Prueger has trained with Dr. Franco Lopez, and Dr. Sofia Artavia in order to learn the necessary medical side of administering ibogaine. Prueger continued training alongside Erika Florianova (director of I Begin Again: Czech Republic and also a psychotherapist) and learned methods in alternative healing that she utilizes to help clients integrate their experience into their day to day life.

Following many attempts at running large centers with the initial goal to provide ibogaine to as many people as possible, Prueger took a brief break to reformulate her approach to ibogaine treatments. She has restructured her modality and is focusing on individually tailored sessions and one on one attention from each staff member. This is done through longer stays, a focus on integration, and a slower introduction to the medicine using low wave doses in the initial prep days.

Prueger is most notable for opening the first medically supervised ibogaine center in Asia, Ibogaine Thailand. Prueger has EMT training, has AED, CPR, and first aid certification, and chooses her mentors wisely to facilitate further growth and understanding of ibogaine. Currently, Prueger is also offering low wave dosing as an option for clients alongside a longer stay.

Prueger is also one of the co-founders of The Root Ibogaine Collective. This is a new and evolving project with the intention of supporting ibogaine clients and providers, while also providing radical inclusion and safe and ethical guidelines for the ibogaine community.

Yann Guignon first discovered iboga in 2004 in France when a Gabonese traditional healer named Aristide Nguema, helped cure his chemical dependency. With Aristide Nguema, Yann founded an association called ‘E-BOGA’ in order to have the remarkable therapeutic properties of iboga accepted as a treatment by the French authorities (AFSSAPS).

In 2006, after the sale and merger of the company Yann worked for, he went to Gabon to be initiated into the Bwiti tradition by Master Atome Ribenga in the branch of the ethnic group Fang's Dissumba.

In 2007, following the death of a young drug addict, iboga became classified as a class 4 drug by AFSSAPS and was made illegal in France. Furthermore, Bwiti was classified as a cult. The E-BOGA association then had to be dissolved by its founders.

Yann returned to Gabon and decided to film a documentary on iboga and the Bwiti tradition. Yann was then invited several times to speak on RTG1 TV to raise awareness about the French attacks on their ancestral traditions and iboga, which in Gabon is recognized as part of the national cultural heritage. He was received by Mr Louis Gaston Mayila a strong advocate of iboga and also the Gabonese Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of National Solidarity, Social Affairs, Welfare and the Fight against Poverty. The latter asked him to keep on working in this field as ’compensation from France’ and invited him to move permanently to Gabon.

Alongside his professional activities, Yann continued to study the Bwiti tradition. He met with many villages and traditional Masters from all branches.

As a consequence of his documentary and television shows, he was regularly contacted by people from around the world wanting to go to Gabon to be initiated with iboga. He organized and cared for hundreds of travelers working in different traditions.

Meanwhile Yann trained Yann to be a ‘Kambo’ (Keeper of the Tradition) in addition to the training he had already received from Master Atome Ribenga and others.

During his studies, Yann met Professor Jean Noël Gassita who was the first black African recognized by the French Medicine Academy and the special scientific advisor to the President of the Gabonese Republic.

In 2011, Professor Gassita and Yann convinced the Gabonese authorities to support them in reporting on the national and international state of affairs of iboga through the foundation of the First Lady of Gabon.

The report was submitted to the Gabonese government in July 2012 and revealed that iboga was soon to be threatened by extinction in Gabon if an active protection and replanting scheme was not immediately set up, along with further urgent research in the field of botany, chemistry and medicine.

The Gabonese authorities then decided to integrate iboga into the framework of the Nagoya Protocol, which aims to provide ‘access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization’.

In 2014 Yann was acknowledged as a ‘Benefactor to Gabonese culture’ by the Minister of Culture and was asked to represent Gabon at the 4th international conference on ibogaine in South Africa organized by the Global Ibogaine Therapist Alliance (GITA), chaired by Jonathan Dickinson.

Upon his return from South Africa, the Communication Team of the Gabonese Presidency asked Yann to chair a television show about iboga to share the information that was in his report with the Gabonese people. The TV show ‘Ca s'explique’ was produced and broadcast several times during prime time.

Having suffered from the separation of his children, Yann moved back to France at the end of 2014 and decided to look for European partners in order to create an organization to continue to research, protect and invest in the future of iboga. Given the legal situation in France it was in England in October 2015 that the legal structure, Blessings of the Forest CIC (Community Interest Company) was set up with co-Directors Ben Taylor and Kate Hewett.

Yann Guignon first discovered iboga in 2004 in France when a Gabonese traditional healer named Aristide Nguema, helped cure his chemical dependency. With Aristide Nguema, Yann founded an association called ‘E-BOGA’ in order to have the remarkable therapeutic properties of iboga accepted as a treatment by the French authorities (AFSSAPS).

In 2006, after the sale and merger of the company Yann worked for, he went to Gabon to be initiated into the Bwiti tradition by Master Atome Ribenga in the branch of the ethnic group Fang's Dissumba.

In 2007, following the death of a young drug addict, iboga became classified as a class 4 drug by AFSSAPS and was made illegal in France. Furthermore, Bwiti was classified as a cult. The E-BOGA association then had to be dissolved by its founders.

Yann returned to Gabon and decided to film a documentary on iboga and the Bwiti tradition. Yann was then invited several times to speak on RTG1 TV to raise awareness about the French attacks on their ancestral traditions and iboga, which in Gabon is recognized as part of the national cultural heritage. He was received by Mr Louis Gaston Mayila a strong advocate of iboga and also the Gabonese Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of National Solidarity, Social Affairs, Welfare and the Fight against Poverty. The latter asked him to keep on working in this field as ’compensation from France’ and invited him to move permanently to Gabon.

Alongside his professional activities, Yann continued to study the Bwiti tradition. He met with many villages and traditional Masters from all branches.

As a consequence of his documentary and television shows, he was regularly contacted by people from around the world wanting to go to Gabon to be initiated with iboga. He organized and cared for hundreds of travelers working in different traditions.

Meanwhile Yann trained Yann to be a ‘Kambo’ (Keeper of the Tradition) in addition to the training he had already received from Master Atome Ribenga and others.

During his studies, Yann met Professor Jean Noël Gassita who was the first black African recognized by the French Medicine Academy and the special scientific advisor to the President of the Gabonese Republic.

In 2011, Professor Gassita and Yann convinced the Gabonese authorities to support them in reporting on the national and international state of affairs of iboga through the foundation of the First Lady of Gabon.

The report was submitted to the Gabonese government in July 2012 and revealed that iboga was soon to be threatened by extinction in Gabon if an active protection and replanting scheme was not immediately set up, along with further urgent research in the field of botany, chemistry and medicine.

The Gabonese authorities then decided to integrate iboga into the framework of the Nagoya Protocol, which aims to provide ‘access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization’.

In 2014 Yann was acknowledged as a ‘Benefactor to Gabonese culture’ by the Minister of Culture and was asked to represent Gabon at the 4th international conference on ibogaine in South Africa organized by the Global Ibogaine Therapist Alliance (GITA), chaired by Jonathan Dickinson.

Upon his return from South Africa, the Communication Team of the Gabonese Presidency asked Yann to chair a television show about iboga to share the information that was in his report with the Gabonese people. The TV show ‘Ca s'explique’ was produced and broadcast several times during prime time.

Having suffered from the separation of his children, Yann moved back to France at the end of 2014 and decided to look for European partners in order to create an organization to continue to research, protect and invest in the future of iboga. Given the legal situation in France it was in England in October 2015 that the legal structure, Blessings of the Forest CIC (Community Interest Company) was set up with co-Directors Ben Taylor and Kate Hewett.

Juliana Mulligan (ibogaine integration specialist and community organizer) has been an active member of the Ibogaine community for eight years and holds a B.A. in Psychology. She has worked in three Ibogaine clinics, completed Andrew Tatarsky's IHRP training, and has presented at multiple Psychedelic, Ibogaine, and Harm Reduction conferences. Under her current business Inner Vision Ibogaine, she works therapeutically with people supporting them in preparation for, and in integration after, treatment. Previously Juliana was an opioid dependent person and in 2011, with the help of Ibogaine, she left opioids behind and set off on a path to transform the way drug users and their treatment is approached. Her work centers around guiding individuals to their own inner power and supporting them in reframing their life experiences into sources of knowledge and inspiration. She has co-authored a guide for finding safe Ibogaine treatment and is also currently working to create new systems of accountability and responsibility among Ibogaine practitioners and in the greater psychedelic therapy community. She is also currently the Program Coordinator for the Psychedelic Program at The Center for Optimal Living (NYC). Juliana has been featured in Double Blind magazine, Woman’s Day magazine, and Psymposia.

Please note: The provider mentioned in this podcast has indicated to Juliana that she could share her experience. He has since passed away.

Juliana Mulligan (ibogaine integration specialist and community organizer) has been an active member of the Ibogaine community for eight years and holds a B.A. in Psychology. She has worked in three Ibogaine clinics, completed Andrew Tatarsky's IHRP training, and has presented at multiple Psychedelic, Ibogaine, and Harm Reduction conferences. Under her current business Inner Vision Ibogaine, she works therapeutically with people supporting them in preparation for, and in integration after, treatment. Previously Juliana was an opioid dependent person and in 2011, with the help of Ibogaine, she left opioids behind and set off on a path to transform the way drug users and their treatment is approached. Her work centers around guiding individuals to their own inner power and supporting them in reframing their life experiences into sources of knowledge and inspiration. She has co-authored a guide for finding safe Ibogaine treatment and is also currently working to create new systems of accountability and responsibility among Ibogaine practitioners and in the greater psychedelic therapy community. She is also currently the Program Coordinator for the Psychedelic Program at The Center for Optimal Living (NYC). Juliana has been featured in Double Blind magazine, Woman’s Day magazine, and Psymposia.

Please note: The provider mentioned in this podcast has indicated to Juliana that she could share her experience. He has since passed away.

Founder and director of the Awakening in the Dream Group, Rocky first took ibogaine for poly substance addiction interruption in Dec 2003. Trained as a provider at the Ibogaine Association he worked in the underground as a provider from his home. In 2006 he moved to San Pancho Nayarit Mexico to open the Dream House, a medical licensed detox center, where he conducted treatments for 10 years and began the first integration program in combination to primary Detox. Currently Rocky and Asha are doing sessions in their home in San Miguel de Allende like the old days bringing people into a family setting to work with Ibogaine and Iboga extracts with the same medical safety standards as San Pancho. Rocky had been a flooring contractor for 25 years with 20 years of methamphetamine addiction on and off. Ibogaine was the breakthrough which resolved both his Heroin and Methamphetamine dependence and inspired a new career in service as a provider creating a new modality of treatment for drug dependence and psychological issues.

Founder and director of the Awakening in the Dream Group, Rocky first took ibogaine for poly substance addiction interruption in Dec 2003. Trained as a provider at the Ibogaine Association he worked in the underground as a provider from his home. In 2006 he moved to San Pancho Nayarit Mexico to open the Dream House, a medical licensed detox center, where he conducted treatments for 10 years and began the first integration program in combination to primary Detox. Currently Rocky and Asha are doing sessions in their home in San Miguel de Allende like the old days bringing people into a family setting to work with Ibogaine and Iboga extracts with the same medical safety standards as San Pancho. Rocky had been a flooring contractor for 25 years with 20 years of methamphetamine addiction on and off. Ibogaine was the breakthrough which resolved both his Heroin and Methamphetamine dependence and inspired a new career in service as a provider creating a new modality of treatment for drug dependence and psychological issues.

Tatayo, a former French man 48 years in Gabon since October 1971, a builder of community and preserver of tradition, instilling pride in the lives of ordinary Gabonese people, robed of their heritage as collateral damage in the march of progress, allowing them to value and take pride in their Bwiti culture in an honorable and dignified fashion. Tatayo has made it possible to present Bwiti to the western world while maintaining its purity devoid of corrupt speculation by building an honest god fearing community around him. He has been instrumental in bringing knowledge of the Bwiti to the Western world through his involvement with Daniel Pinchbeck 'Breaking Open the Head' and Bruce Parry's BBC documentary 'Tribe ' among others. Those considering an initiation in Africa cannot ignore this podcast and have no business going to Africa without familiarising themselves with this man and his work unless they wish to take their lives into their own hands. Those who feel called to support his work can do so here : Blessingsoftheforest.org. I for one give thanks for his work and pray for the continued blessings and success of his community.

Tatayo, a former French man 48 years in Gabon since October 1971, a builder of community and preserver of tradition, instilling pride in the lives of ordinary Gabonese people, robed of their heritage as collateral damage in the march of progress, allowing them to value and take pride in their Bwiti culture in an honorable and dignified fashion. Tatayo has made it possible to present Bwiti to the western world while maintaining its purity devoid of corrupt speculation by building an honest god fearing community around him. He has been instrumental in bringing knowledge of the Bwiti to the Western world through his involvement with Daniel Pinchbeck 'Breaking Open the Head' and Bruce Parry's BBC documentary 'Tribe ' among others. Those considering an initiation in Africa cannot ignore this podcast and have no business going to Africa without familiarising themselves with this man and his work unless they wish to take their lives into their own hands. Those who feel called to support his work can do so here : Blessingsoftheforest.org. I for one give thanks for his work and pray for the continued blessings and success of his community.