Ancient medicine for a modern disease: traditional Amazonian medicine to treat substance use disorders.

There exists an underexploited opportunity to develop innovative therapeutic approaches to SUDs based upon the complementarity between modern and traditional health systems. Illustrate the feasibility and potentiality of such an approach through the comprehensive description of Takiwasi Center's treatment model and program, where health concepts and practices from traditional Amazonian medicine work synergistically with modern psychotherapy and medicine in an intercultural dialog to assist in the rehabilitation of people suffering from SUDs. The description was built from a review of the literature, institutional data, participatory observation and unstructured interviews with staff, researchers and patients during treatment.

Ayahuasca Treatment Outcome Project (ATOP): One-Year Results from Takiwasi Center and Implications for Psychedelic Science.

Objective: This article focuses on the outcomes at 1 year post-treatment of a naturalistic evaluation of services provided through the Takiwasi Centre, an accredited Peruvian therapeutic community offering an ayahuasca-assisted, integrative treatment program for addiction rehabilitation.

Method: Participants ( = 52) completed structured interviews and a battery of validated instruments. Outcome measures included the Addiction Severity Index (Version 5), the Beck Anxiety and Depression Inventories, the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Spiritual Religious and Personal Belief (WHOQOL-SRPB) scale.

Protocol for Outcome Evaluation of Ayahuasca-Assisted Addiction Treatment: The Case of Takiwasi Center.

The present study describes the protocol for the Ayahuasca Treatment Outcome Project (ATOP) with a special focus on the evaluation of addiction treatment services provided through Takiwasi Center, the first ATOP study site. The goal of the project is to assess treatment outcomes and understand the therapeutic mechanisms of an Ayahuasca-assisted, integrative treatment model for addiction rehabilitation in the Peruvian Amazon. The proposed intervention protocol highlights the significance of treatment setting in the design, delivery, and efficacy of an addiction rehabilitation program that involves the potent psychedelic tea known as Ayahuasca.

Pilot Evaluation of a Residential Drug Addiction Treatment Combining Traditional Amazonian Medicine, Ayahuasca and Psychotherapy on Depression and Anxiety.

Recent research highlighted the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca, a psychoactive plant brew used ritually in traditional Amazonian medicine (TAM). The present study evaluates the impact of integrating ayahuasca and TAM with psychotherapy on depression and anxiety in an inpatient addiction treatment program. Male patients ( = 31) were evaluated pre and post treatment using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).