Therapeutic Effects of Ceremonial Ayahuasca Use for Methamphetamine Use Disorders and Other Mental Health Challenges: Case Studies in an Indigenous Community in Sonora, Mexico

ABSTRACT

This paper describes three case studies from an outpatient intercultural therapeutic program founded and run by Yaqui health professionals and traditional healers to serve members of the Yaqui tribe residing in Sonora, Mexico. This pilot therapeutic program has been designed specifically for Indigenous individuals, incorporating the ceremonial use of naturally derived psychedelics in addressing substance use disorders and other mental health issues. The program employs a community-based approach, integrating various traditional Indigenous healing practices like the sweatlodge (temazcal), medicinal plant preparations, and the ritualistic use of selected psychedelics from natural sources (such as ayahuasca, peyote, and secretions from Incilius alvarius). These approaches are complemented by culturally attuned group and individual psychotherapy sessions, as well as group sports, community meals, collaborative construction efforts for a permanent clinical infrastructure, and cultural engagements such as art, crafts, and collective music. To evaluate the program’s efficacy, safety, and cultural implications, an ongoing observational study is being conducted by an international team of researchers. The preliminary results demonstrate therapeutic progress and improved psychometric outcomes observed in the three case studies presented, indicating promise for this intercultural therapeutic intervention.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous mental health
• ayahuasca
• addiction
• depression
• intercultural medicine
• case studies

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their gratitude to the clinic’s patients for sharing their stories, the clinical team for their innovative work and to the Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund for their financial support to the Yaqui intercultural clinic.

Disclosure statement

The salaries for data collection for this research have been financed through the Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund for staff of the Yaqui intercultural clinic. G.A.L. received funding for her work on this study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) T32DA007250, B.More, RiverStyx Foundation, and Robert Tod Chubrich. The other authors of this paper have donated their professional time to this research project.

Notes

1. Biocultural conservation of entheogens is central to the Yaqui intercultural clinic and the project includes a management plan for the endangered Incilius alvarius toad endemic to the Sonoran Desert. Kuarepa, as the toad venom is called in Yaqui, is only used very sporadically in the clinic in order to allow the species to regenerate. We do not condone widespread therapeutic use of this substance as it risks the wellbeing of the species.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund and Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia CF-2019-1560311.