Trusting an Ancient Way of Healing: Our Plant Medicine Experience

My wife and I had reached a point in our lives where things felt flat. Life had become too predictable - too routine. I began to feel a kind of quiet despair—like my spirit was flagging, and that the years beyond sixty might not hold the same joy or possibility as our younger ones. Something felt stuck, and no amount of therapy, exercise, or talking seemed to reach it.

We had previously attended a few ketamine retreats in the U.S., and those experiences began to shift things. We started communicating more openly, feeling lighter, freer, and less stuck in old patterns. So when the opportunity came up to join a plant medicine retreat deep in the Amazon jungle near Pucallpa, Peru, we felt ready.

We spent 17 days immersed in the experience, participating in five Ayahuasca ceremonies and a master plant dieta with Renaquilla—a heart-opening plant. As psychologists, what struck us most was how little the process relied on words. In our clinical work, healing often involves long conversations, uncovering patterns, and analyzing the past. But in the jungle, the ceremonies took place in near-total darkness. The first ceremony is known as a "diagnostic," but there were no discussions—just icaros, healing songs sung in Shipibo. Somehow, without talking, the healers sensed what needed attention and how to help.

This way of working may be difficult for Westerners to grasp. It’s not something you can measure with traditional science. But we felt it deeply. I came to trust the Shipibo healers, who have worked with these plants for generations, in ways beyond our understanding. My own research for a paper revealed that over 400 medicinal plants are catalogued in Peru, more than half with known mental health applications. That only deepened my respect and curiosity.

I had tried nearly every Western approach to address stress, anxiety, and low mood. They helped to a point. But something stubborn remained. I was open to the idea that these ancient healing methods might reach parts of me that words and willpower couldn’t.

And they did. Over those two weeks, both of us experienced profound transformation. We released old traumas and shed lifelong patterns. We felt freer, lighter, and more connected - to ourselves and to each other. Our relationship strengthened in ways we hadn’t imagined. Something essential had shifted. We felt deeply healed and renewed.

Sylvia and Noe, the maestra and maestro who guided us, are now beginning to run their own retreat center in the jungle outside Pucallpa. We spoke with them about helping spread the word about their work, as a way of giving back. They helped us heal in such meaningful ways - it feels right to support them in return.

We are going back to Peru in the Spring of 2026 and we are bringing a small group with us to share our experience. If you're interested in exploring your own healing through plant medicine, please feel free to reach out to us at welcome@aracarihealing.com. We’re doing an online information session on Wednesday November 5th at 7:00 pm. To register, click HERE! We have also created a few videos to provide information about engaging in plant medicine for emotional healing and personal growth. You can see our first video HERE!

If you are curious about how Western-based approaches to healing can be informed by traditional Indigenous uses of plant medicines, check Mike’s published paper, Current U.S. Approaches to Studying Psychedelic Medicines Compared to Psychedelics Use Among Indigenous Groups: What Are We Missing? in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, HERE.