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Send us Fan Mail What happens when chaos is all you’ve ever known—and survival starts looking like self-destruction? In this episode of Tribal Detox: Beyond the Ceremony, Jason sits down with Catelyn Rebecca Spensberger-Taylor for an honest conversation about generational trauma, childhood neglect, abusive relationships, addiction, incarceration, and rebuilding a life. Catelyn describes becoming a caregiver before she had the chance to be a child, using substances in early adolescence, and carrying those patterns into adulthood. She shares why she believes prison saved her life, how stability helped her begin recognizing her trauma, and what it took to start over after her release. We also explore her experiences with yoga, massage, psilocybin, Kambo, and ayahuasca—including a frightening ceremony that challenged her sense of safety and reinforced the importance of listening to her body and speaking up. Today, Catelyn teaches yoga, practices massage therapy, studies herbalism, and is pursuing Kambo practitioner training. Her story includes painful setbacks, difficult realizations, and the daily work of learning to trust herself. In this conversation: Growing up with instability, addiction, and the responsibility of caring for younger siblings.Childhood trauma, hypervigilance, and repeating familiar relationship patterns.Alcohol dependence, substance use, and the consequences that led to incarceration.Why Catelyn describes prison as the first consistent stability she experienced.Rebuilding through work, education, movement, and community.The difference she experienced between recreational psychedelic use and intentional settings.Her personal experiences with psychiatric medications and discontinuation.Kambo, ayahuasca, grief, and a deeply challenging altered state.Boundaries, self-worth, and learning to feel safe in her body.Finding purpose in helping others.Connect with Catelyn Email: [email protected] Instagram: @catetayyy Facebook: cate Tay Content advisory This episode includes explicit language and detailed discussion of childhood abuse, domestic and sexual violence, suicide attempts, suicide loss, overdose, abortion, addiction, incarceration, and distressing psychedelic experiences. Please consider your wellbeing when choosing whether and when to listen. Important health, medication, and substance-use disclaimer This podcast shares personal experiences and opinions for educational and informational purposes. It does not provide medical, psychiatric, psychological, or legal advice. Personal accounts and spiritual interpretations are not clinical evidence, established explanations, or guarantees of safety or results. Tribal Detox, this podcast, and its hosts do not condone or encourage the illegal possession, purchase, distribution, or use of controlled substances. Discussing a substance or experience does not endorse its use or the practices described. We do not recommend stopping psychiatric medications cold turkey, rapidly tapering them, or changing treatment to participate in a ceremony. Abrupt discontinuation can cause withdrawal and worsening mental health; benzodiazepine withdrawal can cause life-threatening seizures. Any medication change requires an individualized plan with your prescribing clinician. A facilitator’s advice, an online search, or a medication’s half-life alone cannot establish a safe taper or clearance for substance use. “Natural” does not mean safe. Herbs and supplements—including St. John’s wort and 5-HTP—can interact with medications and other substances. The combinations and timelines described in this episode should not be copied. Kambo and psychedelics are not established substitutes for psychiatric treatment or medically supervised withdrawal care. Each listener is responsible for their own research, investigation, and decisions, including checking applicable laws, evaluating evidence, verifying provider qualifications, and discussing individual risks with qualified healthcare professionals. Independent research does not replace medical assessment. Do not delay or disregard professional care because of anything heard here. Subscribe so you don't miss future conversations as we explore plant medicines, integration, spirituality, science, psychology, and everything that happens beyond the ceremony.

Send us Fan Mail Chris Diamond grew up in New York with a bookie for a father and an early education in keeping his mouth shut. At 16, an organized crime raid on his family’s home helped set off a spiral of anger, violence, drug dealing, and eventually state and federal incarceration. In Episode 13 of Tribal Detox Podcast — Beyond the Ceremony, Chris joins Jason Fellows for a raw conversation about leaving that life behind, confronting addiction, and learning to become someone his family could count on. Chris shares his move from New York to Arizona, his introduction to Bufo, and his experiences with ayahuasca and Kambo. He reflects on how those experiences challenged his identity, brought him face to face with his own behavior, and helped him find a sense of gratitude he hadn’t known before. We also talk about the work that happens after ceremony: taking responsibility, repairing relationships, raising children, and putting what you’ve learned into practice when everyday life tests you. In this episode: Growing up around illegal gambling, secrecy, and survival.A family home raid, displaced anger, and his first felony at 16.Life inside state prison and federal detention.Finding meditation through a cellmate he called “Felonious Monk.”Addiction, withdrawal, and the challenges that continued afterward.Leaving New York and starting over in Arizona.His first Bufo experience and why he warns against his early approach.Accountability, fatherhood, and rebuilding his relationship.Training with Tribal Detox and beginning to serve Kambo.What he would tell a young person heading down the same road.Connect with Chris Diamond: Email: [email protected] Content note: Explicit language and discussions of violence, incarceration, addiction, and withdrawal. Chris shares personal experiences, not medical advice or instructions for using these substances. Subscribe so you don't miss future conversations as we explore plant medicines, integration, spirituality, science, psychology, and everything that happens beyond the ceremony.

Send us Fan Mail What happens when the life you imagined isn’t the life you get? In this episode of Tribal Detox Podcast — Beyond the Ceremony, Jason sits down with close friend, Kambo practitioner, and Tribal Detox instructor Julie Vogel, founder of Kambo Coyote in Austin, Texas. Recorded at the Grunt Style Integration event in Missouri, this conversation follows Julie’s unconventional path through teaching, backpacking, wilderness survival, infertility, and eventually amphibian medicine. Julie opens up about the physical and emotional toll of three unsuccessful rounds of IVF, grieving the possibility of motherhood, and finding herself asking what to do with her life next. Choosing to say yes to new experiences led her to a powerful first Bufo ceremony and, later, Kambo. She also shares the uncomfortable lesson that pushed her to seek proper practitioner training: loving a medicine doesn’t mean you know how to work with it safely. With plenty of humor and the ease of a longtime friendship, Jason and Julie explore community, control, service, and finding purpose when your original plans fall apart. In this episode: Growing up bullied and becoming an advocate for the underdog.Backpacking through Southeast Asia and volunteering in Thailand after the tsunami.Waldorf teaching, Naropa University, and finding different ways to learn.Wilderness survival training and learning to slow down in nature.Infertility, unsuccessful IVF, and grieving an imagined future.Julie’s first Bufo experience and her changing relationship with death and control.Discovering Kambo and recognizing the need for formal training.Building Kambo Coyote and creating the Coyote’s Den.Becoming a Tribal Detox instructor and helping students find their own approach.Meeting skeptical clients with practical conversation and compassion.Offering possibilities without promising outcomes.Connect with Julie Vogel Kambo Coyote — Austin, Texas Website: https://kambocoyote.com Email: [email protected] Instagram: @kambocoyote Subscribe so you don't miss future conversations as we explore plant medicines, integration, spirituality, science, psychology, and everything that happens beyond the ceremony.

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Beyond the Ceremony, Jason sits down with Emily Johnson of Loving Kambo at the Grunt Style Foundation’s Integration Event outside Troy, Missouri. Before discovering Kambo, Emily had spent most of her life navigating chronic illness, severe endometriosis, persistent pain, medical trauma, and repeated surgeries. She underwent 15 surgeries for endometriosis before turning 18 and eventually found herself taking 12 prescription medications each day. After reaching the end of her rope with the conventional options being offered to her, Emily decided to try something completely outside her comfort zone. Her first Kambo session became the beginning of a much larger personal transformation. Emily shares what it was like to feel the mental “static” begin to clear, how she worked with her healthcare providers and other tools to change her relationship with pain and medication, and how she eventually went from feeling physically broken to climbing mountains in Colorado. Today, Emily and her husband, Michael, are trained Kambo practitioners serving their communities through their company, Loving Kambo. Emily is also stepping into education and speaking, sharing what she has learned with others who may feel as if they have exhausted every available option. This conversation is not about claiming that one medicine can fix everyone. It is about personal agency, informed choices, and having the courage to explore a different path when the path you are on is no longer working. In this episode, we discuss: Developing severe endometriosis as a childUndergoing 15 surgeries before the age of 18The medical trauma Emily experienced during multiple proceduresLiving with autoimmune illness and chronic painTaking 12 prescription medications each dayWhat led Emily to try Kambo for the first timeThe unexpected shift she noticed the following morningBecoming more comfortable with discomfortFinding new ways to work with pain and inflammationGoing from limited physical capacity to climbing Colorado mountainsEmily’s journey from client to Kambo practitionerSupporting veterans through the Grunt Style Integration EventWatching former participants return as practitionersImposter syndrome and learning to trust your own experienceThe importance of informed consent and responsible medical supportExploring alternative options without presenting them as universal curesConnect with Emily and Loving Kambo Website: lovingkambo.net Instagram: @loving_kambo Facebook: Loving Kambo Email: [email protected] Loving Kambo currently serves Southeast Kansas, the Tulsa area and surrounding Oklahoma communities, and North Texas. Important disclaimer This episode shares Emily’s personal experience and is provided for educational purposes only. It should not be interpreted as medical advice or as a recommendation to stop taking prescription medication. Never discontinue or reduce medication without guidance from a qualified healthcare professional. Kambo carries significant risks and is not appropriate for everyone. Proper screening, informed consent, and qualified facilitation are essential. Subscribe so you don't miss future conversations as we explore plant medicines, integration, spirituality, science, psychology, and everything that happens beyond the ceremony.

Send us Fan Mail Olga Yakymenko never planned on becoming a medicine practitioner. Born and raised in Ukraine, Olga spent ten years working within the Ukrainian court system before eventually moving to Moscow, where she continued working in the legal field. From the outside, she had built a conventional life and career. Internally, though, she had the persistent feeling that she wasn't doing what she was supposed to be doing. Then she went to India. What was supposed to be a short trip turned into six months after Olga threw away her return ticket and called her boss to tell him he could fire her. India opened the door to meditation, spiritual practice, travel, and an entirely different way of seeing her life. Eventually, that path led her to South America and ayahuasca. Her first experience wasn't particularly profound. Years later, however, she sat again—this time prepared, intentional, and within the Shipibo tradition. That ceremony changed the direction of her life. Olga describes an experience of ego death, rebirth, and a clear message that she was supposed to leave her old life behind, move to another country, and work in service to others. So she did. With little English, a tiny backpack, and no real plan, Olga came to the United States, eventually settling in Brooklyn and beginning the long transition from the legal world into healing work. In this episode, we follow that journey and dive deep into Olga's relationship with ayahuasca, Kambo, Bufo, traditional Shipibo practices, Icaros, integration, and the importance of choosing experienced facilitators. We also get into one of the more unusual modalities Olga practices: hirudotherapy, or medicinal leech therapy—a practice she first witnessed as a child in Ukraine and later incorporated into her own work. Today, Olga works with ayahuasca, Kambo, massage, and leech therapy and is stepping into a new chapter as a Kambo instructor. In This Episode We talk about: Growing up in Ukraine and working in the court systemLeaving Moscow for what became a six-month journey through IndiaMeditation, Vipassana, Nepal, Varanasi, and the beginning of Olga's spiritual pathHer first experience with ayahuasca in South AmericaThe Shipibo ceremony that completely changed her lifeMoving to America without speaking EnglishBuilding a new life in BrooklynWhy ayahuasca became Olga's primary spiritual teacherThe role of Icaros and master plants within Shipibo traditionWhy the person facilitating a psychedelic experience mattersDifficult ayahuasca experiences, surrender, preparation, and integrationOlga's first experience with Kambo in New YorkDiscovering Bufo after roughly 150 ayahuasca ceremoniesWhy she eventually chose to stop serving Bufo and focus more deeply on ayahuasca and KamboThe problem with stacking multiple powerful medicines into a single retreatWhy more medicine doesn't necessarily mean more healingMedicinal leech therapy and its history in Olga's familyHer decision to begin teaching KamboHer desire to bring properly trained practitioners into Ukrainian communities affected by warAdvice for people curious about plant and amphibian medicinesWhat to look for when choosing an ayahuasca facilitatorOlga's story is ultimately about following a path before you can see where it's leading. From a courtroom in Ukraine, to six months wandering India, to Shipibo ceremonies in the Amazon, to arriving in America with almost nothing and building an entirely different life—sometimes the next chapter doesn't begin with a plan. Sometimes it begins by throwing away the ticket home. Connect With Olga Yakymenko Website: kambo-ny.com Subscribe so you don't miss future conversations as we explore plant medicines, integration, spirituality, science, psychology, and everything that happens beyond the ceremony.

Send us Fan Mail Every once in a while, Jason will be stepping away from the traditional interview format to share stories from nearly a decade of working with Kambo—people he met, unusual cases he witnessed, and experiences that have stayed with him throughout his years of practice. For the first Kambo Story Time, Jason shares the story of Solomon Page, a former NFL offensive lineman who played for the Dallas Cowboys. After years of professional football and repeated concussions, Solomon's health began to deteriorate. He developed severe skin and autoimmune-type issues that eventually affected nearly every part of his daily life. His skin became so sensitive that normal clothing was difficult to tolerate. Sitting, sleeping, exercising, and many of the things he'd once taken for granted became increasingly difficult. Eventually, after exhausting conventional medical options, Solomon says he was told there was nothing more his doctors could do and that he would have to learn to live with his condition. He reached a point where he wasn't sure he wanted to. His wife, Cynthia, wasn't willing to accept that answer. Her search eventually led Solomon to a holistic practitioner in Dallas—and through her, to Jason and Kambo. In this episode, Jason tells the story of their first session, why Solomon's breathing caused him to remove Kambo points during the treatment, the phone call he received a week later, and what unfolded over the following months. It's also the story of what happened afterward: Solomon's eventual decision to train as a Kambo practitioner himself and the completely different direction his life took from there. In This Episode How Jason began serving Kambo through a holistic medical practice in DallasMeeting Solomon Page for the first timeThe physical toll years of professional football had taken on SolomonRepeated concussions and the health problems Solomon experienced afterwardThe moment Solomon says he had given up hopeWhy his wife continued searching for answersSolomon's first experience with KamboWhy Jason reduced the number of points during that first sessionThe phone call Jason received about a week laterThree consecutive Kambo sessions and the changes Jason witnessed afterwardSolomon's decision to eventually become a Kambo practitioner himselfWhy extraordinary stories like Solomon's shouldn't be mistaken for a promise that Kambo will produce the same results for everyoneA Note About This Story This episode describes one individual's experience with Kambo. It is not intended to suggest that Kambo cures psoriasis, concussion-related conditions, autoimmune disease, or any other medical condition. Individual experiences and outcomes vary, and personal stories should not be interpreted as medical evidence or medical advice. Tribal Detox Podcast — Episode 9 Subscribe so you don't miss future conversations as we explore plant medicines, integration, spirituality, science, psychology, and everything that happens beyond the ceremony.

Send us Fan Mail What happens when a lifelong search to understand the mind, body, spirit, and human experience eventually leads you somewhere you never expected? In this episode, Jason sits down with Elizabeth Dalton, a San Diego–based practitioner whose path has taken her through massage therapy, nutrition, Ayurveda, yoga, Kambo, Bufo, somatic work, and now into a new chapter as a Tribal Detox Kambo instructor. Elizabeth’s journey began long before medicine work. Growing up in a large, deeply religious LDS family, she struggled from a young age with depression and a persistent desire to understand why being human could feel so difficult. Her original interest was psychology, but life took her in another direction—first into massage therapy, then bodywork, nutrition, holistic health, Ayurveda, and eventually the deeper connection between the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of healing. Her introduction to psychedelic and indigenous medicines was anything but gentle. Elizabeth shares openly about her first Bufo experience, complete ego dissolution, difficult integration afterward, and how the experience fundamentally challenged what she had been taught about God, death, and the afterlife. She also recounts an intense weekend involving Kambo and ayahuasca that ultimately helped shape the way she believes medicine should—and should not—be facilitated. Those experiences became an important lesson: a powerful experience isn't automatically a therapeutic one. The conversation dives deeply into the old-school approach to Kambo—the large amounts of water, high numbers of points, and the belief that a successful session required a purge. Elizabeth explains how watching clients endure unnecessarily intense sessions caused her to begin questioning what she had been taught. Rather than asking, “How intense can we make this?” she began asking a different question: How can we work with Kambo while listening to the individual person and their nervous system? That question eventually led Elizabeth toward what she describes as somatic Kambo—using the medicine alongside body awareness, emotional processing, and a much more individualized approach. Jason and Elizabeth also get into the serious responsibility that comes with facilitating medicine: water consumption, electrolyte balance and hyponatremia, preparation, informed consent, practitioner boundaries, integration, and why facilitators have to resist the temptation to believe that more suffering equals more healing. The conversation also gets deeply personal as Elizabeth discusses leaving the religion she grew up in, redefining her relationship with God and spirituality, navigating a difficult marriage, and learning to trust what actually resonated with her rather than forcing herself into a belief system because it was familiar. Eventually, all of the seemingly unrelated pieces of her life began coming back together. The young woman who once wanted to study psychology found herself working with the mind through somatics, the body through Ayurveda and bodywork, and the spiritual dimension through Kambo and Bufo. After years of searching, questioning, learning, and changing direction, Elizabeth describes her next step into teaching as strangely full circle. In This Episode Elizabeth's early fascination with psychology and the human experienceGrowing up in a strict LDS/Mormon householdMassage therapy, bodywork, nutrition, and AyurvedaHer first experience with Bufo and complete ego dissolutionHow medicine changed her understanding of God and the afterlifeReligious deconstruction and finding spirituality outside organized religionHer first Kambo experience during the 2020 lockdownA difficult ayahuasca ceremony and the importance of preparation and responsible facilitationThe dangers of assuming a more intense ceremony is a better ceremonyMoving away from purge-chasing and excessive water protocols in KamboHyponatremia, electrolytes, and practitioner responsibilityWhy suffering isn't something we need to “earn” healing throughElizabeth's development of a more somatic, individualized approach to KamboThe vulnerability involved in medicine work and the privilege of being trusted as someone's facilitatorWhy boundaries and vetting matter in Bufo facilitation and trainingFinding Tribal Detox and returning to Kambo training as an already experienced practitionerIntegration, surrender, and learning to move with the ebbs and flows of lifeElizabeth's path toward becoming a Tribal Detox Kambo instructorThe ceremony that became one of the most significant turning points of her lifeThis is a conversation about medicine, but even more than that, it's about curiosity, questioning what you've been taught, learning through experience, and allowing your path to evolve as you do. Connect with Elizabeth Dalton Elizabeth Dalton — Surya Wellness 📍 San Diego, California Instagram: @_suryawellness Website: www.suryawellnesssd.com Subscribe so you don't miss future conversations as we explore plant medicines, integration, spirituality, science, psychology, and everything that happens beyond the ceremony.

Send us Fan Mail What would you do if everything you'd spent your life building disappeared overnight? In this episode of Beyond the Ceremony, Jason sits down with Kambo practitioner and retreat facilitator Atlana Groyto hear one of the most remarkable stories ever shared on the podcast. After building a thriving aesthetics company in Kazakhstan, Atlana's life changed forever when a trusted business partner used political influence to take her company. Facing prison and fearing for her safety, she fled her country and sought political asylum in the United States with just $300 to her name. Alone in a new country, unable to speak English, Atlana rebuilt her life from the ground up. But beneath the surface, she struggled with depression, addiction, and the realization that the success she had spent her life chasing wasn't bringing her happiness. Everything changed when she was introduced to psychedelic medicine. Atlana shares her deeply personal journey through mushrooms, ayahuasca, and Kambo, explaining how each medicine played a unique role in helping her heal trauma, overcome addiction, reconnect with herself, and ultimately discover a new definition of success rooted in purpose rather than possessions. Today, Atlana serves others through Kambo, private healing retreats, psychedelic integration coaching, and wellness practices from her healing studio in Los Angeles and retreats in Joshua Tree. In this episode you'll hear: Building a successful business in Kazakhstan before losing everythingEscaping her country through political asylumStarting over in America with only $300 and no EnglishDepression, addiction, and the dark side of Hollywood cultureHow mushrooms became the beginning of her healing journeyAyahuasca's role in helping her rediscover purposeHer experience with Kambo and why it became such an important part of her lifeHealing childhood trauma and redefining successBecoming a Kambo practitioner and psychedelic integration coachThe emotional story of helping her own mother heal from decades of trauma and addictionHow personalized healing retreats are changing people's livesAtlana's story is a powerful reminder that sometimes losing everything becomes the very thing that allows us to find who we were always meant to become. Connect with Atlana Groy Instagram: @amphibianwoman Website: https://www.amphibianwoman.com Atlana offers: Private healing retreatsPsychedelic integration coachingKambo ceremoniesSound healingYoga and wellness practicesPersonalized healing programsSubscribe so you don't miss future conversations as we explore plant medicines, integration, spirituality, science, psychology, and everything that happens beyond the ceremony.

Send us Fan Mail In this deeply personal episode, Jason shares the full story behind the version most people have only heard in passing. From childhood trauma and years of psychological suffering to discovering plant and amphibian medicines, this conversation explores the path that eventually led to the creation of Tribal Detox. It also highlights an important truth that often gets overlooked: medicine can open the door, but it doesn't do the work for you. Jason and Kelly discuss: Jason's earliest childhood trauma and how it shaped his nervous system.Growing up with chronic fear, Tourette's symptoms, intrusive thoughts, anxiety, depression, and emotional dysregulation.Why many people assumed his struggles came from military service when they actually began years earlier.His time in the U.S. Coast Guard and the events that ultimately led to his discharge.Living for years with suicidal ideation, panic attacks, insomnia, nightmares, and the feeling that he was losing his mind.The therapist who first suggested Complex PTSD and why Jason chose not to pursue medication.The series of coincidences that introduced him to ayahuasca.What ayahuasca gave him—and why it ultimately wasn't his primary medicine.His first experience with Kambo deep in the Peruvian Amazon with the Matsés people.The dramatic changes he experienced after that first session.How Kambo became less of a treatment and more of a calling.Why he left his original Kambo training organization and began questioning many of the accepted practices.The research that changed his understanding of Kambo, including its bioactive peptides and a more physiology-based approach to serving the medicine.Why Tribal Detox teaches smaller, more manageable sessions focused on safety rather than intensity.The evolution of the Kambo school and the responsibility of training practitioners.How Kelly became the mirror that helped Jason recognize patterns he couldn't see in himself.The difference between symptom relief and true healing.Why integration, honest relationships, and accountability are just as important as the medicine itself.This episode is our most personal conversation yet. It's a story about trauma, healing, responsibility, and the long road of becoming someone capable of helping others. Healing isn't a destination. It's an ongoing practice. Learn More Tribal Detox Kambo Practitioner Training https://www.tribaldetox.com/schools Questions or feedback? Email: [email protected] Subscribe so you don't miss future conversations as we explore plant medicines, integration, spirituality, science, psychology, and everything that happens beyond the ceremony.

Send us Fan Mail What happens when you've tried everything... and nothing works? In this powerful episode, we sit down with medicine woman and facilitator Sterling Zayas to explore one of the most remarkable healing journeys we've heard. From severe childhood health complications and multiple blood transfusions to a full hysterectomy in her early twenties, years of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, suicidal thoughts, and psychiatric medications, Sterling reached a point where she and her family had exhausted every conventional option. Then something unexpected happened. Plant medicine entered her life. What followed wasn't simply symptom relief. It was a complete transformation of how she understood herself, healing, spirituality, and her purpose in this world. Sterling shares her deeply personal experiences with psilocybin, MDMA, Kambo, and Bufo, along with the lessons each medicine revealed and how they ultimately led her to become a facilitator herself. This is a conversation about courage, surrender, faith, and discovering that healing often begins where certainty ends. In this episode we discuss: Sterling's lifelong struggle with chronic illness and mental healthLiving through anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and suicidal thoughtsUndergoing a full hysterectomy in her early twentiesHer experience with psychiatric medications and why they ultimately failed herThe difficult process of coming off antidepressants and benzodiazepinesWhy her parents chose to experience plant medicine before encouraging her to participateSterling's first psilocybin ceremony and the experience that changed her lifeSpiritual awakening, healing, and finding purposeThe importance of integration after transformational experiencesWorking with MDMA and psilocybin for trauma and emotional healingDiscovering Kambo and learning to trust the body's innate ability to healTraining with Tribal Detox to become a Kambo practitionerHer journey into Bufo and what the medicine taught her about God, love, and consciousnessWhat it truly means to walk the path of a medicine womanWhy healing is ultimately a choice to meet the greatest version of yourselfThis episode is a reminder that healing isn't reserved for a lucky few. Sometimes the greatest transformation begins the moment we decide we're no longer willing to stay where we are. Mentioned in this episode PsilocybinMDMAKamboBufo (5-MeO-DMT)IntegrationPlant medicineSpiritual awakeningTrauma healingMental healthTribal DetoxConnect with Sterling Zayas 🌐 Website: https://www.theheavenlypriestess.com 📱 Instagram: @theheavenlypriestess If Sterling's story resonated with you and you'd like to learn more about her work, you can connect with her through her website or Instagram. Subscribe so you don't miss future conversations as we explore plant medicines, integration, spirituality, science, psychology, and everything that happens beyond the ceremony.

Send us Fan Mail What happens when the very system that's supposed to help you no longer has the answers? In this powerful conversation, we sit down with Jesse, a certified bionutritionist and longtime addiction recovery advocate, to explore her deeply personal journey through opioid addiction, postpartum depression, antidepressant dependency, grief, and ultimately finding healing through Kambo. Jesse shares how years of struggling with mental health and addiction led her to discover a completely different approach to healing. One centered not only on psychology, but on biology, nutrition, brain chemistry, and personal responsibility. We also explore the often overlooked connection between amino acids, neurotransmitters, peptides, and mental health, and why she believes true healing requires far more than simply treating symptoms. This is a conversation about hope, resilience, and discovering that healing is possible, even after years of believing you were broken. In this episode we discuss: Jesse's battle with addiction and recoveryPostpartum depression and returning to antidepressantsThe challenges of coming off psychiatric medicationsThe role nutrition and brain chemistry play in mental healthDiscovering Kambo after years of searching for reliefHow Kambo helped her leave antidepressants behindThe importance of integration and long term maintenanceChronic health issues, endometriosis, and unexpected physical improvementsGrief after losing her husband to addictionNavigating recovery while raising children as a single motherThe intersection of addiction, trauma, and spiritualityThe science behind amino acids, neurotransmitters, and peptidesWhy Jesse became a certified bionutritionistHow brain chemistry influences addiction and emotional healthThe future of holistic mental health and natural healingThis episode reminds us that healing isn't about finding a magic cure. It's about giving the body, mind, and spirit the tools they need to remember how to heal themselves. Mentioned in this episode KamboAddiction recoveryPostpartum depressionAntidepressantsBrain chemistryAmino acidsNeurotransmittersPeptidesBionutritionGrief and lossTrauma healingIntegrationSubscribe so you don't miss future conversations as we explore plant medicines, integration, spirituality, science, psychology, and everything that happens beyond the ceremony.

Send us Fan Mail Can your darkest chapter become the very thing that leads you to your life's purpose? In Part 2 of Kelly's story, we pick up after her recovery from opioid addiction through Ibogaine and follow the path that eventually led to Tribal Detox, Kambo, Bufo, and the work she does today. This conversation explores what happens after healing begins. Recovery isn't the end of the journey. It's often where the real journey starts. Kelly shares what it was like rebuilding her life, rediscovering herself, falling in love, helping build Tribal Detox from the ground up, and eventually finding her calling as a Bufo facilitator. We also dive into how years of serving hundreds of people challenged many of the assumptions surrounding Bufo and ultimately led us to develop a more therapeutic, integration-focused approach to working with the medicine. In this episode we discuss: Life after Ibogaine and addiction recoveryReturning home and rebuilding a new identityDiscovering mushrooms and the wider world of plant medicinesMeeting Jason and the beginning of their relationshipBuilding Tribal Detox from the ground upLiving in Austin while growing a Kambo practiceStarting the Tribal Detox Kambo Practitioner SchoolBuilding a life around purpose instead of chasing successLife on the road during the pandemicHow Bufo unexpectedly entered Kelly's lifeTraining as a Bufo facilitatorThe challenges and responsibility of serving BufoWhy not everyone benefits from a full "blast off" experienceThe evolution of a therapeutic approach to BufoWhy integration matters just as much as the ceremony itselfThis episode is about trusting your path, even when it looks nothing like the one you originally planned. Sometimes the greatest transformations don't happen because life goes according to plan. They happen because life completely falls apart and gives you the opportunity to rebuild it with greater purpose. Mentioned in this episode KamboBufo (5-MeO-DMT)IbogainePsilocybin mushroomsIntegrationTribal DetoxChurch of the Amphibian ArtsSubscribe so you don't miss future conversations as we explore plant medicines, integration, spirituality, science, psychology, and everything that happens beyond the ceremony.

Send us Fan Mail How does a seven-time All-American, valedictorian, and CPA candidate become addicted to heroin and crack cocaine? In this deeply personal episode, Kelly shares her story for the first time. From growing up in the small mountain town of Creede, Colorado, to earning multiple college degrees and working at one of the world's largest accounting firms, nothing about Kelly's life suggested addiction would become part of her story. But addiction doesn't discriminate. Kelly opens up about the curiosity that led her down a dangerous path, the devastating reality of opioid addiction, and the desperation that eventually led her to discover Ibogaine, a West African plant medicine that changed the trajectory of her life. This conversation is raw, honest, and hopeful. It's a story about addiction, healing, courage, and ultimately finding purpose in the darkest chapter of life. In this episode we discuss: Kelly's upbringing in Creede, ColoradoBeing a seven-time NCAA All-American and graduating at the top of her classEarning degrees in finance, accounting, and taxationMoving to Miami and working for DeloitteWhy success on paper didn't bring fulfillmentHow a relationship exposed her to opioid addictionThe progression from curiosity to heroin addictionThe realities of heroin and crack cocaine addictionOpioid withdrawal and the physical and psychological grip of addictionWhy traditional treatment options didn't resonate with herDiscovering Ibogaine through relentless late-night researchHer experience at an Ibogaine clinic in MexicoHow Ibogaine helped her break free from opioid addictionThe beginning of her journey into plant medicineHow that experience eventually led her to Bufo, Tribal Detox, and the work she does todayThis episode isn't about glorifying addiction. It's about showing that addiction can affect anyone, regardless of intelligence, success, or background, and that healing is possible. If you or someone you love has been impacted by addiction, we hope Kelly's story offers both perspective and hope. Mentioned in this episode IbogaineBufo (5-MeO-DMT)KamboOpioid addictionAddiction recoveryPlant medicineIntegrationTribal DetoxComing Up Next In the next episode, we'll continue Kelly's journey as we explore what happened after Ibogaine, how she discovered Bufo, and how those experiences ultimately led to the creation of the Church of the Amphibian Arts and the work she does today. Subscribe so you don't miss future conversations as we explore plant medicines, integration, spirituality, science, psychology, and everything that happens beyond the ceremony.

Send us Fan Mail What happens after the ceremony? That's the question that inspired this podcast. In our very first episode, we share the story behind Beyond the Ceremony, why we felt this conversation needed a home, and why we believe the real healing doesn't end when the medicine wears off. After losing our Instagram account without warning, we realized how easily conversations around plant and amphibian medicines can disappear from social media. We wanted a place where we could have honest, thoughtful, long form conversations without trying to squeeze complex topics into 60 second clips. In this episode we discuss: Why we created Beyond the CeremonyHow losing our Instagram accelerated the decision to launch the podcastThe difference between the ceremony and the integration that followsWhy healing isn't something a medicine does to you, but something you continue to cultivate afterwardThe philosophy behind Tribal Detox and our approach to working with Kambo and BufoHow Jason and Kelly met through the medicine worldKelly's journey from opioid addiction to Ibogaine and eventually BufoJason's path through Ayahuasca, Kambo, homelessness, and rebuilding his lifeThe unlikely beginning of Tribal Detox, from living in a minivan and DoorDashing to building an international practitioner communityHow training hundreds of practitioners and serving thousands of clients has shaped our understanding of these medicinesThis podcast isn't just about ceremonies. It's about what comes after. It's about integration, relationships, healing, purpose, spirituality, science, responsibility, and the lifelong process of becoming more fully human. Whether you're completely new to plant medicines, an experienced practitioner, or simply curious about consciousness and healing, we hope these conversations offer insight, perspective, and practical wisdom you can apply to your own life. Mentioned in this episode KamboBufo (5-MeO-DMT)IbogaineAyahuascaIntegrationTribal Detox Kambo Practitioner TrainingComing Up Next In the next episode, Kelly shares her remarkable journey from addiction and recovery through Ibogaine to becoming a Bufo facilitator and founding the Church of the Amphibian Arts. Subscribe so you don't miss future conversations as we explore plant medicines, integration, spirituality, science, psychology, and everything that happens beyond the ceremony.