By Gabor Maté - Several years ago, I began to receive inquiries about what I knew regarding the use of ayahuasca in the healing of addiction. Since then, I've developed deep respect for the collaborative power of shamanic medicine allied with the insights and practice of depth psychology. Respect may be too mild a word—awe hits closer to the mark.

A practitioner trained in the orthodox Western model of medicine develops a deep respect for the healing power of psychedelic plants and shamanism. What he discovers is not magic but an often astonishingly rapid pathway to self-realization.