When most people hear the word “recovery,” they picture a 12-step meeting, a chip, and a strict abstinence model. And for many people, that path is lifesaving. I honor it completely.
But recovery is not one-size-fits-all. And as a Recovery Coach and Hypnotherapist, my role has never been to hand you a rulebook. My role is to help you come home to yourself.
So what happens when a client in recovery is also drawn to plant medicine ceremony? What happens when someone is healing from alcohol or opioid dependency, and they feel called to sit with psilocybin, ayahuasca, or another sacred plant in a ceremonial context?
This is a real conversation. And it deserves a real, honest answer.
First, Let’s Define What Recovery Coaching Actually Is
Recovery coaching is not clinical treatment. I am not a therapist, a prescriber, or a sponsor. As a Certified Recovery Coach, my work is peer-based support, accountability, and helping clients identify and move toward a life that feels worth staying sober for.
That distinction matters here. A therapist or treatment program operates within specific clinical and ethical frameworks that may prohibit them from discussing or supporting plant medicine use in any form. A Recovery Coach operates differently. My work is rooted in the belief that you are the expert on your own life, and that sustainable healing happens when a person is supported rather than managed.
That said, I hold this space with clear professional boundaries and deep discernment.
What I Am Not Doing
Let me be transparent about what this is not:
I am not encouraging anyone in early recovery to use plant medicines. Early recovery, generally considered the first year, is a time when the nervous system, brain chemistry, and emotional regulation are actively stabilizing. This is not the time to introduce psychoactive substances of any kind, regardless of their ceremonial or spiritual context.
I am not making clinical recommendations. I am not a medical doctor or psychiatrist, and I do not advise on drug interactions, contraindications, or treatment protocols.
I am not applying a one-size-fits-all view in the other direction either. Plant medicine is not for everyone. It is not a shortcut. It is not a replacement for some of the deeper work you need to experience prior to making that decision.
What I Am Doing
I believe that healing is ultimately a spiritual process. The subconscious mind, the nervous system, generational patterns, childhood wounds, and the soul are all part of what we carry into addiction and what we must address in recovery.
For some people, plant medicine ceremony, held within a safe, intentional, spiritually grounded container, has been a profound catalyst for exactly that kind of deep healing. Research from institutions like Johns Hopkins and NYU now supports what indigenous traditions have known for centuries: that when used with proper preparation, integration support, and ceremony, certain plant medicines can interrupt patterns of addiction in the subconscious, dissolve shame, and open access to the kind of spiritual experience that sustains long-term recovery.
Integration is the bridge between the experience and the transformation. Without it, even the most powerful ceremony can fade or overwhelm. This is where coaching and hypnotherapy become invaluable tools.
Holding Both Truths at Once
I grew up professionally in spaces that treat abstinence as the only legitimate path. I understand why. The field of addiction recovery has had to fight hard against minimization and enabling. Those guardrails exist for good reason.
And I also know that the healing journey is sacred, complex, and deeply personal. I have seen people find in ceremony what years of traditional treatment could not reach. I have seen breakthroughs around mother/father wounds, trauma, and identity that became the turning point in a decades-long struggle.
Holding both of these truths at once is not contradiction. It is nuance. It is what good coaching requires.
Who This May Be For
If you are in stable recovery and feeling a genuine spiritual pull toward plant medicine work, I encourage you to:
Seek out a coach who can support you before, during, and after any ceremony. Do not go into this alone.
Vet the ceremony container carefully. Lineage, safety protocols, facilitator experience, and integration support are non-negotiable.
Be honest with yourself about your motivation. Is this a spiritual calling or an escape? That distinction is worth sitting with.
Consider whether your recovery community and support system can hold this alongside you, or whether you will need a separate circle of support.
A Word on Alcohol and Sobriety in My Own Work
The Psyrcle, the spiritual community I am also part of, centers its ceremonies around plant medicine in a sacred, non-recreational context. This community is not a party. It is a fellowship rooted in intentional healing.
I make this distinction clearly because my coaching practice is grounded in the same values: sobriety from unconscious, habitual, and escapist use of any substance. The goal is always a life of presence, clarity, and genuine freedom.
That is true whether someone achieves that through 12-step work, holistic recovery, somatic healing, hypnotherapy, or sacred ceremony.
Working With Me
If you are navigating recovery and also holding questions about plant medicine, I want you to know you can bring those questions here without shame. My practice is a space for the full complexity of the human healing journey.
We will look at where you are, what you need, and what your nervous system, subconscious, and soul are actually asking for. From there, we build a path that is yours.
You can learn more and book a session at elevated-coaching.com.
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