by Jenita Richards
Our first episode of Root Medicine sits down with Talia Eisenberg, cofounder of Beond and an impassioned voice in the plant medicine community who focuses primarily on ibogaine. Talia talks about how her past led her to ibogaine and why she is so dedicated to democratizing access to safe, scientifically backed treatment for addiction and trauma.
“I found my fuck yes.”
Nearing the end of the episode, our host Amanda Siebert utters this phrase that holds a thread from the beginning of their chat until the end. Both conversationalists speak about finding their paths through plant medicine and how that helps them to help others.
Talia was born into a Jewish family with generations of Holocaust trauma. She always felt out of place growing up in the small town of Omaha, Nebraska. Though she and her family traveled a lot and she was able to see different cultures and ways of life, it also lended to her feeling of instability and being different.
Talia mentions that she had always identified as a “seeker.” And being a seeker, it wasn’t easy for her in a world that offered many things and excessiveness. None of them were soul fulfilling. After moving to New York as an adult, she fell in with a fast and very affluent crowd. She would find herself engaging in conversations with people, trying to get deep, realizing there wasn’t deepness to be found at such a superficial, quick pace.
For a year in her early 20’s, after getting relief from a dental procedure, Talia’s use escalated and she found herself battling a powerful heroin addiction. The “slavery of addiction” was trying its best at taking over her life. The drug had a hold on her, that combined with her seeker ways left her “always needed something outside” of herself and “stuck in the cycle of needing.” Her supportive family stood by her side after numerous rehab attempts that would lead to relapse a mere few weeks after her discharge.
Thirteen years ago, Talia Eisenberg met ibogaine for the first time and hasn’t touched alcohol or opiates since.
At a clinic in Sayulita, Mexico, Talia would find “healing and peace” around her own anxiety and ancestral trauma.
She found self love.
The clinic where she had this first experience was not up to medical or emotional safety or comfort standards. There were no heart monitors, no therapy, there was open drug use, but despite all of that, ibogaine worked for her.
The world of plant medicine and ibogaine has changed in major ways since her introduction thirteen years ago. There are more clinics, safety standards, published safety guidelines, even instructions for future patients themselves.
Beond was created for people to have something that blends this “incredible, ancient technology” with western medicine and transformative psychological therapy. The center has luxury comforts and a staff that makes you feel welcomed and safe. With amenities like a talented chef, comfortable transportation, massage, art therapy and even qigong, guests can experience a nurturing environment while they heal.
On the medical side, Beond is equipped with the latest medical equipment, processes and experienced medical professionals necessary for a clients safety before, during and after the treatment day. Potential guests also undergo a psych and medical evaluation prior to being medically approved. Onsite upon arrival, blood tests and EKG’s are administered to guests for further safety precaution.
Although ibogaine was initially popularized in the plant medicine in the 1970’s for helping those with opioid dependencies, Beond and many others are tapping into ibogaine’s ability for “defragment” when combating trauma. Talia and Amanda compare the brain to a computer having too many windows open, distracting us by being busy and from feeling too deeply. And ibogaine is a defragment tool to close these windows.
Beond offers reset programs to address these specific problems, opening doors to treating so much more than drug dependencies.
With a large focus on post treatment daily therapeutic integration sessions, and custom client and therapist written aftercare plans, Beond is ushering in a new era of ibogaine in plant medicine.
Listen here.