#13 - Caroline Lee: Death, Grief, and Ibogaine

What we discuss:

• What is a death doula? What does it mean to be in relationship with death, and why is this an important relationship to consider?
• How Caroline envisions psychedelics fitting into our rituals around death, if laws were changed and psychedelics were available at end-of-life for people suffering from palliative anxiety
• The potential applications of ibogaine for palliative anxiety and more, from a therapist’s perspective
• Should therapists be required to take psychedelics if they want to offer psychedelic-assisted therapy?
• How ibogaine helped Caroline process the grief she experienced after a divorce that marked the end of a 16-year relationship 
• What death and the end of relationships have in common
• What Caroline’s work as a doula and a therapist have taught her about the role of grief

Why it’s important: 

You’ve heard it said before but I feel like it needs to be said more often: death is a part of life – and this conversation really showed me that talking about it openly isn’t morbid or negative or inherently bad in any way - it’s a way for us to stay more connected to the present moment. Feeling into the grief that we feel when someone dies, or when a relationship ends, expands our capacity for emotion – and using psychedelics including ibogaine can allow us to not only come to terms with those emotions, but arrive at a feeling of peace around our own mortality. 

• ⁠Caroline’s Instagram⁠
• ⁠Caroline’s TikTok⁠
• ⁠Caroline’s Website⁠
• ⁠Study: Psilocybin for end-of-life anxiety ⁠