Hi,
We focus at this moment mainly on Ayahuasca and Iboga as you can see in our website
www.iceers.org.
Both are plants increasingly used in therapy (addiction treatment, personal growth, etc.). Iboga has a large body of animal research and limited research in humans and its mechanisms of action (although they are for a large part a mystery), are promising (GDNF growth, metabolic energy, nor-ibogaine, etc.). If you are interested in the science of Iboga, read this:
http://www.iceers.org/science-interest-iboga.php and ayahuasca:
http://www.iceers.org/sc...-interest-ayahuasca.php Also the many accounts and observations of addicts with very high opiate dependencies, and the profound life changes that addicts and people seeking personal growth initiate after their session indicate that this ethnobotanical should be given serious attention. In New Zealand Ibogaine is accepted as a prescription medication since the beginning of 2010.
In the case of Ayahuasca, most of the hard proof that it has therapeutic potential is still anecdotal, although the number of people that consider Ayahuasca to have had an important role in their healthy growth process or dealing with personal issues grows fast.
What we are most interested in is how these plants can be integrated as therapeutic tools in a modern framework. This doesn't mean that the traditional rituals have no place in that, it just means that the world view that surrounds the traditional use is based on the indigenous cultures it comes from, which is generally very different from our Western world view. That's why a traditional healer will have his interpretations of certain content of someones experience, that would be different from e.g. a transpersonal psychologist o name something. The reality is that experiences of amplified states of consciousness, like the ones experienced with e.g. iboga or ayahuasca need a frame for us 'Westerners' in order to integrate them later properly in our family structure, our daily life in society, etc. There are a few centers that have developed a multidisciplinary therapeutic program (incorporating psychologists, medical doctors, indigenous healers, family therapists, etc.) where they consider ayahuasca or iboga as a therapeutic tool or a catalyst inside a therapeutic program. That is the type of use the ICEERS Foundation is mainly interested in seeing advancing. And of course, we have lot to learn from the ancestral ethnobotanical knowledge of indigenous societies, for which protection of their cultures and botanical resources as well as collaboration is needed...
Regarding your question about integrating high experiences (do you mean peak experiences?) and identifying realities, every culture, spiritual movement (such as the syncretic ayahuasca churches), psychology school, etc. will have its own way of explaining the phenomena one experiences in these amplified states of consciousness, some will say their truth is the only truth, others will say one always has all the answers already inside, others will say it is emergence of subconscious material into the conscious mind... the important thing here is to take into account that such profound experiences need a proper preparation and integration in order to be constructive. Also, the 'best' interpretation of the complex phenomena of such experiences is one that allows you to work through and integrate the experience so you can best benefit from it in your intention to solve personal issues or advance in your personal growth process.
We have written some things about preparation and integration here:
http://www.iceers.org/in...ed-taking-ayahuasca.php and here:
http://www.iceers.org/in...ested-taking-iboga.php. We are also finishing our Helpcenter:
https://helpcenter.iceers.org/ where people who need assistance with legal issues, integration of difficult experiences, or have general doubts related to health, preparation, etc. can contact us. For now there is an email address you can contact, but in the near future the page will come online.
We haven't gotten into the use of datura, even though ayahuasca brews often contain trace amounts of Brugmansia (Datura tree). As I said, we prefer to focus on less ethnobotanicals, but try to add what we can to the acceptance of them as therapeutic tools in our society...
Best Wishes!