Thanks for speaking with us again, Wyly. Can you share more about what Veterans of War does and how it’s structured to serve veterans who are struggling with PTSD?
Veterans of War has a unit mentality. I’m trying to recreate a sense of a shared community and a shared experience like we had in the military. We’re going to build strong bonds to one another through the shared experience of an ayahuasca journey. I’m also bookending each of these ayahuasca workshops with pretty extensive preparation and integration phases, and then in perpetuity pairing veteran participants with a peer or mentor so they can continue to have connection and support. The goal of that is to help these veterans to truly be successful. And hopefully some of these veterans that go through our program can become mentors for the subsequent veterans that follow them on this path.
That’s such a fantastic approach. I wish every facilitator would include ayahuasca integration in their services. I’m curious, have you had any difficulty getting veterans interested in this kind of work? Ayahuasca can be associated with New Age spiritualism and such.
Yeah, I think one of the biggest challenges isn’t the ceremonies themselves, but the ayahuasca integration afterwards. To be honest with you, ayahuasca integration has been the biggest challenge with me.