Plant Medicine and Psychedelic Therapies: Corey Gauthier’s Inspiring Journey

Today, Corey Gauthier joins me for the first part of our conversation about how he began his journey into plant medicines and psychedelic therapies after realizing that his “live fast, die young” lifestyle had some deep-seated trauma attached to it.

This journey would lead him to a world he had never known existed and eventually to his new career as a plant medicine entrepreneur. 

Come back on Thursday, June 23, to hear the episode’s conclusion, where Corey tells a story about a trip to Africa that gave me goosebumps. You won’t want to miss it. 

Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode:

1. Corey wanted to devote his life to the powerful healing properties of plant medicines.
2. Learn how this journey led him down a path that expanded his world in ways he never imagined possible.
3. Discover how, once the stigma surrounding “modern recreational drugs” is removed, they have a powerful place in our modern-day on a micro-dosing or therapeutic purpose.

Episode Highlights

Who is Corey Gauthier?

• Corey began his exploration of plant medicines and psychedelic therapies about eight years ago.
• His journey began because of traumas he had experienced, and the addictions he was dealing with led him down negative paths and to making some bad decisions.
• Corey had a severe cocaine addiction when he was 25 years old.
• He became mentally, physically, and spiritually beaten up because of his lifestyle.

Hitting rock bottom

• After a night of partying, Corey was involved in a serious car accident in 2004.
• He spent two months in the hospital.
• Corey’s pelvis was broken right off his backbone.

Life after the accident

• Corey continued down these very dark paths after the accident. 
• He eventually cleaned himself up on his own for about four years when life was starting to get better.
• Corey began dabbling in drugs again, thinking he could handle it, but it quickly spiraled out of control.
• This caused a lot of tension in his marriage, and his mental state and Corey’s marriage ended.

His new partner and plant medicine

• Corey met his now-new partner through a friend very close to that time.
• She spent three years in Costa Rica training with a shaman to become an authorized provider of a plant medicine called “Iboga.”
• A lot of his new partner’s teachings and conversations were about God.
• Corey was initially standoffish because he was a complete atheist.

How the medication works

• You have your ceremonial night, which is based entirely on African tradition. 
• The medicine is an entheogen (a plant-based hallucinogen that is probably one of the most potent detoxes you can put in your body in a short period of time).

How the experience went

• Corey had 24 hours of visionary experiences, purging, and detoxing. 
• When morning came, he felt the exact opposite of how he felt when coming down from other drugs. 
• Corey felt connected to something he had never felt connected to before. 
• That was eight years ago, and he hasn’t touched cocaine since.

His inspiration

• Corey couldn’t understand why the rest of the world was unaware of Iboga.
• That night, he told his partner they needed to establish a center.
• Six months later, they opened the Sacred Soul Therapy House in Squamish Valley. 
• It was in operation for three years. 

During the years of operation

• They helped and healed hundreds of people in their three years.
• Healings ranged from severe 20-year opiate addictions to some of the most horrific child sexual trauma cases you could imagine.
• Treatments were always dependent on how deep you wanted to go.

There are two ceremonies

• According to African tradition, you cannot enter the spirit realm in our “filthy human states.” 
• First, you perform your detox ceremony.
• The second ceremony is known as your psycho-spiritual.
• Once you’ve done your detox, then you enter that psycho-spiritual realm.

Corey’s spiritual hang-up

• Because this experience was all based on believing in God and connecting to the source, the spiritual aspect was a little difficult for Corey initially.

His deep-rooted trauma

• Jamie Quinn, Corey’s cousin (who was like a brother), was killed in a car accident in 1992.
• Corey had no idea how much the actual trauma from this had affected him.
• Despite knowing that he shouldn’t go into these journeys with no expectations, Corey stated that he wanted to see and talk to Jamie. 
• He went through several journeys without seeing him until he received a revelation during one of his journeys that changed everything.

Other plant medicines

• Ayahuasca is native to Peru and South America.
• Iboga is the grandfather of all plant medicines, while Ayahuasca is the grandmother.
• Iboga connects you to yourself, whereas Ayahuasca connects you to the universe, God, and/or the source.

The ceremonies

• There are two distinct ceremonial traditions for Iboga and Ayahuasca ceremonies.
• Iboga is from Africa, and it was discovered by a deep-rooted African tribe called the Bwiti thousands of years ago.
• Corey recommends discovering both at some point because you’ll notice a big difference in both and what they’re doing. 
• However, when you combine them, it’s as if it’s the perfect union of what you need in your life.

Powerful Quotes from this Episode

8:52 – “I’ll be perfectly honest, I was very set in my mind that I was living in a very live fast die young lifestyle, and, you know, it just didn’t work.”

15:06 – “I didn’t have to change my lifestyle; I didn’t have to change my friends. I didn’t have to change anything. It was just that it gave me the power within myself to say, ‘it doesn’t serve me anymore. Get rid of it; you don’t need it. And I moved on.”

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Thanks for listening,

Tiff