In this featured panel from the 2024 Aspen Psychedelic Symposium, Beond co-founders Talia Eisenberg and Tom Feegel join Dr. Lola “Dr. O” Hoba and moderator Kevin Franciotti to explore the healing potential of ibogaine.
This rich conversation—hosted by Psychedelics Today—dives into personal transformation, medical protocol, and the deep responsibility that comes with working with sacred plant medicine. It’s a call to integrate science, safety, and cultural respect as ibogaine enters a new chapter of awareness.
Episode Description
This powerful panel explores the healing potential and complex responsibilities that come with working with Ibogaine, a potent plant-based psychedelic. Moderator Kevin Franciotti guides a heartfelt and informative conversation with Talia Eisenberg, Tom Feegel, and Dr. Lola “Dr. O” Hoba, highlighting personal transformation, medical protocols, and the importance of honoring traditional knowledge.
Personal Journeys with Ibogaine
Talia Eisenberg shares her recovery from opioid addiction and the founding of Beond Ibogaine, a medical treatment center in Cancun, Mexico. Her story illustrates the plant’s unique power to interrupt addiction and awaken purpose. Tom Feegel, co-founder and CEO of Beond, shares how his own trauma and long-term sobriety inspired a vision for a safe, respectful, and medically supervised environment for deep healing.
Clinical and Cultural Wisdom
Dr. Lola Hoba offers insights as a pharmacist and Yoruba herbalist, bridging traditional plant medicine knowledge with modern pharmacology. She describes how iboga works on multiple brain receptors and why it holds so much promise for treating addiction, depression, and trauma. She also cautions about its cardiac risks and calls for respectful, trained facilitation.
Safety, Access, and Sustainability
Panelists discuss the rigorous safety protocols at Beond, including ICU-level care, psychiatric screening, and pre-treatment evaluations. They also explore broader questions: How can this medicine be offered responsibly? What does reciprocity mean in practice? Beond supports Blessings of the Forest, a nonprofit in Gabon that works to stop poaching and protect Indigenous access to the sacred root.
A Call for Balance and Respect
This conversation highlights the importance of blending science, spirit, and social justice. From trauma healing to sustainable sourcing, each panelist emphasizes the need for compassion, caution, and connection. As laws change and access grows, the panel urges all involved to move forward with care—for the medicine, the people it serves, and the cultures that have stewarded it for generations.
Looking Ahead:
Beond at Psychedelic Science 2025
We’re also excited to share that Beond will be speaking at Psychedelic Science 2025 in Denver — the world’s largest gathering dedicated to the future of psychedelic medicine, hosted by MAPS.
Founder & CEO of Beond, Tom Feegel, will join an incredible panel of leaders from Tandava, Soltara, and Beckley Retreats to explore:
“Disrupting the Status Quo: Regenerative Business Models for Psychedelic Retreats.”
We’ll be discussing what it means to operate ethically, culturally aware, and clinically sound retreat centers—across ibogaine, ayahuasca, psilocybin, and 5-MeO-DMT. From policy and safety to accessibility, reciprocity, and leadership, this panel digs into the realities behind the mission-driven work.
📅 June 16–20, 2025
📍 Denver, Colorado
🎟 Use code SPEAKER15 for 15% off registration at psychedelicscience.org
