Connection is the Medicine
Lia Mix: Hello everyone, and thank you for joining us. I’m Lia Mix, CEO of Delphi. Following 12 years as a behavioral health clinician, my career became focused on bringing new behavioral health treatments into the U.S. healthcare system and creating access to them at scale through insurance coverage, working from within the commercial health insurance industry. For the last nine years, I’ve continued this work in the field of psychedelic medicine. Today, we will discuss ibogaine therapy. This modality shows great promise in treating addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and other serious conditions. We will explore the implications this innovation holds for our healthcare system.
This is a policy talk, but it is also deeply personal. About ten weeks ago, I underwent this treatment myself. I want to share with you why I chose to do that and what I learned, both personally and professionally. This includes what I believe ibogaine means for the future of mental health and, therefore, the next steps we at Delphi will be taking relative to this medicine. I’ve come to believe that leadership in mental health asks something more of us.
Much of the cure we seek is connection. Connection is the medicine. If we’re building a culture of mental health based on connection, leaders must model openness, and that means vulnerability. We are all on a mental health journey, including me and you. Thank you for witnessing my journey and the lessons it has taught me.
A Personal Loss
In 2018, my sister passed away from heroin addiction, a condition that is treatable with ibogaine therapy, but not currently available in the United States. She was 44: brilliant, creative, incredibly funny, and deeply loved. She tried heroin at 17 to escape the trauma we were experiencing at home. By the time of her passing, we believed, she believed, she had overcome addiction. She was in love, engaged, rebuilding her life. And then she was gone.
This work is not abstract to me. Like many of you, I’m present to the suffering of people living with mental illness and addiction, and to the suffering of those who love them. We are all survivors of the ravages of mental illness, trauma, and addiction; we only vary by degrees of separation.
Why I Engaged With Ibogaine
Over the past year, Delphi has been approached by organizations working on ibogaine who wanted help with healthcare and policy implementation. I knew relatively little about this medicine compared to other psychedelic-based therapies. Then, in May, I attended the first Aspen Ibogaine Meeting (AIM), hosted by the Americans for Ibogaine Initiative. For the first time in a long time, seriousness and possibility sat side by side. That small gathering of ~50 people spanned America’s full political spectrum. By the end, everyone agreed on one thing: healing with ibogaine needed to be brought forward and made accessible to all who need it. People like my sister.
That consensus was a shot of pure hope. To make responsible decisions about Delphi’s direction, I chose to understand this treatment firsthand, not as a seeker of a miracle, but as a healthcare CEO evaluating an emerging therapy. With my partner, Steve Sapourn, we documented the process carefully: QEEG brain scans before and after my treatment, and pre‑/post‑interviews about my experience, trauma history, and measurable brain changes. This will be released on the Neuros Journey podcast on November 19.
[QEEG quantifies frequency band power and connectivity; pre/post shifts (e.g., in alpha/theta balance or coherence) can triangulate subjective change, though they’re not diagnostic on their own.]
To be clear, ibogaine therapy is serious work. It’s not pleasant. But unlike chemotherapy, which you would never give to a healthy person, ibogaine, when administered with proper medical supervision, is not only safe; it can confer benefits to individuals in good health. This “betterment of the well” was visible in my pre‑/post brain scans.
[“Betterment of the well” is a term in psychedelic therapy discourse for functional improvements in healthy individuals (e.g., mood, cognition, meaning-making) rather than treatment of a DSM diagnosis; useful framing for wellness and prevention.]
I went in with three questions:
- How does the care delivery model work, especially around safety?
- How does ibogaine treat addiction and interrupt trauma-driven patterns?
- Should Delphi direct meaningful resources toward this emerging therapeutic area?
What the Care Model Looks Like
The administration of ibogaine is necessarily medicalized. At the Beond Clinic in Mexico, I was in a hospital room and bed, with IV fluids, continuous EKG monitoring, and a doctor and nurse in attendance. There is no ambiguity: this is a medical treatment.
[Programs that pass payer and hospital scrutiny usually add ASA risk stratification, cardiology consult on borderline QTc, and explicit emergency pathways—crucial for credentialing and liability coverage.]
That medical intervention sits within a behavioral health container, much like a substance use disorder residential program. Patients typically stay up to two weeks over the course of ibogaine therapy. It’s a yin–yang: a powerful allopathic intervention held inside a highly relational, gentle behavioral-health approach. The best of both worlds.
Cardiac monitoring matters, and in the program, I experienced it being conducted with rigor. Multiple EKGs throughout the program were reassuring, and they increased my confidence that cardiac safety is manageable with proper standards.
[Ibogaine can prolong QTc via hERG channel effects; standards typically include baseline/serial EKGs, electrolyte optimization (K/Mg), medication review for QT-prolongers (e.g., some SSRIs, methadone), and telemetry with ACLS-capable staff.]
What Surprised Me
Providers can deliver ibogaine therapy safely without having taken the medicine themselves. Many of my medical and behavioral providers at Beond had not experienced ibogaine, and all were excellent. I could not tell who had and who hadn’t.
[This diverges from parts of the MDMA/psilocybin world, where experiential training has been debated or encouraged; payers tend to prefer competency-based credentials over experiential mandates because it scales and lowers training costs.]
Unlike other psychedelic medicines, there is no euphoria and no “high.” The experience is sober, often uncomfortable, psychologically and physiologically. The potential for abuse or recreational use is therefore very low.
[This sharply reduces reinforcement risk relative to drugs with hedonic effects (e.g., ketamine’s misuse profile or classic psychedelics used recreationally), which is a favorable signal for schedule, diversion controls, and clinical adoption.]
There is no oxytocin “flood” with ibogaine. That matters. It reduces the risk of interpersonal boundary violations seen in some therapies, including some psychedelic contexts. There’s no guru‑izing or aggrandizing of providers; they are treatment providers, as in any normal healthcare setting.
[By contrast, MDMA reliably elevates oxytocin, which can amplify bonding and positive transference—great for trust, but it also raises boundary-management red flags and (for payers/regulators) perceived diversion/abuse risk signals.]
With proper standards of care and training, the treatment appears viable for integration into existing healthcare systems. Put plainly, the current healthcare infrastructure could potentially be retrofitted to provide ibogaine therapy at scale. This is Delphi’s working hypothesis, and we intend to test it rigorously.
How It Works (as I experienced it)
Research and my experience suggest a dual mechanism: psychological insight alongside physiologic healing and growth within brain structures. I experienced both.
Under the medicine, I became aware of a lifelong pattern of over‑functioning (an addiction to being needed) rooted in the belief that safety and belonging come from meeting others’ needs before my own. That strategy kept me safe in childhood, but in adulthood, it cost me my health, relationships, and joy. Seeing it clearly as a trauma vestige allowed me to release it. The behavior change was immediate and, with mindfulness, has been durable. I now perceive and choose different options, prioritizing my own well‑being.
I also saw indications of changes in brain function. I’ve lived with a mild reading-related eye misalignment; following ibogaine therapy, my ophthalmologist confirmed it had fully resolved, making reading easier and more enjoyable.
Like many others, I found that adopting new perspectives and healthier behaviors was noticeably easier after treatment. These changes align with literature on neuroplasticity and “reopening of the critical period,” as described by researcher Gül Dolan.
[Dölen’s “critical period reopening” work (e.g., MDMA in rodents) suggests time-limited windows when social learning and behavior change are unusually plastic; ibogaine may engage analogous windows, which has big implications for timing integration.]
Neuroplasticity, Recovery Window, and Support
I also experienced possibly unwanted symptoms, possibly attributable to neurogenesis, such as slower cognitive processing and reduced tolerance for sustained concentration for several weeks. Time off work was essential. I’m grateful to the Delphi team, my family, and my doctors for their strong support during that period.
This points to the need for significant structured support following ibogaine therapy, to maximize the neuroplastic window and minimize adverse outcomes.
What it Means for Delphi
Under the medicine, a common phenomenon arose: “life review.” For me, it appeared as a slideshow of scenes showing the generational toll of addiction and trauma in my family. A good depiction of this experience appears in the documentary In Waves and War, released on Netflix two days ago. It’s educational and engaging.
[Life-review narratives are reported in iboga/ibogaine and sometimes in near-death experiences; clinically, they can catalyze rapid reappraisal and values-aligned behavior change; prime content for targeted integration.]
My family is not unique. Millions experience versions of this suffering. Illnesses that ibogaine therapy may treat, and for which current treatments are inadequate. The unmet need is massive. Ibogaine therapy, when properly managed, shows strong safety architecture, a care model that fits clinical settings, and signals of unique therapeutic potential. It warrants serious evaluation for system‑level adoption.
Ultimately, whether Delphi focuses on ibogaine is a strategic public‑health decision, informed by seasoned healthcare leaders outside psychedelic fields. One such executive, Mike Emerson, put it bluntly: if this has a shot, then payers and system leaders must be engaged early—with the specific, clear, actuarial, network, and liability information they require, in their language. He’s right. The psychedelic field doesn’t naturally speak payer, actuarial, provider‑network, or liability language. That’s why bridges exist. We can’t ask the system to adopt what we haven’t prepared them to understand.
Launching the Ibogaine Healthcare Policy Institute (IHPI)
Today, I’m announcing the Ibogaine Healthcare Policy Institute (IHPI) within Delphi. IHPI will serve decision‑makers in healthcare, especially care‑delivery and payer stakeholders. As a non‑advocacy organization, we will prioritize clear, precise, actionable information tailored to these stakeholders.
[Neutral framing matters: payers and regulators discount advocacy-forward materials but engage with actuarial models, clinical safety SOPs, credentialing frameworks, and budget-impact analyses in their own language.]
Using structured, evidence‑based methods, we will map and mitigate risk and build consensus around viable implementation pathways. Our role is to help the emerging field of ibogaine therapy and the incumbent healthcare system speak a shared language and achieve common goals. We are not pushing adoption. We are preparing the ground so that, if the evidence continues to support it, payers and providers can evaluate and, if appropriate, implement ibogaine therapy responsibly and efficiently.
Delphi and IHPI are already engaged in early work and exploring projects in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. When the time is right, we will use our European policy platform to support stakeholder discussions there as well. This is a multi‑year effort; pre‑work around insurance coverage, credentialing, liability frameworks, economic analysis, and more takes time. We’re beginning now and invite you to explore the IHPI website.
Our advisors include Dr. Andrea Barthwell (former White House advisor on substance use disorder who initiated FDA research into ibogaine), Dr. Leith States (former acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health), Dr. Kenneth Tupper (former senior staff, British Columbia Ministry of Health), and Eric Bailey (former Director of Substance Use Disorder Programs, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield—now Elevance, the third‑largest commercial payer in the U.S.). Each brings rigor, ethics, and deep domain expertise. And they’re a joy to work with.
In the coming months, IHPI will release comprehensive industry reports and economic/policy frameworks for payers and health systems, and we will begin essential stakeholder engagement to lay the foundations for coordinated, evidence‑driven progress. We are equipped and ready.
A Simple Ask
If this message resonated, felt hopeful or informative, please do two things:
- When you watch this talk, forward it to at least one healthcare or policy leader (including elected officials) who should be aware of ibogaine therapy.
- Consider sharing your own mental‑health journey in whatever way feels authentic. You may never know whose life is improved (or saved) by your story.
Thank you for being part of a conversation that I believe will shape the future of healthcare. We’re just at the beginning, and I look forward to continuing this dialogue together.
Floris Wolswijk: Thank you, Lia, for sharing this very personal story and for showing the intersection between your personal life and our professional next steps at Delphi. Let’s open the floor for questions.
Q&A with Lia Mix and Floris Wolswijk
Q1: What Therapist Qualifications Will Be Required for Ibogaine Therapy?
Floris: Our first question comes from Lynn Marie Morski. What therapist qualifications do you think will be required to sit with patients during ibogaine?
Lia: Great question, and exactly the kind IHPI will resolve through field consensus. I can’t answer it today. You’re pointing to the information the healthcare industry needs, and that we must co‑create and share. Without that clarity, ibogaine therapy cannot be responsibly implemented.
Floris: One thing that surprised you was that providers don’t need to have personal experience with the medicine. In other psychedelic therapies, there’s debate about requiring MDMA or psilocybin experience for therapists. In this case, you’re saying that may not be necessary?
Lia: Correct, subject to deeper analysis. At Beond, some providers had experienced ibogaine, many had not, and I genuinely couldn’t tell. I’m a discerning consumer of healthcare, and every provider I encountered (medical or behavioral) was excellent. That suggests a large portion of the workforce could be trained to hold this care skillfully without personal exposure to the medicine. As you note, this is debated in other psychedelic modalities. In ibogaine therapy, there’s good reason to explore training models that don’t require personal experience.
Floris: Training therapists is a real bottleneck. Not making personal experience a hard requirement could materially ease implementation.
Lia: Agreed. And a quick clarification: I am sharing my experience, not setting IHPI or Delphi policy. Please don’t treat my personal experience as a policy position. We’re opening the door and beginning the journey; the canvas ahead is still blank.
Q2: Is There an Ideal Period When Integration Should Occur?
Floris: A question from Katherine Lawson. Is there an ideal period, during the neuroplasticity window, when guided integration should occur?
Lia: My understanding: roughly two weeks while metabolites remain in the system; then about a month of extraordinary neurogenesis, extending to three months or beyond. According to Gül Dolan’s work, ibogaine appears to have the longest window and perhaps the greatest magnitude among known neuroplastogens. That three‑month arc aligns with behavioral‑health data on habit formation at the three‑week and three‑month marks, an ideal period to adopt new beliefs and behaviors and set a healthier trajectory. These are precisely the questions we intend to document clearly on the IHPI site.
Q3: Could the Texas Model Be a Blueprint for Other States or Federal Adoption?
Floris: From David Drapkin: Can you talk about the Texas initiative, its current or anticipated design and operationalization, and whether the Texas model could serve as a blueprint for other states or for federal adoption?
Lia: The Texas legislation is functioning. The state released an RFP to allocate funds to a consortium (or consortia) addressing a wide set of research objectives, from basic study of ibogaine to payer engagement. Submissions are in; the deadline has passed. The state will select the winning consortium, which will then identify a drug developer partner for medical research. A $50M private match must come forward to pair with state funds; common wisdom is that drug developers may provide this, but we’ll see.
[The template many states are eyeing combines state-funded RFPs for clinical/health-services research with required private-match dollars, creating translational consortia that include payers, health systems, and a drug developer.]
This week in Aspen, representatives from 22 other states will be present, considering similar legislation. Notably, some of the greatest progress is in conservative states, including Mississippi. The intention is to create a “pile‑on” effect that builds critical mass to move research rapidly. Short answer: yes, Texas is a template. We expect other states to follow with an RFP process and public–private funding to advance the research.
Q4: Who Are Our Greatest Allies in Implementing Ibogaine Therapy in Healthcare?
Floris: From Kevin Lenzo: Who are our greatest allies in implementing ibogaine in healthcare, nonprofits, political groups, Indigenous stakeholders, etc.?
Lia: The coalition is surprisingly diverse. At AIM and beyond, we’ve seen strong interest from Indigenous communities (Native American and First Nations) and from veterans. The Psychedelic Caucus in the House shows bipartisan engagement. IHPI’s task is to identify allies within incumbent systems (especially payers and care‑delivery leaders), understand their needs and motivations, and bring them to the table.
[Implementers should anticipate Indigenous data sovereignty, cultural IP, and benefit-sharing expectations; early, reciprocal partnership design prevents later friction and aligns with ethical deployment.]
Too often, we frame payers and systems as adversaries. In my experience, when given the right information in the right form, these are human beings who want to make good decisions for human well‑being—and they will if they can. Patient advocacy groups (e.g., NAMI) will likely advocate; IHPI’s role isn’t patient advocacy. Our role is to ensure system stakeholders have what they need so patients’ needs are represented effectively. We welcome suggestions on who to engage.
Q5: What Help is Delphi Looking for in Launching IHPI?
Floris: Final question: What help is Delphi looking for in launching IHPI?
Lia: First, when you receive the session recording, personally forward it to at least one healthcare or policy decision‑maker, tell them this belongs on their radar. Second, share your own mental‑health journey in whatever way feels right; someone did that for me and changed my life. Finally, stay tuned. If you want to engage directly (ideas for stakeholders, questions, concerns), reach out. We’re at the beginning. The door is open.
Floris: That brings us to the end of this Delphi Insight Session. Lia, any final words?
Lia: Thank you, Floris. Deep thanks to the Delphi team and to our founding IHPI advisors for creating the opportunity to support this medicine’s safe, effective path forward. To everyone practicing healing modalities, thank you. And to everyone here today: your presence supports us. We send our good energy back to you for the good work you’re doing. Together, we’re building a better world, piece by piece, conversation by conversation. We look forward to seeing you at a future Insight Session. Please bring a friend.
Floris: Thank you, Lia. Thank you, everyone, for being here. We hope to see you again on December 3.
