In 2020, a woman named Serene (she asked that we not use her last name to protect her privacy) reached out to two brothers named Rory and Ryan Van Tuinen after reading an article about their Waterbury, Vermont-based nonprofit Cultivating Connections. The Van Tuinens discussed using psychedelics as part of treatment to overcome addiction and improve mental health. Serene had struggled for years with an addiction to heroin and was ready to try anything.
As the article explained, Rory had taken the drug ayahuasca in 2019 as "a last-ditch attempt to overcome" a decadelong heroin addiction that had derailed his life. Though "neither Ryan nor Rory believe that hallucinogens are a cure-all," they say that without the ayahuasca, Rory would either still be "using" or he would be "dead." The key to recovery, they believe, was to accompany using the drug in concert with the "cultivation of meaningful human relationships."
