A Thematic Analysis of the Subjective Effects and Phenomenology of Ibogaine Administered in a Clinical Setting

A Thematic Analysis of the Subjective Effects and Phenomenology of Ibogaine Administered in a Clinical Setting | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article A Thematic Analysis of the Subjective Effects and Phenomenology of Ibogaine Administered in a Clinical Setting Joseph La Torre, Shirley M. Cheung, Ariana Kam, Nathan B. Sackett This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8022144/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Drawing on an unprecedentedly larger sample (N = 236) than previous studies, we investigated the subjective effects of ibogaine by asking a series of three original, open-ended questions to participants enrolled in an ibogaine-assisted treatment program at a specialized healthcare facility in México. The objective was to characterize the overall phenomenology of the subjective ibogaine experience. We found common and recurring themes among the responses, such as emotional amplification, life review experiences, perceptual and sensory alteration, visionary states, and experiences of ibogaine’s perceived character and agency. The findings offer an in-depth and empirically grounded portrait of ibogaine’s experiential landscape and demonstrate its unique capacity to evoke structured, meaningful, and potentially transformative states of consciousness. This study distinguishes itself through its large sample size, rapid data collection, use of ibogaine in a safe and clinically controlled setting, analysis of reports from patients carefully prepared for their ibogaine experience, and use of open-ended phenomenological questions designed to capture the full range and depth of ibogaine’s subjective effects. Psychology ibogaine subjective effects phenomenology psychedelics qualitative analysis thematic analysis Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare potential competing interests as follows: One author declares a financial competing interest. The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article, or the decision to submit it for publication. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8022144","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":539400945,"identity":"8333087c-bae7-43aa-956f-ec7494f8d59a","order_by":0,"name":"Joseph La Torre","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Washington, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Joseph","middleName":"La","lastName":"Torre","suffix":""},{"id":539401118,"identity":"bd28e629-8615-46d0-98ff-43c59150e194","order_by":1,"name":"Shirley M. 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