Exclusive | What happened when 46 battle-scarred US veterans went on a week-long ayahuasca retreat: Cant put a price on that

Sitting at the base of a tree in Costa Rica, Dave L.cradled the trunk and wept.After decades in the Army, Dave had learned to bury his emotions and push through pain — a habit reinforced by the rigid ideas about masculinity he grew up with.

Now, at the end of his fourth ayahuasca ceremony, the 44-year-old firefighter and former Ranger felt ready to let go of the emotional weight he had carried for years.“I had trauma trapped in various places of my body, and I could just feel it releasing,” Dave told The Post.

“Like, for days, I feel like I was just releasing stuff that was holding me back in life.”Dave had traveled to Costa Rica with 45 other American veterans and first responders to explore a controversial approach to healing the psychological and emotional wounds they carried home from war and emergency response.There at Rythmia Life Advancement Center, the men spent a week immersed in ayahuasca ceremonies, counseling and meditation, confronting painful memories alongside others who understood the ghosts of their former lives.The retreat, co-organized with Coming Home, a nonprofit dedicated to ending veteran suicide through access to psychedelic-assisted healing, coincided with the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

The need for new approaches remains critical, as a 2026 Department of Veterans Affairs report recorded 6,488 veteran suicide deaths in 2024, at an average of 17.7 per day.Once a hidden Amazonian secret, ayahuasca has sparked a major scientific movement for its potential to treat PTSD, depression and addiction.Yet the plant brew remains highly controversial, carrying steep physical and psychological risks that range from severe nausea to rare but dangerous psychiatric and medication complications.For some seekers, the grueling journey pays off as clinical data increasingly links guided ayahuasca use to lasting relief, with participants reporting a profound spiritual lift and life-altering emotional growth.

Because its active psychedelic ingredien...