#24 - Amber Capone: The Ibogaine Integration of a Navy SEAL

Amber Capone is the CEO and co-founder at Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS). Four years ago, she walked away from a successful career in real estate to serve in these roles, determined to improve the life of her family and others who were suffering after her husband Marcus underwent a powerful transformation with the help of ibogaine. Marcus Capone – who intended to join us but couldn’t make it – is an entrepreneur & veteran Navy SEAL who was medically retired from active duty in 2013 after 13 years of service in Special Operations, including 6 combat tours at Seal Team 10 and Seal Team 6. Today he’s the chairman and co-founder of VETS. VETS is a non-profit organization founded by Marcus and Amber, intent on ending the veteran suicide epidemic by providing resources, research, and advocacy for U.S. military veterans seeking psychedelic assisted therapy for traumatic brain injury, PTSD, and other health conditions.

What we discuss:

• The challenges associated with Marcus’ retirement and return to civilian life, including struggles with TBI, PTSD, depression, anger and substance use, and the impact that had on Amber’s role as a wife and mother

• The specific challenges that veterans face as they try to navigate treatment options

• The role that stigma plays among veterans and how it can often prevent them from seeking treatment

• How Marcus and Amber learned about ibogaine, and the point of complete desperation they were at when they found it

• How a lack of preparedness for treatment helped Amber and Marcus develop programming at VETS to prevent them from experiencing the same thing

• The shift that Marcus experienced after ibogaine

• Talking about psychedelic treatment with their children

• Amber’s struggle to reconcile ibogaine’s healing ability with her faith in God

• The support options offered by VETS, and VETS involvement in a recent Stanford study looking at ibogaine featuring Dr. Nolan Williams

• Recent advancements in support for improved veteran care

Why it’s important:

Amber and her husband Marcus have been advocating for access to psychedelic assisted therapy, particularly ibogaine treatment, since 2018 and have quickly become the faces of the movement. Their story and their work are prime examples of how, when the situation feels absolutely hopeless, a single profound psychedelic experience can be a complete game-changer – and in turn, how that game-changing experience often leads to an undeniable sense that it must be shared with others who have experienced the same hopelessness.

Relevant Links:

• VETS Website
• VA PTSD Statistics
• The stigma that stops veterans from getting help for PTSD (PBS)
• How psychedelic healing helps traumatized veterans (Spectrum News)
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the US Veteran Population: Results From the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study
• The purple politics of veterans and psychedelics: 5 Questions for Amber Capone, co-founder of VETS
• Amber on Psyched, a podcast by Kaia Roman