“I know what patients are carrying when they arrive. I know the fear, the hope, and what it feels like when the medicine does its work. That knowledge doesn't come from a textbook — it comes from having been there. And it changes everything about how I show up for them.”
— Sofia Bacelis, Psychologist & Head Wellness Coordinator, MindScape Retreat
How Sofia Works
From First Session to Lasting Change
Sofia is involved at every stage of the patient journey — before, during, and after the ibogaine experience.
Psychological Preparation
Before treatment begins, Sofia conducts in-depth psychological assessments and personalized preparation sessions — helping patients arrive mentally and emotionally ready to engage with the ibogaine experience.
In-Session Support
Sofia is present and attentive throughout the ibogaine experience, providing skilled psychological support as patients navigate the visionary and introspective phases of the journey.
Integration Therapy
The ibogaine session opens a window. Integration is the work of turning that opening into lasting change. Sofia designs individualized integration roadmaps and guides patients through the critical weeks that follow treatment.
Wellness Coordination
As Head Wellness Coordinator, Sofia oversees the full therapeutic environment — yoga, nutrition, meditation, and the daily rhythms that create the conditions for deep healing.
Her Story
The Clinician Who Chose the Medicine
Sofia Bacelis came to ibogaine medicine the way many practitioners do — through the long work of psychology and the growing awareness that conventional approaches leave a meaningful gap in the treatment of trauma, addiction, and depression. What was unusual was what she did next.
Rather than simply researching ibogaine from a clinical distance, Sofia chose to experience the medicine herself. That decision — made thoughtfully, under medical supervision at MindScape Retreat — gave her something that years of academic training alone cannot: direct, embodied knowledge of what her patients are navigating.
The experience was significant. She saw how ibogaine opens dimensions of psychological material that are simply inaccessible through talk therapy alone, how the neurological reset it produces creates a window of genuine plasticity, and how the quality of preparation and integration determines whether that window becomes a doorway to lasting change — or closes before it can be used.
She joined the MindScape team because the clinical environment they had built — led by Dr. Juan José Arellano — matched what she now knew ibogaine required to be administered responsibly. The medical rigor, the cardiac screening, the individualized protocols, the continuous oversight. This was where she wanted to bring her psychology background.
Today, as Psychologist and Head Wellness Coordinator, Sofia is the psychological anchor of the MindScape experience. She prepares patients for what they will encounter, supports them through it, and guides the integration work that follows. For her patients, she is both clinician and fellow traveler — someone who has made the journey and can speak to it with honesty.
Begin Your Journey
Work with Sofia at MindScape Retreat
Every consultation is confidential. Sofia and the MindScape clinical team will assess your situation honestly — including whether ibogaine is or is not the right path for you.