I'm open to hearing counterpoints, but I'm finding it harder and harder to keep a straight face when people tell me about their enlightening kambo experiences.

There are so many emetics and mild poisons we can take (without bothering/ killing frogs) and how people have targeted this one as somehow more revered than drinking ipecac or sitting around eating moldy bread is beyond me. It's just a fucking poison.

When you vomit, your body releases endorphins and adrenaline. It's not a way to bypass or expel trauma, and as a trained IFS therapist, the whole idea of treating our traumas as "disgusting" and trying to purge them is counterproductive and sure to do more harm than good.

I keep trying not to disrespect this pseudoscientific bullshit (sorry) because it is so revered in my community, but I can't help but compare it to bloodletting. The placebo effect is so powerful that you can take a procedure that actually harms you and has no mental or physical health benefit (quite the opposite) and still believe it is beneficial.

Kambo is not beneficial. It is poison (with a tad of dermorphin opioid). Purging is not beneficial. It does nothing to process or expel your trauma (which can only be integrated, not expelled). It's also animal abuse (which to me is the least problematic aspect).

I realize none of us actually know shit, but it's still important to have discernment, and kambo makes my bullshit alarms go haywire.