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Atmosphere and feature ratings above are based on Best Retreats research (November 2026). They will be updated if Spirit Vine submits its own information.

Spirit Vine Ayahuasca Retreat Center: An In-Depth Review for Ayahuasca Retreats in Itacaré, Brazil

Spirit Vine, formerly TheVine Center, is an ayahuasca retreat center run by Argentine psychologist Silvia Polivoy, who began ayahuasca work in Peru in 1996 and has hosted retreats in Bahia since about 2002, on a rural property in the Atlantic Rainforest at Vila Camboinha, about 15 minutes from the surf town of Itacaré, Brazil, according to Erowid and its HealingMaps listing. Nine and eleven-day retreats with four or five ceremonies and psychology-based workshops cost $2,250 to $3,150, an SSRI and MAOI washout policy is published, and it rates 4.8 from 154 Trustpilot reviews with many repeat guests. Against that, no medical staff or emergency plan is named, no refund policy is published and a 2024 review alleges exclusion from a ceremony without a refund, the “non-profit” status has no registration behind it, Polivoy’s doctorate and license claims are unverified, and paid, therapy-framed ceremonies for tourists conflict with Brazil’s 2010 ayahuasca rules.

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: Rodovia Ilhéus-Itacaré Km 52, Vila Camboinha, Itacaré, Bahia, Brazil, about an hour from Ilhéus airport.
• Approach: Nine-day retreats with four ayahuasca ceremonies and eleven-day retreats with five, with workshops on inner child, soul retrieval, past-life regression and shadow work led by Polivoy, plus yoga, meditation, art and group sharing.
• Suitable For: Adults wanting a psychology-framed group retreat, only after confirming medical cover, the emergency plan and refund terms in writing. Not suitable for people who cannot safely stop antidepressants, or with heart or psychiatric conditions.
• Costs: $2,250 in a dorm to $2,850 in a double bungalow for nine days and $2,550 to $3,150 for eleven days, per its Psychable listing; private bungalows on request. No deposit or refund terms are published.
• Overall Assessment: Over 20 years of operation, a published medication policy and strong, repeat-guest reviews, offset by no named medical staff or emergency plan, no refund terms, an unregistered non-profit claim, unverified credentials and a model at odds with Brazilian rules. Directory evaluation: B-.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

The positive picture. Reviewers praise a safe, well-structured container, Polivoy’s psychology background and personal screening, practical tools from the workshops, help with trauma, the yoga, the vegan food and chef, and the swimming pond; many are on their third to fifth visit.

The negative feedback. A one-star Psychable review from January 2024 says the reviewer’s PTSD diagnosis was dismissed, they were barred from a ceremony after a disagreement and they received no refund of about $3,150 (unverified). A few 2026 reviewers wanted more protein in the vegan diet. The content of the roughly three one-star Trustpilot reviews is not visible.

Who is writing the reviews. Trustpilot reviews arrive in clusters a few weeks after each group, almost all are five stars and the company replies to none. Our earlier profile cited praise on Retreat Guru and find-healing.com and Reddit users noting the high cost and lack of on-site medical staff; no Retreat Guru listing was found, and these remain unverified. If you have attended, we encourage you to share your experience through our submission form.

🚩 Incident Report

We searched review platforms and English, Portuguese and Spanish-language news for reports involving Spirit Vine, TheVine Center, Silvia Polivoy and Zoe Seven.

• Deaths and serious injuries: None found.
• Sexual misconduct: No allegations found.
• Theft and fraud: None found. The 2024 Psychable review alleges a lost payment of about $3,150 (unverified).
• Legal action: None found.

An assistant named in reviews is known by first name only. Our earlier profile found no incidents.

If you have experienced or witnessed an incident with this center, please report it confidentially.

🔍 Critical Notes

Screening and medical support. Its published policy lists antidepressants and MAOIs as incompatible, asks guests to stop them under a physician’s supervision five to seven weeks before arrival and says some mental-health conditions, including active addiction, may exclude guests, per HealingMaps. Reviews say Polivoy screens applicants personally. No medical staff or emergency protocol is named, and the lead facilitator is a psychologist, not a physician. In a 2006 interview she said ayahuasca “is not a cure” and that serious addiction needs a setting with doctors.

Who runs it. Polivoy lists a 1983 master’s in clinical psychology from Belgrano University in Buenos Aires and training with Shipibo healer Guillermo Arévalo, per Erowid; directories and press also call her a PhD and a licensed psychotherapist, and no license record was found. No company, association or tax registration was found behind its “non-profit, interfaith” description.

Legal context. Brazil’s CONAD Resolution 1 of 2010 limits ayahuasca to religious ritual and bars selling it, tourist packages advertising its effects and therapeutic use until proven, per its published text and ICEERS. Paid retreats for foreign guests that market trauma healing sit uneasily with those rules, though no enforcement against the center or in Bahia was found.

Corrections to our earlier profile. Prices are $2,250 to $3,150, not $2,350 to $2,750. Polivoy’s ayahuasca work dates from 1996, her Bahia retreats from about 2002 and the center’s founding from 2004, not 1996. Co-founder Zoe Seven died in 2013, per Erowid, and is not a current facilitator. The property is about 15 minutes from Itacaré rather than beside the beach. No Retreat Guru or find-healing.com reviews were found, and the Reddit comments cited earlier remain unverified, as do the “home of ayahuasca” label and the brew recipe beyond the operator’s word. The non-profit, interfaith and drug-free self-description, the Atlantic Rainforest setting, nine and eleven-day programs, the workshops, yoga, the vegan diet, the natural pond, Trustpilot praise and no incidents found are confirmed.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

An SSRI and MAOI washout of five to seven weeks under medical supervision is required. ICEERS notes that ayahuasca’s MAOI component makes it dangerous with SSRIs and other serotonergic drugs and that it is contraindicated for people prone to psychosis. No policy on heart conditions is published. Never stop a psychiatric medication to qualify for a ceremony without your prescriber’s guidance.

🧪 Brew Substance

Ayahuasca that the operator says it brews from caapi vine and chacruna grown on site, without additives, with one or two daytime ceremonies per retreat; Salvia divinorum was offered in earlier years, and current use is not established. Ayahuasca combines the Banisteriopsis caapi vine with a DMT-containing leaf such as chacruna, as Erowid explains.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Setting: Atlantic Rainforest on the Cacao Coast of southern Bahia, with landscaped gardens and a natural pond.
• Rooms: Bungalows with private bathrooms and hot water, two air-conditioned suites on request, and a five-person dorm.
• Style: A transpersonal-psychology program built around ayahuasca, led by a Western facilitator rather than an indigenous healer.

Practical guidance: Fly to Ilhéus, about an hour away; airport pickup is not described.

Should You Book?

Only after confirming medical cover, the emergency plan, refund terms and how your medications will be handled, in writing. Read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

Polivoy ran seminars in Pucallpa in 1998 and Manaus in 2000 before settling in Bahia, and co-founded the center with author Zoe Seven, who died in 2013. Guests stayed as recently as May 2026, and retreats run monthly, per its directory listings. We did not independently verify anyone’s training.

Prep & Integration Tips

Before you go: Disclose every medication and condition in writing and plan any change with your own doctor, well ahead of the washout period. After you return: The operator recommends a few quiet days near Itacaré and offers paid online sessions with Polivoy; arrange support from a qualified therapist at home. Our guide on how to research ayahuasca incidents can help you check any center.

Pros & Cons

Book Your Ceremony

Programs are listed on its Psychable listing and its own website. Best Retreats does not take bookings; learn more about our mission.

Last reviewed November 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Consult a qualified medical professional.