Our Story
A call from Spirit
Casa da Nova Vida, House of New Life, is a recovery house in the Texas Hill Country founded by Drew Walsh, offering an alternative, holistic path of healing for those working with sacred plant medicine.
The single most essential attribute of my sobriety became my spiritual awareness and my devotion to a life of healing.
How it began
Casa da Nova Vida began with Drew's own long journey through addiction and recovery. Across years of using and healing, one truth kept surfacing: real healing requires awakening to Spirit. So he went all in, facing the wounds that had driven him, and discovering that everything he needed was already within, waiting to be remembered.
Out of that conviction, Nova Vida was created as a recovery house for people walking an alternative path of healing through sacred plant medicine. Medicines like Ibogaine and Ayahuasca can catalyze deep breakthroughs, but the healing does not end when the ceremony does. The days and weeks that follow are among the most decisive of the entire journey, and too often, people are sent home to face them alone. We built a home instead: a place to land, stabilize, and weave those insights into a lasting new life.
What we believe
The convictions that shape this home
Spirit at the center
Spirituality is the cornerstone of recovering from addiction and building a life of true, balanced well-being. Healing is holistic: the spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical selves cannot be separated, and must be tended together.
Humility & harm reduction
Humility is the doorway to transformation: the willingness to be small, teachable, and honest. We hold a harm-reduction approach that honors each person's path as unique and non-linear, meeting people without judgment while gently inviting honesty and self-awareness.
Place, presence & time
Real change is not rushed. It is cultivated, like a garden, in a setting of safety, beauty, and belonging, through the quiet power of place, presence, and time.
The care you'll find here
We keep it small
Our home is in the Texas Hill Country, just outside Austin. We only take a few guests at a time, so you're known here, not processed through a system. The days are simple: one-on-one coaching, meditation, bodywork, good meals, time outside, and plenty of rest. What matters most to us is what happens after the ceremony. We help you take the healing home and actually live it.
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A New Life
Come see if this feels like home
The best way to know whether Casa da Nova Vida is right for you is simply to talk. Reach out. There is no pressure, only a conversation.