This paper presents a reflection on the therapeutic potential of the ritual use of ayahuasca in the treatment of psychoactive substance abuse in therapeutic centers that combine elements of medicine and psychology with the use of ayahuasca (in Brazil and Peru), and in Ayahuasqueiras religions and neo-Ayahuasqueiros groups in Brazil. Prospects for a future interdisciplinary scientific research agenda on this topic are also discussed, reflecting on the possibilities of dialogue between biomedicine, anthropology and psychology, as well as the ethical and methodological dilemmas involved in this type of research.