What is Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy?
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) could be worth considering for challenges that have been especially difficult to shift with other modalities of therapy. KAP involves concurrent psychotherapy and the psychedelic effects of ketamine to treat conditions like:
Long-standing treatment-resistant depression
Trauma-related challenges
Addictions
Anxiety
Ketamine is a safe and legal medication that can be used to deepen and expand the effects of mental health treatment. Its effects usually last 1-3 hours after administration, and it promotes:
Improvements in mood and outlook
Deeper insights and fuller awareness
New and widened perspectives
More “neuroplasticity” (i.e., more malleability, connections, and growth in the brain) – allowing new habits and new ways of being to form and stick more easily
What does the KAP process look like?
Our initial intake: We’ll explore your goals and whether KAP is a good fit for you.
Medical intake: If KAP seems like a good fit, you’ll meet with a medical doctor who will screen you for eligibility and fill you a small prescription that gets delivered to you.
Preparation psychotherapy sessions (50-minutes): We’ll meet at least three times (weekly) before your ketamine medicine session to:
Explore and clarify your intentions to call forward during the psychedelic experience.
Build the relational trust and safety that allows for this deep work to occur.
Make sure you feel comfortable and prepared enough for the medicine session.
Ketamine medicine session (3 hours): When you’re ready, you will self-administer your medicine and have your psychedelic journey. I will be present to accompany and support you virtually through the entire duration.
Integration psychotherapy sessions (50-minutes): We’ll meet at least two times (weekly) after your medicine session to:
Help you process your psychedelic experiences
Integrate the shifts and insights into your life
Continue assessing how you’re responding to KAP
Depending on the nature of your needs, we may have anywhere between 1-6 rounds of preparation sessions, medicine sessions, and integration sessions. You’ll continue to have check-ins and prescription refills with a medical provider.
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The psychedelic effects of ketamine soften psychological defenses and amplify less conscious material. This allows for deeper processing and fuller awareness. Ketamine also has antidepressant and mood-lifting effects.
Ketamine also promotes malleability, growth, and connections in the brain (e.g., “neuroplasticity”), allowing new habits to form more easily. For many people, ketamine could also promote a spiritual or transpersonal experience that further supports healing and transformation.
Ongoing psychotherapy (in conjunction with ketamine medication) helps with maintaining and prolonging the shifts that occur.
People commonly report from KAP:
Improvements in mood and outlook
Mental clarity
New and widened perspectives
More flexibility and space to implement desired changes
More interconnectedness (e.g., with aspects of self, with other people, with nature, with something greater than themselves)
And much more
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Yes. Risk factors include active psychosis, history of mania, pregnancy, high blood pressure, bladder conditions, and more. The medical provider will perform an in-depth screening and evaluation to assess for risks and contraindications.
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Ketamine’s effects begin within 15-20 minutes after administration, and they peak after about another 40-45 minutes. The effects subside 1-2 hours after that.
While under the influence of ketamine, people tend to have more mindful distance from their thoughts, emotions, memories, and bodily sensations. People also tend to experience expansion with their sense of time.
People commonly report that ketamine’s effects induce:
Pleasant sensations and mood
Enhanced creativity
Expansion and spaciousness
Connection to purpose
Love and gratitude
“Embodied” insights and understanding
Spiritual connection and experiences
It’s also important to note that ketamine’s effects can also induce:
Nausea
Dizziness
Difficulty with verbal communication and motor coordination
Unpleasant psychological material that’s been less conscious
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We’ll start with some ritual and/or grounding practices that we’ve decided (during preparation sessions) feel right for you.
You’ll self-administer the medication, and you’ll likely be sitting or lying down for most of the journey. You get to decide if/when to use eye shades if you want more inward focus. We’ll play soothing music that enhances the experience.
Throughout your medicine session, I’ll be present virtually to help you further unpack or explore your inner experiences, and/or to emotionally support you however you need. You won’t be forced to talk or do anything. I’ll also support you through any unpleasant effects or psychological material that surfaces. We will also have a plan in place for someone you trust to be a chaperone who’s physically available (in another separate room).
We will use our next integration sessions to further process any experiences you had during the medicine session, in service of your healing and transformation.
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Yes! I would ideally collaborate with your other therapist, so that your inner work from KAP could be woven into your other therapeutic work.
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Though preparation and integration sessions will occur weekly, you’ll always be empowered to decide when you’re ready for a medicine session. You, the medical provider, and I will collaborate to determine the length of your KAP treatment. But ultimately, you’ll have the final say whether you wish to slow down or stop the medicine sessions.
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Preparation sessions, medicine sessions, and integration sessions will all be charged at $220 per 50 minutes. If we need to prolong a medicine session (beyond 3 hours), my fee of $220 will be prorated accordingly.
Costs of medical intake and filling ketamine prescriptions are paid to Isha Health, in addition to my fees. See Isha Health’s website for more information on those costs.
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My KAP services are all virtual for now.