Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy

Ketamine is a medicine that works by quickly changing how certain brain chemicals communicate, helping to reset patterns that can get stuck in depression, anxiety, or trauma. It also boosts activity in parts of the brain that handle mood, memory and emotions regulation. It can help quiet the parts of the brain that are often overactive in people who feel stuck in negative thoughts, trauma triggers, or other survival responses. This creates a short window where the brain is more flexible and open to change. 

If you’d like to know more about Ketamine and it’s impacts on the brain, this short video that offers more information.

Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) is a unique and evolving approach that combines the use of ketamine with intentional therapeutic support. It is especially helpful for individuals navigating depression, anxiety and/or trauma. It can be particularly beneficial for people who have tried many other therapy and medication options but still find themselves feeling stuck.

In KAP, the medicine acts as a catalyst and facilitator for our therapy work. It can create shifts in perspective, soften inner resistance and critical thoughts, and open up access to parts of yourself that may feel hard for you to reach in everyday life. When combined with emotional and psychological readiness, clear intention and a trustworthy therapeutic relationship, KAP can allow for profound, long-lasting changes in your life. These can include integration of traumatic experiences and reduction in triggers; increased sense of emotional and physiological regulation, deeper connections to yourself and others; and increased clarity regarding your identity, values, and goals.

That being said, the experience isn’t just about the medicine– a point that often gets lost in settings that offer Ketamine without therapeutic support. Rather, it’s about you: how you can relate to what it brings up; how you can hold space for pain, joy, or confusion; how you can be curious about who you are and want to be; and how you can integrate these insights and changes into your daily life. My KAP work is grounded in the belief that each person carries an innate capacity to heal, ketamine simply serves as a tool that allows you to see yourself and your experiences from a different perspective.

And yet, we can’t do it alone– believe me, I’ve tried! My experience in this work has taught me that the combination of Ketamine and a trusted therapeutic relationship offers the greatest potential for deep healing and transformation. In my KAP work, you’re not just handed a medicine and left to figure it out alone. My role is to support you at every step of the process so that you feel prepared and confident to explore whatever arises in your session. This added layer of support can make a big difference in the depth and sustainability of healing.

The KAP Process: Preparation, Dosing, Integration

The process begins with preparation sessions where we will work to build safety and trust as we get to know each other. We will explore any concerns and fears you may have, clarify your intentions for this work, and practice skills that will help you feel safe and confident during your ketamine session.  

During the ketamine dosing sessions themselves, you’ll first be supported in creating a space in which you feel safe and ready to receive the ketamine. For many people, this involves putting on headphones and wearing an eye mask to support the process of turning inward, but everyone is different and we will work together to find what feels right for you. Regardless, I will support you in connecting to your intention, letting go of expectation, and being curious about whatever arises. Once you receive the ketamine I will be with you the entire time holding space for you, ready to support you through whatever experiences this process brings forward.

Lastly comes the integration process, which may start towards the end of your ketamine session and continue in the days and weeks following. Once the effects of the medicine wear off, we start the process of reflecting, exploring and unpacking your experience. You might find new clarity around old patterns, greater compassion for yourself, or a renewed sense of possibility. Whether your session brought relief, insight, confusion, emotional release or any of the other infinite human experiences this work allows for, the goal of integration is to gently explore how you might weave these experiences and insights into your everyday life. 

Sometimes these shifts are clear, bold and profound. Other times they are subtle, unfolding slowly after the KAP dosing session. Regardless of your experience, integration support can help you hone in on what is most important about your dosing session and explore how this could be woven into your daily life. It is important to keep in mind that, depending on the experience,  the integration process can take days, weeks, months, perhaps even a lifetime. There is no pressure to have clear understanding or insights about your experience. Like all aspects of this process, all you have to do is be curious about your experience, regardless of what is happening.

Current research suggests that a series of six ketamine sessions, typically over a six week period, offers the greatest mental health benefits. That being said, each person is different and the frequency of the sessions can vary. We can work together with your ketamine prescriber to find what works for you.

I am trained in KAP through Elemental Psychedelics, and participate in on-going training and consultation related to this work. Outside of my practice, I work for Dell Medical School’s Center for Psychedelic Research & Therapy, facilitating safe psychedelic experiences in studies exploring the use of psilocybin and other psychedelic compounds as potential mental health treatments.

I have dedicated my professional career to supporting survivors of trauma, with a special interest in supporting adult survivors of childhood abuse and neglect. This work has allowed me to see first-hand how for most people, the issue is not their understanding of themselves and their problems. Rather, it is their struggle to navigate the maze of confusion,  overwhelm, and fear that is so often the lasting burden of unresolved trauma. Through mind-body therapies like Somatic Experiencing, Hakomi Method, and EMDR, I have helped my clients feel safer in their bodies in order to befriend and understand their emotions and bodily experience, clarify triggers and stuck points, and feel more grounded in their authentic selves.

I have seen the power of this work. And yet, some people– particularly those who have experienced significant trauma– can often find themselves at a stagnant point in their growth and healing process. They know there is more work to be done, but they can’t seem to find their way in. Oftentimes they have built up protective responses that keep them from going towards these parts of themselves– and for good reason! These are the experiences that often hold our deepest pains: shame, abandonment, fear, rage, overwhelm– you name it!

For these experiences, sometimes more support is needed– particularly support that allows us to step outside of our “normal” day-to-day perspectives, our personal narratives, and our thoughts about ourselves or others. I have witnessed KAP be that additional support that allows space for people to do these next phases of healing work and begin the process of shedding beliefs, traumas, and emotional burdens that no longer serve them. While it is not a magic wand that you will take and immediately resolve their challenges, it can offer the space for you to see what work needs to be done, and how you might start taking steps towards the life you want.

Having seen the power of KAP first-hand, I am passionate and excited to offer it to our community.