What Is Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy?
Ketamine assisted psychotherapy (KAP) can help people become aware of and release old patterns of thinking and acting, learn to become more self-compassionate, and cultivate healthier relationships with other people. While it’s critical to incorporate other modes of therapy with ketamine assisted psychotherapy to fully experience the benefits, KAP can be an incredibly supportive addition to someone’s healing journey for people struggling with past trauma or treatment-resistant depression.
Individuals who have faced childhood abuse from their caregivers or mistreatment from emotionally immature parents often have difficulty healing from the harm that occurs within these early-life relationships. Childhood abuse and neglect can leave profound detrimental impacts that linger well into adulthood, contributing to treatment-resistant depression.
Trauma and treatment-resistant depression can make it difficult to foster genuine self-love and build fulfilling relationships. Many therapeutic modalities are intended to help people deepen their self-awareness, but KAP slows down part of the brain called the Default Mode Network, which makes it easier for people to identify and stop engaging in behaviors and thought patterns that have become so habitual that they’ve stopped noticing when they arise or the impact these patterns are having on their lives.
KAP enables people to create new neural connections, resulting in lasting insights. Overall, KAP aids individuals in putting skills they’ve gained through therapy into practice, serving as a powerful catalyst for change.
How Does Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy Work?
The standard KAP protocol for treating depression or trauma involves 6 to 8 sessions over as many weeks. The effectiveness of KAP is cumulative, and with each subsequent session, clients often experience further symptom relief.
We’ll begin with an initial assessment to review your goals, your history, and any other modalities you’ve tried to ensure we’re a good therapeutic match. Once we’ve determined that you’re a good candidate for KAP, I’ll refer you to a medication provider who will conduct a separate screening and provide the appropriate prescription.
Clients must pre-arrange transportation to and from all sessions and should be prepared to fast before sessions. There are also numerous medications and substances that need to be avoided prior to a KAP session. Your medication prescriber will go over these contraindications with you in more detail.
You’ll self-administer the medication sublingually (orally/under the tongue). We’ll focus on identifying intentions or themes for your session, rather than setting specific goals. Instead of deciding, “I’m going to heal my relationship with my dad through a KAP journey,” you might set an intention to stay present in your relationship with your father during the session.
We’ll work together to “co-create” the session, ensuring you feel settled and regulated for your journey. For example, we can establish a personal ritual to begin the session, or you may want to bring objects of significance from home.
KAP sessions are intended to support inward reflection. For your first session, I’ll encourage you to experiment with eye shades and headphones to listen to music, which can help deepen your KAP experience.
Whether you’d like to quietly observe any physical or emotional sensations, or share your feelings throughout the session, you will be supported in a way that feels comfortable and meaningful to you. I’ll serve as an intentional witness, staying attuned to your needs and stepping in to offer support when appropriate, transcribing anything of significance, or even engaging with Internal Family Systems (IFS) parts work while you experience the medication.
The first session typically lasts 3 hours so that we’ll have ample time to explore how you’re feeling and discuss anything that’s come up after the effects of the medication wear off. We’ll also schedule a second therapy session within 48 hours to focus on integrating what you’ve learned. Subsequent KAP sessions will generally be shorter.
KAP is a journey, and the real value of these sessions comes from the integration process, which involves taking what you’ve learned and applying it to your life. This is a pivotal aspect of making lasting lifestyle changes through KAP. Integration can include committing to behavioral changes, challenging your thought patterns, and shifting how you show up in relationships with others.
After a session, I encourage clients to avoid scheduling any important commitments for the rest of the day if possible. KAP leaves us feeling more open afterwards, and it’s valuable to spend time after the session beginning the integration process. This could involve journaling, being in nature, creating art, or simply returning home to stay connected to yourself.
Who Can Benefit From Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy?
I provide ketamine assisted therapy to clients who are seeking support for treatment-resistant depression or trauma. Additionally, I work with clients who choose to engage in KAP for personal, spiritual exploration, which typically involves participating in two to three sessions over a period of weeks or months.
KAP helps people get “unstuck” from deeply ingrained, protective patterns that often emerge from traumatic experiences and abusive or neglectful upbringings. Prior to engaging in KAP, I support clients with additional therapeutic techniques like Internal Family Systems (IFS), Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and mindfulness to help them gain skills they can use to apply insights from KAP sessions to their daily lives.
My Background In Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy
After referring several clients struggling with trauma and treatment-resistant depression to external KAP providers and witnessing the positive changes in their lives, I decided to pursue training in KAP so I could offer this treatment in my own practice. I have completed training in KAP through the Psychedelic Research and Training Institute (PRATI). I attend weekly professional consult sessions with other KAP providers, and I’m active in continuing my education as a therapist.
I bring more than 15 years of experience with other counseling approaches to this modality, integrating wide-ranging techniques to help clients experience the optimal benefits of KAP. Drawing on other modalities is crucial when supporting clients through KAP. While KAP can play a critical role in freeing people from patterns associated with traumatic experiences and abusive upbringings, this approach ultimately allows people to fully engage with the mental health skills they’ve learned through therapy.
Through KAP, individuals can gain a sense of self-trust and feel grounded in their self-worth. I aim to help my clients in building confidence in their ability to navigate challenges in life, whether it’s a rough day in the present, or pain showing up from the past. You have the inborn capacity to care for yourself and create vulnerable, authentic connections with others.
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy Can Help You Embrace A New Chapter In Life
If you’re curious about the benefits of ketamine assisted psychotherapy, and you’re interested in scheduling a consultation, reach out to my practice to book a risk free, 50-minute consultation to explore whether this approach is right for you.
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