Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy
“Depression stems in part from the brain's inability to form new connections. Neuroplasticity induced by ketamine allows the brain to change state. The next logical step is to combine ketamine with non-pharmacological treatments such as psychotherapy to solidify positive changes.”
– Gerard Sanacora, professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine
Ketamine assisted psychotherapy (KAP) is an innovative psychiatric/psychological treatment approach that combines ketamine administration in a safe and supportive set and setting with inner-directed and supportive psychotherapy sessions and ongoing integration.
Ketamine is approved by the FDA for use in children and adults for anesthesia and for pain relief during medical procedures. Ketamine has also been found in clinical trials to provide relief of symptoms of major depression, treatment resistant depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), acute and chronic pain. The use of ketamine for the treatment of pain, depression, and other mental illnesses is “off-label,” and is the only psychedelic that is currently legal in the United States.
Combining ketamine with psychotherapy can yield a greater benefit than biological ketamine treatments alone. The expanded consciousness states that occur in ketamine sessions provide for more material to work with in therapy, especially in the context of a long-term therapeutic relationship.
Explaining Ketamine Assisted Therapy
In lay terms, the therapeutic use of ketamine has psychedelic effects that help break down the boundaries of the ego and the usual defenses, opening a doorway to healing and growth. Entrenched beliefs and old ways of thinking and viewing the world can be dissolved during the process of ego dissolution. This experience is where the person connects to an energy beyond the self.
Ketamine, like all psychedelics, is a powerful tool that teaches us how to face our suffering with more grace and wisdom, and live more fully in joy.
When I work with an individual, the client uses ketamine lozenges prescribed by a medical professional. I offer both the opportunity for a larger psychedelic dose, where the client is lying down with an eye mask listening to curated music, or a smaller dose that creates a psycholytic effect. This “effect” serves as a lubricant to psychotherapy. Both enhance the ability of the client to look at aspects of their lives they have not been able to face, often due to trauma.
More expansive possibilities and perspectives can come into focus, and the usual limiting self-imposed constraints of the ego are released. Often there arises a renewed sense of empathy and forgiveness of one’s self and others.
As with all psychedelic experiences, suppressed memories or shadows can arise, to be processed with the added resources of the medicine and the guidance. During the KAP process, it’s a good time to clarify intentions, build resolve and gather spiritual and psychological resources to create the kind of fulfilling life you truly desire.
It can also be used to help a person wean off of SSRI’s and other psychiatric medication, without the severe withdrawal symptoms often associated with such a transition.
You can read more about this potent medicine in this article: Resetting the Brain And Mind With Ketamine
Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy with Ketamine
Because trauma is stored in the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), even after years of talk therapy, a person’s physical system is reacting over and over due to stuck neural pathways from past events. Often what we call “mental illness” is really this looping trauma response that creates chaos in a person’s life.
Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy (PSIP) is a non-ordinary state psychotherapy, developed at the Psychedelic Somatic Institute (see psychedelicsomatic.org for more information).
With psychedelic somatic therapy, ketamine is paired with a relational shamanic journey with the client, as they unwind the effects of trauma from their ANS. This deep work shifts the body, the mind, and the spirit to once again feel the joy of aliveness, in relationship. Again, sometimes for the very first time.
What results from this type of treatment is an increased capacity to work with one's feelings, a renegotiated relationship to one's body and its intelligence, an increased sense of capacity and insight, and most importantly, an ability to trust oneself and one's experience.
If you are interested in learning more about working therapeutically with ketamine, click the contact Kathleen button below.
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy client stories
