Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy
A transformative approach to healing treatment-resistant depression and anxiety
“It is important to have a good map when we travel to new territories, and inner journeys to non-ordinary states are no exception. “ -Stanislav Grof, MD PHD
As a therapist and trained ketamine-assisted psychotherapist, I deeply understand how frustrating and isolating it can feel when traditional treatments haven't brought you the relief you need. If you've tried multiple medications, engaged in therapy for months or years, and still find yourself struggling with depression or anxiety that won't lift, you're not alone—and there are other pathways forward.
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) represents a breakthrough in mental health treatment, offering hope for people who haven't responded to conventional approaches. This isn't just another medication trial or therapy technique—it's a fundamentally different way of working with your brain's capacity to heal, combining the neuroplastic power of ketamine with the depth and safety of guided psychotherapy. Click Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) to read about treatment outcomes.
How Ketamine-Assisted Therapy Works
Ketamine works differently than any antidepressant you've likely tried before. While traditional medications like SSRIs target serotonin levels and can take weeks to show effects, ketamine works on the glutamate system—the brain's primary system for learning, memory, and mood regulation. This creates rapid changes in brain chemistry and structure that can bring relief within hours or days rather than weeks. Click The Truth About Ketamine Therapy - Dr. Chantelle Thomas to watch a comprehensive video on the subject.
Disrupting Entrenched Patterns
Depression and anxiety create deeply ingrained patterns of neural activation—essentially, your brain gets stuck running the same negative loops over and over. Ketamine disrupts these entrenched patterns, temporarily breaking the cycle of negative thoughts and beliefs. This disruption creates a window of opportunity where your brain becomes more flexible and receptive to new ways of thinking and feeling.
Building New Neural Connections
Ketamine enhances neuroplasticity through a process called synaptogenesis—the growth of new connections between brain cells. Synaptogenesis is the basis of brain growth and connectivity. When these connections change in their function or structure, it enables new learning, memory formation, and the ability to adapt our thinking. This is why ketamine doesn't just provide temporary symptom relief—it actually helps your brain build new pathways that support healthier thought patterns and emotional responses.
Opening Critical Learning Periods
New research shows that ketamine can open critical learning periods in the brain—windows of enhanced neuroplasticity similar to those we experience in childhood when the brain is most adaptable. During these periods, combined with therapy, you have unprecedented capacity for profound insights, deeper understanding of yourself, and the development of new emotional and behavioral patterns. When integrated with skilled psychotherapy, these changes often persist well beyond the immediate effects of ketamine treatment.
Ketamine can help break through longstanding emotional barriers that have kept you stuck, facilitating a more profound therapeutic experience than traditional talk therapy alone. The combination of enhanced neuroplasticity and therapeutic support promotes a sense of mental flexibility and openness that creates space for genuine healing and transformation.
Who Can Benefit from Ketamine-Assisted Therapy?
Treatment-Resistant Depression
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy has shown considerable promise in treating treatment-resistant depression—depression that hasn't responded adequately to multiple medication trials and therapy approaches. Research protocols around frequency and dosing are well established, and the evidence base is robust. KAP offers a viable alternative for individuals who have not responded well to medications like SSRIs alongside traditional forms of therapy.
Treatment-Resistant Anxiety Disorders
Similar positive results are beginning to emerge for treatment-resistant anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, and panic disorder. While there are currently no formal recommendations from major psychiatric societies specifically endorsing ketamine for treatment-resistant anxiety, the clinical outcomes are promising and research continues to expand in this area.
Is This Treatment Right for You?
You might be a good candidate for KAP if you've tried multiple antidepressants without adequate relief, engaged in therapy without the progress you hoped for, are struggling with persistent depression or anxiety that significantly impacts your daily functioning, and are looking for a treatment approach that addresses both the neurological and psychological aspects of your condition.
Ketamine is an FDA-approved medication that can be prescribed off-label for mental health purposes. When prescribed by a physician or nurse practitioner licensed to practice in Washington State, ketamine use for off-label mental health treatment is legal. A prescriber will assess your suitability for ketamine treatment, determine the appropriate route of administration, and establish the right dosage based on your medical history, current medications, and other relevant factors.
The Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Process
KAP is not a single intervention—it's a comprehensive therapeutic process that includes preparation, the medicine session itself, and crucial integration work. Each phase plays an essential role in maximizing the therapeutic benefits and ensuring your safety and wellbeing throughout treatment.
Preparation Sessions: Building the Foundation
Preparation sessions take place before ketamine administration and are essential for building the framework for effective ketamine therapy. During this time, we work collaboratively to establish a safe container for your experience that is guided by intention and care. Preparation reduces the risk of harm and maximizes potential benefits.
In these sessions, we'll explore your intentions for treatment, discuss what to expect during the ketamine experience, address any fears or concerns you have, establish practices that support you feeling safe and grounded, and create a therapeutic alliance that will support you through the entire process. This preparatory work is not just logistical—it's deeply therapeutic and sets the stage for transformative experiences.
Medicine Sessions: The Ketamine Experience
Sometimes referred to as the medicine session, ketamine treatment sessions take place in-person and involve supervised ketamine administration. These sessions typically last 2.5 to 3 hours, allowing time for preparation, the ketamine experience itself, and initial processing.
Ketamine induces a range of altered states of consciousness, from mild psychoactive effects to profound ego-dissolving experiences. The nature of your experience will depend on dosage, set and setting, and your unique neurobiology. When these altered states are experienced in a supportive and well-structured therapeutic environment, they can facilitate personal growth, inner healing, and symptomatic relief.
Unlike a typical infusion center or medical office, I provide a warm and inviting living space for people to journey inward. The environment is designed to support deep introspection with comfortable seating, soft lighting, and carefully curated music. As a trained ketamine-assisted psychotherapist, I sit with you during the ketamine treatment to help you understand and contextualize your experience, offer real-time guidance, and support the integration of insights as they emerge.
Research shows that setting, sensory immersion (such as eye shades and evocative music), and the presence of a trained therapist significantly enhance both the emotional depth and therapeutic impact of the ketamine experience, leading to better treatment outcomes.
Integration Sessions: Making Meaning and Sustaining Change
Integration sessions occur throughout treatment and are arguably the most important component of KAP. I typically provide in-person and virtual integration sessions 24 to 48 hours following ketamine administration, when insights are still fresh and accessible. These sessions serve multiple crucial functions:
Processing Experiences: Integration provides dedicated space for us to delve into and make sense of what you experienced during the ketamine session. Ketamine can bring about profound and sometimes intense emotions and insights, and these integration sessions allow us to process these experiences in a supportive and guided manner.
Bridging Insights to Daily Life: The insights gained during ketamine sessions can be transformative, but without integration they often fade. Integration sessions serve as a bridge to help you apply these insights to your daily life, connecting the lessons learned in the altered state of consciousness with your real-world experiences and fostering lasting positive change.
Emotional Support: Ketamine therapy can bring up a range of emotions—joy, sadness, confusion, grief, hope, or a mix of everything. Integration sessions offer a safe space to express and explore these feelings. Regular check-ins ensure you feel supported throughout your therapeutic journey.
Fine-Tuning Treatment: Each person responds uniquely to ketamine therapy. Integration sessions provide an opportunity to assess and adjust the treatment plan based on your evolving needs. Dosage, frequency, and therapeutic modalities can be modified during treatment, ensuring the approach remains tailored to your specific goals and challenges.
Enhancing Self-Awareness: Regular integration contributes to a continuous process of self-discovery and increased self-awareness. By reflecting on insights gained from ketamine sessions, we can identify patterns, beliefs, or behaviors that need further exploration, allowing for a more comprehensive and personalized therapeutic journey.
Sustaining Positive Changes: Integration is not just about understanding experiences—it's about implementing strategies to sustain positive changes in your life. We collaboratively develop coping mechanisms, mindfulness techniques, and other tools to help you navigate challenges and build on the progress made during ketamine sessions.
Integration sessions can incorporate various therapeutic modalities including transpersonal psychotherapy, somatic work, mindfulness practices, and other approaches that enhance processing and overall wellbeing. The integration process ensures that insights gained during sessions are not only understood intellectually but also integrated into your everyday life, promoting lasting positive change and personal growth.
What the Research Shows
The evidence base for Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy continues to grow. Research demonstrates efficacy with a protocol of 6 ketamine treatments over a 3-week period, with many people experiencing significant symptom reduction and improved functioning. Studies show that at-home, sublingual ketamine is a safe and effective treatment for moderate to severe anxiety and depression when properly supervised and integrated with psychotherapy.
What makes KAP particularly promising is not just the rapid symptom relief, but the durability of effects when ketamine is combined with skilled psychotherapy and integration work. The neuroplastic changes ketamine initiates, when supported by therapeutic processing, can lead to sustained improvements in mood, anxiety, and overall wellbeing that persist well beyond the treatment period.
Investment in Your Healing
Ketamine-Assisted Therapy Medicine Sessions: $555 per 3-hour session
Preparation and Integration Sessions: $185 per 50-minute session
Research-Based Protocol: Studies show efficacy with 6 ketamine treatments over a 3-week period, though individual needs may vary.
Insurance: Currently, most insurance plans do not cover ketamine therapy. Please check with your health insurance provider for specific coverage information.
Ready to Explore a New Path Forward?
If you've been struggling with treatment-resistant depression or anxiety and are looking for a different approach, Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy might offer the breakthrough you've been searching for. I'm here to answer your questions, assess whether KAP is right for you, and support you through every phase of this healing journey. You don't have to stay stuck.