Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)
What Is Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)?
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy - KAP, for short - uses ketamine as a catalyst for doing deeper psychotherapeutic work. Ketamine has an anti-anxiety, anti-depressive, and anti-suicidal effect on your neurochemistry. It achieves this, in part, by creating a large amount of neuroplasticity. Think of this as flexibility within your brain. Many psychopathologies (anxiety, depression, etc), as well as impediments to Peak Performance, involve a high level of neurological rigidity. Have you ever been stuck in an anxious thought loop, and feel like you can’t get out of it? That’s an example of neuro-rigidity. Ketamine can help you access different perspectives, thus stopping the thought-loop, and provide an opportunity to create new neural pathways.
The (brief) History of Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy has recently come into vogue. Ketamine by itself has been in use for decades, has an extremely high safety profile, and is one of the most common drugs in use as an anesthetic.
In the early 2000’s research began on ketamine for the treatment of psychopathology, especially depression, after anecdotal reports of psychological improvement post-surgery began surfacing. Since then, in concert with the psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy renaissance, Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy has become a highly effective and sought after treatment as a legal and evidence-based way to interact with non-normal states of consciousness for the purpose of healing and growth.
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy’s Effectiveness is Well-Documented
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy has a significant body of research measuring sustainable outcomes, specifically for depression, anxiety, and PTSD (1). The combination of a powerful neurochemical regulator with a skilled psychotherapist yields lasting results.
How Does The Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy Process Work?
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy is not for everyone, and it is not a silver bullet. The process is unique from traditional psychotherapy, and begins with an Intake Session.
Intake Session for Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy
The Intake Session clarifies why you are seeking Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy, determines treatment goals, and assesses eligibility. Not everyone is the right candidate for Ketamine treatment. Safety and efficacy are our highest priorities, and we use the Intake Session to make sure you would be optimally served by beginning KAP, or if not, what other treatment modalities might be more beneficial at this time.
Referral To Our Medical Provider and Ketamine Prescriber
After your Intake Session, you will be referred to one of the medical providers we have partnered with. They complete a medical evaluation to clear you for Ketamine Therapy, and then write your prescription.
Preparation for Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy
Once you have received your Ketamine prescription, you can begin preparing for the actual sessions. This is usually 1-3 talk therapy sessions (45-55 minutes), in which you build rapport with your therapist and clarify goals and expectations.
Dosing Sessions
At this point, both you and your therapist feel ready to begin the actual Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy sessions. Each KAP session is 3 hours long, and looks like:
Hour 1: Final Preparation
Hour 2: Active Ketamine session (which usually lasts between 45 - 75 minutes)
Hour 3: Immediate Integration
Typical amounts of Dosing Sessions are between 2-6, depending on diagnosis, severity, and goals. Ongoing maintenance sessions are also advisable in certain situations.
Integration
One of the most important stages of Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy is Integration. This is where you work on processing the experience, insights, and understandings from the active dosing sessions. The goal is to take the lessons learned and translate them into your everyday life. This happens both at the end of each dosing session, and as standalone integration sessions.
Why Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy?
While talk therapy is our ‘bread & butter,’ there are instances when, by itself, it’s insufficient. There are certain times when the nature or severity of what you are experiencing is such that normal or traditional means don’t allow processing, healing, and growth. We’ve found that Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy becomes useful at these junctures, as a safe, stable, and sustainable way to help bring defenses down and work with coping mechanisms that are blocking healing.
Our team has received training from the Integrative Psychiatry Institute, MAPS, and Skylight Psychedelics, amongst other workshops, lectures, and various learning opportunities.
Thought Leaders
We are thought leaders in the field, combining various nervous system regulation techniques such as biofeedback, neurofeedback, and vagus nerve regulation in conjunction with Ketamine. This allows for a fully comprehensive preparation and integration process which is more specifically aligned to your nervous system functioning.
Peak Performance and Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy
KAP can also be useful for Peak Performance, not just psychopathology. We’ve worked with many executives, founders, and others pursuing excellence on recalibrating their system in order to optimally achieve their goals, both in the near future and for long term sustainability.
Take The First Step Towards Reclaiming Your Life
If you think that Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy may be a useful tool in your healing process, please reach out today to schedule a free 15 minute Consultation Call. A trained and knowledgeable clinician will help you understand if Ketamine treatment is right for you.