How Does Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy Work?

Ketamine is a dissociative medicine that allows you to be a compassionate witness to your own experiences. Ketamine works on the neurotransmitter glutamate and promotes the creation of more synapses. Ketamine is considered a safe medicine when used in a controlled setting, and the doses used for KAP are considerably lower than the doses used in hospital settings.

It is also believed that Ketamine can promote a temporary state of neuroplasticity in the brain which may allow for new learning. Neuroplasticity is the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization.  If you feel stuck in a pattern, a rut, and with behaviors that don’t serve your best interest, ketamine assisted therapy may help with this. 

Together in Wholeness approaches KAP by taking the following steps:

1. First we will discuss if you are a solid candidate for KAP. It is important to note that individuals experiencing mania, schizophrenia, or are taking Benzodiazepines, may not be the best fit for this type of therapy. If your struggles and symptoms are a good match for this type of therapy, we will discuss your intentions and build rapport. This is important as trust with your therapist will enhance your outcomes.

2. If it is decided that this could be a benefit to your healing, the next step is to make an appointment with a medical clinician to discuss ketamine to see if it is right for you, medically speaking. It is always important to speak with your primary care physician before committing to any sort of treatment.

3. Next you would have a prep session with your therapist. The prep session would entail setting intentions, going over guidelines, and discussing general expectations so that you are completely clear as to what to expect from the treatment.

4. Once we are both ready to move forward, we will schedule your first KAP session.

Before choosing to proceed with KAP treatments, it is best to ensure you have a trusting relationship with your therapist.  At least three individual sessions are required before you embark on a KAP journey. The reason for this is that KAP may be able to propel your healing at a faster rate than traditional therapy. Some of your defense mechanisms may be realized sooner rather than later and having a solid trusting relationship with your therapist that knows you means that you will be more likely to trust and feel secure with the process. 

The Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy session will begin with a ceremony to enhance your comfort level and interweave your intentions to set a solid foundation for your journey. During the journey, you may want to talk or you may want to go inward. It is more than likely that you will find yourself fluctuating between speaking and going inward. Throughout the experience, I will support you in relating to your thoughts and the felt-sense of your emotions with curiosity.

If you choose to go inward at times, you will be offered an eye mask to block out light, which will help facilitate a deeper experience. You will also be offered headphones, which will play thoughtfully selected music to support your journey. The session will take two and a half to three hours in length. It is important that you arrange for a safe ride home after your session. Three to six KAP sessions are recommended to obtain maximum benefit.

In between your KAP sessions, you can expect to have what are called integration sessions. Integration sessions focus on making sense of and identifying meaning in the insights and experiences from the KAP session(s). Your integration will focus on understanding insights and ideas that came to you during your Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy session and connecting these to the goals and desires of your day-to-day life.

Integration also helps in recognizing key transformative experiences and invite a mindful/experiential re-exploration that occurred during your session. Integration supports bridging your experiences from the non-ordinary state back into regular consciousness, recognize new perspectives that have emerged, and invite an exploration of the psychological themes that have emerged into your daily life. Integration also helps you to notice and name any unresolved psychological material that may need more processing.

At Together in Wholeness, we believe that talk therapy, somatic techniques and EMDR would be most beneficial for integration and lasting effects of the ketamine. This is especially true because it is believed that ketamine can enhance your neuroplasticity by allowing your brain to develop more positive circuit patterns allowing you to discover new perspectives that can replace thought patterns that used to cause you stress and anguish.