Ketamine -Assisted Psychotherapy for Mental Health
Experience a new approach to healing. Our program combines ketamine with therapy for people whose symptoms have not responded to standard treatment.
Beyond Traditional Treatment
Traditional mental health treatments can take weeks or months to show results. Our Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) program offers a different path. By combining ketamine’s unique properties with our specialized therapeutic approach, we aim to help some people improve when other treatments haven’t worked.
The Science of Rapid transformation
Research suggests ketamine may:
- Increase neuroplasticity for new thought patterns
- Reduce depression symptoms, sometimes within hours
- Lower anxiety and traumatic stress
- Enable deeper therapeutic insights
- Support lasting change when combined with ongoing therapy
Conditions We Treat
- When traditional antidepressants haven’t provided relief, KAP can offer rapid improvement in mood and outlook. At our clinic, we work with patients looking for relief from persistent depression.
- Early research suggests KAP may help some people with anxiety, alongside therapy that addresses underlying causes. We guide you through processing and releasing deep-seated fears and worries.
- Ketamine’s unique properties, combined with our therapeutic expertise, help create a safe space for processing trauma without being overwhelmed by it.
How Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) Works
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) is a unique mental health treatment that combines ketamine, an anesthetic medication that can have rapid effects on mood, with supportive therapy. If you’re exploring KAP, it’s important to work with experienced mental health professionals who can guide you through the process and ensure it’s the right fit for you. Here’s how it works:
Before starting KAP, you’ll have an evaluation to review your mental health history, current symptoms, and overall goals. This helps determine if KAP is a good fit for you.
Ketamine is administered in a monitored clinical setting, either through an intramuscular (IM) injection or a sublingual lozenge. Racemic ketamine (Ketalar) is FDA-approved only as an anesthetic, so its use for depression, anxiety, or PTSD is off-label, and its long-term psychiatric safety has not been established. The only FDA-approved form for depression is esketamine (Spravato) nasal spray, for adults with treatment-resistant depression and for depressive symptoms in adults with major depression with acute suicidal thoughts or behavior; it is self-administered in a certified healthcare setting with at least 2 hours of monitoring. Your clinician will explain which options are appropriate and where treatment takes place. The dosage is carefully tailored to your needs by a trained medical professional.
While under the effects of ketamine, you’ll work with a therapist in a guided session. Ketamine creates an altered state of consciousness, which can help you:
- Access Subconscious Thoughts and Emotions: Ketamine can lower mental defenses, making it easier to explore deeper emotions and beliefs.
- Gain Fresh Perspectives: The shift in consciousness helps you view challenges in a new light, often uncovering solutions or insights you hadn’t seen before.
- Process Emotions More Deeply: Ketamine can reduce fear and avoidance, helping you confront difficult feelings in a safe and supported way.
After your session, you’ll meet with your therapist to reflect on your experience. This step focuses on processing insights, exploring emotions, and creating actionable steps to apply what you’ve learned in daily life.
Ketamine works differently than traditional treatments for mental health. It affects the brain’s glutamate system, which plays a role in mood, memory, and learning. Here’s what makes it special:
- Promotes Neuroplasticity: Ketamine helps the brain form new connections, improving flexibility and adaptability in how you think and feel.
- Rapid Relief: Unlike traditional antidepressants that can take weeks, ketamine can reduce symptoms of depression within hours for some people.
- Facilitates Emotional Work: By lowering defenses, ketamine may help some people process emotions and memories more openly in therapy.
KAP is meant to be one part of a broader treatment plan that supports deeper self-awareness and healing.
At your first visit, we’ll:
- Review your complete health history
- Discuss your goals and concerns
- Assess if KAP is right for you
- Create your personalized treatment plan
- Address any questions about the process
Each KAP session in our clinic includes:
- Pre-session preparation with your therapist
- Careful ketamine administration in a comfortable, private setting
- Expert therapeutic guidance throughout your experience
- Immediate post-session integration support
- Experienced medical team
Following each session, Dr. Lewis and our team help you:
- Process insights from your experience
- Develop practical applications for daily life
- Build on therapeutic breakthroughs
- Create lasting positive changes
- Strengthen your healing journey
Important Considerations: KAP is not a standalone treatment: It is most effective when combined with ongoing psychotherapy.
Potential side effects: Ketamine can cause dissociation, sedation, nausea, dizziness, and a rise in blood pressure, which is why you are monitored during and after each session. It has potential for misuse (it is a Schedule III controlled substance), and heavy long-term use has been linked to bladder problems.
Not suitable for everyone: KAP may not be appropriate for individuals with certain medical conditions, uncontrolled high blood pressure, a substance use disorder, or a history of psychosis.
Safety and Professional Care
At our clinic, your safety is our highest priority. Our approach includes:
- Thorough pre-treatment screening
- Immediate medical support if needed
- Careful dosing protocols
- Regular progress assessment
- Treatment led by Dr. Lewis and her team
- Experienced therapeutic team
- Specialized KAP training
Is KAP Right for You?
KAP at our clinic may be particularly beneficial if you:
- Haven’t found relief with traditional treatments
- Seek faster results than conventional therapy
- Want to address root causes of your symptoms
- Are ready for deep therapeutic work
Real Results from Our Clinic
Patients who respond may experience:
- Rapid reduction in depression symptoms
- Decreased anxiety levels
- Improved emotional processing
- Enhanced mental clarity
- Greater sense of well-being
- Greater resilience
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy for Depression
Ketamine offers a different approach to treating depression, working differently from traditional antidepressants.
Traditional antidepressants focus on serotonin, norepinephrine, or dopamine, often taking weeks to show results. Ketamine, however, acts on glutamate, the brain’s main excitatory neurotransmitter. By blocking the NMDA receptor, ketamine triggers a surge in glutamate, setting off a cascade of positive changes in the brain.
- Synaptic Growth: Ketamine stimulates the growth of new connections (synapses) in areas of the brain that regulate mood, like the prefrontal cortex. This increased neuroplasticity supports new, healthier thought patterns and behaviors.
- BDNF Release: It also increases brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein essential for brain cell growth, survival, and repair. Low BDNF levels are often linked to depression, and boosting this protein can promote long-term brain health.
- Fast Results: Unlike traditional antidepressants that take weeks, ketamine can provide relief within hours for some people. This is one reason it is studied for severe depression and suicidal thoughts. If you are having thoughts of suicide or are in danger, call or text 988 or call 911 now.
- Lasting Benefits: While the initial effects may fade after a few days, repeated treatments combined with psychotherapy can lead to longer-lasting improvements in mood and overall well-being.
Why Combine Ketamine and Psychotherapy?
Ketamine isn’t a standalone solution. Its real power comes when combined with ongoing therapy, which helps you process insights and integrate lasting changes. With careful monitoring by experienced mental health professionals, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy can be a carefully monitored option for some people with treatment-resistant depression.
Ketamine offers another option for some people who haven’t found relief with traditional treatments.
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy for Anxiety
While ketamine is well-known for its rapid effects on depression, early research is also exploring it for anxiety disorders, where its use is off-label. Here’s how researchers think it may ease anxiety:
- Reducing Fear and Worry: Anxiety can make parts of the brain, like the amygdala (responsible for fear processing), overactive. Ketamine may calm this overactivity, easing symptoms of excessive worry and fear.
- Restoring Balance: Anxiety disrupts the balance between excitatory and inhibitory signals in the brain. Ketamine helps restore this balance, promoting a sense of calm and stability.
- Fear Extinction: Ketamine supports the brain’s ability to unlearn fears, making it easier to see that certain situations or triggers aren’t threatening. This is especially helpful for conditions like phobias or PTSD.
- Building New Pathways: By promoting neuroplasticity, ketamine helps form healthier neural connections, enabling more adaptive responses to anxiety-provoking situations.
- Reducing Avoidance: Anxiety often leads to avoiding situations that feel overwhelming, which can reinforce the cycle of fear. Ketamine reduces fear responses, making it easier to face and overcome challenges.
- Boosting Engagement: As symptoms lessen, people are better able to participate in therapy and activities that foster long-term recovery and resilience.
Evidence for ketamine in anxiety disorders is still early, but it is being studied for conditions including PTSD and social anxiety. Paired with psychotherapy, it may help some people make progress with anxiety, opening the door to greater calm and confidence.
What Can You Expect from KAP?
Ketamine therapy, especially when combined with psychotherapy, offers many positive outcomes for individuals dealing with depression, anxiety, and other mental health challenges:
Key Benefits
- Rapid Symptom Relief: Many feel improvements in mood, reduced anxiety, and relief from depressive symptoms within hours or days—much faster than traditional treatments. In studies, ketamine and esketamine have reduced suicidal thoughts quickly, but KAP is not an emergency service. If you are having thoughts of suicide or are in danger, call or text 988 or call 911 now. You can also talk with our team about ongoing care.
- Improved Mood and Emotional Regulation: Experience a brighter outlook and greater emotional resilience. Process difficult feelings with less fear, leading to better emotional balance.
- Clearer Thinking: Some people report better focus and mental clarity after treatment. Research on long-term effects on cognitive and emotional health is ongoing.
- Enhanced Therapy Engagement: The insights gained during a session often lead to breakthroughs in therapy, helping you connect more deeply with your goals and healing process.
- Sustained Progress: While immediate effects may fade after a few days, repeated treatments with psychotherapy can lead to lasting improvements and a better quality of life.
What About Side Effects?
Most side effects wear off within hours, but some need careful monitoring. Here’s what you might experience and how they’re managed:
During the Session
- Dissociation: A sense of detachment from your body or thoughts, which is part of ketamine’s therapeutic effect and usually fades after the session.
- Altered Perceptions: Temporary changes in how you perceive time or space.
- Nausea, Increased Heart Rate or Blood Pressure: Blood pressure often rises during treatment and is monitored; anti-nausea medication can be provided if needed.
After the Session
- Fatigue: Feeling tired or sleepy for a few hours is common.
- Emotional Fluctuations: Processing deep emotions during and after the session can temporarily affect your mood.
The Bottom Line
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy is a promising, off-label approach with growing research support. For some people it offers fast relief, and combined with therapy it may support lasting change. With expert guidance and support, you can navigate the process safely and confidently.
Begin Your Journey
- Schedule your consultation
- Complete our comprehensive evaluation
- Receive your personalized treatment plan
- Begin your KAP sessions
- Experience supported transformation
Frequently Asked Questions
How is KAP at your clinic different from other ketamine treatments?
Our approach combines the rapid biochemical effects of ketamine with expert therapeutic support. By integrating psychotherapy into each session, we help you process insights, build emotional resilience, and create lasting change—going beyond ketamine alone.
What does ketamine do, and how does it work?
Ketamine acts on the brain’s NMDA receptors, increasing levels of glutamate, a neurotransmitter critical for mood regulation and neural growth. This process stimulates the formation of new neural connections, enhancing the brain’s plasticity and promoting emotional resilience. Research shows ketamine can significantly reduce symptoms of depression, often within hours of treatment, making it an important option for treatment-resistant depression.
How many sessions will I need?
Most patients begin with a series of 6 sessions over several weeks. Your treatment plan will be personalized based on your needs, with follow-up sessions as necessary to maintain and deepen results.
What happens during a session?
Sessions take place in a calm, private treatment room with medical supervision. A clinician will guide you through the process, providing support before, during, and after treatment to help you integrate the experience into your daily life.
How quickly will I notice results?
Many people report improvements in mood, anxiety, or emotional clarity after the first session, with benefits often deepening over subsequent treatments. Our clinicians work closely with you to monitor progress and adjust your plan as needed.
Does ketamine improve emotional resilience?
It may. Beyond its immediate effects on mood, ketamine may help build emotional resilience by fostering new neural pathways, although this is based mostly on laboratory research. This increased brain plasticity allows you to adopt healthier patterns of thought and behavior, enhancing your ability to manage future challenges.
Is KAP supported by research?
Yes, although most research is on intravenous ketamine and esketamine nasal spray; evidence for intramuscular and sublingual forms is more limited. Ketamine has been studied extensively for depression, especially for treatment-resistant cases. Emerging research is also exploring its use for anxiety, PTSD, and other mental health conditions.
Research Highlights:
- Rapid Results: Studies show ketamine can reduce depressive symptoms within 24 hours (Murrough et al., 2013).
- Treatment-Resistant Depression: Studies of intravenous ketamine and esketamine show meaningful improvement for many patients with treatment-resistant depression (Krystal et al., 2019).
- Mechanism: Laboratory research shows ketamine promotes neural plasticity (Duman et al., 2016); long-term psychiatric safety and benefit are still being studied.
Is Ketamine Safe?
Ketamine can be used safely by many people under proper medical supervision, but it is not risk-free. Risks include a rise in blood pressure, dissociation, sedation, potential for misuse (it is a Schedule III controlled substance), and bladder problems with heavy long-term use. In October 2023 the FDA warned about compounded ketamine used at home without monitoring. At our clinic, treatments are carefully monitored by trained clinicians to ensure both safety and effectiveness. Your care team is available throughout the process to address any concerns.
What makes ketamine different from traditional antidepressants?
Traditional antidepressants can take weeks to start working, while ketamine can provide relief within hours for some people. Additionally, ketamine targets different brain pathways, offering hope to individuals who haven’t responded to other treatments.
How do I get started?
The first step is scheduling a consultation with our team. We’ll evaluate your needs, determine if KAP is the right fit, and create a personalized plan to guide your journey.
Take the First Step
Schedule your consultation today to explore whether KAP is right for you.
The information provided on this website is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.