Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) is a holistic modality in which ketamine is used as a complement to psychotherapy to help eligible patients experience more frequent breakthroughs and sustained improvement in symptoms. I take on the psychotherapy portion of the experience, while Journey Clinical’s medical team supports you on all medical aspects. This includes determining eligibility, developing a custom treatment plan, prescribing the medicine and monitoring outcomes.
What is Ketamine?
Ketamine is a legal, safe and effective medicine used to treat a variety of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety and PTSD. Ketamine has rapidly acting antidepressant and mood-enhancing effects, which can begin to take effect within 1-2 hrs. after treatment. It works by blocking the brain’s NMDA receptors as well as by stimulating AMPA receptors, which are thought to help form new synaptic connections and boost neural circuits that regulate stress and mood. Ketamine has also been shown to enhance overall neuroplasticity for lasting symptom improvement.
How Does Ketamine Feel?
The effects of ketamine, which most patients find pleasant, last for approximately 45 minutes. These effects can make you feel “far from” your body, and facilitate shifts in perception that can often feel expansive in nature. Your motor and verbal abilities will be reduced, so you’ll be lying down in a comfortable position during the experience. Once these effects subside, we’ll spend the remainder of our appointment giving you space to process and discuss your experience. While it may feel hard to articulate what happens during the experience, patients feel like the insights gained are clear.
Conditions Treated:
KAP has demonstrated effectiveness in treating various mental health conditions, including but not limited to:
Depression: Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy has been particularly successful in rapidly alleviating symptoms of treatment-resistant depression.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): KAP may help individuals process traumatic memories and reduce the emotional distress associated with them.
Anxiety Disorders: It has shown potential in treating anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Chronic Pain: Ketamine can also be used to manage chronic pain conditions, with psychotherapy addressing the emotional aspects of pain perception.
What is Journey Clinical?
Journey Clinical is a platform for licensed psychotherapists to incorporate science-based psychedelic therapies in their practice safely and effectively, starting with Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP). Journey Clinical’s in-house medical team takes on patient eligibility, prescriptions and outcome monitoring, while I take on the therapy.
To find out more information about Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy ("ketamine therapy" "ketamine infusion") or if you are interested in starting this treatment please contact my office.