Psychedelic Assisted Therapy:
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy
Opening to New Pathways of Healing
For many, therapy can begin to feel like walking the same path again and again: stories retold, patterns revisited, and relief that feels partial or fleeting. Sometimes what’s needed isn’t more effort, but a shift in the landscape itself.
Psychedelic-assisted therapy offers such openings, helping people move beyond the weight of chronic stress, depression, trauma, and long-held emotional patterns that have resisted traditional talk therapy. These medicines can support new ways of seeing, feeling, and relating by helping the mind, body, and spirit remember how to connect and regenerate.
Research suggests that ketamine, psilocybin, and MDMA each show promise in enhancing neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to form new connections—and in supporting emotional flexibility and self-compassion. Ketamine is currently the only legal psychedelic available for therapeutic use in the U.S., and it can be especially helpful for those experiencing chronic depression, burnout, trauma, or feeling persistently stuck despite other forms of care.
While psilocybin has been decriminalized in Colorado and I hold training in psilocybin facilitation, it is not yet legal for clinical use but soon. Similarly, MDMA-assisted therapy remains under FDA review but is showing strong research outcomes for trauma.
In my experience—both personal and professional—these approaches can open new doorways of awareness, allowing what once felt unreachable to begin to soften and transform. When combined with the steadiness of presence and integration, they can help re-weave connection to the body, to life, to others, and to the deeper intelligence within.
How I Approach Ketamine-Assisted Therapy
My approach to Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) and psycholytic work is rooted in the belief that each person carries an innate intelligence and capacity for healing. When this is met with presence, skillful support, and the unique openings ketamine can offer, deep transformation becomes possible.
Rather than viewing ketamine as a quick fix or purely medical intervention, I hold it as a relational and experiential process that engages the whole being — body, psyche, heart, and soul. My role is to help you prepare for the journey, accompany you through it with grounded, attuned presence, and support the unfolding of integration afterward, where the real alchemy takes place. Along the way, I provide practices and resources to help you stay connected with what emerges.
Unlike many medical-model ketamine providers who offer IV or sublingual administration without psychotherapeutic support, this work weaves the medicine experience with the therapeutic container. The sessions are designed to create a safe, intentional space that honors your internal process.
Ketamine is a legal, FDA-approved anesthetic that has shown promise in treating chronic depression, anxiety, trauma, and patterns that have felt stuck despite other therapeutic approaches. Its use in psychotherapy is considered “off-label,” meaning it is not yet FDA-approved for mental health treatment, though research continues to grow around its efficacy for chronic stress, depression, and other conditions.
These sessions are not about bypassing or seeking extraordinary experiences for their own sake. Psychedelic states, including those facilitated by ketamine, can be disorienting or “dis-integrating.” With the right preparation, presence, and integration, this disintegration can become fertile ground — softening rigid patterns, reconnecting to body and essence, and making space for new ways of being to take root.
Two Pathways of Work
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)
KAP is a structured, longer-format therapy (typically 3 hours) where sublingual ketamine is taken in a safe, therapeutic environment. Sessions are designed to allow deeper immersion, expanded awareness, and access to insights and healing processes that may otherwise remain hidden. Integration sessions follow, where we bring forward what emerged into daily life.
Psycholytic Therapy
Psycholytic therapy involves smaller, more gentle doses of ketamine. Rather than fully immersive experiences, these sessions allow you to remain in connection and dialogue with me while the medicine helps soften defenses and open the psyche. Psycholytic work can deepen the therapeutic process, making it easier to access difficult emotions, memories, and body-held experiences.
Both approaches are held with the same orientation: attuned presence, relational depth, and respect for your own inner wisdom.
KAP Psychotherapy Fees
Below are the fees for the psychotherapy sessions for KAP. These fees are the same as my individual therapy fees. I do not take insurance but a superbill can be provided for possible. If you are brand new to working with me, I require 3–5 psychotherapy sessions (assessment + rapport-building) before we consider a dosing session. This lets us clarify intentions, assess readiness and safety, and build the trust that makes KAP truly therapeutic. Assessment, preparation, and integration sessions are 50-minutes. The KAP experiential dosing sessions are usually around 3 hours in duration.
| Service | Duration | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| New Client Intake | 50–55 minutes | $150 |
| KAP Preparation Session | 50-55 minutes | $150 |
| KAP Experiential Dosing Session | 2-3 hours | $475 |
| KAP Integration Session | 50-55 minutes | $150 |
KAP Medical Fees
KAP requires a medical assessment and a prescription through a medical provider, which is a separate cost. I partner with Journey Clinical.
Check out this Patient Info Sheet for more information.
Journey Clinical’s consultations and follow-ups may be eligible for coverage by your insurance plan, or can provide the necessary info for you to submit claims for out-of-network services.
Frequently Asked Questions
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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 and last for up to 2 weeks. 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.
Ketamine can be administered in a variety of ways, including IV infusion, intramuscular injection, via nasal spray and using sublingual lozenges. In my work with Journey Clinical we only use the sublingual lozenge form.
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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 subsided, 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 happened during the experience, patients feel like the insights gained are none-the-less clear. Studies have shown that the benefits to mood and neurological growth can last up to two weeks after the Ketamine experience.
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Quick Relief from Symptoms: One of the biggest advantages of ketamine therapy is its ability to provide fast relief from symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mood disorders. Unlike traditional antidepressants that can take weeks to start working, ketamine often delivers noticeable results within hours or days.
Deeper Emotional Processing: Ketamine helps create an altered state of consciousness, which can allow people to tap into deep emotions and experiences that might be difficult to access through regular talk therapy. This can lead to significant breakthroughs, helping individuals confront and heal from unresolved trauma.
Promoting Neuroplasticity: Ketamine has been shown to encourage neuroplasticity, which is the brain's ability to form new neural pathways. For those dealing with depression or anxiety, this means that ketamine may help “retrain” the brain, making it more adaptable and better able to cope with stress and emotional challenges.
Increased Engagement in Therapy: Many people find that ketamine-assisted therapy helps them engage more fully with their therapist and the therapeutic process itself. The effects of ketamine can create a sense of distance from usual thought patterns, offering clearer insights and helping individuals look at their challenges from a new perspective.
Long-Term Emotional Growth: When combined with psychotherapy, ketamine has the potential to create lasting positive changes by shifting thought patterns and emotional responses sustainably. This can lead to long-term improvements in mental health.
Fewer Side Effects: Compared to traditional medications, ketamine tends to have fewer and less severe side effects. For many patients, it provides a safer and more effective option, especially when other treatments haven’t worked.ription
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Ketamine is generally very safe but not suitable for everyone (e.g., those with uncontrolled high blood pressure or certain personality disorders). Journey Clinical conducts a thorough screening process to ensure safety, and if needed, works with your other doctors or medical professionals.
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1. Initial consultation with Journey Clinical
You schedule an initial evaluation with a clinician from the Journey Clinical medical team via zoom. They will go over your medical and psychiatric history with you, provide education on the treatment and determine if you are eligible for KAP.
If Journey Clinical’s medical team determines that you are eligible for KAP, they will develop a personalized Ketamine prescription and outcome monitoring plan for you.
Journey Clinical’s medical team will write a ketamine prescription for you, and a small amount of oral ketamine will be sent to your home, enough for the first 2 KAP sessions. You will be taught to take your vitals and self-administer the ketamine lozenges by Journey Clinical’s medical team in advance of our KAP sessions.
2. Preparation sessions:
Once you receive your ketamine lozenges, we will schedule time together for our KAP preparation, dosing and integration sessions. Preparation session(s) will be scheduled just like regular therapy sessions prior to the KAP dosing session. The goal of a preparation session(s) is to align on the process and set intentions for our KAP sessions together.
3. KAP Dosing Session:
A typical ketamine dosing session lasts between 1-2 hours and can take place either in-person at my office, or remotely via telehealth.
During a dosing session, you will self-administer your ketamine lozenge either in my office or in your home. You will be in a comfortable, reclining position wearing an eye mask and listening to calming music. Although a KAP dosing session may be largely an internal experience, I will be present with you the entire time to hold space and provide support as needed.
4.Integration Sessions:
After our KAP dosing session, we will meet for multiple integration therapy sessions to review the memories, thoughts & insights that arose during your dosing session, and to prepare for the next dosing session.
5.Follow-up consultations with Journey Clinical:
After our first KAP session, Journey Clinical’s medical team schedules regular follow ups with you to monitor outcomes and prescribe ketamine lozenge refills, as appropriate. The frequency of follow ups depends on your unique treatment plan, at a minimum of once per quarter.
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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. Their collaborative care model is designed to deliver personalized treatment plans to meet your individual needs and improve long-term outcomes.
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Paradigms of Ketamine Treatment by Raquel Bennett, Psy.D. for MAPS
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP): Patient Demographics, Clinical Data and Outcomes in Three Large Practices Administering Ketamine with Psychotherapy - research study by Jennifer Dore et al, 2018
Ketamine for Depression and Mood Disorders by Erica Zelfand, ND for Townsend Letter
Ketamine-Facilitated Psychotherapy for Trauma, Anxiety, and Depression by goop
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy with Jonathan Sabbagh of Journey Clinical - Psychology Talk Podcast
Anti-Fatigue Effects of Ketamine by Leorey Saligan et al.,
Let’s Connect
Interested in exploring KAP? Fill out some info and I will be in touch shortly! I am looking forward to connecting with you.