Ketamine-Assisted Therapy
Let’s talk a little bit more about Ketamine, Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy, and what exactly this new healing modality really is.
First of all, it’s not new. Traditional cultures around the world, including Shamans in Siberia, healers of the Indus Valley, the Mystery Cults of Greek Antiquity, pre-Colombian indigenous peoples of the Americas, unique cultures spanning the entire African Continent, and basically everywhere else that humans developed in community, all had rich histories of sacred plant medicine.
This medicine was not restricted to healing only the body, but rather the medicine was used to return the suffering individual to wholeness. The practice of psychedelic assisted therapy of today would not exist without the diverse sacred healing traditions of those who came before us.
What is Ketamine anyway?
I’m glad you asked. Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that has been used for surgery and other applications for many years. Along the way, some patients waking up from anesthesia described a hallucinogenic or psychedelic experience brought about by the relatively high doses of Ketamine used. Initially, this was seen as a negative side effect to be mitigated. Some individuals, however, described positive experiences during these experiences, and the beginning of experimenting with Ketamine as a Psychiatric Medication was brought about by those who saw this as a potentially groundbreaking pharmaceutical intervention.
There are various ways to administer Ketamine. In the work that I do, the client uses a Ketamine lozenge that has been specially compounded by a trained Pharmacist. And the Ketamine itself is prescribed by a Psychiatrist to whom the client is referred by me. After I determine if the client is an appropriate candidate for KAP, the client is then evaluated by the prescribing Psychiatrist who makes the final determination and either prescribes the medicine or recommends that the client continue with traditional psychotherapy rather than pursue KAP.
This all happens after I have seen the client for several sessions. This is absolutely necessary, as I need to understand what the individual hopes to treat with KAP, the history of the client, and probably most importantly, I need to develop a healthy therapeutic relationship with my client. It is crucial that any client of mine, especially one who potentially will be in a non-ordinary state of consciousness in my office, feels that they trust me to guide them through a potentially difficult or unfamiliar psychological territory.
And it is worth stating, no one is guaranteed to have a difficult or unpleasant experience on Ketamine. Many people report very pleasant healing experiences during Ketamine sessions. Just as every individual client is unique, every individual Ketamine session is unique.
Some Things You Should Know About KAP
- While KAP is potentially an extremely beneficial healing modality, no treatment is without risk. This is why I perform a lengthy screening process before a potential client even gets to the assessment performed by my prescriber. I truly believe that KAP can help many people in many ways, but my responsibility as a Psychotherapist begins with “Do No Harm,” and I take that very seriously. If you are, for any reason, not a good candidate for KAP, it is for the safety of both of us that I will not provide these services.
- KAP is not a magic bullet. I’ll repeat that—KAP is not a magic bullet. There is the possibility of incredible insight and healing for those who have plateaued with traditional therapy, but there are no guarantees that you will miraculously be free from your life’s accumulation of pain just because of a brief encounter with a chemical.
- KAP is not just an opportunity to lounge around in my office and do drugs. It is not always a pleasant experience, as the things you have built up very intricate defenses around may be more accessible in this context. And, we’re working when the session starts. This is not to say that you will have an unpleasant or painful experience. It’s just a nod to the segment of the population that thinks any type of Psychedelic Assisted Therapy is just a bunch of longhairs sitting around getting high and feeling groovy. It’s not. If interested, I am happy to provide you with the peer-reviewed research backing up my claim. The fact that I have long hair and am generally pretty groovy is purely coincidental.
If it sounds like KAP might be of benefit to you, contact me today to schedule a consultation.
What to expect
To begin, we will check in just like a regular traditional Psychotherapy session. It’s important to know what is on your mind currently, what has been happening in your life recently, and how you are feeling in general in order to best plan for the KAP session.
Next, I will invite you to set any intentions that you might wish to hold for the session. This could be as simple as, “I’ve been thinking a lot recently about my inability to trust my partner. I would like to try to explore this.” Or it could be something more unstructured like, “I am open to whatever comes up for me in this session.”
At this point, the client will lie down with an eye mask on and take the medicine. The Ketamine lozenge is held in the mouth for 15 minutes to allow the medicine to absorb through the mucous membranes in the mouth. During this time, the client will be transitioning into the non-ordinary state of consciousness. My use of music during the session will begin now to support the beginning of this journey.
During the bulk of the session while the client is under the influence of the medicine, I will be playing a support role.
There will be music playing throughout the session based on the mind state and emotions of the client. During this part of the session, many things can happen. Some clients find it very helpful to talk about what they are experiencing. Seemingly random thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, images, memories, or really any other normal human experience may come up for the client. If talking about these is helpful, I will listen and potentially ask questions to deepen the client’s process. For other sessions, this can be a primarily inward experience, and that is absolutely fine as well. In these sessions, I will periodically check in to see if there is anything that seems worth naming or if there is anything I can do to be of additional support.
During these sessions, we don’t know what the specific experience will be, and that is the the reason why I and other KAP practitioners go through extensive training to do this work. It is equally possible to have a pleasant, neutral, or distressing experience in any given session. The important thing here is that the experience, or journey, is the real medicine. It is how you as a client relate to the experience that directs the healing process. A very powerful element of this experience can be how the individual handles their needs and wants for support. Asking for the music to be changed can be extremely helpful.
Remember, I’m in the room, but I’m not in your head.
My perception of the music will likely not be identical to your perception of the music. Perhaps there is anxiety or fear coming up and you would like me to place a weighted blanket on you. Sometimes just finding that you are able to ask for support when that has been inaccessible in the past can be a massively healing experience. Regardless of the perception of your experience in the session, holding this experience as a sacred part of your mind revealing itself to you is all that is asked.
To name this explicitly: If you are having a distressing experience, I will not abandon you. Just as in a traditional therapy session, while you are in my office, you don’t have to go through any of this alone.
The final piece of the KAP session is the integration process. This will begin in the last part of our session once the medicine has worn off. We can discuss things that came up in the session, and we can use other mediums to work with it as well. Some clients find that drawing is a way to record the abstract experiences that come up in session. But the integration process does not end here. I will encourage each client to continue reflecting on how the insights in the session can be applied to their life outside of the context of the KAP session. This may include journaling, art, processing with one’s own supportive friends/family members, or anything else that might be of use. The KAP session will be followed up with an integration session. This will feel more like a traditional therapy session in that we will discuss what it was that happened and what it means to you. If helpful, I may review my notes taken during the KAP session to remind you of or ask deeper questions about things that came up. But the whole point of integration is that the healing that happens with the medicine becomes a part of your entire life outside of the therapy room. We are restoring wholeness, not offering temporary symptom relief.
Watch to Learn More
The following videos are graciously provided by a very skilled Psychiatrist, Dr. Naveen Thomas, who can explain in greater detail how KAP works, how Ketamine works as a medicine, and the more technical aspects of treating specific conditions with this modality.
Contact Jeff
Jeffreylang@jeffreylangcounseling.com
fb.me/jeffreylangcounseling
(720) 773-1364