KETAMINE ASSISTED PSYCHOTHERAPY

You first meet with a medical prescriber to determine eligibility, dosage, and method of administration. Ketamine can be administered intravenously, intramuscularly, intranasally, or sublingually. At Juniper we typically work with sublingual administration. The medication can last for up to 3 hours.

Ketamine is classified as a "dissociative anesthetic," meaning one can dissociate or disconnect from one’s ordinary reality and usual self. At the dosage level administered to you, you will most likely experience mild anesthetic, anxiolytic, and anti-depressant effects. Mollie Volinsky will support you while you are experiencing the medication.

​Once the medication has worn off, you will engage in an integration phase with Mollie Volinsky. This may include verbal reflection, journaling, somatic therapy, EMDR, dance therapy, and other methodologies. The integration component is crucial in processing the new insights and information that occurred during the Ketamine experience.

Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy may benefit many mental health ailments, including depression, PTSD, anxiety, and chronic pain. KAP is especially effective for those who have tried other medications and therapies with little improvement. The most common treatment course is to take an SSRI and participate in talk therapy. While this can be helpful for many, it does not work for all, and often takes lots of time, trial, and error. KAP clients can feel relief from their symptoms just after one session. Many clients feel significant improvement after four to six sessions.

Ketamine is a schedule III controlled substance. It is seen as a hallucinogen and anesthetic and therefore does not produce a chemical dependence. However, some have reported "cravings" for the sensations and feelings associated with the medication.

Biologically, the current and most probable understanding of Ketamine's mode of action is as an NMDA agonist working through the glutamate neurotransmitter system. This is a different pathway than that of the other psychedelic drugs, such as SSRIS, SNRIS, Antipsychotics, Benzodiazepines, etc.

Psychologically, Ketamine puts one into a non-ordinary state of consciousness, which allows for interference in our default mode network—the neural pathways responsible for our core identities and negative beliefs about ourselves. It's also been found to stimulate the growth of new synapses in our brain, a phenomenon called neuroplasticity, which is responsible for creating new thoughts and insights.

Due to the groundbreaking nature of Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy, there is a limited cohort of trained providers. Therefore, it can certainly be a financial investment. Weekly sessions are $800 and a weekend intensive is $1650.