What is Ketamine Therapy?

Ketamine is a chemically created drug with powerful dissociative (mind and body disconnection) and psychedelic effects. It was initially used as an anesthetic medicine, created in the 1960s. Ketamine provides excellent pain control with a very high safety profile, making it a popular anesthetic induction agent for a variety of patient populations and settings. It is a controlled substance in the United States and requires administration by a doctor or a prescription after medical screening. Over the past several decades ketamine has been revealed to have greater potential in the field of medicine beyond anesthesia and research is showing the clinical value of ketamine across diverse settings, including treating depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder, addiction, and chronic pain to name a few.

Ketamine is a medical drug/chemical that was created in 1962 and has been in use in medicine, originally as an anesthetic for surgery, since the 1960s-1970s. Since it has a very safe profile and does not decrease the drive to breath, ketamine is also used as an anesthetic in veterinary medicine as well.

Ketamine can be administered by different methods. Sublingual (below the tongue) lozenges, intramuscular injection, intranasal spray, and intravenous infusions. There are a variety of reasons one may utilize one method over another.

We work with the sublingual lozenges that dissolve in the mouth and are absorbed by the mucosa (lining) of the mouth and with intramuscular injections (similar to a flu vaccine) that have a more rapid onset of effect. These routes create a less medical/clinically feeling than the intravenous infusions and are often less costly. In addition, the medicine is absorbed at a high rate in both of these methods.

Ketamine is off label use for most things besides anesthesia, but is safely being used to treat a number of mental health struggles. These include treatment resistant depression, major depressive disorder, anxiety, trauma, eating disorders, suicidal ideation, chronic pain, migraines/headaches, obsessive compulsive disorder, addictions, and some bipolar diagnoses.

Ketamine can also aid in expanding personal and psychosocial development and growth. Some of these conditions require additional support to aid in healing.

Ketamine has been in use for a long time and therefore has a lot of data collected on its use and safety. Ketamine has a high safety profile, meaning it is a very safe drug and has a predictable way of acting from person to person. It is, however, a medication and like any medication there is always some degree of risk.

Since it works on different receptors than many antidepressants it can also be safe to use if people are taking certain prescription medications, although there are exceptions.

Before starting any medication, consultation with a trained physician is recommended and, if applicable, discussion with your primary therapist and/or psychiatrist is required. There are a few risk factors that may exclude you from being eligible for ketamine treatment, as it may not be the right drug for you. To ensure the highest degree of safety, following the directions of the Journease team is essential. It is important to let the team know if you are experiencing any adverse reactions.

Click here for more details regarding potential risks and side effects of ketamine.

NO! There will be a physician facilitator with you there monitoring your vitals signs the entire time. You are never left alone and all concerns will be addressed with you prior to your experience. This work is truly a doctor-patient experience. The medical experts at Journease work hard to create a safe and comfortable environment.

Most people will feel a little nervous or apprehensive prior to their first journey, whether or not they have experience with psychedelics. This is normal. We will take care of all the details on the day of and we are here to support your experience. When you arrive for your first treatment we will check your vitals and do a limited physical examination, we will explain how the experience will go for the day, and then spend some time speaking about your intentions for your experience. There will be time for individualized rituals or spiritual components. You will be in a comfortable reclined position for the journey, you will be provided with an eye-mask to block out light, and you will have on headphones which will play a curated list of music to support the experience.

You will never be alone! Everyone will have a different journey and it will be exactly the way it is supposed to be. You may experience feelings of heat or cold, vibrations in your body, a sense of disconnection from your physical body, and see visions and colors in a way you haven’t experienced. You may visit past experiences. You may have a connection to something bigger than yourself. Remember you are here to learn and heal and with this can come some difficult work. There may be uncomfortable or difficult situations that you experience in your ketamine treatment. Please know that we are trained to support you through that process. The healing and benefit comes from going through and coming out the other side. Anything that comes up in the mind is meant to show you how to heal and not to harm you. Know that feelings of sadness, fear, or anger are ok. Know that you are safe, the medicine is being provided by a licensed physician and you are under the care of a licensed psychotherapist as well. The teammate Journease are trained specifically in the use of ketamine as a psychedelic medicine.

A commonly used mantra with psychedelic medicine is “trust, let go, be open”. Repeating this during a journey can help support more difficult experiences.

Trust that you are prepared. Trust that the medicine is here to guide your healing. Trust your own inner healing intelligence and that your mind will show you what you need. Trust that you are safe and being taken care of.

Let go. This is crucial to psychedelic medicine and can be the most difficult. Let go of the expectations of what the experience should be, how you should feel, and what you should experience. Let go of the fear of not knowing. Let go of the judgements and control. Let if flow the way it is supposed to flow. Confront and face any challenging situations.

Be open to whatever the journey brings. Be curious and explore. The journey may be centered around your intentions or, it may not. Be open to the fact that everything you are experiencing is completely OK and perfect for you!

Prior to your first session you will meet with one of our doctors to do the initial evaluation. These sessions serve a few purposes. One is to ensure safety. We do a full history and physical to make sure there are no contraindications to you pursuing treatment. We also want to get to know you. This work is done in relationship and creating a safe, welcoming space and experience is important to us. These initial screening sessions allow you to ask questions and get the answers you need to feel comfortable before starting your first ketamine treatment.

You will be given instructions prior to your first treatment on what to do before hand. We will review your medications and decide if anything needs to be stopped briefly. We ask that you not eat 4-6 hours prior to a treatment and no liquids 1 hour prior to treatment. You will be sent information about setting intentions and mentally/spiritually preparing before your treatment.

We are here to guide you through the entire process and are always happy to support you in any way that we can.

Depends on what you mean by this. It is highly likely that the experience will change you and that you will come back as a “different” person, based on your journey. However, when most people ask this question, the true fear is that of psychosis occurring and being permanent. Based on research and clinical experience psychedelics do not cause permanent psychosis. There have been some reports that certain psychedelics can induce psychosis in people who are predisposed to psychosis. This is why it is important to provide detailed information about your personal and family psychiatric history. This allows your physician and therapists to provide the safest environment for you and to determine if this treatment is appropriate for you. Without these underlying risk factors, ketamine is a round trip ticket; You will come back in less than 2 hours.

The number of treatments will vary from person to person based on a number of variables and the treatment is individualized for each person. This is a collaborative team decision that you will be a part of.

We do know that ketamine treatment has a cumulative effect and that longer term results are achieved with consecutive treatments in a short interval, usually 4-6 treatments over the course of 5-12 weeks.

The medicine has powerful effects and does do a lot of work, but the real results come from the integration. You have to be willing to be a part of your own healing process and go all in with a therapist to get the maximum benefits.

Some people don’t need further ketamine treatments once their initial sessions are completed. Others may need boosters or maintenance.

We do not take or bill your insurance company for these treatments. To our knowledge most insurance companies do not currently cover ketamine treatment for these off-label indications. However, it is always beneficial to contact your provider and ask for clarification. We have been able to provide clients with a superbill that they can submit to their insurance providers and they may be able to get portions of the treatment covered. However, this is highly variable amount the different insurance carriers and in our experience it is often minimal reimbursement requiring patients to pay for a majority of treatment out of pocket.

Integration is the process of remembering your experience, interpreting the meaning for you in your life, and discovering the best way to bring those lessons into your daily life. Its being aware of the experience and work you did and recognizing how you are different and/or changed after the experience and what does that now mean in your life. It is the most important part of the ketamine experience. Our team supports you in a therapeutic setting to understand and incorporate the messages into your life. The real, sustainable value of the medicine comes from this aspect and it is crucial to disrupting the loops and patterns we get stuck in that cause are symptoms. Working with our therapists, you will get maximum benefit from your ketamine experience if you doing the work provided during the integrations sessions and afterwards.

It is highly recommended that clients work with a therapist or psychiatrist while undergoing this treatment. If you do not have a therapist or psychiatrist or are looking to work with one specifically trained in psychedelic medicine/integration, we work with therapists trained in ketamine treatment that can support you through the treatment and often can continue supporting you with integration and therapy post treatment. If you have a therapist/psychiatrist, it is vital to let them know that you are doing ketamine treatment. Our team will be in communication with your therapist/psychiatrist in order to provide the best care and optimal results for you during this experience.

From research we know that a single ketamine treatment can produce significant effects, but that they will wear off in days to 2 weeks. We recommend 4-6 treatments initially. Doing 1 to 2 treatments a week is ideal. After this initial period the team reassesses the need for further treatments. Some people may need more. Some may need less.

Doing these sessions in conjunction with psychotherapy will create more sustainable results.

Keep in mind that treatment plans are individualized per person, but these are the general recommendations.

Initially as you are coming out of the experience we take off the headphones and invite you to leave your eye mask on while you begin to share your experience. Peoples feelings and reactions coming out of the medicine vary, but you can still feel a little out of it or a bit woozy. Occasionally some people with feeling nauseous and we can support you if that occurs. You are not allowed to drive home from your session and it is highly recommended that you do not drive until the next day. Often people may want to have alone time and as little stimulation as possible to ease back into themselves, recover, and do some reflection or journaling. Sleep can be affected by ketamine, both negatively and positively and varies from person to person, but usually is not a prolonged effect. Eating food and drinking water after a session can help you feel more grounded and recover quicker. Make sure to review your current medications with Dr. Coleman so you can get instructions on when to resume medications if you had held them prior to treatment and what to avoid.

Currently psilocybin is not medically legal in the United States and is only being used for treatment purposes in research studies. There are a number of places that have introduced new laws decriminalizing psilocybin mushrooms, but this is not the same thing as making them legal or available medically. Please always refer to the laws in your city, county, state etc. If you are interested in applying to participate in research studies you can use this link to find studies currently enrolling participants: Clinical Trials.

You can schedule a free phone consultation below or click the CONTACT button to send a request and have any additional questions answered. If you know you want to start treatment, the first step is an initial medical evaluation that is required before medicine sessions can take place. In addition, if working with a therapist, one to three initial sessions may take place prior to medicine administration to establish a relationship.