Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)
Guided medicine journeys; remote and in-person in California
A gateway to deeper insight and alignment.
Ketamine can distort the boundary between internal and external experiences. Emotional states can be felt more deeply, or subtle feelings can be more prominent. A person might relate to themselves and their own experience from a new or different perspective. Ketamine enhances neuroplasticity in the brain, allowing opportunities for re-wiring the brain and creating new patterns and habits.
A Journey with KAP
Before the birth of western psychotherapy, healing work was facilitated through the important roles of shamans, mystics, and spiritual guides across cultures for centuries. Although Ketamine is not a magic bullet, it can offer an opportunity to exponentially accelerate change and breakthroughs and create sustained improvements.
Finding a qualified therapist you trust to guide you in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy can be difficult. QTBIPOC face even greater challenges to achieving the radical healing and liberation that is possible with these powerful medicines, such as barriers to access, systems of injustice, and a lack of diversity within the field. Which is why I prioritize this community in my KAP work.
I view medicine work as sacred and deeply relational at its highest potential. If we decide to work together, we would be building a trusting relationship with each other, and you would be building a relationship with the medicine over the course of one or more medicine journeys.
What will our work look like?
I offer Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) in partnership with an organization called Journey Clinical. I will facilitate 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.
As your medicine guide, it is very important for me that we build a therapeutic relationship that engenders trust and safety. This means that our sessions will include three main parts: preparation, medication, and integration.
I currently offer KAP sessions for individuals and couples remotely or in-person in my office in South Berkeley or as home-visits. Reach out to me to set up an initial consultation.
Queer & BIPOC KAP Groups
Are you interested in cultivating a deeper sense of meaning, alignment, and connection through exploring medicine work in community?
I offer 12-week therapy groups that incorporate ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) at a reduced fee for those identifying as both queer and a person of color. We will slow down together, create space for our individual journeys, practice witnessing and being witnessed, and draw on the potent magic of community for the purpose of personal and collective liberation.
Our container will be emergent, trauma-informed, creative, relational, and attachment-based. Group discussions will center around relevant themes.
Each group will have 3-4 participants. We will have a combination of remote and in-person sessions in the East Bay, meeting weekly for 75-min group therapy sessions ($80 each) and a total of four 3-hour-long KAP sessions ($240 each). See an example schedule and breakdown of costs here.
Group dates are scheduled as my availability matches that of interested participants. You can express interest by filling out the form below.
There is expanding research in the mental health community around the impacts of Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) to help eligible clients get unstuck and experience long-lasting improvement, or help those facing a roadblock in their current therapy. Journey Clinical will conduct a thorough medical intake with you before approving you for KAP.
Is KAP for you?
I use KAP with clients to work with the following issues:
Anxiety
Depression
Trauma/PTSD
Complex PTSD
Grief/loss
Adjustment disorders
KAP is not suitable for clients dealing with certain medical and psychiatric issues, including:
Uncontrolled substance use
Active suicidal ideation
High blood pressure
Severe breathing problems
Psychosis
Resources:
FAQs
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Ketamine was originally used in hospital rooms as an anesthetic. It 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 can allow formation of 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.
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Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) is a holistic therapeutic modality used to address a variety of mental health conditions, including depression, post-traumatic stress, chronic pain, addiction, and anxiety. It involves the use of ketamine to enhance and deepen the therapeutic process, and the use of psychotherapy to amplify and prolong the healing effects of ketamine.
In low doses, ketamine can serve as a supportive adjunct to psychotherapy, as it provides an opportunity for the temporary softening of the psychological defenses, allowing for deeper self-reflection and insights.
In moderate doses, ketamine has psychedelic effects, which have been shown to facilitate profound transpersonal experiences. These types of experiences can help people in a variety of ways, offering important clarity and insight into one’s struggles, adding a spiritual dimension to ongoing therapeutic work, and facilitating a sense of meaning and interconnectedness.
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If we decide to work together, your KAP process will include a medical intake, preparation sessions, in-person KAP medication sessions, and integration sessions.
You will have a medical intake with a Journey Clinical prescriber to determine eligibility and dosage.
Our preparation sessions are psychotherapy sessions where we will discuss: the KAP process, medical and mental health factors, consent around touch, and intentions.
Each KAP sessions will happen over a 3-hour period in-person in my South Berkeley office. The ketamine will be self-administered orally via lozegenes. I will be right there in the room with you until the effects of the medicine fades. The effects of the Ketamine should last about 40-60 minutes.
Integration sessions will make space for processing your experiences after your journey. We will explore insights, inquiries, and putting into practice things what you have learned and/or would like to continue working on moving forward.
KAP is most effective done in a series. 6-8 dosing sessions are recommended to gain the most benefit from KAP. This can vary depending on each person’s receptivity and response to the medicine.
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I am always striving to offer this powerful medicine work to my community in the most accessible way possible while holding high ethical and professional standards. During our consultation, we will discuss your goals and whether it makes sense to develop an ongoing therapy relationship that involves KAP, or use KAP as an adjunct to your own work.
Although the medical intake and follow-ups are not currently covered by insurance, they might be eligible for out-of-network reimbursement. You should check with your insurance if you are interested.
Your KAP sequence and total cost will depend on your goals for KAP, our therapeutic connection, and our initial intake.
Here are the typical costs for two rounds of KAP:
Medical Consultation with Journey Clinical ($250)
Medication through Journey Clinical ($85)
2 Prep Sessions ($180 x2 = $360)
First 3-Hour KAP Session ($180 x3 = $540)
2 Integration Sessions ($180 x2 = $360)
Second 3-Hour KAP Session ($180 x3 = $540)
2 Integration Sessions ($180 x2 = $360)
Total Cost = $2,495
The hourly rate for couple and group KAP sessions are reduced. Sliding scale may be available. Please inquire for details.