Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy
I offer a therapeutic modality called Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP), a holistic modality in which ketamine is used as a complement to therapy. Research has shown KAP has the ability to help you get unstuck, experience more frequent breakthroughs, sustained improvements, and fresh perspectives. Some of the latest studies have shown that many experience truly life-changing results.
Why We Use Ketamine in Therapy
✺ Rapid therapeutic change based on neurochemical effects that lead to increased neuroplasticity
✺ Sessions provide insight and clarity to reframe important issues in client’s lives, reevaluate life circumstances and overcome obstacles in therapy
✺ The insights gained help clients navigate obstacles that previously caused stress or functional impairment in a variety of areas of the client’s life.
If you need a therapist…
I can be your therapist while we utilize Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy. Together we will move through preparation, dosing, and integration sessions. And, we can even decide to keep working together outside of KAP work.
3 Ways to Work Together
If you have a therapist…
we can work together as a team to get you where you want to be. Your therapist and I can meet to get me filled in on anything that would be helpful for you. Me and you will get together for preparation, dosing, and integration sessions and you can continue with your therapist as it works for you.
If you have a ketamine clinic…
we can still engage in preparation and integration sessions. Study’s show that there is an increased rate of success when therapy is paired with ketamine. So, meeting with a therapist for integration sessions after your dosing sessions at the clinic can help you get where you want to go.
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Ketamine is a legal, safe and effective medicine that is best known for both its pain relief and psychedelic properties. It is used to treat a variety of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, OCD, and PTSD. Ketamine has rapidly- acting antidepressant and mood-enhancing effects. (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 therapy practice, I currently only use the sublingual lozenge form. This oral method of administration involves holding a ketamine lozenge in your mouth for 15 minutes while it is absorbed by the lining of the mucous membrane and then spitting out the medicated saliva.
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Ketamine was created in 1962 by organic chemist, Calvin Stevens. In 1970, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Approved (FDA) it for human use.
The first reports of using ketamine in psychiatric treatment came in 1973. Since then, research and accounts of varying experiences have painted a successful picture of ketamine in treating anything from depression to addiction to post-traumatic stress disorder. Ketamine has been on the World Health Organizations (WHO) Model List of Essential Medicines since 1985. In 2019, ketamine became the first psychedelic drug to be approved by the FDA for mental health use. Today, it is still used globally as an anesthetic, often with children, as well as psychiatric treatment and exploration. The doses used in psychiatry are a small fraction of the doses used for anesthetic purposes.
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An explosion of research has repeatedly confirmed ketamine’s potential to resolve destructive mental patterning in depression and other mental health conditions at least in part through stimulation of new neural connections. With ketamine, we see a regrowth in the number of synapses, their interconnectedness and ability to connect with each other. This is part of the reason that ketamine has the ability to target and work with a different system in the brain than typical antidepressants and other psychotropic medication.
There is evidence that ketamine can have a very rapid onset of effects on neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is our brain’s ability to be able to change, adapt, and be malleable so it is able to form and reorganizesynaptic connections, the connection between nerve cells. Therefore, has the ability to open up a critical period where the brain is now more plastic at the cellular and the functional level. This is where we can work to change your reference of thinking and your ability to respond and adapt to new social and environmental stimuli. With ketamine, we’re triggering the brain’s resilience mechanisms to promote the maintenance of healthy circuits in the brain.on text goes here
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How It Works
Ketamine is a tool, not the whole plan. Ketamine can relax the barriers that often come up when trying to address painful emotions and experiences. With these walls down, patients can access these things in a controlled environment without fighting against the mind’s natural defenses. The neuroplasticity that the medicine activates makes the next few days the perfect time to do some really big therapeutic work. KAP does not guarantee any results but it does provide an opportunity to open a much-needed door for people struggling to process emotions and experiences or progress with where they currently are in therapy.
Psycholytic Experience
How It Feels
✺ Small dose of ketamine.
✺ Defense mechanisms melt.
✺ Creates an expanded state of consciousness.
✺ Allows you to continue to engage and talk throughout the session while in a trance like state.
✺ The trance state allows deep and lasting change to result from processing therapeutic content together with a formal therapeutic technique.
Psychedelic Experience
✺ Medium dose of ketamine.
✺ May feel pleasantly “far from” your body, giving you a time out from your ordinary mind. This observational witnessing can help obtain some distance from traumatic memories.
✺ Can facilitate shifts in perception that can often feel expansive in nature.
✺ Motor and verbal abilities are reduced.
✺ After the peak effects subside, you will spend the remainder of the session processing and discussing your experience.
While psychedelics can produce incredible insights and awakenings, healing outcomes are optimized when psychedelics are combined with psychotherapy by a well-trained mental health clinician.
— Sunny Strasburg, LMFT
Frequently Asked Questions
I know it can be difficult to make the decision to reach start any type of therapy and the process can feel so overwhelming. So, I’ve compiled answers to my most frequently asked questions.
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Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy is an affordable, accessible modality. Although it is not covered by insurance, everything is eligible for out-of-network reimbursement and payment through HSA or FSA.
The initial intro call to see if we would be a good fit is completely free.
All intake sessions and integration sessions are $175. Dosing sessions typically last 3 hours and are billed at $175 per hour.
Medical Costs with Journey Clinical:
Initial medical consultation with Journey Clinical is $250.
Cost of medication for your first two sessions is $85.
Your quarterly follow-up medical consultation with Journey Clinical is $150.
Cost of medication for your next 6 sessions is $145.
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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
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No! I am currently only licensed to provide Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy to client who live in the state of Georgia. However, if you live outside of Georgia and are interested in KAP, I highly suggest you check out Journey Clinical to be matched with a KAP therapist in your state.
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While I know life happens and I try to be flexible, I require at least 24 hours notice if you have to cancel your scheduled appointment to avoid the late cancellation/no-show fee.
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Intake and integration sessions are all 50 minutes long. All dosing sessions, when the ketamine is actually utilized, are given at least 3 hours of time.
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I offer virtual coaching in an effort to make support easier and more accessible and convenient for you. Sessions are conducted through SimplePractice, a HIPAA-compliant Telehealth platform similar to FaceTime or Zoom.
Prior to each session SimplePractice will text and/or email you a link for the session. You’ll be able to take sessions from your phone, tablet, or computer.
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Prior to starting sessions, we’ll jump on a free 15 minute intro call. This gives us a chance to get to know each other. I’ll ask you a bit about what brings you to coaching, share a bit about how I work with clients, and answer any questions that you might have. From there, we can decide if we feel we are a good fit to begin working together.
Once we begin working together, we will spend the first few sessions continuing to get to know each other. If at any point, either of us believe we are no longer a good fit, we can discuss that and make any necessary changes at any point.
