Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy
What is Ketamine?
Ketamine is a psychoactive drug that was first synthesized in 1962 and has been used in the United States as an anesthetic in medical settings since 1970. Much like other compounds used in medicine, Ketamine has been found in the natural world in the fungi Pochonia chlamydosporia. In addition to its use as an anesthetic, it has been used off-label in sub-anesthetic doses for at least 20 years for the treatment of chronic pain, depression, and now more recently for eating disorders, anxiety, and PTSD among other mental health conditions. Relief from depression can be almost immediate for many patients and though these effects tend to be temporary after a single ketamine treatment, multiple treatments have been shown to have a cumulative effect in alleviating symptoms. Ketamine is classified as a dissociative anesthetic, meaning that it can induce a sense of disconnection from your ordinary reality and usual self. Dr. Sentell is currently authorized to utilize intranasal or sublingual ketamine which, at the doses prescribed, can induce experiences ranging from reduction in anxiety and depression to a fully psychedelic experience.What is Ketamine Assisted Therapy?
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) involves the use of ketamine in a supported therapeutic setting with an emphasis on preparation sessions, the ketamine experience itself, and integration sessions afterwards to reflect on insights gained during the experience. Special attention is paid to the "set and setting" - that is - the mindset and intention of both provider and patient as well as the creation of the supportive environment. Ketamine can help soften psychological defenses, allowing for contact with difficult material in new ways as well as deeper self reflection and therapeutic processing. In higher doses, it can induce psychedelic experiences which vary in content but often traverse themes such as access to surrender, profound love and gratitude, unity, feeling unbound by time or space, and out-of-body 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. Dr. Sentell does require that patients have a relationship with a primary therapist to help support additional integration during and after KAP treatments.