Improve your mental health with Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy

Ketamine is the basis for the development of numerous FDA (Food and Drug Administration)-approved antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs. Once ketamine crosses the blood-brain barrier, it interacts with receptors as an antagonist, alleviating distressing symptoms in the body. Today, ketamine is making significant progress as a promising treatment option for pain syndromes, major depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), addiction problems and other disorders that are the leading cause of mental health problems worldwide.

Ketamine has been used clinically as a general anaesthetic since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved intravenous and intramuscular ketamine hydrochloride in 1970. On March 6, 2019, the FDA approved ketamine for the treatment of depression. This is the first new drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of major depression in decades.

HIVE clinics have ketamine treatment protocols for pain syndrome and mood conditions such as depression, anxiety disorder, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), addictions, Bipolar etc. We should note that HIVE does not treat every condition that ketamine can help with.

Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy is performed at lower doses of ketamine than those that have been used in anaesthesia for decades. Ketamine is known to have excellent safety records – unlike other anaesthetics, it does not suppress breathing and blood pressure and is well tolerated by patients.

Ketamine for ketamine-assisted psychotherapy is used in lower doses than general anaesthesia, so side effects are rare. However, sometimes short-term side effects may occur, these include mainly: nausea and vomiting, and increased heart rate and blood pressure.

There is no evidence that ketamine experience leads to addiction.
However, as with any medication, there is potential for abuse and harm if not taken safely and without medical supervision.

A full cycle of KAP normally lasts around 3 hours.

The therapist and physician accompany the client throughout their journey. At the start of the session, we clarify the intention for the session, and work with breathing, meditation, and invocation to reach a relaxed and contemplative state of being. Music is a key component of the KAP journey.

Ketamine experiences are unique and every client experiences their journeys very differently as the medicine has effect, the client may experience being out-of-body, and out of bounded time and space. Experiences can range from deep, complete scenes to scattered abstract experiences.

KAP is an opportunity to take refuge from the ordinary mind, often bringing relief from characteristic worries and anxieties, and gives rise to a sense of connection and deep essence experiences and the possibility of healing and authenticity. This experience has also been described as “euphoric,” “soothing,” or “mystical”.
Integrative psychotherapy follows where the therapist and the client explore the KAP experience, start to distil the key insights and learnings, and to ground these in the physical body. This process of integration will continue over the days and weeks following the KAP session.