How does Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy Work?
Ancient wisdom meets a modern world. Plant medicine or psychedelic experiences have been a part of human history for millenia. For thousands of years, our predecessors used psychedelic medicine to create community, heal pain, transcend the ordinary, expand self awareness, and evolve to new heights. After decades of challenge, we are set to return to this ancient wisdom and learn to use psychedelic medicine to heal, connect, and restore happiness.
Ketamine is freaking cool.
It allows us to get some distance from the intensity of life and our overwhelming feelings.
This distance allows us to look at some of the more painful aspects of our own experience or the human condition at large.
Many of these substances have incredible neurological impacts including increased connectivity. This means it makes our brains more able to learn, grow, retain information, and problem solve. This can last for days and weeks after the psychedelic experience.
There are many other benefits to carefully applied use of ketamine including improved self awareness, decreased anxiety and depression, increased creativity, and improved mood.
Psychedelic therapy uses psychedelic substances, such as psilocybin, MDMA, LSD, DMT, cannabis, and Ketamine as a part of the therapeutic process. These substances are mindfully applied depending on accessibility, client goals, symptoms, and legality. Each of these substances (and other psychedelic experiences including breathwork, sounds healing, and body work) are shown to have different impacts on the body and psyche, but most include these key aspects:
Altered State of Consciousness: Psychedelics can induce altered states of consciousness, meaning someone ingesting them may have an out of body experience. They may feel dissociated from their body or gain distance from certain aspects of their life. This distance often allows for increased insights and the ability to see things from a new perspective. This experience often leads to deeper healing of trauma, depression, anxiety, and addiction. It also leads to increased feelings of connection and compassion for self and others.
Neuroplasticity and Brain Connectivity: This refers to the brain’s ability to grow and make new connections. Mental health challenges including trauma, stress, depression, and anxiety reduce neuroplasticity. This makes learning, remembering, creativity, and flexible thinking more challenging. Many of these substances are shown to improve neuroplasticity for days/weeks after the psychedelic experience itself.
Increased Emotional Openness: Psychedelics create an openness to new experiences, emotions, and community that
Enhanced Insights and Self-Reflection: Psychedelic experiences can often provide individuals with profound insights, self-reflection, and a sense of connectedness to oneself, others, and the world. This heightened introspective state can facilitate a deeper understanding of one's thoughts, emotions, and patterns of behavior, promoting personal growth and self-awareness.
Therapeutic Setting and Integration: Psychedelic therapy is conducted in a controlled and supportive therapeutic setting with a trained therapist. The therapeutic integration process, which occurs after the psychedelic session, involves discussing and integrating the insights gained during the experience into daily life.
Right now, the only substances that can be legally used in a therapeutic setting outside of clinical trials are Ketamine and Cannabis. Ketamine-Assisted Therapy and Cannabis-Assisted Therapy both used to increase insight and decrease the intensity of emotions when discussing traumas and other especially challenging things. Getting some distance from these experiences through ketamine or cannabis, allows us to understand them better and see things from another perspective. Other psychedelic therapy options are likely going to be legally available in the next few years.
Right now, if you are using a medicine that is not explicitly legal in the therapy office, a psychedelic therapist will have expert training in integrating these experiences. A therapist cannot legally be present during your medicine experiences, and we cannot provide or encourage you to use these substances.
If you are considering Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy, here’s what to know.
Once you get in touch with a psychedelic therapist, they will likely meet with you several times to build a relationship and sense of safety and create goals for psychedelic experiences.
When you and your therapist feel that you are ready to introduce medicine into your therapy work, they will refer you to a medical provider. The medical provider will screen you for health concerns, determine appropriate dose, and prescribe the ketamine.
You will likely bring this prescription with you to a scheduled session with your therapist. I schedule these sessions for 3 hours to allow the full effect of the treatment. If you are using IV or intramuscular ketamine, your therapist may meet you at a location where these can be administered.
You will self administer the ketamine, or it will be administered by a medical professional. During this time, your therapist is there to attend to your physical and emotional safety. You may want to verbally process your experience and discuss therapeutic topics in the session, or you may be more inclined towards an internal, silent experience.
After the peak of the medicine experience has subsided (45-60 minutes), you and your therapist will likely discuss the ketamine experience, do some grounding exercises, and review what to expect over the next day or two.
Within a few days of the ketamine therapy session, you will have another session with your therapist to further discuss insights gained, shifts in perspectives, and anything else that came up through this experience.
You will work with your therapist to decide when to schedule your next dosing session. Many recommend having several dosing sessions in a short timeframe.
To get the most out of psychedelic therapy:
Fast for about 4 hours before to avoid nausea.
No alcohol, cannabis, or other drugs a few days before and after dosing sessions.
Keep things in your personal life, low stimulation and as low stress as possible. Don’t engage in stressful work activities, don’t plan emotional family events that week, avoid news and any other activating media.
Eat well before and after.
As much as possible, invest in finding a therapist who you truly feel comfortable with and don’t rush the preparation sessions just to jump into the ketamine therapy. Things will go much better and effects will be more long lasting if you spend time building a supportive relationship.
As always, with questions about Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy, feel free to reach me via phone or email. You can learn more about my psychedelic therapy services here. Best of luck on all your journeys!