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Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy
Relief. Insight. Exploration. Change.
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)
Dr. Melanie Dae offers Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) in partnership with an organization called Journey Clinical.
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) is a holistic modality that utilizes ketamine as a complement to psychotherapy to help eligible clients experience more frequent breakthroughs and sustained improvement in symptoms. Dr. Dae provides the psychotherapy portion of the experience while Journey Clinical’s medical team supports you on all medical aspects including eligibility evaluation, developing a custom treatment plan, prescribing the medicine, and monitoring outcomes.
There is expanding research in the mental health community around the impacts of KAP to help eligible patients get unstuck and experience long-lasting improvement in symptoms, particularly those struggling with depression, anxiety, PTSD, other mental illnesses, or those facing a roadblock in their current therapy.
If you’d like to learn more or explore the possibility of beginning KAP, please reach out via the “Contact Us” form on this website or call Dr. Dae at 303-276-9234 ext. 2.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ketamine is a legal, safe and effective medicine used to treat a variety of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Ketamine can provide safe and rapid antidepressant relief, revitalizing the brain’s ability to form new connections and enhancing overall receptiveness to psychotherapy. Ketamine can be administered in a variety of ways, including IV infusion, intramuscular injection, via nasal spray and using sublingual lozenges. In Dr. Dae’s work with Journey Clinical, only the sublingual lozenge form is used.
Ketamine’s therapeutic effects stem from a variety of mechanisms in the brain:
While in the short term, ketamine can provide rapid relief in symptoms through increased neuroplasticity, psychotherapy supports the process of meaning-making and the cultivation of anchors through new practices and ways of being. This process both primes the brain for these new insights and then supports their ongoing integration. Leveraging ketamine as an adjunct to psychotherapy, also known as Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP), has been shown to be effective for significantly improving clinical outcomes.
https://www.journeyclinical.com/resources/ketamine-and-the-brain
Ketamine’s therapeutic effects stem from a variety of mechanisms in the brain:
- Increased BDNF: Ketamine increases the levels of the neurotransmitter Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), which has complex downstream effects. This effect is dose-dependent and time-limited (around one week, with peak at 2-3 days).
- Lowering the Default Mode Network: Ketamine has been shown to reduce the functional activity of the Default Mode Network (DMN), which can give clients a chance to take a break from habitual thoughts and gain perspective.
- Intrinsic anti-depressant effects: Ketamine has rapidly acting antidepressant and mood-enhancing effects, with a response rate of approximately 50-80% and duration ranging from 2-3 days up to 2 weeks or more. Evidence also supports a unique anti-suicidal effect, independent of antidepressant response.
- Dissociation: It is believed that ketamine's dissociative effect may provide clients the opportunity to gain a new perspective on a traumatic or unpleasant situation.
- Enhanced neuroplasticity: Ketamine enhances neuroplasticity by upregulating BDNF. This effect opens a window of opportunity for therapeutic intervention, which is what we will capitalize on during integration sessions.
While in the short term, ketamine can provide rapid relief in symptoms through increased neuroplasticity, psychotherapy supports the process of meaning-making and the cultivation of anchors through new practices and ways of being. This process both primes the brain for these new insights and then supports their ongoing integration. Leveraging ketamine as an adjunct to psychotherapy, also known as Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP), has been shown to be effective for significantly improving clinical outcomes.
https://www.journeyclinical.com/resources/ketamine-and-the-brain
The acute effects of ketamine, which most patients find pleasant, last for approximately 45 minutes. These effects can make you feel “far from” your body and facilitate shifts in perception that can often feel expansive in nature. Your motor and verbal abilities will be reduced, so you’ll be lying down in a comfortable position during the experience. Here's a general overview of what you might feel during a ketamine experience:
While these experiences can vary widely from person to person, the overarching theme is one of altered consciousness that supports therapeutic progress. During the experience you will lie in a comfortable, reclined position, ideally with an eyeshade and calming music to enhance the experience. You will be closely monitored by Dr. Dae and/or a chaperone to ensure safety and provide support throughout the session.
- Dissociation: One of the most distinctive effects of ketamine is a sense of dissociation, where individuals feel detached from their body and surroundings. This can create a feeling of being "far from" one's body or observing oneself from an outside perspective.
- Altered Perception: Patients often report changes in sensory perception, including enhanced colors, sounds, and a dream-like state. This altered perception can help patients view their thoughts and emotions from a new angle, making it easier to address deep-seated issues during therapy.
- Euphoria and Sense of Calm: Some individuals experience feelings of euphoria and profound calmness, which can be incredibly soothing, especially for those suffering from anxiety or depression. This positive emotional state can facilitate a more open and receptive mindset during therapy sessions.
- Enhanced Introspection: The neuroplastic effects of ketamine can lead to enhanced introspection, allowing patients to explore and process their emotions and memories more deeply. This can result in powerful insights and breakthroughs in therapy.
- Time Distortion: Many patients report a distortion of time, where minutes may feel like hours or vice versa. This can make the therapeutic experience feel timeless and immersive, further aiding in the exploration of one’s inner world.
While these experiences can vary widely from person to person, the overarching theme is one of altered consciousness that supports therapeutic progress. During the experience you will lie in a comfortable, reclined position, ideally with an eyeshade and calming music to enhance the experience. You will be closely monitored by Dr. Dae and/or a chaperone to ensure safety and provide support throughout the session.
There is expanding research in the mental health community around the impacts of KAP to help eligible patients get unstuck and experience long-lasting improvement in symptoms, particularly those struggling with depression, anxiety, PTSD, other mental illnesses or those facing a roadblock in their current therapy. Some of the latest studies have shown truly life-changing results for some patients. Here’s further description of ways others find KAP to be beneficial:
Journey Clinical Patient Stories
More Personal Experiences
- Changing the Camera Angle: Imagine your mind is a movie, and you usually see it from a fixed camera angle. Ketamine acts like a drone that changes the camera angle, offering new perspectives and angles you haven’t seen before. This shift can help you understand and interpret your thoughts and emotions in ways you never could from the ground.
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- Stepping Back from the Canvas: Think of your thoughts and emotions as a complex painting you’re working on up close. Ketamine allows you to step back from the canvas, giving you the space to see the whole picture. This distance helps you to appreciate the broader context and make more informed decisions about how to proceed.
- Creating a Bubble Around You: Imagine you are in the middle of a storm of thoughts and emotions, being battered around by the wind and rain. Ketamine creates a protective bubble around you, giving you a moment of calm within the chaos. Inside this bubble, you can observe the storm without being directly affected by it, providing a sense of clarity and peace.
- Clearing the Fog: Think of your mind as a landscape covered in dense fog, where it’s difficult to see clearly or navigate through your thoughts and feelings. Ketamine can act like a sudden gust of wind that temporarily clears the fog, giving you a clearer view of your mental landscape. This clarity can help you and your therapist identify and address underlying issues more effectively.
- Unlocking a Stuck Door: Imagine your mind is like a house with many rooms, and some of these rooms contain painful memories or emotions. Traditional therapy might help you work on these rooms slowly, unlocking them with different keys over time. Ketamine, in this analogy, acts like a master key that quickly unlocks these stuck doors, allowing you and your therapist to enter, explore, and clean up these rooms more efficiently.
- Jump-Starting a Car Battery: Consider your mental health as a car battery that has run down, leaving you feeling stuck and unable to move forward. Ketamine works like a jump-start for your brain, providing the necessary boost to get your mind running again. This boost can help initiate the healing process and make traditional therapy more effective.
Journey Clinical Patient Stories
More Personal Experiences