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F.A.Q.'s

What is Ketamine?

Ketamine is a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Schedule III medication (the same class as Tylenol with codeine) approved and indicated for use as an anesthetic. It is considered a dissociative anesthetic, meaning the senses can temporarily stop communicating with the brain. However, ketamine is also used in lower doses to treat pain, depression, or other psychiatric diagnoses. This is a newer use of ketamine not approved by the FDA. These uses are considered “off-label.” This is how Horizon Healing uses ketamine.

How Does Ketamine Work? 

We know ketamine affects certain receptors in the brain. This causes lots of known and unknown effects throughout the brain both chemically and electrically. Some areas of the brain become more active, some areas become less active. It seems that communication between different areas of the brain changes as well. At the doses given for this treatment, you will most likely experience analgesic (relief of pain), anxiolytic (relief of anxiety), antidepressant, and psychedelic effects. Ketamine may bring about “transpersonal,” “mystical,” or “out-of-body” experiences that may help shift your perspective and emotional state.

How is Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Different than Ketamine IV Drips?

Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP), also known as Ketamine-assisted integrated psychotherapy (KAIP), has been found to help with depression, PTSD, addiction, life transitions, and more. It is a highly transformational and self-reflective process. While many clinics offer ketamine IV drips, Inner Alchemy provides ketamine with the powerful addition of guided support and talk therapy, in the context of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. The journey is uniquely yours but we will be with you and supporting you along with way.

What is the Cost for Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy?

Inner Alchemy works hard to keep KAP accessible and offers several options and packages for sessions. You can find our full menu of pricing here: https://www.inneralchemyintegratedhealth.com/ketamine-assisted-psychotherapy

What is the Typical Process for Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy?

The typical process involves... INTAKE We do an initial psychiatric evaluation to get to know you and ensure you are a good fit for KAP. Information about what to expect and how to prepare is provided. KAP Sessions Most clients find 4-6 sessions to be ultimately beneficial, though some will find sufficient help from 3 sessions. Each session involves a time for talking about intentions and getting comfortable prior to the Ketamine being administered. The expanded state of Ketamine lasts 1-1.5 hours. Your provider/therapist/sitter is with you throughout the process and is available to talk and process before, during, and after the expanded state time. INTEGRATION Integration is a unique and individual process, as the ripple effects of KAP sessions become more understood in your life. You may find talking, journaling, or doing art in your own time to be helpful in the days and weeks after KAP sessions. For those who would like support through integration therapy sessions, individual integration sessions are available as an add-on and can provide deeper integration support in-between or after KAP sessions.

What Medical Monitoring is Done During Ketamine Treatment?

You will be followed very closely during and after your treatment. This will include blood pressure and pulse measurements, some psychological measurements before and after your session, close supervision and support during your treatment session with your provider/therapist/sitter and follow-up telephone or in-person contact with your treatment team.

How Long Will It Take Before I Might See Beneficial Effects? 

You may experience important changes in personality, mood and thinking during treatment, immediately after the treatment and in the days and weeks that follow. The ketamine experience itself is designed to enable your own healing wisdom to be accessed. The psychotherapeutic support you will receive will aid you in making your experiences valuable and understandable to you. Some experiences may be temporarily disturbing, but the integration process may greatly help you move to clarity and understanding.

Why Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy? 

The purpose of KAP is to create a non-ordinary (“altered”) state of consciousness (awareness). This level of awareness can facilitate profound transpersonal, transcendental, mystical, spiritual and/or religious peak experiences. These experiences may be beneficial in resolving your existential challenges, accelerating your psycho-spiritual growth and lead you to a deep personal transformation and optimization of your lifestyle. Such change is best facilitated within a structured supportive psychotherapeutic relationship in connection with therapists who have a view of your challenges, hopes, desires and struggles. As a byproduct of your experience you may feel improvement in your emotional state and reduction in symptoms that bother you such as depression, anxiety and/or post-traumatic manifestations. You may notice that you are a bit different after a ketamine experience. This difference may well be liberating and allow for new mindfulness and new behavior. It is frequently the case that a ketamine experience may promote happiness, empathy, loving-kindness to self and others and a sense of greater self-acceptance and peacefulness. Your experience will be unique to you. If you and we decide to have additional sessions using ketamine, each of your sessions will be different. All such journeys are adventures that cannot be programmed. They evolve from your own being in relation to this substance.

How is Ketamine Given?

You may be administered ketamine via one of two methods: rapidly dissolving sublingual oral lozenges or intra-muscular (IM) injection. Each of these of these methods are covered in this one consent since your provider may switch between these methods to give you the best response possible. Intra-muscular ketamine is given through a shot with a thin needle in the upper arm or buttocks. Sub-lingual ketamine lozenges are tablets that dissolve in your mouth. The medicine is absorbed through the insides of your cheeks and mouth. You will be asked to swish around your saliva for 15 minutes in order for the medicine to be absorbed by your body. You will then be asked to spit out the medicine or swallow it depending on your circumstances.

How Long Do the Effects of Ketamine Last?

The length of ketamine effects varies from person to person and from experience to experience. You will be mostly internally focused for the first 45-90 minutes of a ketamine session. You will continue to remain under ketamine’s influence at a lesser level for at least 1-2 hours. The effect of oral lozenges usually begins within 10 minutes, with full effect reached usually by 20 minutes. After assessment at 20 minutes, you may be offered another lozenge dose. The effect of an IM injection will usually start within 2-3 minutes. The deep, effective portion of the experience generally lasts 25-60 minutes.

How is Eligibility for Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Assessed?

Before participating in ketamine treatment, you will be interviewed to determine whether you are eligible for ketamine therapy. This will include a medical history, a physical exam if deemed necessary, review of your medical/psychiatric records, a psychiatric history and administration of brief psychological tests to assess your state of mind. Pregnant women and nursing mothers are not eligible because of potential effects on the fetus, or nursing child. The effects of ketamine on pregnancy and the fetus are undetermined, and therefore, it is advisable to protect against pregnancy while exposing yourself to ketamine or in the immediate aftermath of its use. Untreated hypertension is a contraindication to ketamine use as the substance causes a rise in blood pressure. Similarly, a history of heart disease may make you ineligible to participate. Information on ketamine’s interaction with other medicines is only partially available and it will be assessed as to your eligibility for KAP. Ketamine should not be taken if you have hyperthyroidism. There have also been reports of some decrease in immune function in patients receiving surgical doses of ketamine.

Is Ketamine Safe?

Ketamine has an extensive record of safety and have been used at much higher doses for surgical anesthesia, without respiratory (breathing) complications. Common side effects (greater than 1% and less than 10%: between 1 out of 100 and 10 out of 100) ●Vivid dreams and nightmares ●Nausea and vomiting ●Increased saliva production ●Blurred and uncomfortable vision ●Dizziness ●Out-of-body experience ●Confusion ●Disrupted motor skills (loss of balance and coordination) ●Slurred speech ●Anxiety ●Increased blood pressure ●Increased heart rate ●Synesthesia, a mingling of the senses ●Diminished ability to hear or to feel objects accurately including one’s own body Uncommon side effects (greater than 0.1% and less than 1%: between 1 out of 1,000 and 10 out of 1,000) ●Jerky arm movements ●Increased muscle tension ●Rash ●Pain and redness at the injection site ●Increased pressure in the eye Rare side effects (greater than 0.01% and less than 0.1%: between 1 out of 10,000 and 10 out of /10,000) ●Allergic reaction ●Irregular or slow heart rate ●Low blood pressure ●Arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm) In terms of psychological risk, ketamine has been shown to worsen certain psychotic symptoms in people who suffer from Schizophrenia or other serious mental disorders. It may also worsen underlying psychological problems in people with severe personality disorders. If you have been or are presently diagnosed with similar severe mental disorders, you may not be a candidate for KAP. Driving an automobile or engaging in hazardous activities should not be undertaken for 6 hours after treatment with ketamine and definitively until all effects have stopped if for any reason they continue longer.

Is Nausea an Issue During Ketamine?

Nausea may be experience by some clients. If you tend to have motion sickness, you may be more likely to feel nauseated during Ketamine. If you concerned about nausea, you may be offered an oral anti-nausea medication preventatively at the beginning of your session or during your sessions, if needed. This will be discussed during your medical intake.

Will I Be Able to Drive Myself To and From Ketamine Sessions?

No. You will need to have someone drive you home from the sessions, and you must not engage in any driving or hazardous activity for at least 6 hours or more after your session — depending on the continued presence of effects after the session has concluded.

What Should be Avoided on Ketamine Session Days?

On the day of treatment, you should NOT engage in any of the following. •Driving •Drinking alcohol •Conducting business •Participating in activities which require you to rely on motor skills and memory Driving an automobile or engaging in hazardous activities should not be undertaken for 6 hours after treatment with ketamine and definitively until all effects have stopped if for any reason they continue longer. You should not make any significant life decisions in the days to weeks after starting your ketamine sessions. Sources: Wolfson, P. E. (2014). Ketamine (IM) Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP): A Model for Informed Consent. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 33(2).

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