Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy (PAP)
What is Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy?
- Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) is a unique marriage of psychedelic drugs and psychotherapy administered in a professionally monitored environment to create rapid and long-lasting psychological and behavioral change in people suffering from persistent disorders, such as PTSD. Designated by the U.S. government as a potential “breakthrough therapy” for PTSD and treatment-resistant depression, PAP involves psychotherapy individually tailored to a patient’s experience upon receiving a pharmaceutical-grade psychedelic drug in a medically safe way.
Why Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy?
- Studies show that the psychedelic agent presents vivid new information to patients and enables them to approach memories and feelings they were unable to process before. Specially trained psychotherapists serve as guides for interpreting their experience and helping them integrate the insights into their lives. Researchers contend that it is the psychotherapy that transforms hallucinogens from a novelty into a medicine. All clinicians delivering PAP are required to undergo special training in psychedelic psychotherapy and achieve certification in its use.
- Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is an important innovation for a number of reasons. It creates long-lasting effects after only a very short course of treatment, and improvement typically continues long after active treatment ends. PAP is an entirely new model of treatment in which drug and psychotherapy work synergistically. Further, it shifts the approach to mental illness away from daily neurochemical correction of a brain dysfunction toward modification of conscious experience and meaningful interpretation of it.
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)
What is Ketamine?
How Does Ketamine Feel?
How Does Ketamine Feel?
- Ketamine is a legal, safe, and effective medicine used to treat a variety of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Ketamine has rapidly-acting antidepressant and mood-enhancing effects, which can begin to take effect within 1-2 hrs. after treatment. It works by blocking the brain’s NMDA receptors as well as by stimulating AMPA receptors, which are thought to help form new synaptic connections and boost neural circuits that regulate stress and mood. Ketamine has also been shown to enhance overall neuroplasticity for lasting symptom improvement.
- Ketamine can be administered in a variety of ways, including IV infusion, intramuscular injection, nasal spray, and sublingual lozenges. In my work with Journey Clinical we only use the sublingual lozenge form.
How Does Ketamine Feel?
How Does Ketamine Feel?
How Does Ketamine Feel?
- The 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. Once these effects subside, your psychotherapist will spend the remainder of your appointment giving you space to process and discuss your experience. While it may feel hard to articulate what happens during the experience, patients feel like the insights gained are clear.
How Does Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Work?
1. Initial Consultation
1. Initial Consultation
1. Initial Consultation
- You schedule an initial evaluation with a medical provider. They will go over your medical and psychiatric history with you, provide education on the treatment and determine if you are eligible for KAP
- If the medical provider determines that you are eligible for KAP, they will develop a personalized Ketamine prescription and outcome monitoring plan for you.
2. Preparation sessions
1. Initial Consultation
1. Initial Consultation
- Once you receive your ketamine prescription, we will schedule time together for our KAP preparation, dosing and integration sessions. Preparation session(s) will be scheduled just like regular therapy sessions prior to the KAP dosing session. The goal of a preparation session(s) is to align on the process and set intentions for our KAP sessions together.
3. KAP Dosing Session
1. Initial Consultation
4. Integration Sessions
- A typical ketamine dosing session lasts between 1-2
- During a dosing session, you will self-administer your ketamine lozenge. You will be in a comfortable, reclining position wearing an eye mask and listening to calming music. Although a KAP dosing session may be largely an internal experience, I will be present with you the entire time to hold space and provide support as needed.
4. Integration Sessions
5. Follow-up consultations with Medical Provider
4. Integration Sessions
- After our KAP dosing session, we will meet for multiple integration therapy sessions to review the memories, thoughts & insights that arose during your dosing session, and to prepare for the next dosing session.
5. Follow-up consultations with Medical Provider
5. Follow-up consultations with Medical Provider
5. Follow-up consultations with Medical Provider
- After our first KAP session, the medical provider schedules regular follow ups with you to monitor outcomes and prescribe refills, as appropriate. The frequency of follow ups depends on your unique treatment plan.