Consciousness… It's Not What You Think.
This is a decision you make with your medical doctor. We will first assess your suitability for this intervention and if we think we may be able to help, we refer you to a physician who will assess your eligibility and if medically warranted, will prepare a prescription of low dose ketamine for you. Our clinic does not offer IM or IV Ketamine at this time.
The scientific literature informs that ketamine is most effective when combined with psychotherapy. Low doses of ketamine are used to deepen a focused psychotherapy experience while you are in an expanded state of consciousness. While under the influence of this medicine, habitual patterns of thinking, coping, feeling, loosen their grip enough to allow other possibilities and options to emerge into awareness.
Best practices are evolving over time, along with ever increasing applications of ketamine enhanced psychotherapy. At our clinic, we provide a safe, structured, and therapeutically supported environment, with trained and skilled clinicians whose sole objective is to assist you to deepen and understand your ketamine journey.
Research supports that the ‘temporary interruption’ in habitual ways of thinking can produce significant shifts in overall well being, at least temporarily. Working with a trusted therapist can lead to a new capacity for handling life’s challenges. Sometimes, there is an increased ability to surrender to events we cannot change, leading to a more peaceful acceptance that was not possible before. Sometimes, there is increased motivation to engage in better self-care habits, like exercising and eating better. Other times the trauma memories simply don’t have the same emotional impact as they did before.
Once you have been screened and onboarded with us, we schedule treatment blocks of 4, 6, or 8 sessions for KET, depending on your needs and prescription.
Each session is 90-120 minutes, scheduled weekly. After a block of treatment, we recommend that you take time to introspect on your experiences. We encourage you to invest time in yourself. This is part of your ‘aftercare’ planning. Additional rounds of sessions are discussed on an individual basis.
While under the influence of ketamine, people report experiencing a state of relaxation and heightened conscious awareness. The interface of remaining physically relaxed and simultaneously alert and aware is an expanded state of consciousness and if expertly navigated, can lead to a disruption in automatic patterns of negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
We will prepare you for your ketamine dose session and the therapeutic journey. We spend time discussing your intention or reason for the journey, establishing the Set of the journey.
We will teach you some self-care and self-soothing skills to practice before your journey. We will guide you in preparing for your journey in every detail. When you are ready, after one or two sessions of preparation, we will stay with you for your entire journey.
Effects are felt in about 20 minutes and last for about 40-45 minutes, depending on how your body metabolizes the drug. The drug effects make it easier to go into deeper states of consciousness, not possible without years of meditation practice, or another psychedelic. The rest of the time is spent on integrating your experience.
You will experience both a guided session and a self-directed session. In a guided session, your therapist will take you into a pre-planned specific memory. In a self-directed journey, you let the medicine take you into yourself. You have options. We invite you to make the session yours by letting us know your preferences.
After the journey, the temporary loosening of habitual negative patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving can allow for deeper introspection and therapeutic processing of difficult memories with your therapist. Trust is important in the Integration process, and for this reason, we take the time you need to ensure your sense of safety and comfort with us.
For your Aftercare Planning, we ensure that you have all the tools and supports you need in place to maximize the opportunity to integrate your newfound insights into your activities of daily living. This will be discussed with you in your final session, before discharge.
Psychedelic assisted therapy can provide rapid symptom relief and provides a window of opportunity for you to work on your original intention for the journey. Remember that ketamine is not a psychedelic and does not have the same long-lasting effects as found with psilocybin or other plant medicines. With low dose Ketamine, insights can be gained, and windows of opportunity can be nourished so that each day becomes easier and easier. We help you make an individualized plan for your self care and support you as you return gradually to your activities of daily living (ADL’s)
Sometimes, meaning can be found in senseless and frightening events from our past, and lead to post-traumatic growth.
Once consciousness expands, the memory of the experience will never leave.
If you follow your self-care plan, in the weeks and months that follow, you may experience greater ease in managing your life, without the automatic and debilitating thoughts, feelings, and behaviours from your past.
This part of the journey is entirely dependent on the time, care and attention you give yourself implementing new insights into your activities of daily living.
When you are ready, the first step always begins with you. Call us for a complimentary phone consultation so we can discuss your concerns and determine whether KAP might be of benefit to you. If it seems that you could benefit and you would like to proceed, we will email you some forms as part of our onboarding process.
Once we have your completed forms, we can schedule a Psychosocial Assessment with one of our qualified clinicians.
After the assessment, we will send a referral to our consulting physician who will review your medical history with you and make a decision about your eligibility to benefit from low-dose Ketamine. Possible risks and benefits will also be discussed with you directly.
If you are still not certain whether you want to proceed and want an online consultation with our clinician, this also is available to you. Please call us. We will answer your call.
Ready to take the next steps?
If you're interested in learning more about psychedelics but not quite ready to reach out, check out our blog page for some general information on the latest news and research
