I provide psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy using ketamine or cannabis as well as somatic integration for psychedelic experiences you have outside my practice. Once MDMA and psilocybin are legalized for therapeutic use I will be offering therapy with these medicines as well.
Psychedelic therapy is very different from traditional therapy. Instead of working to analyze and think our way to the source of our suffering, and then use the insight we gain to ‘change’ our behavior or perspective, we can now get direct access to the subconscious, the place where traumatic memory, suppressed emotion and relational patterns, formed in childhood, reside. Because we can access the source, we have a much more powerful and effective tool for real, lasting relief from suffering. -Innate Path.org
Psychedelics are proving to be powerful therapeutic tools. A rich body of research suggests psychedelics combined with psychotherapy can offer breakthroughs for people with treatment resistant depression, anxiety, substance use addictions, PTSD, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Through my professional work with clients and my own personal therapy work as a client, I have found that an integrated mind/body therapeutic approach, enhanced by the thoughtful use of psychedelics, can bring healing to the deepest of wounds.
Currently, I offer psychotherapy with Ketamine and Cannabis, both of which are legally available for medicinal use. When used with the intention and setting for therapeutic processing, these medicines can support deep transformation and discovery. I integrate the psychedelic effect of the medicines with a somatic (body-based) processing modality.
Basics of the model I use:
Innate Healers – True healing lies within. In contrast to the traditional view that to find healing we must look outside ourselves; psychedelics teach us that we have an inherent longing and ability to heal. Instead of seeing our symptoms as problems, we learn to see them as guides. Turning inward toward our suffering not only shows us the cause, but also brings to light the solution, which when found heals us naturally the way we heal from a cared for wound.
Embodied Mindfulness – As we cultivate a new relationship to our experience, through an embodied awareness, we access these innate healers. The use of a somatic processing modality encourages embodied awareness.
Addressing Dissociation – Dissociation is a powerful defense employed during traumatic events. It allows us to survive overwhelming circumstances by temporarily hiding from us parts of that experience that we could not manage at the time. If these experiences are not re-integrated afterward, they stay in our system, cycling, causing symptoms. They often become literal blind spots. This is where the support of an experienced therapist becomes essential. To help us turn toward our ‘blind spots’ so they can be re-integrated and therefore healed. Dissociation can take place on the mental, emotional, physical, relational and spiritual levels.
Childhood Programming – Humans are children for a very long time in contrast to other animals. That is because it takes many years to learn all that is necessary to become a human adult. If those years are spent in fear, isolation or in ways that do not promote sovereignty or self-trust, we experience difficulties in adulthood. Psychedelics give us access to this programming offering us the opportunity for updating on that subconscious level. (The basics of the model above are from InnagePath.org.)
What does work with these medicines look like?
We start with about two to four 50-minute therapy sessions. Here we get to know each other, establish trust, and become familiar with what is present that wants to be processed in you. You get to know what working somatically feels like and we start working with the core material that you will likely go deeper into with the assistance of medicine. If after these sessions we both agree you are ready to move into using medicines to deepen the work, then we schedule a 2-hour medicine session and an integration session (50 minutes) which will take place about 3-8 days after the medicine session.
(Please note that I am not a medical prescriber. If you decide to work with Ketamine, I will refer you to a professional prescribing partner for your prescription. The fee for the appointment with the prescribing partner is typically around $275 and it can typically take 1-3 weeks to secure an appointment with them.)
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)
Ketamine is safe, legal, and has been shown as an effective treatment for depression, anxiety and PTSD. I work with a prescriber to provide you with sublingual medicine to use in session. Where a Ketamine infusion center provides a higher dose without therapy, KAP typically uses a lower dose, allowing you to relate to your experience to facilitate processing of the material laying beneath depression, anxiety, and other distressing symptoms. Since Ketamine is a dissociative, it may provide a safety that allows you to process material that otherwise would feel too overwhelming.
Cannabis Assisted Psychotherapy
“Cannabis is a legal and accessible psychedelic medicine. “Cannabis is well known to help ease mental health symptoms such as anxiety, depression, insomnia and PTSD, but what isn’t well known is that cannabis, in conjunction with psychotherapy, can be used to actually resolve these symptoms at their source instead of just managing them. In the right therapeutic set & setting, cannabis becomes one of the most useful tools to access what is actually going on under the surface.” -InnatePath.org
Psychedelic Integration Support
You may have had an experience that you’re unsure how to make sense of or integrate. I offer support to integrate your experience so that what was learned can transfer into your everyday life in a way that allows you to live more fully and peacefully in the present. I offer a safe space to process the unconscious material may have surfaced in your psychedelic journey, whether or not I facilitated the medicinal journey with you. Psychedelic medicine can bring insights, peak experiences, as well as emotional, mental and spiritual breakthroughs. I will support you in bringing these revelations into your everyday life and relationships.
What are the costs associated with therapy?
All 50-minute sessions are $165. Two-hour psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy sessions are $330. I also have a certain number of reduced fee slots in my practice based on financial need.
Do you accept insurance? I do not take insurance for any of the services I provide. I also do not know of any insurance companies currently that pay for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. I do accept most HSA and FSA cards for non-psychedelic sessions.
A great resource to understand and learn more about psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and the model I am trained in and use is here. https://www.psychedelicsomatic.org/resources
More specific details about what ketamine and cannabis-assisted psychotherapy look like to come soon…
