Break Through When Nothing Else Has Worked: Ketamine Assisted Therapy
When conventional treatments for depression, anxiety, or trauma have left you still struggling, ketamine-assisted therapy offers a clinically proven alternative — rapid symptom relief, deeper emotional access, and a new path forward.
What Is Ketamine Assisted Therapy?
Ketamine-Assisted Therapy (KAT) uses low-dose intramuscular ketamine — a dissociative anesthetic with established antidepressant effects — to create a temporary, altered therapeutic state in which rigid thought patterns dissolve, emotional processing deepens, and new neural pathways can form. At subanesthetic doses, ketamine also reduces neuroinflammation linked to depression and creates space for processing trauma. Our approach is ethically offered and clinically guided by Jude Chedville, APRN, CNS-BC, trained through the Polaris Insight Center in San Francisco.
The Benefits of Ketamine Assisted Therapy
- Rapid Symptom Relief: Many patients experience meaningful mood improvement within hours to days — far faster than conventional antidepressants
- Treatment-Resistant Results: Effective for depression, anxiety, and PTSD that has not responded to SSRIs, SNRIs, or therapy alone
- Emotional Access & Processing: The altered state facilitates breakthrough processing of trauma, grief, and psychological patterns
- Neuroplasticity: Ketamine promotes new synaptic connections and brain network flexibility that support lasting change
- Complements Physiological Care: Pairs powerfully with hormone optimization and metabolic therapies for whole-person healing
*Benefits are potential and not guaranteed; results may vary between individuals.
Conditions & Areas Treated
- Treatment-Resistant Depression: For patients who have not responded adequately to antidepressant medications or psychotherapy alone.
- Anxiety & PTSD: Ketamine's dissociative properties help break the cycle of avoidance and hyperarousal underlying anxiety and trauma.
- Hormone-Related Mood Disorders: Depression and anxiety linked to perimenopause, PCOS, or andropause — particularly powerful when combined with hormone optimization.
- Grief & Life Transitions: Significant losses or identity-level transitions that conventional therapy alone has not resolved.
- Chronic Pain & Inflammation: Ketamine's NMDA receptor antagonism offers relief for some chronic pain conditions alongside its psychological benefits.
Your Treatment Journey
- Comprehensive Consultation
An intake and preparation visit (1 hour, separate day) includes medical and psychological evaluation to confirm fit, review expectations, discuss preparation, and set therapeutic intentions.
- The Treatment Process
Medicine sessions (~2 hours each) are conducted with IM ketamine in a supportive setting, with attention to set/setting, intentions, reclining/eye shades, and music. A typical series is 6 sessions — often weekly — consistent with research supporting extended antidepressant effects.
- Aftercare & Recovery
Immediate post-session processing plus optional integration follow-ups help you apply insights to lasting change. Booster sessions are available as needed and individualized.
Frequently Asked Questions
At the subanesthetic doses used therapeutically, and within the structured series protocol, clinically supervised ketamine-assisted therapy has not been shown to produce addiction in properly screened patients. We screen thoroughly for substance use history before proceeding.
Patients with uncontrolled hypertension, certain cardiac conditions, active psychosis, or a personal or family history of schizophrenia are generally not appropriate candidates. A thorough intake ensures safety.
A typical therapeutic series is 6 sessions, often once weekly. Some patients benefit from fewer; others benefit from booster sessions over time. Your clinical response guides the protocol.
No. You must arrange a trusted driver or transportation. Ketamine impairs judgment and coordination for several hours after administration.
Consult a Provider: Ketamine-Assisted Therapy is medical treatment requiring screening, oversight, and supervision. Not suitable for all patients. Not emergency mental health care.