Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) is an innovate treatment that combines talk therapy with ketamine that has shown to be highly effective in the treatment of treatment-resistant depression, PTSD and C-PTSD, anxiety, OCD, grief, and addiction, among others. It can also be used for those seeking a deeper understanding of Self in a psychedelic fashion. All Ketamine services are provided by Voyage Healing with therapy provided by myself.
What is ketamine?
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic and was popularized in the early 60’s and used during the Vietnam War. Soldiers called it the “buddy drug” because it allowed injured soldiers to enter a dissociated and numb state as they await care. It has also been used successfully in pediatrics and veterinary medicine. It has shown great success for treatment resistant depression, anxiety, addiction and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), among other disorders.
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One of the appeals of ketamine is the rapid onset of action and results versus other antidepressants or talk therapy. As many as 4 million adults in the US have treatment resistant depression, making this fast-acting option even more appealing. Dr. Andre Atoian states “Ketamine is the agent that works when most others have failed. It is something that really allows us to give patients a new hope." In most studies, more than 50% of the participants exhibited a decrease in their depression symptoms just 24 hours after ketamine treatment. These results are statistically significant, and the results increase with number of sessions.
How does it work?
Ketamine works on the glutamate receptors in the brain. It is believed that ketamine may help regenerate new neuronal connections. Glutamate is used in the neurons in the brain to communicate with other neurons. At low doses, glutamate production is enhanced, and more activity in the brain occurs. When people are under stress or depressed for a long time, neurons can start to lose the connections. Stress, especially persistent stress, induces structural changes in the brain. Ketamine counterbalances these changes by promoting synaptic growth in affected areas of depressed brains such as the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus, which regulate behavior, mood, personality development, and memory. When ketamine is administered, some of those effects seem to start to reverse. There’s a saying in the therapy community, what fires together wires together. By new firing and wiring happening, new neural connections can be made and change is possible. In this way, the brain is healing. If you are interested in learning more or starting this work with me, please reach out and set up a consultation.
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