Ketamine-Assisted
Psychotherapy (KAP)
Break Through What’s Been Holding You Back – Safely, Compassionately, and With Professional Support
If you’ve been in therapy for a while or tried medication after medication without finding the relief you need, you’re not alone – and you haven’t done anything wrong.
Sometimes depression, anxiety, trauma, or emotional pain runs so deep that traditional approaches can only take us so far. When the mind’s defenses are firmly in place, it can feel nearly impossible to access the feelings, memories, or insights needed for true healing.
This is where Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) can make all the difference.
Keatmine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) combines the transformative power of low-dose ketamine medicine with the safety and guidance of professional psychotherapy – creating a unique therapeutic window where deep healing becomes possible.
Whether you’re struggling with treatment-resistant depression, complex trauma, chronic anxiety, or simply feeling stuck despite your best efforts, Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) offers a compassionate, evidence-based path toward the breakthrough you’ve been seeking.
If you’re ready to explore whether KAP might be right for you, contact us today to schedule a free, 15-minute initial consultation and learn more about how this innovative approach can support your healing journey.
What Is Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy?
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy is an innovative treatment approach that combines carefully monitored ketamine administration with specialized psychotherapy to facilitate profound psychological healing and growth.
Ketamine is a legal, FDA-approved medication that has been used safely in medical settings for decades.
When used at sub-anesthetic doses in a therapeutic context, ketamine can temporarily reduce the mind’s defensive barriers, allowing you to:
- Access and process difficult emotions and memories with less overwhelm
- Gain new perspectives on long-standing patterns and beliefs
- Experience relief from depression and anxiety symptoms
- Feel more connected to yourself, others, and a sense of meaning
- Create lasting changes through neuroplasticity – your brain’s ability to form new neural connections
When used at sub-anesthetic doses in a therapeutic context, ketamine can temporarily reduce the mind’s defensive barriers, allowing you to:
- Access and process difficult emotions and memories with less overwhelm
- Gain new perspectives on long-standing patterns and beliefs
- Experience relief from depression and anxiety symptoms
- Feel more connected to yourself, others, and a sense of meaning
- Create lasting changes through neuroplasticity – your brain’s ability to form new neural connections
Unlike taking ketamine alone or in recreational settings, KAP provides the structure, safety, and therapeutic support necessary to integrate these experiences into lasting change. Your therapist is with you throughout the entire process, helping you prepare, navigate the experience, and make sense of what emerges.
Contact us today, schedule your free, initial phone consultation, get your questions answered, and find out whether Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy is right for you.
How Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Can Help
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) has shown remarkable promise for individuals dealing with:
Treatment-Resistant Depression
When multiple antidepressants and years of therapy haven’t provided relief, KAP can offer a different pathway to healing by working through different neural mechanisms.
Complex Trauma and PTSD
Ketamine can help you process traumatic memories and experiences with less emotional flooding, making it possible to work through what once felt too overwhelming to face.
Chronic Anxiety and Rumination
By quieting the default mode network in the brain, KAP can provide relief from persistent worry, obsessive thoughts, and anxious patterns that have felt impossible to break.
Feeling Stuck in Therapy
Even when therapy is helpful, sometimes we hit a wall. KAP can help you move past long-standing defenses and access deeper layers of healing.
Through Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP), many clients report:
- Significant reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms, often after just a few sessions
- Greater self-compassion and reduced shame
- New insights into relationship patterns and personal history
- A renewed sense of hope, meaning, and possibility
- Improved ability to engage with ongoing therapy and daily life
- A felt sense of connection and wholeness
Contact us today, schedule a free, 15-minute initial phone consultation, and take the first step toward a clearer, calmer, more connected life.
What to Expect in Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Sessions
At Humboldt Therapy, we follow a careful, structured approach to ensure your safety and maximize the therapeutic benefits of KAP:
1. Initial Consultation and Assessment
We begin with a thorough consultation to discuss your history, current symptoms, treatment goals, and any medical considerations. As part of the assessment process, we’ll connect you with a psychiatrist who specializes in KAP for a comprehensive evaluation. The psychiatrist will review your medical and psychiatric history, assess whether KAP is appropriate and safe for you, and determine the right treatment approach. Together, we’ll answer all your questions about the process and collaborate to create a treatment plan tailored to your needs.
2. Preparation Sessions
Before your first ketamine session, we’ll spend time building our therapeutic relationship and preparing you emotionally and practically for the experience. We’ll discuss what to expect, address any concerns, and establish intentions for your work together.
3. Medicine Sessions
During a KAP session, you’ll receive a carefully measured dose of ketamine in a safe, comfortable setting. Your therapist will be present throughout the entire experience, which typically lasts 45-90 minutes. You’ll be encouraged to turn inward, wear an eye mask and headphones with music, and explore whatever arises with curiosity and openness. We even offer the option of doing EMDR-style, bilateral stimulation during sessions.
The ketamine experience is often described as deeply relaxing, insightful, and sometimes even transcendent. Some people have vivid imagery or emotional releases, while others experience a quiet sense of peace and perspective. There’s no “right” way to experience it – whatever emerges is what you need.
4. Integration Sessions
The real work happens in integration. After each medicine session, we’ll spend dedicated time processing what came up, identifying insights, and translating your experience into practical changes in your daily life. Integration is where temporary relief becomes lasting transformation.
At Humboldt Therapy, we enhance the integration process by drawing on a range of specialized therapeutic modalities that complement the work you’ve done during your ketamine session. Depending on your needs and your therapist’s training, integration may incorporate:
SOMATIC THERAPY FOR INTEGRATION
Ketamine experiences often bring up powerful bodily sensations, emotions held in the body, and somatic memories. Our therapists trained in somatic approaches can help you:
- Track and process the physical sensations that arose during your session
- Release tension, trauma, or emotions that are stored in your body
- Develop greater body awareness and learn to listen to your body’s wisdom
- Practice grounding and regulation techniques to support ongoing nervous system healing
- Reconnect with your body in ways that feel safe and empowering
By incorporating somatic therapy into integration, we help you anchor insights not just mentally, but in your lived, embodied experience – which creates deeper and more lasting change.
EMDR THERAPY FOR INTEGRATION
Many clients find that ketamine experiences surface traumatic memories, painful emotions, or stuck patterns that are ready to be processed and released. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) can be a powerful tool during integration sessions to:
- Process traumatic material that became accessible during your ketamine session
- Resolve distressing memories or images that emerged
- Reprocess negative beliefs about yourself that you became aware of
- Build on the neuroplasticity created by ketamine to rewire trauma responses
- Consolidate and deepen the healing work initiated during the medicine session
The combination of KAP and EMDR can be particularly powerful, as ketamine opens neural pathways and reduces defenses, while EMDR provides a structured method for processing and integrating what surfaces.
OTHER THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES FOR INTEGRATION
Integration can also draw on relational, person-centered, CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), and narrative psychotherapy approaches. Your therapist may help you:
- Explore the meaning and significance of your experience within the therapeutic relationship
- Identify and challenge unhelpful thought patterns that surfaced
- Clarify your values and commit to aligned actions moving forward
- Reauthor the stories you tell about yourself and your life
- Build psychological flexibility and acceptance of difficult emotions
- Develop practical coping skills and behavioral strategies
The integration phase is highly personalized. Your therapist will work with you to determine which approaches – whether talk therapy, somatic work, EMDR, or a combination – will best support your unique process and help you embody the healing that began during your ketamine session.
5. Ongoing Support
KAP is typically provided as a series of sessions over several weeks or months, with the frequency and duration tailored to your unique needs and response. Throughout the process, we’ll monitor your progress and adjust the treatment plan as needed.
Is Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Safe?
Safety is our absolute priority. Ketamine has an extensive track record of safe use in medical settings when properly administered and monitored.
At Humboldt Therapy, we follow rigorous safety protocols:
- Comprehensive medical screening before beginning treatment
- Careful dosing based on individual factors
- Continuous monitoring throughout each session
- Coordination with your medical providers when appropriate
- Clear contraindications (conditions that make KAP inappropriate) are carefully assessed
At Humboldt Therapy, we follow rigorous safety protocols:
- Comprehensive medical screening before beginning treatment
- Careful dosing based on individual factors
- Continuous monitoring throughout each session
- Coordination with your medical providers when appropriate
- Clear contraindications (conditions that make KAP inappropriate) are carefully assessed
KAP may not be suitable for everyone, including individuals with certain medical conditions (such as uncontrolled high blood pressure or certain heart conditions) or active substance use disorders. We’ll carefully assess your individual situation to ensure KAP is safe and appropriate for you.
The side effects during sessions are typically mild and temporary, potentially including mild dissociation, nausea, increased blood pressure, or emotional intensity. These effects resolve shortly after the medicine wears off, and you’ll be monitored throughout to ensure your comfort and safety.
Contact us today, schedule your free, initial phone consultation, get your questions answered, and find out whether Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy is right for you.
Our Approach to KAP at Humboldt Therapy
At Humboldt Therapy, we bring the same values to KAP that guide all our work: compassion, inclusivity, respect for your autonomy, and a deep commitment to your healing.
We understand that considering KAP can bring up questions, concerns, and even skepticism – especially if you’ve tried many treatments before. We welcome all of it. This is your journey, and we’re here to provide information, support, and expert guidance without pressure or judgment.
Our KAP services are provided by experienced, specially trained therapists who understand both the clinical and relational aspects of this work. We approach each session with deep respect for the vulnerability and courage it takes to do this work.
We also recognize that healing doesn’t happen in isolation. We welcome and celebrate people of all backgrounds, genders, sexualities, and neurotypes. We practice from a trauma-informed, feminist, and social justice lens, understanding that personal struggles often intersect with larger systems of oppression and marginalization.
Whether this is your first time considering KAP or you’ve been researching it for months, we’re here to meet you wherever you are and walk alongside you with expertise, warmth, and unwavering support.
Is Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Right for You?
You might benefit from KAP if:
- You’ve tried multiple antidepressants or therapeutic approaches without adequate relief
- You feel stuck in therapy despite genuine effort and engagement
- You struggle with trauma that feels too overwhelming to process directly
- You experience persistent depression, anxiety, or emotional pain that interferes with your life
- You’re open to exploring new approaches and doing deep inner work
- You’re looking for a catalyst to deepen your existing therapy work
- You’re curious about the intersection of neuroscience and consciousness in healing
The only way to know if KAP is right for you is to have a conversation. We’re happy to answer your questions, address your concerns, and help you make an informed decision about whether this approach aligns with your needs and goals.
Practical Information
Cost and Insurance
Inquire to learn more about cost and insurance options.
Location and Format
In-person sessions at our Eureka office are recommended for KAP to ensure optimal safety and therapeutic support. In some cases, KAP may be appropriate through telehealth, which will be determined during your assessment. You’ll need to arrange for someone to drive you home after your medicine sessions, as the effects of ketamine make driving unsafe for several hours.
Time Commitment
A typical KAP treatment course involves an initial assessment, preparation sessions, a series of 4-8 medicine sessions (each lasting 2-3 hours including preparation and immediate integration), and ongoing integration therapy. The total timeline varies based on individual needs, but many clients complete their initial series over 2-4 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is KAP different from "Ketamine Infusions" or "Ketamine Clinics"?
Ketamine infusion clinics typically provide ketamine alone, without psychotherapy, primarily targeting symptom relief. KAP integrates ketamine within a comprehensive psychotherapy framework, focusing not just on symptom reduction but on deeper psychological healing, insight, and lasting change. The therapeutic relationship and integration work are essential components that distinguish KAP from medical-model ketamine treatment.
How quickly will I see results?
Many people notice some improvement in mood and outlook within days of their first session, though lasting change develops over the course of treatment and integration work. KAP is not a quick fix – it’s a catalyst for deeper therapeutic work that unfolds over time.
Will I become addicted to ketamine?
When used responsibly in a therapeutic context at appropriate doses, ketamine has very low addiction potential. We carefully monitor your response and follow evidence-based protocols to ensure safe use. KAP is also time-limited, not an ongoing indefinite treatment.
What if I have a "bad trip"?
Difficult or challenging experiences during KAP sessions can actually be therapeutically valuable when processed with support. Your therapist is present throughout to help you navigate whatever arises with safety and compassion. We also carefully prepare you beforehand and use techniques to promote positive, healing-oriented experiences.
Can I continue my regular therapy while doing KAP?
Yes! Many clients find that KAP enhances their ongoing therapy. We encourage open communication with your other providers and can coordinate care when appropriate.
Do I need to stop my psychiatric medications?
In most cases, no. Many people continue their regular medications while doing KAP. We’ll review your medications during the assessment process and coordinate with your prescriber if any adjustments are recommended.
Ready to Explore Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy?
Taking the step to try something new – especially something as innovative as KAP – requires courage. If you’ve read this far, some part of you is already moving toward the possibility of deeper healing.
We invite you to honor that part of yourself.
Whether you have questions, concerns, or you’re ready to move forward, we’re here to support you with expertise, compassion, and respect for your unique journey.
Contact us today to schedule your free, 15-minute consultation. We’ll take the time to understand your situation, answer your questions, and help you determine whether KAP might be the right next step in your healing journey.
You don’t have to stay stuck. You don’t have to keep suffering. There is another way forward – and we’re here to walk it with you.
Please Note: Humboldt Therapy provides Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy in compliance with all California regulations and professional standards. KAP services are provided by licensed mental health professionals with specialized training in psychedelic-assisted therapy, in collaboration with a psychiatrist from Journey Clinical who conducts medical evaluations and prescribes ketamine when appropriate. All clients undergo thorough medical and psychological screening to ensure safety and appropriateness of treatment.