Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy

Written by Christine O’Meara, MA, LCMHC

Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy is a service we proudly offer at Growing Roots Integrative Health and Wellness. This article will share a brief history of Ketamine, how it works and what to expect, which mental health disorders it can treat, and client testimonials. 

Brief History of Ketamine:

Ketamine was first discovered in 1962 in the midst of the Vietnam War, first tested in humans in 1964, and approved for medical use in the United States in 1970, as anesthesia and for pain relief (Aggarwal, 2022). It was developed to create a safer alternative to PCP, which tended to cause breathing problems (Aggarwal, 2022). 

How Ketamine Works and What to Expect:

Ketamine is a NMDAR antagonist, which generates a decrease in the release of GABA, and disinhibition of glutamatergic neurons, which leads to an increase in the presynaptic release of glutamate. This leads to the individual feeling relaxed and invulnerable and induces a state of dissociative anesthesia (Aggarwal, 2022). In addition to these effects, one might have an out-of-body experience, emotionally intense visions, and feelings of ego dissolution (Krupitsky and Kolp, 2007), as well as feelings of love and peace, euphoria, comfort and relaxation, and empathy (Aggarwal, 2022). Furthermore, most people feel awe, which is a powerful emotion. After a study conducted in 2021, Jennifer E. Stellar, a professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, said, “Awe is a self-transcendent emotion that exerts a powerful impact on the self. Through diminishing the ego, awe may help cultivate interconnection, wisdom, meaning, and purpose.” For the days and weeks to come after Ketamine treatment, AMPA receptors are activated, which leads to synaptic plasticity and increased synaptic strength, especially in the prefrontal cortex (Aggarwal, 2022). For physical trauma, ketamine acts as an allosteric antagonist, which is involved in changes in emotional perception and memory of pain (Aggarwal, 2022). 

Which Mental Health Disorder Can Ketamine Treat:

Ketamine can support healing from treatment resistant depression, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders, and eating disorders. In the early 2000s, research on Ketamine as an antidepressant treatment began. The increased synaptic plasticity was found to “help ‘undo’ or ‘reset’ the stress induced structural changes of depressed brains, such as emotional processing and memory areas of the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus” (Aggarwal, 2022).  By rebalancing glutamate and GABA levels in the brain, Ketamine can help both anxiety and depression because high glutamate and low GABA can lead to anxiety and low glutamate and GABA can lead to depression (Aggarwal, 2022).  After a study conducted in 2019, Janine Simmons, M.D., Ph.D. , chief of the NIMH Social and Affective Neuroscience Program, stated “Its (Ketamine’s) ability to rapidly decrease suicidal thoughts is already a fundamental breakthough.” According to a 2019 study conducted by J. Andries and P. Wolfson, Ketamine can allow “access to difficult states of mind with less fear of those encounters, and a relief from obsessive and depressive concerns…increased openness to new inputs and ways of being…a sense of newness and healing.” 

In my experiences conducting Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy with several clients, I have seen the following key factors that have allowed for healing:

- Improved mood 

- Increased openness to discuss challenging memories and topics

- Healing from trauma history

- Positive changes in thoughts and perceptions

- Decreased maladaptive behaviors, such as restricted eating, induced vomiting, and alcohol consumption

- Increased ability to communicate more openly 

- Increased acceptance of one’s self

- Increased tolerance for stressors or triggers 

- Increased hopefulness and motivation

Client Testimonials:

“KAP allowed me to work through barriers in my ED recovery that felt insurmountable before. I continue to be surprised by how I am able to handle triggering situations because of the work I did with KAP. KAP changed my life, shifted my perspective, and continues to make me better at handling my mental health.”  

“Overall I feel a lot better, like a weight has been lifted, and I feel hopeful, which I haven't felt in a while. Like I've said, I've been in and out of therapy my whole life, and it doesn't compare (to KAP). The experience was significant, personal, and deep."

“KAP was definitely helpful and definitely worked.”

“I had a very pleasant experience.” 

Resources:

Aggarwal, S. (2022). Introduction to Ketamine [PowerPoint slides]. The Aims Institute. 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_6y1ixNMOXHJEr1yaVPZYnvv1dnz0F6p/edit?slide=id.p1#slide=id.p1  

Dore, J., Turnipseed, B., Dwyer, S., Turnipseed, A., Andries, J., Ascani, G., Monnette, C., 

Huidekoper, A., Strauss, N., & Wolfson, P. (2019). Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP): Patient Demographics, Clinical Data and Outcomes in Three Large Practices Administering Ketamine with Psychotherapy. Journal of psychoactive drugs, 51(2),  189–198. https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2019.1587556.

Ketamine Reverses Neural Changes Underlying Depression-Related Behaviors in Mice. (2019, 

April 11). National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). https://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-updates/2019/ketamine-reverses-neural-changes-underlying-depression-related-behaviors-in-mice

Kolp E, Krupitsky E, Young M, Jansen K, Harris F, Laurie-Ann, O. (2007). Ketamine Enhanced 

Psychotherapy: Preliminary Clinical Observations on its Effectiveness in Treating Death Anxiety. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies. 26. 10.24972/ijts.2007.26.1.1.

Stellar, J. E. (2021). Awe helps us remember why it is important to forget the self. Annals of the 

New York Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14577

Mental Health Awareness Week

Mental Health Awareness Week always seems to arrive at the exact moment people need permission to slow down. Maybe that is part of what makes it meaningful. It is not just about awareness in the abstract. It is about honesty. About admitting that even the strongest, most capable people carry invisible weight sometimes. For years, conversations around mental health focused mostly on crisis. While those conversations matter deeply, there is also something powerful about talking openly about everyday emotional exhaustion, burnout, guilt, anxiety, loneliness, and the quiet pressure so many people place on themselves to keep going no matter what.

This year, I keep coming back to one idea above all else: self compassion.

Not the polished, picture perfect version of self care that social media often sells us. Real self compassion is messier than that. It is giving yourself grace when your energy is low. It is acknowledging that rest is productive. It is understanding that your worth is not measured by how much you accomplish in a day.

Too many people move through life carrying guilt for being human.

Guilt for needing boundaries.

Guilt for saying no.

Guilt for taking time off.

Guilt for not being “better” fast enough.

But healing does not happen through shame. Growth does not come from constantly criticizing ourselves into exhaustion. Most of us would never speak to someone we love the way we speak to ourselves on hard days.

Mental Health Awareness Week is a reminder to challenge that inner voice. To replace perfection with kindness. To recognize that struggling does not make someone weak. It makes them human. It also feels important to recognize the people who spend their lives supporting the mental health of others. Therapists, counselors, social workers, crisis responders, nurses, psychologists, peer advocates, and caregivers often carry emotional burdens most people never fully see. They sit with grief, trauma, fear, and heartbreak every single day while trying to offer stability and hope to others.

Mental health workers are often praised for their resilience, but resilience should not mean self sacrifice. The truth is that the people helping others need care too. Burnout in mental health professions is real. Compassion fatigue is real. Emotional depletion is real. Many professionals enter this work because they care deeply about people, but caring deeply without protecting your own wellbeing can become unsustainable over time.There is sometimes an unspoken expectation that helpers should always have it together. That because they are trained to support others, they should somehow be immune to stress or emotional exhaustion themselves. That mindset can be incredibly damaging.

Mental health workers deserve rest without guilt.

They deserve boundaries without apology.

They deserve support systems of their own.

And perhaps most importantly, they deserve the same compassion they so freely give to everyone else.

There is something powerful about normalizing wellness within caregiving professions. Taking a mental health day should not feel like failure. Seeking therapy as a therapist should not feel ironic. Protecting personal time should not require justification. When we care for the people who care for others, everyone benefits.

As Mental Health Awareness Week continues, maybe the goal is not to become perfect versions of ourselves. Maybe the goal is simply to become gentler with ourselves. To notice when guilt is driving us harder than compassion ever would. To remember that rest, boundaries, vulnerability, and asking for help are not signs of weakness.

They are signs of being alive.

And in a world that constantly pushes people to do more, achieve more, and carry more, choosing self compassion may be one of the healthiest things we can do.

Women's Health Month: Get Back to Basics

Scroll through social media for five minutes and you’ll see it. Advice coming from every direction telling you how to fix your body. Shrink it, tone it, detox it, optimize it. There’s always a new trend that promises this is the one that will finally make everything click.

It’s exhausting. And honestly, it’s a big part of why so many women feel disconnected from their own bodies in the first place.

I keep coming back to the same thought.

What if none of that is actually necessary? What if feeling better isn’t about doing more, but about doing less and doing it consistently?

Women’s health has gotten so complicated. One week it’s cutting carbs, the next it’s eating “clean,” then fasting, then tracking every macro. It creates this constant feeling that you’re either doing it right or falling behind

But when you strip all of that away, the basics are almost boring. And that’s kind of the point.

Sleep is a big one. It’s so easy to brush off, but everything feels harder when you’re tired. Your mood is off, your energy is low, your hunger feels all over the place. No routine or meal plan is going to fix that if you’re running on empty. Getting enough sleep sounds simple, but it makes a noticeable difference when you actually prioritize it.

Movement is another place where things get overcomplicated. It somehow turned into this all-or-nothing thing where it only “counts” if it’s intense or structured. But going for a walk, stretching, moving your body in a way that feels good, that matters. It adds up. It’s also a lot easier to stick with when it doesn’t feel like punishment.

And then there’s food. Diet culture has really done a number here. There’s this underlying message that eating less is always better, that hunger is something to ignore or push through. But under-eating catches up with you. It affects your energy, your hormones, your focus.

Eating enough shouldn’t feel like something you have to justify. Regular meals, a mix of carbs, fats, and protein, listening to when you’re hungry, that’s just basic care. Not a reward, not something you earn, just something your body needs.

I think what gets lost in all of this is that health isn’t built through short bursts of being “perfect.” It’s the small, repeatable things. Sleeping enough most nights. Moving your body regularly. Eating consistently.

Not perfectly. Just consistently.

The harder part, at least for me and a lot of people I talk to, is trusting that this is enough.

The messaging out there makes it feel like you should always be doing more, trying harder, fixing something.

But your body isn’t a constant project.

When you quiet all that noise, what’s left is pretty simple.

Go to bed when you’re tired. Eat when you’re hungry. Move in ways that don’t drain you. Take a break without feeling like you have to earn it.

It’s not flashy. It’s not going to trend. But it actually works, and it’s something you can keep doing without burning out.

Getting back to basics doesn’t mean you’re giving up on your health. It means you’re finally supporting it in a way that’s sustainable.