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.
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
