Psychedelic Assisted Therapy & Integration

Compassionate support for Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy, as well as preparation and integration after meaningful or challenging psychedelic experiences.

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Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy & Psychedelic Integration

For when you’re doing the work, but still feel stuck.

If you have been in therapy for years, tried medication, read the books, done the practices, and still find yourself looping in anxiety, depression, trauma, or old patterns, you do not have to stay stuck forever. Sometimes what’s needed is a catalyst.

Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy, also known as KAP, combines ketamine treatment with intentional preparation and integration therapy. I offer KAP in partnership with trusted medical providers so you receive a well supported experience from beginning to end. I provide the psychotherapy and facilitation, while the medical team manages screening, prescribing, and medical oversight.

For people who have had meaningful or challenging experiences in altered states of consciousness and want help making sense of them, I also offer integration support. The focus is always on translating what you experience into lasting, grounded changes in your daily life.

What Is KAP?

Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) a structured, legal psychotherapy modality that pairs a low dose of ketamine with preparation and integration therapy. Ketamine temporarily quiets the brain’s default mode network (the inner critic, the rumination loop) and opens a window of neuroplasticity — about 1-2 weeks where your brain is more flexible, open, and able to make new connections. In that window, we do deeper therapy work.

The result for many people is more frequent breakthroughs, less emotional stuckness and significant relief, often beginning within hours to days after a session. 

Just to be clear, ketamine is not a magic pill or a replacement for the work of therapy. It’s a tool to help you access what’s already in you, with more compassion and less fear so you can do the work with more ease. The difference can feel like flowing through the day in calm water instead of swimming against a stormy sea, trying to survive.

Most people describe it as pleasant, dreamlike, and deeply internal. For about 60 minutes, you’ll lie down with an eye mask on, listening to music, while your body relaxes and your mind travels inward. 

You may feel “far from” your body, like you’re observing your thoughts instead of being swallowed by them. After the medicine returns you back to homebase, we spend time together making sense of what you experienced.

What a Ketamine Session Can Feel Like

Person wearing an eye mask while resting during a ketamine assisted psychotherapy session.

Who This Service Is For

This work may be for you if you have been through talk therapy and want to go deeper. It may also be a fit if you are struggling with depression that has not responded to other treatments, or if a traumatic experience continues to affect your mind, body, and everyday life.

It can also support people who have had a meaningful or challenging psychedelic experience and need help making sense of it and grounding it into daily life. You may be curious to explore altered states of consciousness in a safe, ethical, and supported way, but not know where to begin.

KAP may be suitable for adults who are:

  • Living with treatment resistant depression, anxiety, PTSD, or complex trauma

  • Feeling stuck in talk therapy despite real effort

  • Navigating grief, life transitions, burnout, or existential distress

  • Wanting to process old wounds with more self compassion and less overwhelm

  • Medically and psychologically stable and able to engage in preparation and integration

KAP is not appropriate for everyone at all times. It may not be suitable if you have:

  • Active psychosis, schizophrenia, or mania associated with Bipolar I

  • Uncontrolled high blood pressure, heart disease, or hyperthyroidism

  • An active substance use disorder

  • Pregnancy or plans to become pregnant

  • A history of ketamine misuse or certain dissociative disorders

A full medical intake is always the first step. The medical team will review your history and determine whether ketamine treatment is appropriate and safe for you.

When KAP May Not Be the Right Fit

How KAP Differs From Recreational Use

Recreational psychedelic use is usually about having fun. KAP is about healing with intention, preparation, and professional support.

Ketamine can open the door, but therapy helps you walk through it.

1. Set

We spend 2 to 3 preparation sessions clarifying your intentions, building safety, and preparing for the experience.

2. Setting

Your session takes place in a calm therapeutic environment, either in a clinic or in your home through telehealth, rather than in a party setting.

3. Support

I am present throughout the dosing session as your therapist and facilitator, attuned to your cues and available to provide grounding and support as needed.

4. Integration

The work continues after the medicine session. In integration sessions, we connect your insights with your relationships, nervous system, values, and daily life.

“Psychedelic Assisted Therapy helps you remember who you were before the world told you who to be.”

- Michael Pollan

The KAP Process

Step 1: Book a Free 15- minute Intro Consultation

We spend 2 to 3 preparation sessions clarifying your intentions, building safety, and preparing for the experience.

Step 2: Complete Your Medical Intake

You meet via Zoom with a BetterU or Keter Health prescriber (or another vetted prescriber). They review your psychiatric and medical history and determine if you are eligible. If so, we can move forward coordinating your dosing session.

Person attending a virtual medical intake appointment on a laptop.

Step 3: Preparation (2-3 sessions)

We meet to get to know you better, build trust, set intentions, talk about what to expect, and create a plan for your internal journey. Preparation predicts outcomes, so we don’t skip it.

Step 4: KAP Dosing Session (90-120 minutes)

You’ll be in a comfortable, reclined position. After taking the medicine, I stay with you the entire time (whether in person or on secure video with a chaperone in your home) offering grounding and support as needed. We use eye mask and curated music to support your inward experience.

Person resting with an eye mask during a ketamine assisted psychotherapy dosing session.

Step 5: Integration (the most important part)

Within 24-72 hours, and again in the following weeks, we meet to process what arose. This is where we connect the insight to your life, your patterns, your trauma history, and your values. Integration is what makes change stick.

We may repeat steps 2-4 of this cycle several times, depending on your needs.

What You May Notice Over Time

After a ketamine session, the brain may enter a period of increased neuroplasticity, when the mind can be more receptive to learning and making new connections. With consistent preparation and integration, you may notice:

✓ Feeling calmer and less reactive to life

✓ Feeling more present in your relationships

✓ Increased motivation, energy, and productivity

✓ Improved mood and a greater ability to enjoy life

✓ A deeper spiritual connection

✓ Creative unlocking

✓ Feeling more at home in your body

✓ More ease in your day to day life

Participant Reflections

Due to the ethical standards around testimonials for therapists, all feedback shared here was provided with consent from non-client group journey participants. It has been anonymized to protect privacy.

“Thank you from my heart for the beautiful space. For the tender, careful, and wise guidance, the support, and the way everything was held with such care, presence, and sensitivity. It felt safe and deep. I’m grateful for the chance to touch something beyond the ordinary and grasp how each soul has a unique role in the universe. Today I feel exactly as Ruthie invited us to notice, noticing the beauty all around me and sensing how rich, diverse, and astonishing life on Earth really is. My mood feels uplifted, open, and full of gratitude. Wishing peace in your souls.”

- Journey Participant

“Thank you very much for facilitating the group so beautifully. You created an atmosphere of safety, kindness, and love. All the small touches from the altar, the music, the incense, the food afterwards, the interactions, the space, and giving us all the time we needed to integrate were felt and deeply appreciated.”

- Journey Participant

Investment

There are two separate fees: the therapist facilitation fee and the medical provider fee, which is paid directly to the provider. Pricing varies depending on the medical provider you select, your location, and the number of dosing sessions needed.

Bundled service packages and payment plans are available. Medical costs may be HSA or FSA eligible. A limited sliding scale is available for people experiencing financial hardship.

Let’s Talk

KAP is deep work. It is not right for everyone at every time, and the timing and readiness need to be aligned.

The best next step is a conversation. Fill out the contact form or email me at ruthie@mentalfitnesstherapy.org with “KAP Consultation” in the subject line, and we will schedule a free 15 minute call to talk through your history, goals, and whether this is a safe, aligned fit.

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FAQ

  • No, KAP is not a substitute for therapy work, but it works synergistically with therapy. Ketamine without therapy is just an interesting experience that fades away. Ketamine makes your brain more open and flexible, but skilled therapy helps rewire it and strengthen new healthy connections. You can choose to continue your regular therapy while undergoing KAP.

  • Yes, Ketamine has been used legally as an anesthetic for over 50 years. Its use for depression, anxiety and PTSD is off-label, FDA-legal, and evidence-based. When screened and dosed medically, it has a strong safety profile. It’s even used in babies in the NICU and animals in much higher doses than what you would be getting in KAP. Common side effects are short-lived nausea, dizziness, or increased blood pressure.

  • We have two options: 

    1. At-home sublingual lozenges with me present virtually via telehealth and a chaperone in your home acting as my “hands and feet.” 

    2. In-person IM sessions coordinated through Keter Health, with me present for therapy support. We’ll choose what’s safest for your location and needs.

  • If you are in crisis mode or your nervous system needs more individual support before coming to a group process, this may not be the right time for the Full Moon Journey. You may however, try out the New Moon online circles, which are more mild and low key or reach out for individual therapy. Additionally, if you have no interest in Jewish teachings, somatic work, or nature, then this may not be the right setting.

  • Many people begin with an initial series of 3 to 6 dosing sessions over 6 to 10 weeks, each supported by preparation and integration therapy. Some people notice a shift after 1 or 2 sessions, while others need more time. KAP is intended as a short-term treatment, not serial journey stacking for months and months. As integration takes effect more and more, the idea is to reduce the dosing sessions. We will move at a pace that suits your needs.

  • Preparation is the process of building safety and intention prior to dosing. Preparation may include learning about the medicine, discussing your expectations, hopes, and feelings about the journey, resourcing your body and mind for the journey ahead, addressing any barriers that may interfere with the effects, and going over safety agreements. Integration translates your powerful experience into actual, lasting change in your life. Integration may include talking about your journey to make sense of it, engaging in daily life with meaningful components from your journey, reinforcing new learnings in the body and through behavioral actions.  Without integration, it’s just an interesting day. With it, it’s a process that can change your life for the better.

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