You know there are things you need to work through, and you’re curious if ketamine assisted psychotherapy can support that work.
Maybe you’ve been in therapy, and it’s helped. Now you’re looking for a process that creates more space and different entry points into the tender areas you want to work with.
Or you keep meaning to address what’s hard: the old family patterns showing up in your relationships, the ways you’re harsh with yourself, how you cope in moments that later leave you with regret.
Something has shifted. The familiar ways feel less comfortable because you can see they’re not yielding what you’re seeking. You’re ready to dedicate more expansive time and explore with an altered state.
People I work with are often:
- Navigating relationship patterns – people-pleasing, over-giving, or losing yourself in relationships
- Working with family-of-origin wounds and intergenerational trauma
- Healing from loss – breakups, grief, or major life transitions
- Finding healthier ways to cope that don’t leave you with regret
- Seeking clarity about who you are and what you need
I also work with people navigating their relationship with substances, though this requires careful assessment. If you’re curious whether this might be right for you, reach out and we can discuss it.
If you’re looking for trauma-informed, relationally-focused ketamine therapy in Brooklyn, NY, here’s what working together might look like:
- A highly personalized, relational process. If we determine this is the right fit for you, our work together begins immediately. We’ll have 2-3 preparation sessions where I guide you in how to slow down and prepare. I create a fresh meditation for each medicine session based on what you’re working with, and provide two full integration sessions (one the day after, another within the same week) to help you weave what emerged into your life. Medicine sessions are three hours, but the care and attention span the entire arc of this work.
- Accessing symbolic and non-verbal material that may emerge in altered states. For some people, it may be discovering what you’ve overlooked. The process invites you to work with familiar things—or new material that emerges—differently, or see how they connect to other parts of your life.
- Working with neuroplasticity. The medicine can create windows of malleability where new understanding becomes possible or more readily applied, which we work with in your follow-up sessions.
I offer KAP to adults in Brooklyn, NY, and across New York State who are interested in improving their relationship to themselves and others. My ketamine assisted psychotherapy services are best suited for people who are ready for journey work as a gradual, intention-anchored process.
People I work with are often:
- Navigating relationship patterns – people-pleasing, over-giving, or losing yourself in relationships
- Working with family-of-origin wounds and intergenerational trauma
- Healing from loss – breakups, grief, or major life transitions
- Finding healthier ways to cope that don’t leave you with regret
- Seeking clarity about who you are and what you need
I also work with people navigating their relationship with substances, though this requires careful assessment. If you’re curious whether this might be right for you, reach out and we can discuss it.
You can learn more about my general psychotherapy approach here.
💬 Curious if this might be right for you? I reach out! I’m happy to discuss whether we might be a good fit. Message me at quai[@]discoverspace.me to schedule a phone consultation call.
FAQ’s
How does psychedelic therapy work?
Psychedelic assisted therapy can be a resource to help you work with your default ways of relating to your life. Your ‘defaults’, that is the behaviors and perspectives that you’ve learned early in life, can be re-patterned when you decide you want to work on them. Psychedelics, when used in a contained and intentional way and if it’s the right modality at the right time, can assist with finding pain points and forge new pathways to healing. Psychedelic therapy can assist by building in pauses or shifts to things that you may have over looked or misunderstood in your system.
The actions of psychedelics interrupt our normal ways of operating, thus bringing forth opportunity for fresh thinking, perspective and observations. This provides opportunity to generate more latitude of thoughts, understanding and actions in your life, which when worked with through time, can assist you in creating change.
It’s not the medicine that does the healing. Rather it’s your work, which has been primed by your intention, space being mindfully held and the actions of the psychedelic that set the stage for personal growth.
What is ketamine assisted psychotherapy (KAP)?
Ketamine assisted psychotherapy is a service that combines two treatments where a person takes a legally prescribed dose of ketamine and simultaneously engages in therapy. Ketamine can be considered a lubricant to a therapy process, where it supports opening up content and with supportive therapy increases access to self compassion and clarity.
How is KAP facilitated in your practice?
In my practice in Brooklyn, NY, I usually begin the work gently, at a low dose. This is considered a ‘psycholytic dose’, as opposed to a psychedelic dose. This means you are able to work in a non-ordinary state of consciousness while remaining in touch with the present moment, as well as being able to engage with me, the therapist. Sometimes people choose to move into psychedelic doses, depending on what they are working on and their experiences with journeys.
To work with KAP, I connect people with a medical provider and collaborate with that provider. If the medical provider and person interested in KAP determine it’s appropriate to work with ketamine, the provider offers a prescription for lozenges (oral ketamine). The person then brings the lozenges to their KAP sessions for therapeutic work.
I take notes during all KAP sessions, so that you have a detailed log of what you were exploring. This is an important tool for the time following your journey, which is called integration. The integration period is where you have opportunity to make use of insights and new pathways. I provide a full integration session the day after your KAP session, and another within the same week to continue supporting your integration process.”
What happens in a KAP session?
KAP sessions are three-hours long, and take place in a serene office in Brooklyn, NY. The time provides time for several things. We will begin by talking about how you’re feeling that morning and discussing your intention. You will self administer the ketamine and I will offer you a guided meditation.
Oral ketamine, the form you’ll use, gently brings you into an altered space. I provide a music play list to create a container for your therapeutic exploration and take copious notes for you throughout your journey. The notes are to help you work with what comes up after the medicine space; this frees you up from concern about needing to remember everything.
You will gradually return to a normal state. Since you will have fasted and as part of the ritual of this work, I will then offer you a small, nourishing snack and we will discuss your experience.
Is KAP right for me?
KAP works best when you have some foundational stability in your life and a sense of what you’re working toward. This means:
- You’re able to build trust with a therapist who will hold space for you in vulnerable moments
- Your life has enough stability to support this work (supportive relationships, not in acute crisis)
- If you’re working with trauma, you have some awareness of your triggers and sensitive areas
- You don’t have medical conditions that would make ketamine unsafe (this is determined by the medical provider who prescribes)
KAP is a gradual, intentional process. Not a quick fix. If you’re curious whether you’re ready for this work, please read the “When KAP isn’t a good fit” section and reach out to discuss your specific situation.
Can I do KAP with you while still seeing my regular therapist?
Yes, I provide KAP as its own service, and some people work with it alongside their regular therapy. If you already have a relationship with a therapist and want to discuss if this might be a supportive, adjunctive therapy I can collaborate with your current therapist. While KAP can be hugely supportive when it’s the right fit, psychedelic therapy isn’t for everyone.
Is ketamine assisted psychotherapy covered by insurance?
Most insurance doesn’t cover KAP in full, but parts of the therapeutic work may be reimbursable depending on your plan. What’s covered varies significantly by insurance company and plan. I can help you navigate what your specific insurance might reimburse and give you a clear picture of potential costs. It’s worth exploring this together rather than just calling your insurance company directly, as representatives often aren’t familiar with KAP. If you’re interested but concerned about affordability, let’s talk and see what your options are.
How much does ketamine assisted therapy cost?
I charge by the therapy hour at $200-$275 per session. Preparation and integration sessions are standard therapy appointments. Medicine sessions are three hours and billed as three therapy hours. I offer limited sliding scale availability for clients who are a strong match for this work. Please reach out to discuss fees and insurance options.
💬 Curious if this might be right for you? I reach out! I’m happy to discuss whether we might be a good fit. Message me at quai[@]discoverspace.me to schedule a phone consultation call.
Why consider ketamine assisted psychotherapy (KAP)?
Difficult experiences are often rooted in patterns that formed in the youngest years of life. This means our nervous systems, ways of understanding the world and relational trajectories are primed early in life and they are difficult to shift without multi-layered interventions. Ketamine assisted psychotherapy is a layered approach. Working with this medicine and experiential therapy can support you in multiple ways.
Additionally, ketamine is a fast acting antidepressant. Addressing depression through this combination can assist you in finding insights into states you struggle to be in.
But these do not happen with ketamine alone.
The medicine is a tool that in combination with other elements can enhance healing and self growth work you may already be doing. The elements that work in conjunction with a psychedelic are:
- a trusting therapeutic connection with the person holding space for you
- appropriate dosing (determined between you and a medical provider)
- an intentional process that includes preparation work, intention setting and time after a journey to fully absorb and apply key insights, perspective shifts and/or clarity.
When KAP isn’t a good fit
While I believe experiential journeys can be valuable for nearly everyone, (meaning learning, healing and personal growth through time), psychedelic journeys are not for everyone. The following list provides a general overview of some reasons you may want to hold off on KAP or try a different modality.
- Health Concerns— If you have an uncontrolled and serious health condition, such as unmanaged high blood pressure or a recent major surgery you may not be able to work with this medicine, which would be determined by you and a medical provider.
- Self Knowledge— If you’re new to being in therapy, and/or don’t yet have a foundation in knowing what some of your triggers and sensitive areas are, you may want to build that base first. Psychedelic therapy can bring you to new places and you’ll want to have some inner resources before traversing into potentially sensitive content.
- Instability— If your current life feels unstable, such as not feeling safe at home, experiencing an emotional crisis, or being between jobs (and not by choice), this would be more of a time for establishing security before working with psychedelic therapy.
- Already Open & Need Grounding as Opposed to Expansion— Some people already experience the world with a wide open spirit and don’t need to expand with the support of a psychedelic, but more need support containing the openness so they don’t loose their sense of self. If this is you, you likely know because you don’t relate to people looking to open or expand and you ‘go there’ regularly.
- Unstable Thought Patterns— Some people may also have concerns about a psychedelic triggering unstable thought patterns, paranoia or manic experiences, especially if they have experienced this in the past. This would be important to discuss with the person doing a medical evaluation and who would potentially be prescribing for you as well as discussing with me.
My background and training
My psychedelic training includes a KAP training with Fluence, experiential training through Polaris and a psychedelic facilitator training with SoundMind. I’ve also undertaken my own journey work. I began offering KAP in my Brooklyn, NY office after years of experience as a therapist, with training in somatic work, IFS, trauma care, and non-verbal supports.
I approach this work with humility, recognizing that healing practices take many forms. I work collaboratively with each person to create rituals, meanings, and care practices that are relevant to their own life and identity – not imposing a singular framework.
You can find more about my practice through Inclusive Therapists, Manhattan Alternative, Psychology Today, and the ThankYou Life provider network.
What I love about journeys
Journeys aren’t limited to psychedelic work. I’ve created a two-part podcast series on integration – Episode 8 and Episode 9 – that explores how to weave significant experiences into your life, whether from KAP, experiential therapeutic work, or other meaningful moments. You can listen directly in your browser through those links, or find the full show on your preferred podcast app. Listen in order for the full arc. The second episode explores working with plant allies for those curious about herbalism.
I’m passionate about KAP because it can be tender, deep work. If you’re looking for psychedelic therapy to support your healing, reach out to see if we might be a good fit.