Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)

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KAP takes ketamine IV infusion treatments, and adds psychotherapy on top of it, in order to enhance the effectiveness. Combining IV ketamine treatments with KAP helps to make the combined treatments more effective. While the drug can help with the physical symptoms of things like depression, PTSD, etc., the KAP therapy can work as a base to address underlying emotional or mental blocks that can hinder your healing. A KAP therapist helps guide a patient through the process more directly. And provides a safety anchor for those who experience anxiety or negative feelings that can emerge during an infusion session. Especially as one begins to do the psychological work and delve deeper in order to uncover the core factors that contribute to one’s current state of mental health. 

Arizona Ketamine Specialists highly recommends that you chose a provider who is a licensed mental health professional for any kind of KAP. Most mental health professionals focus on treating patients for which they have received specific training (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, EMDR, DBT etc). This specialized training can included Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy training. You should focus on choosing a provider for KAP who is a licensed mental health professional with training in KAP. With the increased exposure of the transformative potential of ketamine therapy and KAP, there has been an increase in offerings of ketamine clinics and therapy associated with psychedelics. The quality of these offerings range from amazing providers to unexperienced dangerous unlicensed "coaches". There are quite a few internet companies providing minimal training for guiding the ketamine process. They may call themselves ketamine integration specialists or coaches and mostly lack any sort of mental health training or background. It is best to discuss someone's training, background and licensing before proceeding with them.

KAP can provide tremendous healing potential for numerous ailments, but like all treatments there is no one size fits all. It is best to have a conversation with your current mental health provider or the KAP you are considering to explore if KAP is a good fit for you.

Congratulations on finding a mental health professional to help you on your journey! Ideally you can discuss with your mental health provider your plan to seek IV ketamine therapy. We are happy to work, communicate and support you with your current provider. There are ways for you to benefit from ketamine treatment in our office while continuing to work with your usual therapist based outside our office: you can plan to see them in their office later the same day or next day, or even ask them to come to our office to attend your treatment sessions. If you and your provider feel that adding a KAP therapist to your current mental health treatment plan, we can help with that too! Teamwork makes the dream work and we are happy to be apart of your mental health treatment team.