Is Ketamine a Horse Tranquilizer?
March 11, 2022
If you're considering ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, you may wonder what to expect. This informative article will give you an overview of the ketamine-assisted psychotherapy process, including what to expect before, during, and after treatment. With a better understanding of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, you can make an informed decision about whether this treatment option is right for you.
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, or KAP, is a new and innovative approach to treating mental health disorders. It typically involves the administration of ketamine by IV infusion with psychotherapy before, during, and after. The combination aimed at providing more significant therapeutic progress faster than is typical in traditional talk therapy. This integrative approach integrates both pharmacological and therapeutic interventions, which might be especially helpful for patients who have not responded well to other treatments. Clinical trials exploring the efficacy of Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy continue to produce promising results, and although there is no consensus yet as to the best approaches to ketamine infusion therapy, it is obvious in clinical practice that clients do the best when they are supported by a licensed therapist during ketamine treatment.
During treatment, you will be in the expert hands of a licensed therapist and a registered nurse team. As the medication is administered, your registered nurse will monitor your vital signs and your level of experience and be ready to adjust or stop the infusion at any time. Your therapist will help support you emotionally and psychologically throughout the infusion and provide therapy before, during, and after. No client will ever be pushed to discuss anything they are not ready for, but it is important to know that when clients are administered ketamine, therapy can feel different than it does under normal consciousness. It is normal to hear from clients that they were able to process things in KAP that they never expected to be able to, and it wasn't as hard as they thought it would be. Ketamine has a number of effects that can influence one's mood, but its use as an accelerant or catalyst of psychotherapy is its most useful quality in regards to long-term changes to a mental health state. Transcend believes Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy is a highly specialized treatment modality that requires experience and specifically trained licensed clinicians to perform well.
Just like in standard psychotherapy, feeling a bit worse for a period of time after a session is often a marker that progress is happening. When someone is in a lot of distress and engages in an intensive therapy process like KAP, it is normal to feel the distress that often coincides with processing psychological and emotional content. This is one reason why we believe working with an experienced KAP therapist is critical. It is important to have extra support if things get a flare up before they start to feel better. Not only is this support important just so that a client doesn't feel alone in that process, but also so that opportunities for growth and processing are captured in these times of challenge. Many clients seek ketamine treatment and hope to feel better fast. They may be exhausted from trying so many different things and in desperate need of some relief. The idea that things might get worse before they get better is a difficult reality to face, but we have supported clients through thousands of sessions, and we understand how to help make that process productive and manageable. Our KAP therapists are available to schedule additional sessions focused on integrating content from sessions or even just for the purposes of regulating and grounding if clients become somewhat dysregulated emotionally after a session. We advise patients to still see their normal therapist at the normal frequency, but when content from a KAP session needs more processing time, it is important that a clinician that is versed in the phenomenology of Ketamine experiences is helping with the processing of this content.
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy is growing in popularity as a method of mental health treatment, primarily due to its potential benefits. This type of therapy has been shown to improve mood and decrease anxiety, leading to a greater sense of well-being for those who engage in the process. It works by allowing the patient to explore their psychological issues from an altered state, potentially allowing them to access personal insights otherwise not available. The process is carried out with the assistance of a trained therapist and careful management of the IV ketamine administration. For individuals suffering from mental health issues such as depression or anxiety, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy can be an important first step toward improved mental health.
In conclusion, IV ketamine-assisted psychotherapy is an exciting new treatment option for many mental health disorders. It requires the specialized care of a Registered Nurse and a Ketamine-Assisted psychotherapy-trained therapist. Although it can sometimes be an intensive and challenging therapeutic journey, the improvements are substantial for the majority of clients that complete treatment. Transcend has supported hundreds of clients through this process, and we believe that our process is best suited for those that are ready to do what it takes to get better, but also may not be in a place to do that on their own. We believe that for Ketamine treatment to be most effective, significant support is critical, and that support should be coming from licensed clinicians who are specially trained in KAP.
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