Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
No, Intero does not offer clinical trials at this time.
Broadly, the word psychedelic means mind-expanding, soul-exposing, or mind-manifesting substances/experiences. This type of medicine can assist people in connecting to their own Inner Healing Intelligence, which suggests that each person has an innate inner drive towards healing and wholeness (just as a seed has an inner drive to become a flower). It’s often used to help individuals get “unstuck” and to access parts of the unconscious mind that can aid in the healing process.
Currently, ketamine is the only legal psychedelic medicine that is available for clinical use in the state of Minnesota. As more psychedelic medicines are made available for clinic use, Intero will incorporate them into practice.
This is one of our most frequently asked questions, and totally understandable! In a therapy setting, we like to differentiate between "bad trips" and "challenging experiences". It's our belief that "bad trips" can be avoided, with attention to set and setting and through trusting relationships with your therapist. Set and setting refers to the mindset of the individual and the environment the experience takes place in. These are absolutely the most important things we can control or influence. Neglecting to address these factors can turn a challenging experience into a “bad trip” with negative outcomes. This is why we focus our intention on helping you prepare your mindset and co-curating an optimal environment for your experience. For some people, the ketamine therapy experience can still be challenging.... but it's often the challenging experiences that are most rewarding as they allow us to address the difficult or uncomfortable aspects of our lives. For many people, psychedelics in therapy can help them to confront and deal with things that they've struggled to address in the past. This is similar to traditional therapy in that it too can be challenging at times!
When used recreationally, without proper attention to set and setting, psychedelic experiences may be scary or unsafe - because your senses and perceptions are amplified in a psychedelic headspace. Because of this, "normal" environments can be experienced as very overwhelming (ie. at a party, in a public space, with someone you don't know well or have had conflict with, in a space with bad lighting, outside noises, or any space that is unclean or disorganized, etc.). In our clinic, we design our space to be a container of safety, to support an experience where you can “let go” and “lean into” the experience that the medicine brings you. We can provide additional preparation sessions for anyone that has fears about what they may encounter - this allows you to develop your confidence and form a trusting bond with your therapist. It's normal to feel nervous about this experience, and those feelings can help to approach these experiences with respect and care. We welcome you to reach out to us and discuss any concerns that you may have.
Traditional therapy is generally described as a conversation between therapist and client, and happens while you're in an "ordinary" state of waking consciousness. During KAP treatment, you may experience drastic changes in consciousness, and sense of being, while having a therapeutic experience in the presence of your therapist. Both the pharmacological impact and the subjective experience of a non-ordinary state of consciousness can allow for rapid positive changes in mental state and perception. These effects, combined with the support and knowledge of a trained psychotherapist, work to maximize the healing potential that ketamine allows.
We are offering our ketamine treatment for people with diagnoses related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), anxiety, and depression. Psychedelic therapy can additionally help to construct a sense of purpose and meaning. Some people may not be a good fit for psychedelic therapy due to current life circumstances, mental health, or medical conditions. At Intero, we'll work with you to determine if psychedelic therapy is an appropriate course of treatment, working with your therapist and medical provider. Safety and support is the number one priority of Intero.
Treatment Plan + Care
Yes! Intero also provides more traditional talk therapy using a variety of integrated approaches. Each therapist brings their unique skillset, training, and background to the process. We emphasize the importance of trusting relationships and using creativity and collaboration to personalize your experience.
Because of the dissociative effect of ketamine, we require that you have transportation set up after your appointment. We recommend having someone you trust and feel safe with to drive you home.
Visit our aftercare guide to learn more. If you have specific questions or concerns, please feel free to contact your provider at any time.
The importance of music to Intero and personal experiences cannot be overstated. Music as a form of expression is critical to psychedelic therapy. Music allows nonverbal ways of communication and evokes emotional responses that words often are not able to. The playlist is curated to help clients move through challenging life experiences, memories, or trauma in ways that traditional psychotherapy is not capable. Music is meant to allow the clients that ability for further introspective thought and insight into issues they are wanting to work on.
Music is an immensely important part of the experience and provides a framework for how the experience unfolds. Music is a vehicle to assist in the experience of medicine-psychotherapies. Often times music is equated to the ship that one rides on, through the oceanic experience provided by the medicine. Medicine-psychotherapies often have a degree of being ineffable; music assists in the narration of that experience that words cannot.
The more immediate antidepressant and increased neuroplastic effects of ketamine typically last 2-4 weeks (called the “window of opportunity” to create change). Increased neuroplasticity could be explained as an increased ability for the brain to get out of the thought patterns that have built up over time or following a trauma response, and to build up new thought or behavior patterns. Without psychotherapy, ketamine’s effects may wane in a few weeks, however the KAP approach emphasizes preparation and integration, which both aim to maximize the effects, and to water the seeds planted in the psychedelic experience. With active participation in integration, we utilize the “window of opportunity” in order to build new habits and ways of being that can be sustained long after the immediate effects dissipate.
Each person responds a little bit differently in how fast they metabolize the medicine but typically, the entire session lasts 1.5- 3 hours long.
Ketamine can produce a range of experiences, from mildly dissociative to a full "out of body experience". At higher doses, ketamine often leads to the sense of one "leaving" the room/space, and having consciousness expand beyond the limits of one's body. These expansive experiences have been associated with sensations of unity with one's environment, sense of connection, and place in the universe. For someone who may suffer from feelings of meaninglessness, this sense of connection to reality can be tremendously restorative and healing. At lower doses, ketamine tends to initiate mild to moderate changes in perceptions, while allowing someone to feel communicative and present in the room. As for the setting, clients will be provided a very comfortable chair that reclines, with pillows, blankets, and other amenities to ensure optimal comfort. We provide eyeshades and headphones with a music playlist curated specifically for each client to help support their healing experience. The peak of these active medicine sessions are typically more client led although the therapist will be present in case clients would like to verbally process anything, need a hand to hold or another form of support.
Visit our Intero guides to ketamine-assisted psychotherapy to learn how to prepare for each phase of treatment. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to your therapist at any time.
This varies from person to person, and involves a collaborative conversation with you, your therapist and medical provider. However, there is a general rhythm to the process as follows:
1. Assessment: We always start with a thorough evaluation with our medical provider, followed by a mental health evaluation with your Intero therapist.
2. Preparation Therapy: Then we do as many preparation sessions as you need to feel equipped for your medicine experience. Most people do 3-6 preparation sessions.
3. Active Medicine experience: Your first medicine experience will be tailored to finding the right dose, to determine how you respond to ketamine.
4. Integration Therapy: every medicine session will be followed by integration with your Intero therapist. This is usually 3-6 sessions.
For some, a single session is enough, but most people do 2-3 medicine sessions so that they can achieve their treatment goals by building on each individual session. For others, a plan may be developed for a course of treatment (sometimes 6 medicine sessions) or ongoing maintenance support. This all depends on your needs, presenting concerns and effectiveness of each experience.
Yes! We want to prioritize your comfort and sense of safety with your providers to support that therapeutic relationship. Please tell us any preferences that you have in terms of gender or anything else. Alternatively, you may review bios for our clinicians on our website and identify clinicians that you feel would be a good fit for you.
Intero's medical provider has one primary role: to ensure your safety throughout the entire process.
That begins with an initial evaluation where past medical records will be reviewed and a physical exam will be conducted. The doses of ketamine we work with are sub-anesthetic, meaning they are well below the doses used for surgical procedures. Because of this the risk of an adverse effect is very, very low. Regardless, we want to ensure that you have no limitations that would prevent you from having a fulfilling journey. During this initial encounter we will also discuss the medical aspects of KAP in full detail, and answer any questions that you may have.
After you are medically cleared, your next encounter with the medical provider will be on the day of your ketamine medicine session. A brief exam will be conducted prior to administering ketamine. Your therapist and medical provider will both be with you during the initial moments of your journey. Afterwards the medical provider will periodically check-in throughout the course of the session. Once your journey has ended the medical provider will evaluate you to determine when you can be safely discharged home. Mental fogginess is common immediately afterwards, and some patients take a little longer than others to return to baseline.
Your therapist will work with you to identify areas that you want to explore, support you through your experience, and assist in processing insights learned through your KAP session. Throughout the treatment process, the therapist is there to help ensure that you feel safe, contained, understood and supported.
The therapist is a vital component to treatment, in helping you to develop a framework for understanding and navigating your experiences and helping to identify how you can continue to move towards growth and healing. During the treatment session, your therapist is always present and asks nothing of you. They are there to support you in whatever way is best for you and will help you to identify what this means for your experience. To process experiences and help you to express yourself
• To ensure a sense of safety and containment
• To be a supportive presence
• To witness
• Help prepare you with a framework for the experience
• Help to integrate what lessons you’ve learned- and to apply them to future challenging life experiences
• To understand an internal narrative of what you can handle and what you can’t
• Help you feel confident and capable
Set and setting is a common phrase in the world of psychedelic medicine. Set refers to the "mindset" of the individual having the experience, and includes how they're feeling in the moment, their current mood, personality type, tendencies, beliefs, and ways of thinking. Setting refers to the physical, sensory, and emotional/relational environment including all sensory inputs across the 5senses (the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile feelings), the"place" (the room or space) and the people who are present to support. This is where we invest a lot of thought, time and intention- in curating the optimal space, sensory environment and strong therapeutic relationships. While we cannot control the psychedelic experience itself, we can always strive to better enhance the environment with the aim to produce more safety, connection, and positive outcomes. We believe that concepts and practices from art and design traditions can be used to help enhance the therapy process and spark the imagination to move towards wholeness and integration. Our focus on art and design informs the way we structure the environment, and curate the experience for each individual. Our goal is to constantly improve the way we design and curate our setting to help provide an increasingly solid foundation for the medicine experience to unfold.
We would love to co-curate an experience that is tailored to each client whether that means practicing rituals, bringing in a sentimental object to have present during transcendence or reading a meaningful poem etc.
While all clinics are different, many infusion clinics do not provide psychotherapy. At Intero, extensive, thoughtful, and informed psychotherapy is THE most important part of the process. In fact, the process is psychotherapy, and ketamine is simply a tool to enhance the process. We fully customize our process based on individual needs and emphasize creativity and collaboration in working with each person to develop the best possible treatment plan.
Additionally, Intero offers Intramuscular Injection (IM), which is the most powerful and psychedelic type of ketamine treatment.
We also have an excellent network on highly specialized, creative providers who we can connect you to post-integration. We believe that ongoing support is often a super helpful way of deepening the connection to your experience, and in furthering the work of healing and self-discovery. Most importantly, research suggests that integrating psychotherapy into the ketamine treatment process produces better outcomes for mental health related struggles. The results thus far suggest a synergistic effect, meaning ketamine and psychotherapy have the potential to work better together than separately.
Every clinic has different approaches to this work and offer a variety of options to people interested. We pride ourselves on the clinical expertise of our staff, as well as the creative work that we do to integrate art, music, and design into the therapeutic process. Art, music, and stories move us as human beings, and somehow connect to our deep sources of meaning. We work to use such universal human elements for the therapeutic process itself. We work to uncover sources of meaning for each individual, and since everyone is different, the process is unique, every time. We emphasize creativity and collaboration in helping you tell your story.
Billing + Insurance
Yes! We accept major insurance plans, which often covers most of this treatment process. (Insurance cannot cover the $350 cost for the active ketamine medicine session(s), however.)
We are in-network with most major insurance plans, so for individuals who have medical insurance, much of the therapy process may be covered by your insurance. This may include the talk therapy (preparation and integration sessions), the basic medical evaluation, and therapist assessment.
While the above are often covered by insurance, the actual ketamine experience (the treatment session) is not covered, as it cannot be submitted to or reimbursed by insurance. That is an out-of-pocket service which covers the therapist's additional time required for medicine sessions, and extra monitoring by the medical providers.
That cost is $350 for each active medicine session*.
Additionally, we offer group KAP medicine sessions, which is $150* per person, per group session (4 people in a group). Please call for details about what’s currently available, as groups are offered on a rotating basis and may have specific topics of focus.
*We accept FSA and HSA for costs not covered by insurance, including KAP treatment sessions.
You are ultimately responsible for knowing about your insurance plan and what out-of-pocket fees you may have, e.g. co-pays, co-insurance fees, and/or deductible fees. Your individual rates/fees are determined by your unique insurance plan.
Please contact us for more information about insurance plans that may be in network, if you'd like to know which insurance codes we use so you can inquire about coverage with your insurance, or if you have other questions.
Part of our mission is to develop funding sources to help cover the cost of treatment for those who cannot afford access. We do not believe that these medicines can heal society if they are only accessible by the privileged few. We are continuously seeking creative solutions for reducing this barrier, and will keep this page updated as things progress.
We offer private pay as an option. The following is the out-of-pocket cost breakdown for those using private pay exclusively:
Assessments
Medical Assessment: $250
Mental Health Assessment: $175
If both assessments indicate that the client would be a good fit for our ketamine treatment, they start preparation (prep) therapy sessions.
Preparation Therapy Sessions
Each preparation session: $175
There are typically 3-6 preparation sessions before each active medicine session.
KAP Active Medicine Session(s)*
Each active medicine session: $350 (charged the day of your KAP session)
After the $350 charge, there are two more fees - $150 + $175 ($325) - which cover the therapist's time and extra monitoring required by the medical provider.
$675 total, for each KAP active medicine session
Integration Therapy Sessions
Each integration therapy session: $175
There are typically 1-5 integration therapy sessions after each active medicine session
*Clients typically do 2-3 KAP active medicine sessions, but the number varies according to each person's needs.
Preferred: HSA, FSA, credit (most carriers). We can also take cash and checks as needed - please let your KAP therapist know if you plan to use cash or check, so they can plan accordingly.
No. You can complete a self-referral form on our Get Started page.
Ketamine + Psychedelics
With the decades of ketamine administration at an anesthetic dose (which is much larger than the psychedelic dose that we are providing), we have an extensive body of data supporting the physical safety profile of ketamine. Most commonly, ketamine produces dissociation and a psychedelic experience, which is why we are using it at Intero. Ketamine administered via injection is also likely to cause mild pain at the injection site and similarly to other intramuscular injections, there is a risk of infection when giving an injection. Other side effects include sedation, high blood pressure, changes in vision, nausea, or vomiting.
While ketamine is generally considered safe, due to its temporary increase in blood pressure and heart rate those with current or history of uncontrolled hypertension, aneurisms, strokes, heart conditions may be limited in receiving ketamine. Ketamine is also contraindicated in those who have schizophrenia or other psychotic symptoms. Ketamine should not be used in those who have an allergy to ketamine. We do not use ketamine during pregnancy.
Ketamine is a highly versatile drug and can be administered orally, via injection, or intravenously. When administered via injection the dose is 6-10 times higher for anesthesia and 2-6 times higher for short procedures.
“Off-Label” use of a medication is using an FDA-Approved medication in a manner not approved by the FDA. The process for receiving FDA indication for use is extensive and costly. This generally means medications will not get additional FDA indications after they can be made generic. Medications are commonly used off label when there is not an approved drug for a condition, there are reasons you would not choose to use an approved drug for a specific condition, or you have tried approved treatments without seeing significant benefits.
MDMA assisted psychotherapy, which is demonstrating promising results for PTSD is likely to be approved by the FDA est. 2024-2025 for clinic use.
Psilocybin assisted psychotherapy is also being studied and expected to be approved by the FDA est. 2027-2028 for clinic use.
The 4-phase psychedelic therapy process that Intero currently uses for ketamine is the same general structure that Intero will use with future psychedelics.
Psychedelics were primarily used in the clinical setting before they were co-opted by the counterculture revolution of the 1960s. By 1951, over 100 articles on LSD had been published in medical journals. The drug was capable of inducing a new level of self-awareness that had enormous therapeutic potential compared to other modalities of the day. Studies on LSD and alcoholism reported that between 40 and 45% of patients given the drug had not experienced a relapse after a year. Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, believed LSD could be used to cure alcoholics and credited the drug with helping his own recovery from depression.
Psilocybin (mushrooms) and LSD psychotherapy peaked in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and was widely considered to be “the next big thing” in psychiatry.
Between the years of 1950 and 1965, some 40,000 patients had been prescribed one form of LSD therapy or another under the trade-name Delysid. Research into the potential therapeutic effects of LSD and other hallucinogens had produced over 1,000 scientific papers and six international conferences.
Preliminary findings were very positive and warranted further study, but the research abruptly stopped. It came to a halt not for safety or efficacy issues, but primarily for political reasons. The Nixon administration heavily restricted further research despite some politicians and researchers speaking out against the government’s actions. Nixon and his fight against anti-war protestors eventually led to the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 as a tool to jail and imprison dissidents of the Vietnam War.
Another psychedelic medication, MDMA, was patented by Merck in 1914 and has a long history of use in relationship therapy. It gained notoriety in the 1980s as the illicit drug “ecstasy”, but it was originally known as “empathy”. Therapists found that it had the extraordinary ability to make their patients more willing to communicate and participate in the psychotherapy process. It also eliminated the typical fear response in patients with histories of trauma. Anecdotally, psychotherapists reported that it greatly accelerated therapy, which made it an important adjunct not an alternative to traditional therapy. Unfortunately, underground use in clubs and bars became more widespread prompting the DEA to investigate by the early 1980s.
There were no links to deaths or violent crimes, but under the banner of the War on Drugs it was placed in the Schedule 1 category under the Controlled Substances Act despite its history of therapeutic use. The DEA acted against the recommendation of the administrative law judge who presided over the scheduling hearings, while also disregarding opposition from the medical profession and researchers.
There are many ideas being proposed and the deeper we look, the more questions we have.
When assessing a question such as this, we can look at it from many angles, including with the pharmacological/biological, psychological, relational and transpersonal lenses (to name a few).
"Psychedelics" describes a class of compounds that are actually quite different from each other, in their effects and the experiences they produce. The word psychedelic means "mind manifesting" and most of the compounds that retain this label are related through their ineffable, powerful and non-ordinary impact on consciousness. Psychedelics cause significant changes to one's perceptions, sense of self and experience of reality. They are truly out of this world.
In terms of the pharmacology, most typical psychedelics impact the 5HT2A receptors in the brain, although atypical ones like ketamine impact other systems. To learn more about the pharmacology, Wikipedia is a great resource.
Researchers have recently discovered a network of activities in our brain that’s referred to as the “default mode network”. This is a technical term that refers to some complex happenings, but to simplify the idea: we tend to engage in patterns of behavior and can feel stuck in a certain story of who we are, and what our life means. Challenging life experiences can distort our thinking; we can often feel insecure, unsafe, and want to remove ourselves from daily life.
Psychedelics may offer a “break” by helping one to access non-ordinary states of consciousness, which can help give them an opportunity to reflect more deeply on their struggles and sense of purpose and place in the world. Uncovering our values, meaning, and sense of self may help us to find freedom from the patterns we feel trapped in.
Having a “break” from our normal ways of being, in combination with therapy can help to identify alternative narratives to our life. We believe the stories we tell ourselves about our lives can lead to deeper meaningful interactions or keep us stuck in patterns that are destructive. Creating a new narrative requires an interruption to unhelpful stories we tell ourselves; psychedelic psychotherapy aims to help promote such a break.
Additionally, psychedelics can produce strange experience that may be referred to as "transpersonal", meaning "beyond the individual". For some, the psychedelic experiences is felt as a deep connection to "the world" and reality itself, which some may describe as feeling sacred. This does not mean "spiritual" or "religious" or "woowoo" but instead a felt sense of belonging with and inseparableness from the Universe itself- A sense of "rightness" with reality. This transpersonal experience can have lasting, sometimes lifelong effects as it sits as a reference point for future life, intention and purpose.
Broadly, the word psychedelic means mind-expanding, soul-exposing, or mind-manifesting substances/experiences. This type of medicine can assist people in connecting to their own Inner Healing Intelligence, which suggests that each person has an innate inner drive towards healing and wholeness (just as a seed has an inner drive to become a flower). It’s often used to help individuals get “unstuck” and to access parts of the unconscious mind that can aid in the healing process.
Psychedelic therapy combines talk therapy with the careful use of psychedelics to enhance the therapeutic process. Sometimes traditional “talk” therapy approaches can reach an impasse, where verbal and other “skills”-based work are inadequate in terms of reaching core sources of pain, suffering and conversely, inner-healing. The use of psychedelics can allow someone to experience a lifting of their defenses, a connection to self-compassion and empathy, and a softening of the barrier between the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind. This allows someone to “go deeper” into their own experience, story, and psyche, to find and strengthen their connections to their core sources of meaning, resiliency, and strength.
