Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)

Ketamine is currently the only psychedelic legal for therapeutic use in Minnesota. Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) uses the psychedelic experience induced by ketamine to enhance the therapeutic process, allowing for deeper self-reflection and processing than either alone.

Thoughtful, informed psychotherapy is at the heart of KAP at Intero. Our therapists provide extensive preparation for your psychedelic experience, support you during the experience, and help you explore insights that arise after the experience.

Intero offers Intramuscular Injection (IM), which is the most powerful and psychedelic type of ketamine treatment. The dose of ketamine used in your journey is a cooperative decision made between you, your therapist and medical provider. Typically the first session is a lower dose, and increases in your next sessions.

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Curious about KAP, billing & insurance, the future of psychedelic therapy at Intero, and more?

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What is ketamine?

Ketamine is the most widely used anesthetic medicine for humans in the world, and is safe for both adults and children in a medical setting. With doses lower than those used for anesthesia, ketamine produces a "non-ordinary" state of consciousness, much different than our day-to-day experience of "normal" waking consciousness. This experience can be a useful tool for significantly disrupting unhelpful patterns of thought, states of mood and ways of perceiving. In conjunction with psychotherapy, ketamine may be used to treat a variety of psychological conditions, and help people to get "unstuck" from the struggles by offering a break from normal consciousness, and a psychedelic journey into the mind. Ketamine has also been demonstrated to produce rapid (within hours) and sustained antidepressant actions in people experiencing significant depression.

How does ketamine feel?

Like other psychedelics, it’s very difficult to describe the ketamine experience. Some people may feel that their consciousness is away or apart from their body, while others report a deep sense of connection to the "self", the world and to reality itself. Many report that they're able to get a bird's eye view of their life and circumstances, and find new perspective and purpose in the challenges they're facing. It may be felt as an important "break" or interruption to the patterns of daily life. During ketamine therapy, your therapist will ensure you feel safe and confident going into the experience and will be with you throughout the process to offer emotional support and guidance in working through whatever comes up for you.

Is ketamine safe?

Yes. We know so much about ketamine’s safety because it has been administered to millions of people worldwide. It's regarded as one of the most important medicines by the World Health Organization, largely due to its safety and effectiveness. Often, when children require anesthesia, ketamine is the medicine of choice by treating physicians. Unlike opioids, ketamine does not depress the respiratory system which could cause someone to stop breathing. It also does not lower blood pressure, which would be equally as dangerous.

Intero maintains strict medical standards to ensure patient safety even at the sub-anesthetic doses used for ketamine therapy. Side effects are very rare and usually mild (ie. some people may experience nausea). Patients are given a thorough medical evaluation to ensure they are appropriate candidates. During the therapy, patients are monitored by medical professionals to immediately address any side effects should they occur.

Due to its established safety and efficacy record, ketamine is the only psychedelic medicine approved by the FDA.

a typical course
of treatment

Because each treatment plan is highly tailored to a person's specific needs, there is no typical course of treatment. But, for reference, 3 Medicine Sessions might occur over the course of 3-4 months, surrounded by Assessment, Preparation, and Integration sessions as needed.

Phase 1

Assessment

We always start with a medical exam and evaluation with your Intero medical provider, followed by a mental health assessment with your Intero therapist. This ensures that ketamine-assisted psychotherapy is a safe treatment both physiologically/medically, and psychologically. We want to learn more about what you’re struggling with and how ketamine can help.
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1 Session with medical provider + 1 Session with therapist

Phase 2

Preparation

We do as many preparation sessions as you need to feel equipped for your medicine experience. Preparation sessions focus on:

building a trusting relationship with your therapist
orienting you towards the psychedelic experience
explore intentions, expectations, and apprehensions
co-create a framework for understanding your psychedelic experience

Phase 3

Medicine

In a comfortably designed space in our clinic, we provide eye shades and music playlists to accompany your journey. We typically start with a lower dose intramuscular injection (IM) to determine how each person responds to the ketamine, and subsequent sessions may be higher doses. Sessions are usually 1.5 – 2 hours.

2 – 4 Sessions

Phase 4

Integration

Every medicine session will be followed by integration with your Intero therapist. Integration is about watering the seeds that were planted during your treatment session. Integration is about “weaving the mystical with the practical”- bringing the psychedelic lessons and insights into your daily life and co-creating practices that bring you calm. This is usually 1-3 sessions. we then determine together if additional psychedelic treatments are appropriate for you and repeat the medicine and integration process as outlined in your treatment plan.

2 – 3 Sessions

Modalities of KAP

Individual Therapy

We work with you to co-create a treatment plan in collaboration with your Intero therapist and medical provider. We follow the 4-phase process and provide as much psychotherapy as you need to feel comfortable and prepared for the process.

Couples, Family, and Relationship Therapy

We meet with you both individually and together, to support you in creating a shared experience for your journey. Focused on strengthening bonds and increasing intimacy.

Group Therapy

We offer various groups, where people are united by a shared lived experience, or a group of people who know each other well (friends, chosen family, etc.). Groups aim to tap into the power of communal experiences.

Grief + Loss Therapy

We specialize in helping people to navigate grief and loss, as well as in addressing their own illnesses and fear of death. Psychedelics have been used for millennia in helping people to develop a healthy relationship with their own mortality, as well as in processing the deaths of loved ones.

Religious Trauma Therapy

We specialize in working with surviviors of religious trauma, including fundamentalist upbringings, cults and those who have experienced other community harm.

Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)

Questions?