Frequently Asked Questions

Ketamine is currently the only psychedelic legal for therapeutic use in Texas. Ketamine is a legal, safe and effective medicine used to treat a variety of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety and PTSD. Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy / Therapy (KAP) uses the psychedelic experience induced by ketamine to enhance the therapeutic process, allowing for deeper self-reflection and processing.

Ketamine works differently than traditionally prescribed medications to restore and support healing. For some this offers fast, transformational treatment for depression and anxiety.

Please note that at Tree of Life Counseling Center we do not provide KAP services for pain management or primarily for substance abuse treatment.

Ketamine was first synthesized in 1962 and has been used medically for years in emergency rooms, operating rooms and within the mental health field. Ketamine is approved by the FDA for use in children and adults for anesthesia and as a pain reliever during medical procedures. For over 20 years psychiatrists and medical doctors have been using Ketamine to provide relief for patients with depression, PTSD, anxiety, postpartum depression, OCD, and chronic pain.

When administered in a low-dose infusion, ketamine is a medication that may provide relief of symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), acute and chronic pain.

Ketamine has rapidly-acting antidepressant and mood-enhancing effects, which can begin to take effect within 1-2 hrs. It works by blocking the brain’s NMDA receptors as well as by stimulating AMPA receptors, which are thought to help form new synaptic connections and boost neural circuits that regulate stress and mood. Ketamine has also been shown to enhance overall neuroplasticity for lasting symptom improvement (source: MAPS)

2-Minute Neuroscience: Ketamine

Ketamine can be delivered in a variety of ways, including IV infusion, intramuscular injection, via nasal spray and using sublingual lozenges (TLCC offers Intramuscular Injection (IM))

Administration Chart

By utilizing KAP to bring down emotional barriers it enables you to be more open to discussing emotional trauma, wounding, and feel less overwhelmed by those memories. KAP is inner-directed, meaning the therapeutic content and the direction of the session is informed primarily by YOU and your own inner healing intelligence.

At Tree of Life Center, we use Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy / Therapy (We will refer to this as KAP sessions) with you in an effort to help ease your emotional suffering. For many KAP produces results that can be felt in weeks vs years of therapy.

Nothing that comes up in session is something you have not already been walking around and holding daily, KAP allows you access to this information by allowing you to bring up material that may be difficult for you to process with less emotional burden and pain. When we are able to process information in this way it allows us to get to the root of your wounding and process through it.

Ketamine’s use for treatment of pain, depression or other mental illnesses is considered off-label and therefore generally not covered by insurance plans. Off-label use of medications is legal and very common. In fact, about one in five prescriptions written in the US today is off-label. Please note that at Tree of Life Counseling Center we do not provide KAP services for pain management or primarily for substance abuse treatment.

Integration following your ketamine experience allows you to take what came up for you in your medicine session and identify ways to apply these insights into your daily life so that these insights are incorporated into one’s life in a way that benefits the individual and community at large.

As mental health experts, we know emotional and spiritual intention setting & integration unlocks the power of transformation through a truly powerful experience. Our providers engage in extensive preparation for your psychedelic experience, support you during the experience, and help you explore insights that arise after the experience so that you can integrate these discoveries into your daily life.

Because Ketamine acts on different systems than commonly used antidepressants, it is often effective when antidepressants have not provided any, or only minimal reductions in symptoms.

Ketamine for mental health care can be helpful for some, although it is not a magic cure. Individuals who work with a treatment plan receive multiple Ketamine treatments in a series and those who combine Ketamine with psychotherapy have the best chances for longer lasting results.

Most antidepressants act by increasing certain levels of neurotransmitters (Serotonin, Norepinephrine, and Dopamine). Ketamine works differently; when Ketamine is given, it binds to a receptor in the brain called the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. When Ketamine binds to this receptor it temporarily blocks the action of a neurotransmitter called Glutamate.

A large number of clinical studies suggest dysfunction of the glutamatergic system is one of the primary issues in mood disorders.

Although we cannot guarantee Ketamine will work for you in clinical studies, individuals report that Ketamine works when nothing else has!

SUBJECTIVE EFFECTS include:

· Altered auditory perception and proprioception

· Changes in perception, cognition, and emotion

· Dissociation and ego dissolution

· Experiences of death and rebirth

· Feeling of awe, wonder and disembodiment

· Mood enhancement

· Muscle relaxation

· Mystical experiences, out-of-body experiences or illusions

· Pain relief – not primary use at TLCC

· Transcendence of space and time

· Vivid imagery, visual hallucinations or distortions

NEGATIVE EFFECTS - Ketamine isn’t without its adverse effects which can impact the outcome of ketamine-assisted therapy if not tended to. These include:

· Accidents (falling, car collisions, etc) – We ask that you follow the direction of your provider in order to reduce this risk.

Your provider will be with you at all times and someone to drive you home is required.

· Anxiety (particularly as the medicine is onsetting)

· Blunted affect or emotional withdrawal

· Confusion and decreased concentration, recall, recognition, and mental sharpness while in medicine

· Distorted perceptions of body and self and disorientation

· Double or blurred vision

· Drowsiness

· Dysphoria

· Increased blood pressure, heart rate and intraocular eye pressure

· Laryngospasm (a rare involuntary contraction of the vocal folds that can impair speech and breathing)

· Loss of coordination, muscle trembles or jerks

· Nausea or vomiting

· Paranoia or psychological distress

It is crucial to consider contraindicated conditions and medications when treating members with ketamine.

CONDITIONS include:

· Hypertension – This will not exclude your from KAP but we would need to create a plan specific for you.

· Preeclampsia or eclampsia

· Pregnancy

· Severe cardiac disease

· Stroke

· Acute porphyria

· Schizophrenia

· Children under the age of 3 (at Tree of Life Counseling Center we only treat adult Members)

· Depression

· Bipolar depression

· Chronic pain with depression -Not service provided at TLCC

· Post-traumatic stress disorder

· Obsessive compulsive disorder

· Anorexia Nervosa & Eating disorders

· Substance Use Disorders - Not primary service at TLCC