Psychedelics have been used in holistic medicine and for spiritual practices by various cultures for thousands of years. We offer safe, supportive and legal access for clients wishing to use these powerful medicines in their healing journey.
Currently, Ketamine is the only psychedelic therapy that has been legally approved for medical use. Other psychedelics like MDMA and psilocybin are showing promising results in clinical trials. Until these clinical trials are completed, the only way to legally use other psychedelic therapies is by participating in a clinical trial or in countries where their use is legal.
Current Psychedelic Services Offered
Ketamine Assisted Therapy (KAT) includes preparation sessions, dosing and integration sessions with the support of a therapist. Ketamine Therapy Sessions may also be incorporated into multi-day Intensives.
Ketamine Assisted Therapy (KAT) Maintenance Groups is offered to individuals that have completed at least one individual KAT session and has determined KAT is a good fit for your healing process. Dosing sessions will have the support of a therapist and medical team in groups of 4-6 participants.
Psychedelic Preparation and Integration: The “Set and Setting” (mindset and environment) is very important in using psychedelic therapy in a safe and beneficial way that reduces the potential for harm. These sessions are used to create psychological & physical safety for moving through difficult material that may arise and to integrate the wisdom gained from psychedelic experiences into our everyday lives. These sessions are offered to those doing Ketamine Assisted Therapy or needing support for a personal journey. We offer weekly groups or can connect you with an individual therapist for support in your process.
Frequently Asked questions
Healing is a relational process, no matter how you engage with it. When working with psychedelics in a therapeutic context, the actual psychedelic experience is only about 2% of the process. What makes up the remaining 98% is the preparation with your provider(s), guidance as needed during the experience, and, most importantly, proper integration in the days and weeks following the session. One piece alone may be helpful to some (just the psychedelic experience or just the psychotherapy) but decades of research confirm that weaving all the pieces together is really where the magic happens!
The altered states experienced with psychedelic therapy can cultivate greater relational and psychological openness. This offers an opportunity for you and your providers to have greater access to the parts and stories that need healing. Because of this, there must be enough safety and trust with your provider(s) before beginning any work with ketamine. The relationship is just as important as the medicine.
Non-ordinary states of consciousness or “psychedelic trips” can produce a multitude of ideas, sensations and feelings. Psychedelic Integration Therapy offers the space to “make meaning” of these experiences. It is the process of exploring challenges and insights that arise during a psychedelic experience that can create long-lasting and meaningful changes.
Integration Therapy increases the potential for personal transformation that psychedelics offer. Professional support can make a difference in how we successfully integrate new insights into our lives in meaningful ways following a psychedelic experience.
Psychedelics produce a sense of disconnection from one’s ordinary reality and identity of self. Like other practices that facilitate non-ordinary states of consciousness (NOSC) such as breath work and meditation, psychedelic medicine decreases the default mode network, which is kind of like taking our ego off-line for a bit giving us a break from our inner critic, our protective defenses and all the stories we attach to in our daily routines.
We get to access what lies beneath, the knowing we hold inside, the truths we have shut down due to fear or trauma and return to ourselves.
Yes, we are here to support your healing process!
Trauma Therapy of Nashville, LLC does not provide, condone or support the use of illegal substances. There are significant legal and medical risks associated with casual use of psychedelics. These risks are amplified for people who are already experiencing mental health difficulties.
However, we acknowledge that people choose to take risks that are not medically advised or legally condoned in several ways in order to seek the healing they need. Preparation and Integration Therapy offers a safe, non-judgmental and confidential space to process non-ordinary states and their potential for personal transformation.
If you feel you’ve had a “bad trip” and aren’t sure how to cope with it or simply seeking resources to unpack a personal psychedelic experience, we can help! We offer a weekly preparation and integration group or can get you connected with an individual therapist that supports and understands this type of work.
This is different for everyone and there are no guarantees of what the experience will hold for you. This is an important aspect of the preparation work. Because we are in what many are calling “The Psychedelic Renaissance” with regular headlines in the mainstream media, there is a danger of people entering into this process with the belief that psychedelics will be a magic bullet to “fix” all the challenges of being human. Psychedelics work for many, and not for others – just like any other type of therapy!
Potential benefits may include:
- improved mood
- decreased anxiety
- improved stress management
- enhanced self esteem
- increased resilience
- reduced hyper vigilance and fearfulness
- resolution of trauma
- increased engagement with life and interpersonal relationships
- reduced existential distress
- increased mindfulness
- decreased compulsive and addictive behaviors
- increased self-compassion
- broadened perspective on one’s history, identity, and future
Improvement in symptom relief generally occurs with more than one ketamine experience and is most robust when part of an overall treatment plan. Your ketamine experience may not permanently relieve your symptoms and you may still choose to be treated with medications and ongoing psychotherapy to reduce the possibility of relapse. You may also need additional ketamine booster treatments over time.
Ketamine is a psychoactive drug which was developed in 1963, FDA approved in 1970 and has been included in the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines. It is one of modern medicine’s most widely used drugs and has long been adopted by many hospitals and other medical sites due to its rapid onset, proven safety, and short duration of action. Ketamine is most commonly used in surgical settings, including pediatric surgery, because of its excellent safety profile, especially concerning management of airway/breathing.
Over the last two decades, ketamine has been increasingly applied clinically as an off-label treatment for many treatment-resistant mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, substance misuse and addiction, obsessive compulsive disorders, PTSD and other psychiatric diagnoses.
Ketamine has an excellent safety record and is often used at much higher doses for surgical anesthesia with pediatric and adult patients, in emergency rooms for procedural sedation, without a significant risk of respiratory depression. As with all medication, there are potential risks and side effects.
Side effects may include nausea, increase in blood pressure, dizziness/lightheadedness, drowsiness and sedation, slurred speech, blurred vision, impaired balance and coordination, and headaches, all of which tend to resolve within a few hours.
Repeated, high dose, chronic use of ketamine has caused urinary tract symptoms and even permanent bladder dysfunction or cystitis in those abusing the drug. Neurotoxicity has not been shown to occur in supervised clinical practice.
In terms of psychological risk, ketamine has been shown to worsen certain psychotic symptoms in people who suffer from schizophrenia or other serious mental health disorders. It may also worsen underlying psychological problems in people with severe personality disorders and dissociative disorders.
Review this document for a quick overview of Contraindications to Ketamine Assisted Therapy.
Trauma Therapy of Nashville, LLC is a private pay service provider and is not on insurance panels. We can provide clients with a superbill that would allow clients to file a claim with an “Out of Network” provider for any services covered by their benefits plan. There is no mention of Ketamine on the superbill and insurance coding is the same as any other mental health services.
If your insurance covers out of network providers, you may be eligible for reimbursement. The best way to find out is to call your insurance company and ask. If your plan covers out of network providers, we can send you a superbill receipt and you may be eligible for reimbursement. Websites like https://getbetter.co/or https://reimbursify.com/ can help with this.
Thank You Life is a non-profit organization working to eliminate the financial barrier for those seeking psychedelic therapy services. https://thankyoulife.org/
I’m glad you asked! As you can see, I like transparency and providing as much information up front so that clients can make informed decisions about their mental health and the care they receive. I’ve seen Ketamine Infusion Treatments costs $4000-$20,000. My goal is to make this therapy as accessible and afforable as possible for clients and I truly believe it helps people heal. Details on the process and associated costs can be found by clicking HERE
For more information or to schedule a consultation, email us at Admin@TraumaTherapyNashville.com.