Ketamine is an alternative medicine for the treatment of depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, eating disorders, substance use disorder, and acute suicidality.

Ketamine does not carry the same side effect profile as more traditional antidepressants - serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. For people who’ve had difficulties with SSRIs or in which SSRIs have not worked, ketamine may be a better option. It works faster than traditional antidepressants, and the neuroplasticity (brain flexibility) effects are strong, meaning the results are deeper than surface-level symptom relief. It is well known to produce new connections in the brain, taking advantage of the neuroplasticity effect.

Ketamine opens a neurobiological window and quiets the DMN (Default Mode Network). The DMN is responsible for rumination about the past and worry about the future. This quieting allows for a broader perspective, a re-ordering of priorities, and less preoccupation with habitual negative narrative. It creates a window of opportunity for learning new and healthier patterns of thought which is where psychotherapy during and after the ketamine experience becomes so powerful. This window, however, is temporary without integration so it is important to pick a KAP provider who also provides between session integration and guides the client to integrate on their own, as well.

Many clients describe their experience as feeling more open, having a sense of expansiveness, having an increase in clarity, feeling calmer, or feeling like they’ve released emotions or heavy burdens they’ve been carrying.

At Be Balanced Counseling, our KAP provider, Amy Burnside uses advanced, trauma-informed therapies which are well aligned with ketamine such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) or EMDR. These therapies, in combination with ketamine, can help clients uncover and heal the root cause of symptoms, behavioral patterns, emotional reactivity, addictive behaviors, relationship challenges, self-esteem issues, and loss of sense of self and a renewed sense of possibility.