A safe and relational way of working with ketamine that honors presence, connection, and the brain and body’s natural ability to heal.

 
 

What Is Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)?

Many people come to therapy looking for more than temporary symptom relief. They want to move beyond old patterns, experience lasting change, and feel more connected to themselves and their lives. Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) offers a structured, supportive way to help that process unfold.

In KAP, the therapeutic effects of ketamine are paired with ongoing clinical support. Ketamine can reduce defensive barriers in the nervous system and increase neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to create new pathways. This combination creates an opportunity for long-standing patterns to loosen and for new perspectives and responses to emerge.

The medicine itself does not create the healing. True change comes from the brain and body’s natural capacity to reorganize and restore balance. Ketamine helps open the door, and with skilled therapeutic guidance and integration, those changes are more likely to become lasting.

How KAP Is Different From Traditional Therapy?

Traditional therapy can be powerful, yet sometimes deeper layers remain out of reach. KAP creates conditions for your nervous system and inner healing intelligence to do the work they already know how to do.

  • Relational safety is central. During medicine sessions, your clinician offers steady, compassionate presence. This support signals to your system that it is safe enough to bring forward what once felt overwhelming.

  • Preparation builds trust. Before your first session, you meet with our care team to explore your history, your goals, and your support system. This foundation helps your process unfold with clarity and care.

  • Sessions can be expansive. People often notice meaningful imagery, shifts in awareness, or deep emotional release. Neuroplasticity makes it possible for the nervous system to reorganize in new ways.

  • Integration makes the difference. Healing does not end when the medicine wears off. Integration sessions, both one-on-one and in groups, help you anchor what emerged and apply those shifts in daily life.

What It Feels Like

Each journey is unique. Many people describe KAP sessions as expansive, reflective, and sometimes tender. You may notice vivid imagery, a new perspective on stubborn thought loops, or deep emotional release. At times the process may feel intense. With caring support and the guidance of your body’s innate capacity, these moments can reorganize into clarity, relief, and renewed connection.

Options for Your Journey

Your KAP process can be shaped by where sessions take place, how ketamine is administered, and whether you engage individually or in a group.

Location

  • In-office sessions: Held in a calm, supportive setting with a clinician present to guide and hold space. Many find that being in our dedicated space helps them fully focus on their healing.

  • In-home sessions: For those who qualify, sessions may be held in your home. This can be especially supportive if familiar surroundings help you feel grounded, while receiving the same attentive care.

Method of Administration

  • IV sessions: Some people choose IV ketamine for its quick onset and reliable dosing. This approach can support deeper or more immersive experiences, which may be helpful when working with long-standing patterns or when a more intensive opening is desired. We partner with trusted medical providers to ensure safety while maintaining therapeutic presence and support.

  • Troches (lozenges): Troches offer a gentler introduction with a slower onset and steady unfolding. They are often chosen by people who are new to KAP, who prefer a softer pace, or who benefit from medicine work that allows gradual shifts. This method supports meaningful change while staying closely connected to the therapeutic process.

Format

  • Individual KAP: A private, focused space with full attention on your process. Many find this allows them to go deeply into their own healing with steady relational support.

  • Group KAP: Sessions shared with others on a similar path. The group setting can create a powerful sense of connection, resonance, and shared transformation. Groups are guided with care so that safety, respect, and confidentiality are felt by everyone.

Some Pros and Cons of KAP

Pros

  • Enhances neuroplasticity, opening possibilities for lasting change

  • Engages the body’s natural healing process, working at the roots rather than only addressing surface symptoms

  • Provides relational safety, allowing vulnerable states to emerge and resolve

  • Offers flexible pathways: in-office, in-home, IV, troches, individual, and group

Cons

  • The process can sometimes feel intense, emotionally or physically

  • Healing may not feel linear, and things can feel unsettled before they integrate

  • It takes time, patience, and a willingness to trust your own inner healing process

  • Some people may not feel ready for the depth that KAP can bring forward

KAP is not a quick fix. It invites courage and trust. For many, it opens transformation where other approaches have not reached.

Who Is KAP For?

KAP can be supportive for people who:

  • Have tried other therapies without finding lasting relief

  • Struggle with depression, anxiety, trauma, or cycles that feel unshakable

  • Feel disconnected from themselves, relationships, or a sense of meaning

  • Want an approach that includes body and mind and trusts innate wisdom

  • Are curious about relational, experiential healing guided by inner intelligence

KAP often resonates with those who sense there is something deeper within them waiting to be uncovered.

Who KAP Is Not For

KAP may not be appropriate for people who:

  • Are seeking a quick fix and are not interested in integration

  • Have medical or psychiatric conditions that make ketamine unsafe, as determined during assessment

  • Are actively misusing substances in a way that complicates safe use of ketamine

  • Are in a season where deeper exploration feels overwhelming, and would benefit from gentler supports first

This does not mean healing is out of reach. It simply means another path may be a better fit right now. Our team can help you explore what will support you best.

Safety and Medical Oversight

Your safety is central. Everyone begins with a thorough medical and psychological assessment to ensure ketamine is appropriate. A licensed physician prescribes and monitors your care, while your clinician provides steady presence throughout. Safety is more than medical oversight. It is the felt sense of being emotionally held and relationally supported, so your system can relax into the healing process.

Integration: Where Transformation Lives

Ketamine can open the door, but integration is how changes become lasting. We offer individual integration sessions and group integration circles to help you reflect, anchor insights, and bring new ways of being into your life. Many people describe the circle as a place of resonance and community that deepens their healing.

What KAP Is Not

Some programs focus only on the medicine. What makes KAP different is the therapeutic container, preparation, relational presence, and integration that help the changes take root in daily life.

Why Work With Illuminate Wellness?

At Illuminate Wellness, we believe healing is already within you. Our role is to create the safety, presence, and relational support that allows your natural capacity for healing to lead. People often share that beyond the medicine itself, the steadiness and attunement of our care team helped them trust their own process more fully. We work with integrity, compassion, and deep respect. Integration is central, through individual sessions and our group integration circle, where many find connection, support, and lasting change.

An Invitation

KAP is not about forcing breakthroughs or chasing peak experiences. It is about creating conditions where your own wisdom can do what it was meant to do, reorganize, release, and reconnect.

If you are curious, this may be a doorway into something deeper. KAP offers a way of working with trauma and mood that goes beyond coping and touches the roots, guided by your body’s innate healing capacity and supported by neuroplasticity.

Healing happens in relationship, in presence, and through the wisdom already within you. At Illuminate Wellness, we are honored to walk with you as your inner healing intelligence leads the way.

Next Steps

If this resonates, the first step is a consultation with our care team to see if KAP is right for you. From there, we shape your journey together, whether that means in-office sessions, in-home care, IV infusions, troches, individual KAP, or group KAP.

We welcome you to contact us, and our team will help you consider whether KAP is an appropriate and supportive path forward.