Many clients will have been diagnosed with a mental illness, specifically depression, anxiety, or PTSD.  Some also have a history of physical, emotional or sexual abuse.  Some clients have concurrent medical issues such as cancer, neurologic disease, or chronic pain.

In many cases, clients will have reached a point through psychotherapy and/or antidepressant medications where their symptoms have improved, but where they feel they have reached a “wall” that seems difficult to break through.

The most important factor that determines treatment success is the readiness of a client to do everything that is necessary to make a complete recovery, including the often difficult inner work that accompanies these sessions.

Clients with psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, or who are extremely limited in terms of their functional status are generally encouraged to seek treatment elsewhere until these issues have improved.

Each session lasts approximately 3 hours.  The initial 60-90 minutes is comprised of a discussion of the client’s background and current symptoms/life conditions.  The subsequent hour is the ketamine journey itself, and the final portion is focused on returning to a normal state of consciousness and integrating the information that came through during the session into one’s normal awareness.  The overall role of the physician thus is to serve as a guide and to assist and empower clients as they progress through the healing process.

Each client brings a unique set of symptoms, background, and life events to the work.  Thus, there is no pre-determined number of sessions or duration of therapy that is required.  Most clients will come for between 3-6 total sessions.  The sessions are typically 2-3 weeks apart, and thus take place over a period of a few months.  We recommend that clients be willing to commit to a minimum of 3 sessions, as the benefits of the work may require several weeks to become apparent.

There is a robust and rapidly expanding body of research that indicates that, when administered under clinical supervision and supported before, during, and after by an experienced practitioner, the use of psychedelic medicines such as ketamine can produce significant and durable improvements in a wide variety of conditions, such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, and addiction.  In our experience, the most important factor that determines success is the level of dedication to incorporate the insights that arise during the medicine sessions into one’s daily life.  When a client feels ready to approach the work with patience, humility, and receptivity, profound improvements in attitude, mood, thought, and behavior, as well as improvements in physical symptoms, often take place rapidly and become permanent.

A large body of clinical research, including a large case series of patients receiving ketamine in the manner it is used in our practice have established it as extraordinarily safe.  At the doses used in this setting, the risk of serious adverse events is vanishingly small.  To ensure this, all clients will receive a thorough medical evaluation before beginning treatment.

Side effects such as nausea/vomiting and headache, occur in 5-10% of sessions.  These are typically mild and self-limited.  Importantly, clients should be aware that these physical symptoms actually have value as part of the process of clearing and cleansing the emotional issues that may have come to light during the session, and should not be regarded as evidence that something is wrong, or that the work was ineffective.

Throughout history, medicine ceremonies using psychoactive plants, as well as other sacred techniques such as breathing, meditation, fasting, and prolonged periods of silence in a natural setting have been used for spiritual insights that assist in the process of healing.  As our own contemporary culture continues to become reconnected to these practices, it is important to ensure that they are undertaken in a safe, serious, and thoughtful manner under the guidance of an experienced practitioner.

Understanding this, our practice incorporates the use of ketamine into the larger therapeutic process.  When ketamine is used, it is important to keep in mind that the substance itself is just the vehicle.  The actual medicine is the transmission of energy that allows one’s own healing capacity to awaken.

The techniques used in our practice do not conflict with any other treatment.  We typically recommend that clients who are already being treated by other providers continue with whatever other therapies are already underway, including any medications.  Clients often find that there is a synergistic effect between the medicine sessions and the other treatments they are receiving.

We are currently not participating in any clinical trials using psilocybe mushrooms, psilocybin, MDMA, or any other DEA Schedule 1 medicines, and do not use them in our practice.

Clinical services are billed at a rate of $425/hr.  There is no additional charges for email correspondence, text messages, or brief phone conversations.

If you are enrolled in a Health Savings Account (HSA) program, you may use these funds for your care.

We do not conduct any direct, third-party insurance plan billing, but we do provide a Medical Services Receipt (“superbill”) to clients upon request that can be submitted to their insurance company for reimbursement.  Because we do not participate in any health plans or contract with any insurance carriers, reimbursement for services is determined by your insurance plan’s coverage for out-of-network mental health services.  This varies widely between different plans, but generally covers only a small percentage of the total cost.  Thus, the majority of clients finance their own treatment without seeking reimbursement from their insurance company.

Clients who are interested in submitting an invoice are highly encouraged to contact their insurance carrier directly in order to determine the specific reimbursement they would expect to receive.  Superbills can only be submitted to commercial insurance companies and should not be submitted to Medicare, Medi-Cal, or any other government insurance plan.  Please contact our office if you have further questions regarding billing.

We believe that these treatments should be available to all people committed to doing the work required for this type of healing, regardless of cost. For that reason, we offer a few options for those with financial sensitivity.

DISCOUNTING: Since we recommend a series of sessions booked close together, we offer discounting on bundled services.

SLIDING SCALE: Reduced fees are determined on a case-by-case basis. Please contact our office for details.