At An Elegant Mind™, we believe that psychotherapy is a crucial component of maximizing the transformational and psycho-spiritual healing benefits of ketamine. After observing thousands of patients, our clinic’s Founder, Angela Ivy Leong, developed a proprietary method called KISSS therapy, which combines Trauma Healing, Self-Actualization, Sex Therapy, Relationship Counselling, and Ketamine to help people heal their blocks toward experiencing pleasure, intimacy, and connection. People aren’t going to change if they can’t think differently, and we shouldn’t be telling people how they should think about things because it takes away their agency. And when we’re able to restore neuronal density in just a single session, we’re giving people the maximum opportunity to effect change in their lives naturally, effortlessly, and from a place governed by their own values, and their own inner healing intelligence.
KISSS – stands for (K)etamine-(I)nduced (S)elf and (S)exuality (S)ynchronization. It is a transformative therapeutic approach that integrates ketamine’s profound healing potential as a psychedelic with psychotherapy, tantra, and the science of neuroplasticity. The method is designed to help individuals and couples heal trauma, deepen emotional and sexual intimacy, and achieve self-actualization. Ketamine plays a dual role in this process—both as a neuroplasticity agent and as a psychedelic, offering powerful spiritual and mystical experiences that open the door to profound healing and personal transformation.
Here’s the expanded definition of Angela’s method:
(K)etamine-(I)nduced Neuroplasticity
Ketamine as a Psychedelic: Ketamine is not just a dissociative sedative; it is a powerful psychedelic that can catalyze profound insight and spiritual experiences. In KISSS therapy, ketamine induces a psychedelic state, allowing clients to transcend their usual perception of reality, their habits, and their faulty perceptions of self and others. These transcendent states often bring about a sense of interconnectedness, oneness, and spiritual awakening, which can lead to profound emotional and relational healing. For many, this is an opportunity to connect with something greater than themselves, facilitating deep personal and spiritual growth.
Neuroplasticity as a Pathway to Change: Ketamine also enhances neuroplasticity, by increasing the brain's ability to form new neural connections. This neuroplasticity is crucial for breaking free from entrenched emotional and behavioral patterns that limit personal growth and capacity for intimacy. By combining ketamine’s neuroplastic effects with psychotherapy, clients can rewire their emotional reactions and create new pathways for healthier relationships and deeper self-awareness.
Neuroplasticity and Rewiring Emotional Responses: Trauma often entrenches negative emotional patterns that can hinder personal growth and intimacy. Ketamine's neuroplasticity-enhancing properties facilitate the rewiring of these pathways, allowing clients to break free from patterns of fear, shame, and avoidance. This process is particularly vital for those healing from sexual trauma, as it helps individuals rebuild trust in themselves and others. By creating new neural connections, KISSS therapy empowers clients to develop healthier emotional responses, paving the way for deeper intimacy and more fulfilling relationships.
(S)elf-Actualization and Differentiation of Self
The first "S" in KISSS represents Self-actualization, which is the process of reaching one’s full potential. A concept first introduced by Kurt Goldstein, a physician specializing in neuroanatomy and psychiatry in the early half of the 20th century. When one heals all aspects of the self—emotional, mental, psychological, and sexual— one can step into one’s highest self. Ketamine’s ability to dissolve the ego allows clients to explore hidden or repressed parts of themselves in a safe and non-judgmental way. This leads to self-actualization, where clients embrace their true selves with greater compassion and understanding. When one reaches their true self, the self before all the trauma happened to them, or their highest self. One is primed to remain differentiated in the face of relationships, family settings, or group settings that demand sameness. One can confidently, calmly, and assertively remain who they truly are instead of people-pleasing, or using other maladaptive methods to relate with others.
(S)exual and Emotional Trauma Healing
Psychedelic-Assisted Trauma Processing: The second "S" in KISSS refers to the healing of deep-seated sexual and emotional trauma. Ketamine allows clients to enter an altered state of consciousness where they can confront repressed memories and emotional pain in a safe and supportive environment. In this state, clients often gain profound insights into their trauma, allowing them to reframe past experiences with greater clarity and compassion. This process helps individuals detach from the overwhelming emotional burden of their trauma, making it possible to engage with their pain in a new way that fosters healing and resolution.
Neuroplasticity and Rewiring Emotional Responses: Trauma often entrenches negative emotional patterns that can hinder personal growth and intimacy. Ketamine's neuroplasticity-enhancing properties facilitate the rewiring of these pathways, allowing clients to break free from patterns of fear, shame, and avoidance. This process is particularly vital for those healing from sexual trauma, as it helps individuals rebuild trust in themselves and others. By creating new neural connections, KISSS therapy empowers clients to develop healthier emotional responses, paving the way for deeper intimacy and more fulfilling relationships.
(S)ynchronization of Duality through Tantric Philosophy
Couples Therapy and Ketamine’s Spiritual Power: The third "S" in KISSS represents the synergy of polarities between partners. We are all different people, with different ways of processing information and seeing the world, and a fundamental task in relationships is to see differences as being complimentary. Ketamine’s psychedelic effects often lead to spiritual breakthroughs that allow couples to connect on a quantum level, allowing couples to relate more intuitively with each other. In this state, partners can experience a sense of unity, empathy, and unconditional love, which dissolves barriers and promotes emotional healing. The neuroplasticity induced by ketamine helps couples form new, healthier patterns of communication and intimacy.
Tantra’s Union of Emotional and Sexual Energies: Tantra views intimacy as a union of spiritual energies. In KISSS therapy, couples are guided through tantric exercises such as eye-gazing, partner meditations, and synchronized breathing to align their energies and deepen their emotional and sexual connection. By combining the mystical, ego-dissolving experiences of ketamine with the practical, embodied wisdom of tantra, couples can heal past wounds, overcome relational challenges, and cultivate a profound, lasting connection.
Eastern Philosophy for Inner Peace: Tantric philosophy complements this process by emphasizing principles of acceptance, mindfulness, and compassion for all living things. By integrating Eastern philosophical practices, such as mindfulness, breathwork, and energy exchange, clients experience their sexuality as a sacred and powerful force, contributing to their overall healing and personal development.
KISSS Therapy is a bio-psycho-spiritual approach that harnesses Ketamine as both a neuroplasticity agent and a psychedelic catalyst for spiritual healing and personal transformation. The therapy offers a unique opportunity for clients to experience deep mystical states, which open the door to profound emotional and relational healing. Ketamine allows clients to transcend their ordinary sense of self, fostering a sense of interconnectedness and oneness that can lead to a spiritual awakening. This, combined with its ability to promote Neuroplasticity, facilitates lasting changes in how individuals and couples relate to themselves and each other.
Through KISSS Therapy, clients experience a Synchronizing of Self and Sexuality, where their emotional, psychological, and sexual selves come into alignment. Psychotherapy enables them to process trauma and emotional wounds, while Tantra reconnects them with their partner’s sexual energy. Together, these elements create a powerful process of healing, transformation, and spiritual growth, helping individuals and couples achieve self-actualization, deepen intimacy, and experience greater joy in their relationships.
The mystical insights gained from ketamine’s psychedelic effects, combined with the neuroplastic changes and tantric practices, make KISSS Therapy a unique, integrative method for healing trauma, enhancing intimacy, and achieving profound personal and spiritual growth.