Ketamine -Assisted Psychotherapy: The Psychedelic That Breaks You Out of The Habit of You
You have beliefs about yourself and the world that you know are negative and don’t serve you.
But you can’t seem to shake it from your mind.
You’ve tried every SSRI and therapeutic modality that you can tolerate to try and address this existential dread.
You can’t seem to step out of this sub-optimal state of functioning.
And you're sick of taking a pill every day only to feel more numb than when you started.
You’re not alone, 85% of people have incomplete symptom remission from conventional mental health treatment alone.
You can almost taste what the other side of freedom might be like. Yet at the same time, there’s a thick concrete wall between where you want to be and where you are now.
You’ve heard about the miraculous effects of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and its ability to induce profound mystical experiences that fundamentally changes the way you see yourself and the world.
Research suggests that, in combination with psychotherapy, ketamine treatment can help you step into improved brain functioning, mood, and a completely new iteration of yourself.
What is Ketamine?
Ketamine was first discovered as an antidepressant when it was used in hospitals for chronic pain in the 1970’s. The doctors noticed that patients who received Ketamine for chronic pain also experienced an instant lift in depression symptoms.
Ketamine is a shapeshifter; it’s been used in medicine since the 1960’s as a safer alternative to general anaesthesia. In lighter doses, it’s been shown to have psychedelic effects, where individuals have reported having experiences with oneness and cosmic consciousness.
Ketamine works on the glutamate receptors in the brain, which are one of the most common chemical messengers in the brain. Glutamate plays a significant role in learning and memory.
Neuroplasticity is the process where new neural connections are made in the brain.
When glutamate is activated, it releases brain-derived nootropic factor (BDNF) in the brain, which induces neuroplasticity.
Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to reorganise itself and create new connections between neurons. This can help break down rigid thought patterns and allow for more flexible thinking.
This period of increased upregulation of BDNF can last between 3 and 10 days, resulting in a window of opportunity to make the changes you want to cement in your life.
But is Ketamine a Psychedelic?
In optimal doses, Ketamine can induce an altered states of consciousness. These altered states have been described as profound, mystical experiences with oneness, God, and the divine. In the scientific literature, we see these altered states capable of leading one to profound insights and breakthrough experiences that help individuals initiate and sustain radical changes in their lives.
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy is a psychospiritual tool to access memories and emotions that are often difficult to reach through talk therapy alone, while creating a blanket to methodically reprocess what we normally feel unsafe to access.
Ketamine also acts on the default mode network, the area of the brain that all psychedelics act on to temporarily detach from the inner monologue. This has been a key feature to helping individuals heal because it allows other parts of the brain to take dominance, such as the feeling parts, the emoting parts, the creative parts, and the hidden parts of the self.
Clients report that the benefits of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy endure well beyond the actual sessions. These landmark insights can provide a foundation for ongoing therapeutic work, making it easier for individuals to engage in and benefit from traditional forms of psychotherapy once they leave the ketamine clinic.
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Can Be Like Hitting The Reset Button
Psychopharmacologist Robert Carhart-Harris argues for the idea that all mental health conditions are dictated by mental rigidity.
Mental rigidity is when you become fixated on a certain way of seeing something.
You believe that you won’t be able to change or that this world is this way.
These rigid belief patterns result in mental health presentations of OCD, addiction, PTSD/trauma, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue, and other mental health disorders.
After Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy, it can feel like hitting the reset button and returning to the person you were before you acquired information that led to maladaptive behaviours.
Ketamine Treatment for PTSD, Depression & Anxiety in Vancouver
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy may be well indicated for a large number of mental health indications, but let’s talk about the three most common ones: PTSD, anxiety, and depression.
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD is helpful in terms of safely exploring, understanding, and accepting former flashbacks of traumatic memories and nightmares. Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD is a well-studied solution as we understand more about trauma and mental illness collectively.
Ketamine treatment for depression has shown an enormous amount of evidence, specifically with major depressive disorder. Research suggests that ketamine-assisted psychotherapy can be a robust solution to suicidal ideation when delivered by a licensed medical prescriber in a clinical setting. After a single dose, patients could experience a 75% reduction in depression symptoms.
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy for depression operates through a fundamentally different mechanism than traditional antidepressants. Conventional antidepressants, such as SSRIs, typically require weeks to show therapeutic effects and depend on consistent daily use to maintain symptom relief. In contrast, ketamine can produce rapid antidepressant effects—often within hours—following a single administration. These effects, while powerful, are typically transient, lasting only a few days to a week.
The integration of psychotherapy is critical not because the treatment is "one and done," but because it helps sustain and deepen ketamine’s short-term benefits. The heightened neuroplasticity induced by ketamine creates a "window of opportunity" during which the brain is more receptive to therapeutic change. Psychotherapy delivered during this period—especially cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or mindfulness-based approaches—can help patients reframe negative thought patterns, process emotional insights, and build resilience, thereby prolonging the antidepressant effects.
Rather than a single-dose cure, effective KAP involves a structured protocol including preparation before dosing, psychological support during the session, and integration therapy afterward to anchor the experience into lasting psychological change.
Ketamine treatment for anxiety has similar efficacy to its treatment for depression. Within two hours of treatment, Ketamine has been observed to reduce the symptoms of anxiety for up to two weeks or longer. This was observed in one high-dose session in a 2022 study, and specific symptoms such as panic, irritability, and other anxiety symptoms associated with generalised anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder were significantly alleviated.
Ketamine treatment is also helpful for gaining insight into other mental health challenges, such as existential issues and relationship problems, and basically any condition that is the result of rigid thinking or behaviours.
What to Expect from a Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Session in Vancouver
Before beginning this work, clients complete a medical screening with an independent licensed medical practitioner to ensure this approach is appropriate for them. Any medical care, including assessment and medication administration, is provided by an independent clinical team outside of our premises.
Patients then engage in a series of psychotherapy sessions with a Registered Clinical Counsellor, focused on building trust, clarifying intentions, and preparing emotionally and psychologically for the work ahead. These sessions support nervous system regulation, safety, and meaning-making.
The day of the ketamine dosing sessions, the medication is administered at a third-party clinic by an independent registered medical team. During this time, your therapist will be present solely in a psychotherapeutic support role, offering grounding, emotional attunement, and relational continuity. Following the experience, patients return to ongoing integration psychotherapy, where we support reflection, emotional processing, and the translation of insight into lasting psychological and relational change.
Throughout the process, your therapist offers steady emotional, psychological, and relational support. They walk alongside you as material from the subconscious comes into awareness, helping you integrate these experiences in a way that feels grounded, safe, and meaningful, so the work supports real change in your everyday life, not just a single experience.
From Stuck to Safe: A Real Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Story
One client came to us feeling caught in a painful, repeating loop — an on-again, off-again relationship that left him anxious, uncertain, and emotionally exhausted. Even when he told himself things would get better, he couldn’t feel it.
During his Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy session, something profound shifted. He described a deep, embodied sense of safety — a knowing that he would be okay, no matter what. That moment of clarity became a lasting resource. Now, when doubt arises, he reconnects with that felt experience of hope.
This is the heart of our work: helping you create space between yourself and your inner critic and build a bridge back to your own emotional safety.
Is Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Right for You?
Support Deep Psychological Change Through Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy
What Does Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy in Vancouver Cost?
Understanding the investment involved in your healing journey is important. Treatment costs can vary depending on the number of sessions, integration sessions, therapist's seniority, and individual needs.
- Initial consultation: Free 20-minute call
- Medical Screening: $175 billed separately by an independent medical clinic
- Psychotherapy costs per ketamine dosing session: from $339 to $654
- Medical costs per ketamine dosing session: from $687.50 to $725, billed separately by an independent clinic
- Custom care plans available based on trauma healing, depression severity, or couples therapy needs
Most insurance providers in British Columbia currently do not cover ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, as it's considered an off-label treatment. However, some may offer partial reimbursement under psychotherapy benefits.
👉 Book your free consultation to learn more about how Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy can help.
Why Our Approach to Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Is Different
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy with An Elegant Mind Counselling is more than just medicine — it's a full-spectrum healing experience grounded in trauma-informed care, emotional safety, and deep therapeutic support.
We specialize in helping clients feel unstuck, whether you're working through trauma, depression, anxiety, or disconnection from your body or relationships. Our approach blends psychedelic therapy with advanced training in sex and relationship therapy and EMDR, so healing happens at both the emotional and somatic levels.
What makes us different:
- We hold the highest certifications in psychedelic therapy and sex therapy
- Trauma-informed techniques like EMDR and Parts Work
- Ongoing support before, during, and after sessions
Many clients describe a shift, a quieting of the inner critic, a deep sense of safety, and the ability to see themselves with more compassion and possibility.
An Elegant Mind provides psychotherapy services delivered by Registered Clinical Counsellors. We do not prescribe, possess, dispense, or administer controlled substances. Medical assessments and medication administrations are provided by independent licensed medical practitioners.