What should I expect during a ketamine-assisted therapy session?
Before your session with us, and hopefully anyone, there will always be medical screening and a 1:1 intake call to ensure fit and safety.
There is always an initial medical screening (psychiatric history, meds, cardiovascular check) done by a medical prescriber after you have passed the behavioral health assessment, which is conducted by licensed medical professional. Depending on the state of a client’s current healing journey and psychedelic knowledge, a preparation plan will be developed to ensure safety and to educate clients on psychedelics. Psychedelics require a lot of education and some clients will also need to have psychotherapy before their journeys to prepare their nervous systems for their journeys. Ongoing therapy is always recommended to integrate journeys and to learn how to implement insights in every day life. To better understand the therapeutic benefits when working with psychedelics, you may read the Ketamine section on our website, that talks about safety and psychedelic journeying. No client is ever expected to have experience and to have all the answers. Preparation is always part of the process to help every client feel safe, supported and clear on their goals and intentions.
In order to prepare for your journey we have developed many resources and study materials that you can access in the resource section and in our free ketamine and psilocybin courses.
On the day you’ll arrive at a beautiful, calming journey space that is set up to support you and to make you feel very safe and comfortable. We always have mats, pillows, blankets, tea, snacks and comfort items like weighted blankets.
You will feel immediately comforted by the presence of your other group members. Building a safe, supportive group container begins long before your in-person dosing session. Psychedelic community journeys builds support and life-long friendships - and groups are always more powerful than journeying alone.
We help you take your vitals and review your transportation plans and touch consent forms.
How the medicine is given and timing: Ketamine can be given as oral lozenges/tablets, intramuscular (IM) or intravenous (IV) infusion; onset and length depend on route (oral: slower, IM/IV: faster and more intense). At OUR HOUSE we work with lozenges and a journey lasts 3 hours, which includes preparation and re-grounding. The active peak lasts 45-60 minutes, with another hour of gently coming out of the medicine. When working in groups, we always find that journeys last longer. People are always reoriented back to the here & now when the Ketamine session is over. You will be able to walk out of the journey space.
What people commonly experience during the session: Clients are laying on mats with eyeshades, listening to a playlist designed specifically for ketamine journeys. Therapists and psychedelic journey guides, are always by the clients’ sides for support. It is important to have a guide who is trained in psychedelics and in trauma-informed care. Research shows that psychedelics are safe when used with knowledge and support. At OUR HOUSE we have a unique combination of years of training as therapists as well as licensed medicine guides and facilitators.
What people commonly feel during Ketamine: Expect altered perceptions (time distortion), a dreamlike state, vivid imagery, emotional release, and sometimes spiritual/insightful moments. With Ketamine, people usually report a sense of distance from their issues, which allows them to take a step back to observe and understand life and struggles better and from a different, more helpful perspective. Clients typically report less anxiety during the journey than on other psychedelics and they find the more emotionally removed, distanced perspective on ketamine to be more gentle. This makes Ketamine a wonderful medicine to work through trauma and very difficult life experiences or emotions. We sometimes describe Ketamine to sit between Psilocybin and MDMA. It has some distancing, heart-opening qualities like MDMA and the thought opening and cognitive re-patterning qualities of psilocybin.
Safety, monitoring and immediate aftercare: Adverse reactions are uncommon but possible (nausea, dizziness, transient anxiety). You’ll be advised not to drive forthe rest of the day, to rest, and to plan follow‑up integration therapy to process insights. Journeys at OUR HOUSE always include integration.
Practical tips: Wear comfortable clothing, arrange a ride home, fast for 4 hours before your journey and reflect on how you would like to prepare mentally and physically to meet the medicine.
Because Ketamine is a shorter experience compared to psilocybin, the OUR HOUSE program is designed as a 5-week process with 3 ketamine journeys that will help your brain build up towards more lasting healing effects. To learn more about us or our programs, reach out for a free consultation.
