OUR HOUSE offers comprehensive, legal, science-backed psychedelic therapy programs that give you the tools for meaningful change and healing. We work with Ketamine in NY and CT, and with psilocybin mushrooms in Colorado. While we mainly work in groups, more long-term individual therapy with psychedelics is also possible. As psychotherapists, we are experts in helping you heal from trauma and suffering with psychedelics. In the psychedelic world, this work is also referred to as Integration.

Yes, we are certified natural medicine facilitators, working 100% legally in states where work with psychedelics is allowed. For psilocybin this means that we are currently offering programming in Denver Colorado, while we work in CT and NY with Ketamine. We are hoping to be able to offer psilocybin programs on the East Coast as soon as states allow us to do so.

Yes, we offer Ketamine Therapy in groups and individually in NYC, NY and in Greenwich, Connecticut, just outside of Westchester County, NY.

Not yet, but we will, as soon as NY state approves the use of Psilocybin for mental health treatments. Our Clinical Natural Medicine Facilitator licenses (as we are told!) will be valid in any state that opens up to psilocybin mushrooms. So hopefully soon! You may see us in New Hampshire first which is working on legalization right now. For legalization status of psilocybin visit our blog where we keep you up to date.

The application process begins by completing the screening form which can be accessed here.

At the end of the screening form you will be able to book a free consultation call with us. We will review your application and either get back to you with next steps (usually within 3-5 business days) or we will meet you on the free consultation call.

Healing with psychedelics (not taking psychedelics) requires knowledge in psychedelics and in therapy. While science or a science-backed approaches give us more confidence in how to safely work with medicines and for which conditions, it is the therapy expertise that helps clients prepare for this work, feel supported and safe throughout the process and understand the working of their minds for long-term joy and behavior change. At OUR HOUSE, we bring research, therapy and psychedelics beautifully together, under one roof, with many years of experience in all areas. if we didn’t know how to use psychedelics to help with emotional healing, we wouldn’t do it. These medicines are truly part of our therapeutic tool box and our processes reflect decades of experience in client care and trauma healing. Learn more about who we are here.

OUR HOUSE co-founders Camila Pastor and Nikki Fall are Licensed Psychotherapists and Licensed Clinical Natural Medicine Facilitators with years of collective experience in psychotherapy, group work, psychedelic integration, legal Ketamine-, Psilocybin- and Ayahuasca-facilitation in the USA and Peru.  To learn more about them, read their bios.

You can reach us via phone or email on our contact page. We aim to respond quickly—usually within 1-2 business days. You may also book a free consultation meeting with us via this scheduling link.

We work with Colorado approved mushroom cultivators who grow and test strains for potency. Common strains we love working with include Golden Teacher, Shakti and other strains, depending on availability and pricing. Working with psilocybin above ground means you will be able to plan for a dosage that is safe and just right for you

At OUR HOUSE we work with ketamine lozenges that dissolve and are held in the mouth for 20 minutes. Because every body metabolizes ketamine differently in this way, we will find the dosage that is right experience for you.

The first uses of ketamine were as an anesthetic in 1970, but in the early 2000s, studies were published  that showed ketamine has other interesting properties, at lower dosages:

First of all, it appears to rapidly, almost immediately, decrease symptoms of organic depressive disorders. So depression that's more biological as opposed to situational.

And it also appears to relieve or improve ruminative thinking or rigid thought patterns. So it has anti-obsessional properties.

The overall themes which one can take away with a lot of the dynamic brain imaging studies that have been done to date is that there may be something about breaking old patterns of activity, reinforcing new patterns of activity, and increasing, in some manner, what we might call cognitive flexibility.

And the interesting thing is that ketamine is also highly hallucinogenic or highly psychedelic, and in a particular dose range, frequently causes people to report spiritual or mystical experiences, just like psilocybin.

We also love working with Ketamine for it’s more gentle effects compared to psilocybin - clients who have just started working on their traumas may begin their healing process with a layer of heart-openness or slight detachment. The Ketamine experience is often described as a detachment from one’s problems with an increased ability to observe and understand our histories with less emotional activation, so a tiny bit of a MDMA quality is present in the experience of Ketamine.

·      Ketamine appears to do something at a purely biochemical or biological level and probably in a lower dose range that seems helpful for some folks who have refractory or treatment resistance, difficult depressive disorders, even without a full-blown psychedelic experiences. So that's one peak in the response curve.

o   That is, it was a neurochemical perturbation to the brain that would catalyze, in some manner, improved mood. with no other psychotherapy involved. The neurochemical action of ketamine in the brain is to act as an antagonist, or blocker, of a particular type of glutamate receptor, the NMDA-glutamate receptor. Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter and is the most abundant neurotransmitter in the human brain. Impacting glutamate has widespread, modulatory effects on the excitability of the entire brain. How this translates into an antidepressant effect or into a psychedelic effect is not even close to being understood. In any case, ketamine primarily impacts glutamate neurobiology and not so much serotonin neurobiology, like the conventional psychiatric antidepressants, that is the SSRIs are believed to do, these selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Conventional psychopharmacologic antidepressants, like SSRIs, often require several weeks to take effect, and their effects can be quite variable across individuals. Ketamine appeared to be both fast acting and more consistent in its antidepressant effects. The enthusiasm for ketamine as an antidepressant has persisted to this day.

·      Other folks seem to benefit more or seem to only benefit when the ketamine is in the psychedelic range, when the ketamine causes mystical visions and is fully dissociative. There's quite a bit of research that supports this.

1.     So we can talking about Ketamine as a pharmaceutical agent. We can talk about what it does at a chemical level.

2.     We can talk about it as a catalyst for psychotherapy.

3.     Or as inducing otherworldly, mystical experiences.

So in reality, all the paradigms become combined. We teach them as separate ideas, but in reality, there's quite a blend and overlap.

The doses of ketamine used in the treatment of depression are generally less than what would be considered psychedelic doses. However, they are high enough to occasion markedly altered states of consciousness.

Both dose ranges occasion a kind of spaciousness of consciousness within which one might view their life and neuroses from a somewhat detached observer perspective. Seeing things this way might allow for some movement toward healing.

·      Lower doses occasion light detachment and reflection,

and higher doses may occasion more profound reassessment of the nature of reality and one's place in it, which may have transformative effects that can be carried back into one's daily life.

Psilocybin is a classic psychedelic. Psychedelics often heighten or amplify awareness of sensory perception (visual, auditory, tactile) - and of our thoughts and feelings.

Psychedelics have been called non-specific amplifiers of all of mental experience, because they amplify whatever's already in the mind.

There may be alterations or changes of sensory perception. Synesthesia, the mixing of various sensory channels so that what we're seeing can be experienced as something that we're e.g. hearing as well.

And there can be all kinds of dreamlike visual imagery and other associated thoughts and feelings.

There's often what can be characterized as a loosening of psychological defenses to allow for previously unconscious material to emerge into awareness, and this can be a catalyst for therapeutic work or for psychological growth and healing if it's done in an environment that is supportive and knowledgeable.

Single experiences can change people in profound ways. To understand the variations of experiences and benefits by dosage levels, you may download or review our psilocybin dosage chart.

You can also view our Psilocybin Course or Overview PDF that outlines both benefits and safety of psilocybin in modern clinical trials.

All our dosing sessions are put together with much preparation and loving care. We always ground nervous systems with breath and guided meditations and with making space for parts, fears and needs. Nobody is ever rushed into an experience.

When you arrive, whether that is in our NYC and Denver healing spaces, you will always be welcomed with a warm smile. a choice of your “nest”, your personal journey space that consists of a mattress, sheets. blankets and pillows.

Once the medicine is taken, we provide care and support for the duration of the dosing experience session, which is ~2 hours for ketamine and ~5 hours for psilocybin.

We play beautiful music to support you on your journey and are known to create a journeying environment that clients love and find healing in.

We always close without rushing and with gently landing together in community. Providing chocolate, tea and support. Nobody leaves our space without feeling safe, supported and grounded.

No matter which experience you have with us, we always close with integration and detailed support materials for how to continue your journey, even if you join is for our shortest healing program, the ketamine “drop-ins” in NYC, NY.

Watch our testimonials for what clients say about their experience with us at OUR HOUSE.

Every client undergoes a thorough intake process to assess safety and fit based on your medical and behavioral profile.

For Ketamine, we will connect you to a medical prescriber who will assess you medically and provide a prescription.

For psilocybin, we may have you connect with your existing prescriber or a psychiatrist if needed.

Contraindications such as heart disease and uncontrolled blood pressure exist, as well as a histories of schizophrenia. Ketamine is know to not interfere with anti-depressants or mood stabilizers, while additional conversations need to be had with psilocybin.

The intake process is medically and science-backed to ensure that you are safe. That is the beauty of doing legal work, in going through the process with us, you will have the peace of mind of a thorough risk assessment process.

And once approved, and you are new to psychedelics, to can rest assured that we will spend the time needed to prepare and teach you. We have developed wonderful ketamine and psilocybin preparation courses with exercises and resources to guide you through this process. At the end of our process, all of your questions and fears will be addressed.

Modern Research emphasizes that the main risks of psilocybin are psychological and contextual rather than toxicological, meaning that set, setting, screening, and support are the most important safety factors.

The overall conclusion from large modern trials, across hundreds of participants and multiple countries, are that psilocybin therapy appears medically safe and psychologically manageable when delivered in structured settings with trained support.

1. Large Phase II Trials Found No Serious Drug-Related Medical Complications

2. Side Effects Were Mostly Short-Term and Predictable

3. Psychological Support Dramatically Improves Safety

The most common side effects include:

• Temporary increases in blood pressure or heart rate

• Headache (often the next day)

• Nausea

• Fatigue

• Short-term anxiety during the experience

These symptoms typically resolve within hours or days, and serious complications are rare when medical screening and monitoring are used.

For an overview of clinical trials you may download and review our Clinical Trials PDF or review the psilocybin safety video in our psilocybin prep course.

Ketamine continues to be widely used in emergency medicine and trauma surgery and in veterinary surgery and in the treatment of pain. It has a history of safe and effective use in medicine for more than 50 years.

Psychedelics tend not to be overused and, for the most part, do not lead to addictive relationships with the substance. This is especially so with classical psychedelics like psilocybin.

Several of the non-classical psychedelics, like Ketamine (as well as nitrous oxide and THC) actually do carry varying degrees of potential for abuse.

And while psilocybin does not lead to death from overdose, psychedelics that have more powerful sympathomimetic effects (activating the cardiovascular system, increase blood pressure and heart rate) like MDMA or Ketamine, do carry some risk. That is why a medical screening process is always part of your intake, to put your mind at ease.

Back to addiction - ketamine has psychological addictive potential because it's powerful and short-acting and for people who are looking for avoidance of their emotional issues, ketamine can seem appealing and be abused in that way.

Is Ketamine physically addictive?

Ketamine has been studied for a long time and it has very minimal physical addictive potential if it's used in a low-dose range, like what we use in a therapeutic application, and if it is used infrequently or with space in between dosing sessions.

That changes, though, if people use it in a high dose or frequently, more frequently than how we work with Ketamine therapeutically. When used frequently and in very high dosages, one can become physically addicted and.or experience side effects like bladder irritation (rare in therapeutic settings and dosing).

Side effects of therapeutic Ketamine usage typically occur during or shortly after a session and resolve within hours:

• Dizziness or lightheadedness

• Nausea or vomiting

• Blurred vision

• Sedation or fatigue

• Mild anxiety or confusion (especially as effects begin or wear off)

So is ketamine inherently addictive? We don't think that it is.

That said, there's tremendous potential for addiction and substance use disorder and problematic use that we need to be mindful of and that we are teaching you about here and when working with us.

Learn more about Ketamine’s safety profile in the Ketamine Information PDF or review our free Ketamine Therapy Preparation Course.

Once clients have done their research and made a decision to move forward with psychedelic therapy, conversations with loved ones become very important to be able to create supportive healing environments before and after your journey. Our How to Talk to Loved Ones PDF can be valuable resource for clients. While this document is designed for psilocybin journeys, many aspects apply to psychedelic preparation and journeying in general, no matter which medicine is used in healing.

Set & Setting, Intentions, Mental and Physical Preparation….all these factors and more greatly impact your journey outcomes.

We have put a lot of care into our preparation processes and we created many tools based on our experiences as therapists and long-time natural medicine facilitators. Our preparation (and integration) tools give clients safe journeys with meaningful outcomes.

On our website you will find many free resources ranging from our ketamine preparation course and our psilocybin preparation course to a brief psychedelic ceremony preparation PDF, many nervous system grounding exercises in the resource section, intention setting worksheets, shadow work meditations to embrace difficult parts or IFS parts exercises that will help you prepare for everything along your journey.

We create these resources and exercises for all to help all journeyers heal and travel safely.

Yes! We will always make the time needed to help guide you in your decision making process. You can reach us via phone or email on our contact page. We aim to respond quickly—usually within 1-2 business days. You may also book a free consultation meeting with us via this scheduling link.

Yes, all our programs are rooted in deep understandings of the science of psychedelics and what creates safe healing environments. As therapists with decades of experience working with trauma and difficult emotions, we are experts in guiding everyone safely through their journeys and healing processes.

Thorough screenings and intake processes are mandatory to ensure safety, as are collaborative working relationships with prescribers and medical professionals. Your safety is our priority.

Ketamine and Psilocybin safety profiles are discussed in depth in our Ketamine and Psilocybin Preparation courses.

The short answer is no.

Psilocybin does not produce physical dependence or withdrawal and is considered non-addictive. Neuroscientist David Nutt, who leads psychedelic research at Imperial College London, is widely known for arguing that psilocybin has one of the safest pharmacological profiles among psychoactive drugs when used responsibly and in controlled settings.

Ketamine does have addictive potential when used frequently and high dosages, but carries a very low addictive risk profile when used in controlled therapeutic settings.

Studies have even investigated both substances as treatments for addiction (e.g., tobacco, cocaine and alcohol use disorders).

Yes you can. If you are on an antidepressant, we will advise you to have in depth conversations with your prescribers.

Antidepressants are not contraindicated for Ketamine use.

Research shows that classic tryptamines (DMT, psilocybin, LSD) do not increase intrasynaptic serotonin levels. They only partially stimulate post-synaptic 5HT receptors and they only partially activate 2nd messenger intercellular signaling pathways and it’s those 2nd signaling pathways that determine serotonin toxicity.

Severe cases with psilocybin are very, very rare and primarily in those taking MAOIs.

When on antidepressants, we discuss safety and booster strategies to help you have the experience you are seeking.