Ketamine Therapy in New York, NY

Is psychedelic therapy legal?

Yes. Ketamine is FDA approved and has been used clinically for decades. Psilocybin therapy is conducted legally in Denver, Colorado, where it is regulated under the state's natural medicine program. Preparation work can happen in Connecticut, New York or virtually, with the medicine journey itself taking place where it is legal.

What modalities are included under psychedelic therapy?

Legal psychedelic therapy in the US means working with ketamine or psilocybin under the professional guidance of a psychotherapist, someone who is licensed to provide psychotherapy. At OUR HOUSE, the psychedelic assisted therapy approach also means drawing from insights from evidence-based approaches like EMDR, IFS, mindfulness, art, somatic experiencing and psychoanalysis, These approaches are often combined to improve nervous system regulation for clients with a significant trauma history.

Is Ketamine safe?

The possibility to really get hurt by Ketamine is nearly non-existent on a physical level.  And on an emotional level, we see that there is no connection between psychosis and the use of ketamine.

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

While psychedelics like psilocybin don’t have significant toxicity to body organs, Ketamine activates the cardiovascular system, increases blood pressure and heart rate. That is why there is always a medical intake with a medical prescriber to get screened for any medical issues, such as heart issues, uncontrolled blood pressure and medication interactions.

• Blood pressure will always be assessed prior to each dosing session.

• There may be side effects like nausea and vomiting with Ketamine – it occurs in less than 5% of cases and is welcomed as part of the experience as a sign of purging and letting go.

• Some people experience dizziness or blurred vision, and all side effects disappear after the experience or within 1-2 days.

What does Ketamine help with?

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

• It also appears to relieve or improve ruminative thinking or rigid thought patterns. So it has anti-obsessional properties and increases cognitive flexibility.

• And ketamine is also highly hallucinogenic or highly psychedelic, and in a particular dose range, frequently causes people to report that they believe themselves to be in the presence of unity, love and compassion.

• In short, ketamine research shows potential benefits for a range of conditions, including depression, OCD, anxiety and as therapists and mental health experts, Camila and Nikki experience every day how ketamine helps client get unstuck from life challenges by gaining more perspective and clarity in their thinking. Opening the mind to new perspectives is helpful in healing from trauma and negative self-beliefs, in boosting creativity and in identifying our purpose and passion in life. Ketamine has a wide range of application in achieving wellbeing, personal growth and improving clients relationships and sex life.

Is there a chance of falling into a K-hole?

The dosage levels of ketamine used in OUR HOUSE therapeutic treatments are much less than what would be used in the ER for anesthesia. (Too high of a dosage is related to the K-hole, which you do not need to be concerned about at the clinical ranges we are working with.) However, the clinical dosage ranges are high enough to occasion altered states of consciousness.  Lower doses occasion light detachment and reflection, and higher doses occasion more profound reassessment of the nature of reality that you have learned about earlier in the course.

At OUR HOUSE retreats and ketamine therapy groups, Nikki and Camila typically work within the higher dosages, where Ketamine becomes a  psychedelic, a “non-specific amplifier” of all mental experience, to show us what needs healing in our minds.

Sometimes people choose to work with lower dosages in those environments as well, and that is 100% ok. All dosage decisions and goals for your experience will always be discussed with you!  

Will I get addicted?

You may wonder whether you can become addicted using Ketamine. 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 the classical psychedelics. Several of the non-classical psychedelics, like Ketamine (as well as nitrous oxide and THC) DO carry varying degrees of potential for abuse.

Certainly, Ketamine appeals to some folks because it's short-acting and it can get you very high. It can lead to a profoundly altered state quickly and people recover fairly quickly. In that sense, ketamine has powerful addictive potential because it is so powerful and short-acting.

In talking about addiction, though, we have to parse out a couple of different issues. Such as whether ketamine abuse is related to the person and their psychology - or is it related to the Ketamine itself? So what you are really asking is, does Ketamine create physical addictiveness?

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 Nikki and Camila use in their therapeutic programs & retreats, and when used infrequently or with space in between. That changes, though, if people use Ketamine in a high dose or with frequent usage, and in those cases, people can quickly become physically addicted.

So is ketamine inherently addictive? As therapists, working with clients in ethical and safe ways towards healing, Nikki and Camila don’t believe that it is. And that is why OUR HOUSE develops therapeutic models with controlled environments, nervous system and psychological tools and processes that help clients move towards problem-solving - not shutting away from pain. With their thorough courses, integration support and long-term community integration circles, Camila and Nikki help clients move towards more healing and less medicine, rather than chasing medicine experiences.

Who is a good fit for Ketamine therapy?

Ketamine is best suited for people who are genuinely committed to a therapeutic process and who are willing to embrace a process of ongoing change after their ketamine journeys. Ketamine is a much shorter journey compared to psilocybin or other psychedelic medicines and challenging material for healing will be processed over the course of several sessions. That is why Camila and Nikki developed a program that includes 3 dosing session and help clients to maximize the benefits from both a processing point-of-view, as well as from the angle of neuroscience which shows that the effect of Ketamine are cumulative, with lasting symptom relief building over the course of several sessions. .Camila and Nikki always emphasize that healing with Ketamine is powerful and beautiful, but it is work and requires ongoing self-reflection and a growth-oriented mindset.

What happens during preparation and integration?

Similar to mushroom therapy, Ketamine requires preparation sessions to build nervous system tools and help all journeyers begin accessing difficult emotions or “shadows” that they wish to work on during their dosing sessions. Camila and Nikki have developed a Ketamine preparation course to help clients understand this important part of their journey. This approach allows for better nervous system regulation at the time of the journey.

The term Integration describes a specific psychedelic healing process that helps clients transform their psychedelic experience into lasting change, mental and behavioral change. Unless we understand this process, journey insights will fade. The experience is never enough to help client heal from depression, anxiety or childhood trauma. Brains do not change instantly like that, our egos and survival mechanisms will come back. The true purpose of psychedelic experiences is to find more loving connections to ourselves to be able to work with our negative self-beliefes and fears after the journey, to truly hold and heal them. As psychotherapists with certifications across a wide range of therapeutic modalities, Nikki and Camila understand the mechanisms of change and transformation and their programs are all rooted in bringing this expertise to their clients. For real change.

What are your credentials?

Nikki and Camila are licensed in New York and Colorado, with training including a Masters of Social Work from NYU, EMDR certifications, Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy, Psychedelic Harm reduction and Integration, and Psilocybin Facilitation training through Fluence. Both Nikki and Camila have completed licensure as a Colorado Natural Medicine Clinical Facilitators. Camila and Nikki also trained in other psychedelic therapy modalities such as 5meo-DMT or MDMA, but these therapy approaches are currently outside the scope of OUR HOUSE programing, until these substances have been legalized.  

How do I get started?

A free consultation is the best first step. It's a chance to talk through what you are looking for, meet one of the facilitators to get a better feel for who you would be working with and learn whether psilocybin is meeting your hopes and needs at this time.