Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)
What is Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)?
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy — or KAP — is one of the most exciting and genuinely groundbreaking developments in the mental health field today. At its heart, KAP is exactly what its name suggests: psychotherapy that takes place with the support of ketamine medicine. It is an option we are proud to offer here at Kismet — and one worth understanding — but we want to be clear that it is never a requirement for receiving ketamine infusion therapy. Many of our clients choose infusions alone and experience remarkable results. KAP is simply an additional door we can open for those who feel ready and drawn to walk through it. It can be offered as a stand-alone treatment for those who come to us specifically for support and integration during their ketamine infusions, or it can be woven into a longer-standing therapeutic relationship with one of our psychotherapists — whatever feels like the right fit for where you are in your journey.
Here is the simplest way to think about it. Ketamine has a unique ability to temporarily soften the walls that our minds build around painful memories and difficult emotions. These walls exist for good reason — they protect us from being flooded by things that once felt too big to survive. But those same walls can also keep us stuck, making it nearly impossible to do the kind of deep healing work that real recovery requires. KAP uses a carefully calibrated dose of ketamine to gently lower those defenses just enough — not to overwhelm you, but to open a door that is usually closed.
With that door open, our trained trauma psychotherapists work alongside you in real time, helping you move toward the experiences, feelings, and memories that have been driving your symptoms from the inside out. Things that may have felt completely unreachable in regular therapy suddenly become approachable. Insights that might have taken years to arrive can surface naturally and powerfully within a single session. Many of our clients describe KAP sessions as some of the most meaningful and transformative experiences of their healing journey.
KAP is not a replacement for the ketamine infusion process — it is what makes the most of it. The infusions open new pathways in the brain. KAP helps you walk down those pathways with intention, support, and the guidance of someone who knows exactly how to help you make the most of where the medicine takes you. Together, they form a whole that is genuinely greater than the sum of its parts — and for many of our clients, that combination has made all the difference.
How KAP Works: The Three Phases
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy happens in three phases: preparation, the medicine session, and integration. Each phase is essential to the process.
Phase One: Preparation
Before your first medicine session, you and your therapist meet to prepare. You build trust, set intentions, and learn what to expect. An intention is different from a goal — it’s more like “I’m ready to look at what happened when I was younger” rather than “I want to stop feeling depressed.” A good intention orients the mind toward work that needs to be done as it enters the psychedelic space. Research shows that good preparation with “set and setting” (mind set entering a ketamine session and feeling safe in the setting where the medicine journey takes place) gives the best possible conditions for a positive, healing journey.
Phase Two: The Medicine Session
The medicine for KAP can be delivered either through an IV infusion or as oral ketamine, depending on how your treatment plan is structured.
If you’re receiving an infusion, preparation happens prior to the infusion and the integration work (Phase 3) happens in separate therapy sessions following. IV ketamine is a full body and mind immersive experience. KAP is not typically done at the same time. KAP can be done immediately after an infusion if a client chooses to do so.
If we are doing KAP combined with oral ketamine, you come to our offices for the medicine session. Preparation and intention setting will still be done prior to the medicine session. Your therapist is with you the entire time — actively guiding you, helping you navigate what comes up. If something difficult emerges, your therapist helps you stay with it in a manageable way. The session lasts 50-55 minutes with additional quiet reflection/ journaling time being available in one of our ketamine rooms for the length of time that you need. It is essential that a person still be driven home following their oral ketamine experience.
Phase Three: Integration
Integration is the process of taking what emerges during a medicine experience — insights, memories, emotions, shifts in perspective — and actively weaving those experiences into your daily life in ways that support healing and growth. It’s the bridge between the temporary altered state created by the medicine and lasting change in how you think, feel, and move through the world. Integration is where the real work begins. It is an ongoing process that unfolds over time as you continue working with your therapist. It is as important as the medicine journey, while some would argue that it is the most important step of all three phases. Your therapist helps you make sense of what emerged during the medicine session and weave those insights into your everyday life. This isn’t a single conversation — it’s an ongoing process of understanding what surfaced, what it means, and how to let it inform your healing journey.
The window that ketamine opens in your brain — increased neuroplasticity where new connections form more easily — stays partially open for a time after the session. What you do during this window matters enormously.
What Research Shows About KAP
The scientific evidence for Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy has been growing rapidly, with particularly compelling results for PTSD and trauma treatment. A large study of over 1,800 people found significant improvements in depression, anxiety, and PTSD that lasted for months. At three months, about 40% no longer met criteria for their original diagnosis.
For PTSD specifically, combining ketamine with trauma-focused therapy appears to enhance both treatments in ways that neither approach achieves alone. Studies combining ketamine with EMDR therapy found that the combination produced better outcomes than EMDR therapy by itself. Brain imaging studies suggest ketamine may help quiet the parts of the brain that keep trauma survivors stuck in states of high alert and hypervigilance.
Research on treatment-resistant conditions showed that 235 participants had meaningful reductions in depression and anxiety after KAP. Benefits were especially strong for older patients and those with more severe symptoms. The research consistently demonstrates that multiple KAP sessions produce better and more lasting results than single sessions, with the therapeutic relationship and integration work playing a crucial role in sustaining gains over time.
What Conditions Can KAP Help With?
KAP has shown effectiveness for several conditions:
Treatment-Resistant Depression — where some of the strongest evidence exists. The combination of ketamine’s rapid neurological effects and deep processing in therapy can break through depression that hasn’t responded to other treatments.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and complex trauma show especially compelling results. KAP’s ability to temporarily soften protective defenses while keeping you safe can allow trauma processing in ways that weren’t previously possible.
Anxiety Disorders — including generalized anxiety and social anxiety. The combination of ketamine’s neuroplastic effects and anxiety-focused therapy can help break stuck cycles.
Chronic Pain with depression or PTSD can benefit from KAP’s mind-body approach, addressing both psychological and neurological aspects of entrenched pain.
Substance Use Disorders — particularly when addiction is rooted in trauma or when maintaining sobriety after detox is difficult.
What Makes KAP Different From Regular Therapy?
In traditional talk therapy, your therapist works with your conscious, verbal, thinking mind. This works, but it has limits. Some of the most important material — especially trauma — gets stored in ways that words can’t easily reach.
KAP works differently. The medicine temporarily shifts your consciousness in a way that gives you and your therapist access to material usually out of reach. The walls come down just enough. Memories surface. Connections appear. And because your therapist is right there, you’re processing in real time with someone who knows how to work with what’s emerging.
The medicine also creates increased neuroplasticity — your brain becomes more flexible, more able to form new connections. Insights from a KAP session have a better chance of actually changing how your brain works.
Many people describe KAP as doing the work of months or years of traditional therapy in a single session. That’s not to say KAP is “better” — it works in a fundamentally different way, accessing different levels and creating different conditions for change.
Safety and What to Expect
KAP is safe when done properly in a clinical space with a trained professional. You need to be the right candidate — people with active psychosis, uncontrolled high blood pressure, or active substance use disorder involving ketamine aren’t good candidates.
During the session, some people find the altered state mildly unsettling at first. Difficult emotions or memories might surface. Common effects include feeling disconnected from your body, changes in time perception, mild nausea, and emotional intensity. These are temporary and resolve as the medicine wears off. After the session, you might feel tired or emotionally tender.
The day after, many people report feeling more open, hopeful, or emotionally available. Some need extra rest. Some feel energized and clear. Everyone’s response is different.
How Many Sessions Do You Need?
This varies depending on what you’re working on and how you respond. Some people do four to six sessions over several weeks. Others do longer-term work over months. Research suggests multiple sessions produce better results than single sessions.
At Kismet, we tailor the treatment plan to you. For some clients, the start of ketamine therapy and KAP is the beginning of intense psychotherapeutic work. Other clients benefit from KAP support to help them prepare for and integrate material from these profound medicine journeys.
Is KAP Right for You?
KAP might make sense for you if:
- You’ve been in traditional therapy and made some progress but hit a wall with certain material that feels too defended or too overwhelming to approach directly
- You have treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, or anxiety that hasn’t responded adequately to other treatments
- You’re drawn to the idea of experiential, medicine-assisted therapy and feel ready for that level of depth
- You have the time and resources to commit to the full process — not just the medicine sessions but the preparation and integration work
- You feel safe with the idea of an altered state of consciousness and have trust that the process can be helpful
KAP might not make sense for you if:
- You’re looking for a quick fix or a one-time solution
- You’re not ready to look at difficult material or don’t feel that there’s deep work you need to do
- You have medical or psychiatric conditions that make ketamine therapy unsafe
- You don’t have the support system or stability in your life to do this kind of intensive work
Please talk with both the medical staff and psychotherapist at Kismet to see how Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy may fit into your treatment plan.
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) FAQs
A standard ketamine infusion is a medical treatment — powerful, effective, and complete in its own right. KAP takes that same medicine and adds a trained psychotherapist into the experience with you, working alongside you as the ketamine opens up space that is usually closed off. Think of a regular infusion as the key that unlocks the door. KAP is what happens when someone who knows exactly how to help you is walking the with you on this journey.
What happens during KAP depends on if you are receiving ketamine infusions or engaging in oral ketamine therapy. What will remain consistent with the two are the three phases of KAP: intention setting, support with medicine sessions and integration of material following the medicine sessions.
Many clients describe the hours and days following a KAP session as some of the most meaningful of their healing journey — a sense of openness, clarity, and sometimes profound relief that things they have been carrying for years have finally begun to shift. Some clients also feel emotionally tender or reflective for a day or two afterward, which is completely normal and actually a sign that real work has happened. We always encourage clients to give themselves a quiet, gentle day after a session rather than rushing back into the demands of regular life.
This is genuinely different for every person and depends on what you are working through, how your nervous system responds to the medicine, and whether KAP is being used as a stand-alone treatment or as part of a longer therapeutic relationship. Some clients experience significant breakthroughs in just a few sessions. Others benefit from a more extended course of treatment. Your treatment plan is built around you, reviewed regularly, and adjusted based on what we are actually seeing and measuring.
Absolutely — and in fact, many clients find that KAP deepens and accelerates the work they are already doing with their existing therapist. It combines beautifully with evidence-based approaches like EMDR, Brainspotting, Internal Family Systems (IFS) and other trauma-focused modalities. If you are already working with a therapist outside of Kismet, we are happy to coordinate care with them directly so that everyone supporting you is on the same page.
KAP medicine sessions are not currently covered by insurance. An oral ketamine KAP session is $200, which reflects both the specialized nature of this work and our commitment to keeping it as accessible as possible. For clients who incorporate KAP into a longer-term therapeutic relationship with one of our psychotherapists, the supporting psychotherapy sessions that include preparation and integration work is covered by insurances the practice accepts.
KAP has a strong and growing safety record when conducted by trained professionals in a proper clinical setting — which is exactly what we provide at Kismet. Engaging in the KAP phases of intention setting, medicinal therapeutic support and integration provide even more safety guardrails against bad experiences as someone engages in this psychedelic treatment.