• Ketamine is a legal, safe and effective medicine used to treat a variety of mental health conditions, in luding depression, anxiety, and PTSD.  Ketamine has rapidly-acting antidepressant and mood-enhancing effects, which can begin to take effect within 1-2 hrs. after treatment and last for up to 2 weeks.  It works by blocking the brain’s NMDA receptors as well as by stimulating AMPA receptors, which are thought to help form new synaptic connections and boost neural circuits that regulate stress and mood.  Ketamine has also been shown to enhance overall neuroplasticity for lasting symptom improvement.
• Ketamine can be administered in a variety of ways, including IV infusion, intramuscular injection, via nasal spray, and using sublingual lozenges.  In our work with Journey Clinical we only use the sublingual lozenge form. 

The effects of ketamine, which most patients find pleasant, last for approximately 45 minutes. These effects can make you feel “far from” your body, and facilitate shifts and perception that can often feel expensive in nature. Your motor and verbal abilities will be reduced, so you will be lying down in a comfortable position during the experience. Once these effects subside, will spend the remainder of our appointment, giving you space to process and discuss your experience. While it may feel hard to articulate what happened during the experience, patients feel like the insights gained are none-the-less clear. Studies have shown that the benefits to mood and neurological growth can last up to two weeks after the Ketamine experience.

1. Initial consultation with Journey Clinical
   
   • You schedule an initially evaluation with a clinician from the Journey Clinical medical team via zoom. They will go over your medical and psychiatric history with you, provide education on the treatment and determine if you are eligible for KAP.
   • If Journey Clinical’s medical team determines that you are eligible for KAP, they will develop a personalized Ketamine prescription and how come monitoring plan for you.
   • Journey Clinical’s medical staff will write a ketamine prescription for you in a small amount of oral ketamine will be sent to your home, enough for the first two KAP sessions. You will be taught to take your vitals and self-administer the ketamine lozenges by journey, clinical medical team and advance of our KAP sessions.
2. Preparation sessions:
   
   • Once you receive your ketamine lozenges, you and your therapist will schedule a time together for your KAP preparation, dosing, and integration sessions. Preparation sessions will be scheduled just like a regular therapy session(s) prior to the KAP dosing session. The goal of a preparation session(s) is to align on the process and set intentions for your KAP sessions together.
3. KAP Dosing Session:
   • A typical ketamine dosing session lasts between 1-2 hours and can take please either in-person at one of our offices or remotely via virtual telehealth.
   • During a dosing session, you will self-administer your ketamine lozenge either in our office or in your home. You will be in a comfortable, reclining position, wearing an eye mask, and listening to music. Although a KAP dosing session may be largely an internal experience, your therapist will be present with you the entire time to hold space and provide support as needed.
4. Integration Sessions:
   • After your KAP dosing session, you and your therapist will meet for multiple integration therapy sessions to review the memories, thoughts, and insights that arose during your dosing session, and to prepare for the next dosing session.
5. Follow-up consultations with Journey Clinical:
   • After your first KAP session with your therapist, Journey Clinical’s medical team schedules, regular follow ups with you to monitor outcomes and prescribe ketamine lozenge refills, as appropriate. The frequency of follow ups depends on your unique treatment plan, at a minimum once per quarter.

Journey Clinical is a platform for licensed psychotherapist to incorporate science-based psychedelic therapies in their practice safely and effectively, starting with Ketamine-Assisted psychotherapy (KAP). Journey Clinical’s in-house medical team takes on patient eligibility, prescriptions, and outcome, monitoring, while we take on the therapy. Their collaborative care model is designed to deliver personalized treatment plans to meet your individual needs and improve long-term outcomes.