What To Expect During A Medicine Session
Every session is catered specifically to the individual, their needs, spiritual practices and comfort levels. Prior to your first medicine experience, there will be an Intake and Preparation Session where more detailed “pre-flight instructions” will be reviewed with you. Below is an example of what a treatment may entail:
Our Maine studio located in North Yarmouth where your Ketamine-Assisted Therapy appointment will take place
Upon arrival at our farm in North Yarmouth, you will be greeted and welcomed into the space. Here you will find a comfortable recliner, ambient lighting and music, an altar, and candles. Once settled in, we will discuss intentions for your journey, check in on any recent events, review protocols, answer questions, take your blood pressure, pulse and oxygen measurements, and use the attached restroom.
It is at this point that you will then be “tucked in” with a weighted blanket, head/neck pillow, bolster- whatever is desired to provide you with the most comfort. You will then hold the medicine in a handmade ceramic cup, while we state your intention outloud and create sacred space. Following a brief song of crystal healing bowls, you will put on your eye mask and place the medicine under your tongue to start dissolving.
Once it begins to dissolve, you will withhold your saliva and swish the lozenge around your mouth for 15 minutes. To help pass this time, I will do a reading, and then typically you will spit the saliva (and medicine) into a cup. I will then place headphones on your ears with a curated playlist for ketamine-assisted therapy. It is often at this point that you will begin to feel the effects of the ketamine and will have begun your journey. As the medicine takes effect, you may start to feel some numbness/tingling in your mouth and body. You may feel a reduction in anxiety or any body pains, a greater attunement to energy flow, and/or an empathogenic or “heart-opening” sensation. In contrast to current psychiatric medications, KAT aims to create a safe container to heal deep wounds rather than suppress and manage symptoms. In KAT, there are not necessarily bad journeys, just challenging ones.
After approximately 20-30 minutes, I will gently check in with you to give you the second lozenge if appropriate, and you will repeat as you did with the first dose. This second dose helps to elongate the experience and provide a deeper journey. This will last for roughly one hour from this point. We do not always do a second dose, and it is also fine to decline this. In general, sensory effects of ketamine can include unusual physical sensations, emotions, visual effects. Often the body feels very relaxed. You may have the sensation of floating or feeling a separation of your body and mind, a distorted sense of time, a feeling of vivid dreaming, or synesthesia (crossing of senses). These sensations are common during these experiences. They may be pleasant or unpleasant and often people can experience both within the same medicine journey.
As the session comes to a close, I will tenderly bring you back into this room by grounding your feet, removing the head phones and allowing some light into the room. As the effect of the medicine begins to wear off, I will be there to help you “land” and acclimatize again to your surroundings. You are welcome to share any thoughts or feelings coming up for you regarding your journey during that time, but it is also common to remain internally focused, or journal/draw, and to discuss the experience later during an integration session.
I will act as a scribe for anything you would like to report from the experience. It does not need to be comprehensive or logical- it often is not! We are not looking to make sense or meaning of the medicine session at this time- just recording some of the journey to help with recollection. This can also be a time to journal or draw or reflect if desired.
We will then express gratitude to the medicine, the experience and our guides, and close the sacred circle until next time.
It is encouraged to spend the afternoon in nature, resting, walking, journaling, drawing, and reflecting… until our integration session the following day. It is in this telepath session that we will analyze and integrate your experience.
For future medicine sessions, there is the option of an intramuscular dose administered here in the office by a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. IM onset is usually less than 5 minutes and dissociative effects occur more quickly. The “peak” effect usually lasts between 30 and 90 minutes and then tapers down over the following hour. Higher doses are more likely to produce “peak” psychedelic and/or dissociative states and the experience tends to be more internal. Articulating the experience at the time can be difficult, so it is often useful to focus on integrating the experience during subsequent psychotherapy sessions.
Are you ready for your journey to begin? Have questions about Ketamine-Assisted therapy in Maine?
Jessica Whitten, LCPC
Certified Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapist
I have over 2 years of experience with Ketamine Therapy and Psychedelic Therapies. I completed a year-long intensive training in order to provide my patients with the best experience possible.