FAQs

Ketamine-assisted therapy (KAT) is only available to California residents aged 21 or older. KAT is for individuals willing and able to make a commitment to a course of treatment spanning approximately two months in length.

Ketamine-assisted therapy (KAT) is not available to individuals with a history of recreational pharmaceutical substance use, and may not be safe for individuals with bladder or heart conditions or severe emotional dysregulation.

Our therapists do not currently offer KAT to couples. If this is something you’re interested in, our good friend Marni at True Yang Therapy provides couples KAT.

Due to licensing laws, our therapists cannot treat clients outside of California. Availability of KAT outside the state of California will vary on a state-by-state basis.

Ketamine is legal for the treatment of depression in the United States, although the use of ketamine for this purpose is off-label.

At Tender Heart Healing Arts, ketamine is self-administered by the client in the form of a sublingual rapid-dissolve tablet or extended-release troche (pronounced tro-kay). We do not treat clients with IV (intravenous) or intramuscular ketamine.

In other words: there are no needles involved; you just put a candy-like lozenge under your tongue!

Integration sessions are psychotherapy sessions where the client does not take ketamine, but instead processes the material from the previous ketamine dosing session. An integration session is required after EVERY ketamine dosing session. If you fail to schedule or attend integration sessions after KAT, your therapist is ethically and professionally obligated to discontinue your ketamine treatment.

Yes, both of our KAT therapists have completed rigorous training in the provision of ketamine-assisted therapy and psychedelic integration. Danielle and Ridhi graduated from Alchemy Community Therapy Center’s Ketamine Therapy Provider Training.

Beyond her own KAT training, Danielle is helping to train the next generation of KAT therapists as a core member of the faculty in both Alchemy and Sage Institute’s KAT provider training programs.

The most common physical side effect of ketamine is a short-term spike in blood pressure, pulse, or heart rate, which may be a risk to those with heart disease, and can be misinterpreted as a symptom of anxiety.

Other possible side effects include dizziness/lightheadedness, sedation, impaired balance and coordination, slurred speech, mental confusion, excitability, diminished ability to see things that are actually present, diminished ability to hear or to feel objects accurately including one’s own body, headache, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, and diminished awareness of physical functions such as respiration. These effects are transient and resolve as the active phase of the medication ends (generally within 4 hours).

Sustained ketamine use has been demonstrated to cause a lower urinary tract condition known as ketamine-induced uropathy (KIU), which is why long-term or extended work with ketamine is not clinically indicated.

The cost of KAT depends upon your therapist’s hourly rate, but typically involves an investment of several thousand dollars. Each in-person KAT dosing session is billed at 4x your therapist’s hourly rate, while virtual KAT sessions are billed at 3x. (This is because preparation and clean-up before and after an in-person KAT session adds a cumulative hour of work for your therapist related to your session.)

Tender Heart Healing Arts will provide you with a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) upon the initiation of the psychotherapy process. If you are interested in KAT, please let your therapist know during your initial consultation call so those costs can be included in your GFE. If you decide to try KAT after working with your therapist for a little while, a GFE for KAT will be provided at that time.