Activate your natural healing processes.
Group KAP
Our next Group KAP dates are:
January 16, 18 and 19, 2025
Spring 2025 TBA
Initial Group KAP session | cost includes a 45-60-min virtual medical intake session, 90-min virtual group preparation session, 3-hour in-person group medicine session and a 90-min virtual group integration session | $800 |
Ongoing Group KAP session | cost includes a 90-min virtual group preparation session, a 3-hour in-person group medicine session and a 90-min virtual group integration session | $550 |
At Inner Journey Counseling, I partner with colleagues, Jeff Belnap, LCSW, and Laura Springhetti, CRNA, to provide group KAP services. Our KAP groups are closed cohorts, meaning that the same group members will participate in a KAP series, and no new group members will be added once the series begins. Our groups will consist of two therapist facilitators (Amy Henderson, LCSW, and Jeff Belnap, LCSW) one medical provider (Laura Springhetti, CRNA) and no more than 10 participants. First time participants are asked to complete a medical and a psychotherapy intake session prior to group participation to determine medical and psychological appropriateness.
While a group format may seem intimidating or overwhelming at first glance, in a group format, clients get the added benefit of healing in community. Group KAP can be an opportunity to deepen individual work, while also experiencing the support of peers. And, rest assured, we encourage group members to only share with the group what they feel comfortable sharing, and we honor your choices to share as much or as little as you would like. While group KAP is not intended to be a replacement for individual KAP or individual therapy, it is a different modality with its own unique benefits. For maximium benefit of group KAP, we ask that all group members be connected with an individual mental health therapist. The group facilitators will also meet with you individually to make sure this modality is appropriate for you and may recommend individual KAP initially or other types of modalities and formats to prepare for group KAP before participation.
During our 90-minute group preparation session, we will get to know one another and discuss our goals and intentions for working with ketamine. This is also a time where facilitators can share the structure and set up of medicine day and answer any questions or address any concerns or fears participants may have.
What is KAP?
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) is an emergent modality with a growing body of research that uses non-ordinary states induced by ketamine to help clients deepen their work in psychotherapy. KAP is often done one-on-one with a therapist and a medical provider, but can also be done in a group format. Ketamine has long been used in medicine as an anesthesia. In sub-anesthesia doses, it has also been found to be beneficial in alleviating symptoms of depression, PTSD/C-PTSD, anxiety and other psychiatric conditions, as well as promoting existential, psychological and spiritual growth. The purpose of the KAP experience is to create a non-ordinary state of consciousness in order to facilitate profound transpersonal (“transcendental”, “mystical”, “spiritual”, “religious”) experiences in a structured, supportive environment facilitated by therapists who understand your intentions, hopes, desires and challenges.
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)
Our 3-hour in-person medicine session will be facilitated in a peaceful healing space in Salt Lake City, Utah. On medicine day, facilitators will assist you in setting up your journey space by providing comfortable mats on the floor, a small pillow, eye mask, headphones with music playlist and a blanket. You are encouraged to bring any other items that help you feel more comfortable (extra blankets, pillows, etc.). Facilitators will then guide participants through a group discussion and mindfulness exercise and give final instructions for your journey before our medical provider administers your ketamine via intramuscular (IM) injection. You will journey for approximately 30-60 minutes. Our facilitators, including our medical provider, will be present for you during the entire journey to monitor your physical, mental and emotional well being and to provide support to you, as needed. After your journey, we will guide you through a brief integration exercise and provide light refreshments before leaving for the day.
Our integration session will occur the morning following our ketamine journey. During this session, we will share experiences and insights from our ketamine journey, work to make meaning of our experiences and, most importantly, discuss how to use the intentions we developed in preparation for our journey to continue to make meaning of the experiences we had on medicine day to guide our next steps moving forward. It is important to note that integration is a process that continues to unfold for days, weeks, months and even years following a ketamine experience. We consider integration to be the most important aspect of ketamine work.
Individual KAP
At Inner Journey Counseling, I partner with a skilled and trusted medical provider, Laura Springhetti, CRNA, to provide one-on-one KAP experiences in the comfort and safety of my office. I provide this treatment as an option to existing clients if they are an appropriate fit for this type of treatment. Because the therapeutic relationship is so important for a safe and effective KAP experience, I never guarantee I will provide one-on-one KAP services to new clients, and I always require at least 6 individual therapy sessions with a new client prior to pursuing KAP treatment.
Initial Individual KAP session | cost includes a 45-60-min virtual medical intake session and a 2.5 hour in-person medicine session |$950|
Ongoing Individual KAP session | cost includes a 2.5 hour in-person medicine session | $700|
Please note that preparation and integration sessions are required for participation in individual KAP and are not included in this cost.
Set and Setting
In KAP (and other psychedelic) work, we refer to the “set and setting” frequently as important aspects of the ketamine experience. “Set” refers to our mindset, or our frame of mind, and “setting” refers to our physical environment and surroundings during KAP. Because ketamine is viewed as a nonspecific amplifier of the psyche, bringing forth things that are deep within the unconscious to the forefront for conscious processing, it is critical that we are intentional about our mindset going into a ketamine experience and that we have a safe and supportive setting to journey in. Having an appropriate set and setting optimizes the benefits of ketamine in our bodies and minds. Some examples of preparing our mindset for a ketamine journey are learning emotion regulation skills, having a regular mindfulness or meditation practice, being intentional about the news we take in, meeting with a therapist, having a ritual or rituals to prepare for our journey and/or setting an intention for our ketamine experience. Examples of preparing our setting include wearing comfortable clothing, lying on a comfortable couch, mat or pad, journeying with safe and trusted people, listening to music during the experience and/or having a ritual to prepare your space. Being intentional about preparing our set and setting before a ketamine journey is something that separates taking ketamine solely as a medicine (an experience that frequently occurs in ketamine clinics) from the robust, whole-person treatment of ketamine assisted psychotherapy (KAP). Ketamine is more effective with longer-lasting results when combined with the support and structure of psychotherapy.
Setting Intentions
Creating an intention for a ketamine experience is an important part of preparing our mindset for the journey ahead. While we can never guarantee what kind of experience we will have in a ketamine journey, an intention can help guide our journey and, more importantly, help us make meaning of the experiences we have during our journey afterwards (a process referred to as integration). I like to think of an intention as our best hope, our goal or what we most wish to gain from our ketamine experience. It is like a lighthouse that can guide us through the ups and downs of our ketamine experience, and it can give us direction as we work to make sense of the things that happen during our journey.
Common themes for intentions include: improving awareness of strengths, weaknesses, blind spots, roadblocks, etc.; exploring creative problems and inspirations; healing from past traumas; improving relationships; overcoming ineffective habits or coping skills; and/or cultivating gratitude, calm, peace, strength, etc.
Altars
We use shared altars as an option for participants in KAP. It is never required, only invited. During a ketamine journey, an altar acts as a focal point for ritual, ceremony and healing. It can be difficult, sometimes impossible, to hold onto complex phrases, ideas or thoughts during ketamine experiences. Having a shared focal point, such as an altar, that contains symbolic items helps guide our journeys, have connection with one another and make sense of (integrate) the things we experience during a ketamine journey into our everyday lives.
“Symbols. They help us make sense of the world. Both the external world and our internal vast landscapes. Objects, gestures, and archetypes serve as stand-ins to convey meaning and they give us an opportunity to understand things in a multi leveled way … We all have associations with certain objects, gestures, and archetypes, so why not make use of that for healing?” -Dr. Denise Renye
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is the difference between ketamine treatment and ketamine assisted psychotherapy (KAP)?
Ketamine treatment refers to receiving the medicine of ketamine in either psychedelic doses (higher doses that produce a psychedelic effect) or psycholytic doses (lower doses that generally produce a sense of calm and relaxation without a psychedelic effect). This is done to varying degrees under the care of a medical provider, either prescribing the doses to be used at home or in a clinic setting. With ketamine assisted psychotherapy (KAP), you are receiving either psychedelic or psycholytic doses under the direction of a medical provider and you are being supported by a therapist.
At Inner Journey Counseling, we only provide KAP services, either in an individual setting (client, therapist and medical provider) or a group setting (two therapists, a medical provider and up to 10 participants). We also take care to medically and psychologically assess the client prior to participation, provide robust preparation & integration services, ensure the client has therapy support leading up to, during and following the ketamine journey, provide a physically and emotionally safe and supportive space to journey in and monitor clients medically, psychologically and emotionally throughout the ketamine journey. We strongly believe that this approach is the safest, most ethical and most effective way to experience ketamine treatment.
When is the next group KAP?
January 16, 18 and 19, 2025
What is the cost of group KAP and what is included?
$800 for new participants includes a medical intake session, one virtual group preparation session, one in-person group medicine session with medical and therapeutic monitoring and support and one virtual group integration session (cost of the required psychotherapy intake session is not included). $550 for returning participants includes one virtual group preparation session, one in-person medicine session and one virtual group integration session.
What is the cost of individual KAP and what is included?
$950 for new participants includes a medical intake session and one medicine session with medical and therapeutic monitoring and support. $700 for returning participants includes one medicine session with medical and therapeutic monitoring and support.
How many people will be in a group KAP session?
One medical provider, two therapists and a maximum of 10 participants.
I’m nervous, overwhelmed or worried about doing this with a group of people I’ve never met before.
This is understandable! Many people I speak with share this very same concern. To address this concern, one of our main goals in our group preparation session before medicine day is to introduce group participants to one another and get to know each other so we can begin to create a safe space before medicine day. You will also have an established relationship with our medical provider, Laura Springhetti, and with one or both of our therapists, Jeff Belnap and/or Amy Henderson, prior to preparation day. And lastly, we encourage our group members to only share what they feel safe and comfortable sharing in the group. Sharing is always optional, and we respect and support one another no matter how much or how little we are comfortable sharing.
What if I have a “bad” experience?
In my experience, people have different definitions of what a “bad” ketamine journey is. I think of a “bad” ketamine experience as one where a person journeys in an unsafe or unsupported space with unsafe or unsupportive people and a “good” ketamine experience as one where a person journeys in a safe and supportive enough environment with safe and supportive enough people.
Most of the time when I’m asked this question, people are typically wanting to know if they might have a challenging experience on ketamine where they feel unwanted emotions like anger, anxiety, fear or dread. The answer to this question is yes, it is possible to experience a wide range of emotions, including uncomfortable emotions, during a ketamine journey. Often, uncomfortable emotions intensify in a journey if we try to suppress or push away uncomfortable emotions or experiences. Part of our preparation process for a ketamine journey includes developing and practicing skills to cope with unwanted emotions so that you feel prepared to face all emotions that may come up during a ketamine experience. Your therapists can help you with these skills if you need! Even though the experience may be challenging, medical and mental health professionals will be present and available to support you throughout the entire medicine session, and these experiences may also bring to light important issues to address during integration.
When clients express concerns to me about having “bad” or difficult experiences during medicine journeys, I ask my clients to consider what they might need during the journey if this does happen - do you need a hand to hold onto? Do you need someone to sit next to you? Do you need to know that you can reach out for help and someone will be there for you? Do you need support practicing skills to cope with unwanted emotions? Perhaps ask yourself these questions and consider what you might need. As facilitators, we are more than happy to support you throughout your journey and can collaborate with you to come up with a plan for support!!
Am I required to be in therapy to participate in group KAP?
Yes. We ask that you be in individual therapy prior to and following participating in group KAP. This can be therapy with one of the KAP facilitators or an outside therapist, but it is important to us and also optimizes your results when you have ongoing therapeutic support.
Can I participate in group KAP with my friend, spouse, partner, etc.?
We are happy to evaluate this on a case-by-case basis. While this may work and may even work very well, issues may arise in group cohesion and we may ask that you join separate groups. Please contact us to discuss this option further!
I would like to refer one of my therapy clients to you for KAP - where do I start?
I am so excited to hear this!! Please start by contacting me here and I can walk you through the simple process.
I am not currently a client at Inner Journey Counseling, but I am interested in group and/or individual KAP - where do I start?
I am so excited to hear this!! Please start by contacting me here and I can walk you through the process!
Will my insurance pay for KAP services?
We do not bill insurance for KAP groups at this time. For individual KAP sessions, in-network insurances can be billed for preparation and integration sessions, but not for medicine sessions. If I am out-of-network with your insurance, in most cases, I can provide a superbill to you to submit for out-of-network reimbursement for individual KAP preparation and integration sessions.
How do I create an intention for KAP?
One way to start is by writing freely, without thinking too much about it. Just write. Consider using these questions as prompts (and feel free to add other questions of your own!):
Where am I stuck in my life?
What fears or beliefs are holding me back from getting or achieving what I want?
What would I like to change about my life?
What thought and/or belief patterns would I like to shift?
What self-beliefs do I have that are harmful to me?
What am I looking to get out of the experience? What are my best hopes for the experience?
What questions am I looking to have answered?
Is there something or someone in my life that I would like clarity or a new perspective on?
Use the answers from these prompts to create an intention for your journey. Because it can be difficult to hold onto complex phrases or thoughts during a medicine journey, we invite you to keep your intention short and simple - a short statement (“I would like to strengthen my relationship with myself”, “I would like to forgive myself”), 1-2 words (“compassion”, “healing”, “vulnerability”, “calm and curiosity”), a question (“How can I navigate conflict more effectively?”, “What do I need to learn about myself?”, “What is the next best step for me to take with my career?”) or a symbol/image (a tree to represent stability and protection, a dancer to represent improving my relationship to my body and movement). Also remember to phrase your intention in positive terms rather than negative terms (identify what you want/need instead of what you don’t want or don’t need).
What kind of item should I bring for our shared altar?
Consider selecting an item or items for our altar that are symbolic representations of your intention (a piece of driftwood to represent your intention to cultivate more stability in your life or your intention to cultivate more connection to nature; a picture of you as a small child to represent your intention to deepen compassion). Or consider selecting an item or items for our altar that support overall feelings of safety and openness for your journey (a picture of your family; a paw print to represent a beloved pet; a feather to represent flight, freedom and openness). There is no wrong answer and only right answers when selecting an item - the most important thing is that your item means something important to you.