Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) in Petaluma and San Rafael, CA
Trauma Informed Psychedelic Therapy in Sonoma and Marin counties
What is Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy?
Psychedelic-assisted therapy combines expanded states of consciousness with therapeutic support to help access deeper layers of healing. It's not about escaping, but gently opening to the wisdom your body and psyche already hold.
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)
Ketamine can support relief from depression, trauma, and existential distress. I offer KAP in a safe, intentional setting — guiding integration and emotional processing during and after your sessions.
Healing Through Expanded States of Consciousness — With or Without Substances
Expanded states of consciousness can be powerful allies in the healing process — and they’re not only accessed through psychedelics. I also work with non-ordinary states through expressive arts, guided imagery, dreamwork, and connection with plant spirits. These approaches invite the unconscious to speak, are gentle, open intuitive insight, and deepen emotional processing. Whether supported by medicine or not, this work honors your inner wisdom and allows space for the sacred and the psychological to meet.
Trauma-Informed, Somatic Integration Work
Integration creates space to reflect on the experience and explore how emerging insights, emotions, sensations, or questions may connect with your ongoing therapeutic work and everyday life.
Bilingual Support in English & Spanish
Psychedelic therapy is not one-size-fits-all. I provide a culturally respectful, bilingual space where your identity and lineage are honored throughout your healing process. I offer two main psychedelic-assisted therapy modalities: Psycholytic (low dose, Relational, Somatic) and Psychedelic (higher dose, more internally focused experiences). I also offer Psychedelic Integration work, to support you translate the insights into lasting change. Learn more about these modalities:
Processing with Safety and Care
Body-Based Tools for Integration
Honoring Consent for a Safe Container
Moving from Insight into Action
Harm Reduction Approaches
Ketamine-Assisted Therapy (KAP) in Petaluma
I offer Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) in Petaluma, serving clients in Sonoma County and surrounding areas who are looking for a deeper, trauma-informed approach to healing.
My approach to KAP is integrative, relational, and somatic. Rather than viewing ketamine as a stand-alone treatment, I use it as one part of the therapeutic process, with preparation before medicine sessions and integration afterward to help you make meaning of what emerges and bring insights into everyday life.
Depending on your needs, KAP may include body-based and relational work, expressive approaches, parts work, or EMDR. I offer both lower-dose relational KAP and more inwardly focused ketamine-assisted therapy sessions.
I provide the psychotherapy component of Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP). Medical screening, eligibility, prescribing, medication management, and discussion of medical risks and benefits are handled by an independent qualified medical prescriber.
When appropriate, we collaborate so that the medical and psychotherapeutic aspects of treatment are clearly coordinated.
In-person KAP sessions are available at my Petaluma office in Sonoma County, as well as in the San Rafael office in Marin County.
If you're curious about whether Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy may be appropriate for you, you can schedule a 20-minute consultation to learn more about the process and discuss your needs.
What is Ketamine?
Ketamine is a prescription medication that has been used in medical settings for decades. In mental health treatment, ketamine may be prescribed off-label by a qualified medical provider for certain psychiatric conditions. Research has explored its use particularly in relation to depression and other mental health concerns, with research outcomes suggesting that some individuals may experience improvements in symptoms such as depression, anxiety, or trauma-related distress; promoting rapidly-acting antidepressant and mood-enhancing effects. As with any treatment, individual responses vary, and benefits cannot be guaranteed.
Ketamine can temporarily alter perception, awareness, and the experience of the body and emotions. Within a therapeutic setting, these changes may create opportunities to explore experiences, patterns, emotions, and perspectives in a different way.
Ketamine is not appropriate for everyone. Before participating in KAP, clients complete a medical evaluation with an independent licensed prescriber, who determines eligibility, discusses potential benefits and risks, and is responsible for prescribing and medically managing the medication.
In my practice, when ketamine is incorporated into psychotherapy, I work with sublingual ketamine prescribed by the client's medical provider. I do not prescribe or dispense ketamine.
Ketamine 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 that benefits mood and neurological growth and can last up to two weeks after the Ketamine experience.
Ketamine can be administered in a variety of ways, however in my work I only use the sublingual lozenge or troche form that is rapidly dissolvable.
A Ketamine session may last up to 3 hours, with effects taking place approximate after 15 min from ingestion/absorption. Once the effects of the medicine subsided, we’ll 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.
After each KAP session, we will follow up our sessions engaging in the process of Integration, to ensure that the insights and neuroplasticity changes can take root and are incorporated into your life, for long lasting change.
Ketamine-Assisted Therapy is also offered in a low dose, Relational model using the Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy model, as well as an integrated approach within EMDR Therapy.
Contact me to learn more about KAP and discuss how I can support you in your healing