As some of the most requested and experienced therapists providing Ketamine-assisted therapy in Denver, our therapists have typically used ketamine with clients to help with treatment-resistant depression.
Ketamine is the only psychedelic that’s been approved by the FDA to treat depression, and it’s rapidly growing in popularity throughout the country due to its effectiveness with clients. After a Ketamine-assisted therapy session, people’s brains have the ability to create new pathways and connections that make it easier to create new habits, and the effects of the medicine can create lasting, long-term effects.
While ketamine isn’t guaranteed to work for everyone, the three-hour therapy sessions have been shown to reduce suicidal ideation and lead to remission from depression for periods of time. For some of our clients, it’s the most effective way to treat depression and other issues that have been parts of their lives for years with little end in sight.
How ketamine-assisted therapy can work for couples
In a recent article on Insider, a couples therapist wrote about how one of their couples wanted to try using Ketamine-assisted therapy as a couple. The husband had seen positive effects from using it for his depression and to treat stress, so he and his wife wanted to see how the medicine could work on them together as a couple.
Maggie (the wife in the story) described the session, “The first session was just about as profound as it could be. You kind of go to the place you need to go, even if you don’t know you need to go there. We were able to work through some things that we hadn’t in over a decade and actually move past them.”
The couple did 6 sessions over 18 months, and ultimately believe that the work they did with Ketamine-assisted saved their marriage. They said that they were able to “experience things that were too painful to experience, but without the pain and without the judgment. It took us away from the abyss and gave us something to work towards and look forward to. We felt safer to do the heavy lifting and hard work that needed to be done.”
When using ketamine with therapy, couples can be more willing to take on challenging conversations because they have more empathy and compassion for each other. Clients often find that their defenses are lowered, and they’re able to communicate with a different level of compassion, which may be why couples are able to use ketamine-assisted therapy to reconnect to their feelings and understand each other.
While medicines like ketamine and therapy are helping couples address issues, they can’t automatically fix everything. But for couples who’ve experienced years of stress and challenges together, it could be a promising gateway towards reconnecting with each other.
