What Is Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)?

If you’re exploring ketamine therapy, you might come across something called Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy, or KAP. It sounds technical, but the idea is simple: KAP combines ketamine treatment with talk therapy, so you truly work through what’s underneath your depression, anxiety, or trauma.

At New Pathways Clinic, we now offer KAP on-site in Cleveland with a licensed therapist, Kelsey Jager. It’s a safe, structured process that helps people use the clarity and openness from ketamine to make real, lasting change.

Here’s how it works.

So, What Is KAP?

KAP is a form of mental health treatment that pairs ketamine sessions with professional psychotherapy. You meet with a licensed therapist before, during, and after your ketamine treatments.

There are two pillars to the practice.

• Ketamine helps quiet racing thoughts and opens up new ways of thinking

• Therapy helps you make sense of what comes up and apply it to your life

The goal is to integrate the short-term benefits of ketamine treatment sessions into the longer-term lived experience of your life. We want to help you understand why you feel better and how to keep building on it.

What Can KAP Help With?

People try KAP for many reasons, but common conditions include:

• Depression (especially treatment-resistant depression)

• Anxiety

• PTSD or trauma

• OCD

• Feeling emotionally “stuck” even after trying other treatments

If you’ve tried talk therapy or medication and haven’t gotten the results you want, KAP might be worth exploring.

What to Expect: Step-by-Step

Trying something new—especially for your mental health—can bring up questions and even some nerves. We want you to feel fully informed and at ease with the process. Here’s a close look at how KAP unfolds at New Pathways, from preparation to integration.

1. Preparation Session: Getting Grounded

Before (or shortly after) your first ketamine treatment, you’ll meet with a licensed therapist for a dedicated preparation session. This conversation helps build trust, clarify your goals, and set expectations. 

You’ll talk through:

• Your mental health history and current symptoms

• What’s worked (or hasn’t worked) in the past

• Any previous experience with therapy, medications, or altered states

• Specific intentions for treatment—what you’re hoping to change or understand

This is also your time to ask any questions. 

Nervous about what the ketamine experience might feel like? Wondering how therapy will work afterward? We’ll walk you through it.

This session lays the foundation for your treatment plan. It’s also when you and your therapist begin to develop a supportive connection, something we believe is key to successful KAP.

2. Ketamine Treatment: The Experience

Your ketamine sessions take place at our clinic in a comfortable, private treatment room. You’ll receive the medicine via intramuscular injection or, in the case of Spravato, via nasal spray, which takes effect quickly and lasts around 45–60 minutes.

You’ll be seated or reclined, often with an eye mask and calming music to help you focus inward. The environment is quiet, safe, and carefully designed to reduce distractions and anxiety.

What you might experience during the session:

• A sense of emotional distance from stressful thoughts

• A dreamlike or floating sensation

• Vivid memories or new perspectives

• A release of stuck emotions or mental tension

Each person’s experience is different, and that’s all right. Some sessions feel calm and clear, others may bring up deeper feelings. Your RN will be nearby to monitor your safety and provide support as needed.

3. Integration Therapy: Making Meaning of It

The day after your ketamine session (or shortly thereafter), you’ll meet again with your therapist for an integration session. This is where the real work begins.

In this conversation, you’ll:

• Reflect on what came up during the ketamine session

• Explore any images, memories, emotions, or realizations you had

• Identify themes or patterns that connect to your life outside the clinic

• Begin translating those insights into practical steps for healing and growth

Sometimes the insights are crystal clear; other times they’re murky or symbolic. That’s normal. Your therapist helps you stay curious and grounded while making sense of it all.

The goal of integration is to apply what you’ve learned in a way that supports long-term change.

4. Continuing the Cycle

KAP usually happens in a series of sessions—often six ketamine treatments spaced out over time and paired with ongoing therapy. Your provider and therapist will tailor this timeline based on your progress and needs.

Throughout the process, we’ll:

• Check in on your physical and emotional responses to ketamine

• Adjust your dose if needed

• Support you in setting (and refining) goals

• Track changes in mood, anxiety, sleep, and day-to-day functioning

KAP is not a one-and-done experience. It’s a carefully guided journey designed to help you make sustainable breakthroughs.

Why Combine Ketamine and Therapy?

Ketamine creates a short window where your brain becomes more flexible. That’s why it can help break stuck thinking patterns. But on its own, those effects can fade quickly.

Adding therapy to the process helps:

• Explore the “why” behind your thoughts and emotions

• Strengthen new mental habits while your brain is more open

• Build lasting change instead of temporary relief

The KAP side of the equation is the root-cause work, and it’s done while your brain is more ready to receive it.

Why New Pathways Offers KAP

We added KAP because we believe ketamine is more powerful when paired with therapy. For many patients, the combination leads to breakthroughs they haven’t found with other treatments.

We want to help you understand your experience, reconnect with your goals, and move forward with the right support.