Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy - or KAP - is an innovative treatment that combines the off-label use of ketamine for psychiatric disorders with psychotherapy. Ketamine has been used for anesthesia (with FDA approval) since 1970. In lower doses, it can be helpful for depression that has not responded to traditional medications. In combination with psychotherapy, the effects can be powerful.

Ketamine, as a chemical, has an antidepressant effect. It falls under the rubric of psychedelic medicine, and the dissociative state that people experience can open doors that make it easier to talk in psychotherapy, and to facilitate change. After the ketamine experience, there is a period of neuroplasticity, a 24 to 48 hour period where old patterns can be unlearned, and new ones can be learned. This can be very helpful in breaking negative thought patterns that fuel depression and anxiety, such as feelings of inferiority or of not measuring up to others. It can also be helpful in breaking behavior patterns or in seeing troubling ideas in a new light.