Ketamine-Assisted Therapy is Growing in the Hudson Valley: Here’s What to Know

It has been many decades since a new medicine as promising for mental health care as Ketamine has emerged. The use of Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) is experiencing tremendous growth worldwide. Here in the Hudson Valley, a community of practitioners is providing treatments to support this growing modality. It was first introduced to the region by The Woodstock Therapy Center in 2019. The Woodstock Therapy Center stands out amongst ketamine providers because of its focus on healing through the client-therapist relationship.

“Serving our community’s mental health needs while supporting therapists to have a healthy environment to provide their work has been a big part of our mission since we started Woodstock Therapy Center some thirty years ago,” says Director Donna Sorgen, LMHC. “Providing Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy for our community was a natural fit for Woodstock. Now, with years of experience in providing ketamine-assisted therapy, we have seen firsthand how ketamine, when added to psychotherapy, is like therapy on steroids. Expanded states of consciousness accessed through experiences with ketamine allow us to step out of rigid and habitual ways of identifying, creating an opportunity for significant healing. In a KAP session, you will receive, through the therapeutic relationship, support to process insights and integrate experiences to support lasting change.”

Ketamine was initially developed in the 1960s as an anesthetic and is still used for that purpose today. However, studies have shown that it also has fast-acting antidepressant effects, which has led to further research into its potential as a mental health treatment for cases where other therapies have been ineffective. According to senior medical director Adrian Jacques H. Ambrose, MD, MPH at Columbia University, ketamine’s effectiveness stems from its ability to target different subsets of neurotransmitters in the brain compared to conventional SSRIs.

“Providing Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) for our community was a natural fit for Woodstock. Now, with years of experience in providing Ketamine-assisted therapy, we have seen firsthand how Ketamine, when added to psychotherapy, is like therapy on steroids.”

“While most people approach me with interest about the actual ketamine session, my job involves educating them about the other aspects of KAP as well,” Sorgen explains. “This includes medical intakes to screen for appropriateness for treatment, preparation sessions to start the process of change before the ketamine session, and integration sessions after the ketamine experience. We use the material and insights from the ketamine experience and the molecular effects to assist the psychotherapy.”

A ketamine session, including the experience and processing, will take up to three hours. It consists of about 30 minutes of settling in, followed by approximately one hour of the ketamine experience and another hour of processing the experience.

“It’s a very safe environment—beautiful, calm, and comfortable. You’ll recline with eye shades and a music playlist, and the therapist is with you the entire time. Clients may feel different relationships to things and understand their emotions differently,” Sorgen explains. “I think Ketamine as a molecule can be a great tool, but when you add therapy to that, it enhances the healing experience.”

The Woodstock Therapy Center’s collective of clinicians are highly trained, experienced, licensed psychotherapists and medical doctors. In addition to their KAP practices, they are all leaders in the ketamine world as educators, speakers, authors, trial therapists, and retreat leaders. 

Sorgen, a psychotherapist for over 30 years, offers KAP as just one of the options in her practice, and she is passionate about the education surrounding Ketamine and psychedelics for therapeutic uses.

“At first, clinical trials showed that Ketamine is a rapid antidepressant. Then, more research has shown that it’s good for many people because it helps with neuroplasticity, which leads to creating long-term changes—and that’s what people come to therapy for,” Sorgen says. “Each experience is individualized. In a session, each therapist determines their protocol based on their practice and the client’s specific needs.”

Given that the treatment is still relatively new, ketamine-assisted therapy is not covered by insurance. However, Sorgen emphasizes the importance of access and inclusion and strives to assist those seeking treatment in overcoming barriers to access treatment. She also notes there are some contraindications. “We screen people for various health reasons, but it’s a very safe medicine for many people. “I tell people, it’s therapy; different emotions come up just like in talk therapy, but you process and come out the other side.”

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Reserve Your Space for Upcoming Ketamine-Assisted Therapy Retreats facilitated by Donna Sorgen

“Cultivating the Joy of Intimacy & Communication: A Ketamine-Assisted Mindfulness Retreat”
October 24 – 27th, 2024 at Menla Retreat & Spa | Register HERE

 “Cultivating the Joy of Life-Sexuality and Intimacy: A Ketamine Retreat”
September 12-15, 2024 at Buckhorn Springs Resort, Ashland OR | Register HERE

“These retreats are a totally different experience,” Donna explains, “It’s for anyone open to increasing joy in their relationships. Even without ketamine, the event could stand on its own as an effective retreat. But when you take ketamine with a partner and are able to hear their process and be beside them, supporting them and benefiting from group work, it can really change your relationship in a way that’s very deep and meaningful.”

Follow/Connect Donna Sorgen and Woodstock Therapy Center via Website.