Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) in Maui
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) combines structured psychotherapy with ketamine treatment prescribed and medically managed by a qualified medical provider. The altered state may create a different context for noticing and exploring emotions, body sensations, memories, and long-standing patterns within the therapeutic process. My role centers on preparation, psychotherapy support, and integration within the broader course of treatment.
What KAP Involves
KAP is organized into three phases: preparation, the ketamine dosing session itself, and integration. Before a session, we spend time clarifying what you want to work with, identifying patterns or experiences that may emerge, and considering whether the timing, support, and overall treatment context are appropriate.
The ketamine dosing session takes place according to the treatment plan established by the prescribing provider. Psychotherapy support is included during the dosing session, while my role remains limited to the psychotherapy process. The prescribing provider remains responsible for medication decisions and medical management. With your written authorization, I coordinate with the prescriber when clinically appropriate.
Integration is where we return to what emerged and connect it to your history, relationships, and nervous system patterns. Rather than leaving the experience to stand on its own, we use it as part of the ongoing therapeutic work and continue tracking what shifts, what remains unresolved, and what needs further attention over time.
Ketamine is prescribed and medically managed by a qualified medical provider following an independent medical evaluation. My role is limited to psychotherapy within the KAP process. Ketamine is not appropriate for everyone, and participation depends on separate medical and clinical assessments. Ketamine is FDA-approved as an anesthetic, but it is not FDA-approved for the treatment of psychiatric conditions. Its use for psychiatric treatment is therefore considered off-label. Individual experiences and outcomes vary and cannot be guaranteed.
Who This Work Fits
KAP may be a good fit for people who have already engaged in meaningful therapeutic work and continue to encounter protective patterns or traumatic material that remain difficult to access or shift through ordinary talk therapy alone. It can be particularly relevant when someone has substantial insight into their history but continues to experience emotional, relational, or nervous system patterns that have not shifted through insight alone.
Because ketamine can alter perception, body awareness, and emotional access, this work requires a willingness to enter an experience that may feel unfamiliar or less predictable than a typical therapy session. I assess clinical factors such as current stability, dissociation, treatment goals, available support, and the person’s capacity to participate in preparation and integration. The prescribing provider separately determines medical eligibility.
KAP is not appropriate for everyone, and interest in ketamine does not automatically mean that it is the right next step. Participation depends on separate clinical and medical assessments. With your written authorization, I coordinate with the prescribing provider when clinically appropriate.
How This Connects to My Broader Approach
KAP fits within my broader approach because I do not treat the ketamine dosing session as the work by itself. The altered state may change how someone encounters emotions, memories, body sensations, and protective patterns, but the therapeutic work includes how we prepare for the experience, what emerges during it, and how we return to that material afterward.
My training in somatic and experiential modalities informs how I track body responses, protective patterns, dissociation, attachment, and relational process throughout KAP. I pay attention to more than insight alone, including changes in emotional access, physical activation, connection, and how familiar protective patterns show up during and after the experience.
This keeps the ketamine experience connected to an ongoing therapeutic process rather than treating it as an isolated event or assuming that the experience itself will create lasting change. More on this broader orientation is on my About page.