Feeling Stuck in Therapy? How Ketamine Might Help
Feeling Stuck in Therapy? How Ketamine Might Help
Written by: Janine ChengPublished on August 8, 2025Many people hit a wall in traditional talk therapy.
It might feel like you have insight into your patterns of thought, emotions and behavior but you simply cannot break through. You might have all the awareness in the world, but the needle won’t budge on your progress.
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) is a powerful and emerging treatment that can help people move through these roadblocks. Let’s explore how ketamine therapy works, the neuroscience behind ketamine’s mental health benefits, and why it’s gaining attention for helping people who feel stuck in life or therapy.
What Is Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)?
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy is a mental health treatment that uses low to moderate doses of ketamine in combination with structured therapy sessions. Unlike traditional antidepressants that often take several weeks to work, ketamine can create noticeable changes in mood and perception within hours or days.
The Neuroscience of Ketamine: How It Rewires the Brain
Ketamine works differently from SSRIs and other antidepressants. It targets the glutamate system, not serotonin. Specifically, ketamine is an NMDA receptor antagonist that boosts glutamate signaling and enhances AMPA receptor activity, which leads to increased brain plasticity (Zorumski et al., 2016).
Ketamine Boosts Neuroplasticity
Ketamine’s effects promote the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)—a protein that supports the growth of new brain cells and connections. This process, called neuroplasticity, helps your brain "rewire" negative patterns and allows for new perspectives and emotional breakthroughs (Duman et al., 2016; Ly et al., 2018).
It Also Calms the Default Mode Network
The default mode network (DMN) is a part of the brain associated with overthinking, rumination, and rigid self-identity. Ketamine has been shown to reduce DMN activity, helping people gain distance from repetitive thoughts and self-critical narratives (Scheidegger et al., 2012).
How Ketamine Helps When Therapy Isn’t Working
Many people in long-term therapy develop insight but struggle to feel, act, or live differently. That’s where ketamine comes in—not as a cure, but as a catalyst for deeper therapeutic change.
Ketamine can:
* Help clients reconnect with emotion
* Disrupt chronic thought loops
* Soften the inner critic
* Create space for new insight
* Increase openness and mental flexibility
Clients often describe a KAP session as “a reset” or “a new perspective that helped everything finally make sense.”
What a Ketamine Therapy Process Looks Like
KAP isn’t just about taking ketamine—it’s about the intention, the experience, and the integration. A complete KAP treatment includes three key phases:
1. Preparation
Before the ketamine session, you meet with a trained therapist to clarify your goals, set intentions, and ensure you’re medically and psychologically ready.
2. Medicine Session
Ketamine is administered via lozenge, intramuscular injection, or IV, usually in a calm, supportive setting. Clients are often invited to use eye shades and music to support inner focus.
3. Integration
After the session, you meet again with your therapist to reflect on the experience, process insights, and find ways to apply them to your daily life. This phase is essential for long-term impact.
Is Ketamine Therapy Safe?
Ketamine has a long history of safe use as an anesthetic. In mental health, it’s typically used in lower doses. However, KAP is not appropriate for everyone. It’s contraindicated for people with:
* Active psychosis
* Uncontrolled hypertension
* Severe substance use disorders (depending on context)
All clients should undergo a medical and psychological screening before beginning treatment.
What Does the Research Say About Ketamine and Mental Health?
There is strong scientific support for ketamine’s effectiveness in mental health care, especially for people who haven’t responded to other treatments:
* Ketamine can reduce suicidal thoughts within hours (JAMA Psychiatry, Wilkinson et al., 2018)
* It increases synaptic growth and plasticity (Cell Reports, Ly et al., 2018)
* It supports rapid improvement in mood and emotional processing (Nature Medicine, Duman et al., 2016)
* Studies show significant benefits for treatment-resistant depression and PTSD (CNS Drugs, McIntyre et al., 2021)
Who Can Benefit from Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy?
KAP may be a good fit if you:
* Feel stuck in therapy despite doing the work
* Experience emotional numbness or shutdown
* Struggle with chronic depression, anxiety, or trauma
* Want to access buried emotions or blocked memories
* Are seeking a deeper connection to your inner self or life purpose
Conclusion: A Powerful Reset for the Mind and Heart
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy is not a quick fix, but it can be a powerful turning point. By unlocking access to emotion, perspective, and neural flexibility, ketamine helps people make real, lasting change—especially when traditional therapy has stalled.
For those ready to deepen their healing journey, KAP offers a safe, research-backed, and life-changing approach, reach out below.
Citations
Duman, R. S., et al. (2016). Synaptic plasticity and depression: New insights. Nature Medicine, 22(3), 238–249.
Ly, C., et al. (2018). Psychedelics promote neural plasticity. Cell Reports, 23(11), 3170–3182.
McIntyre, R. S., et al. (2021). Ketamine for treatment-resistant depression. CNS Drugs, 35, 75–83.
Scheidegger, M., et al. (2012). Ketamine reduces default mode network activity. PLoS ONE, 7(9), e44799.
Wilkinson, S. T., et al. (2018). Ketamine and suicidal ideation. JAMA Psychiatry, 75(8), 795–797.
Zorumski, C. F., et al. (2016). Ketamine: NMDA and beyond. Nature Reviews Drug
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