Ketamine Therapy
Regain hope where medications have failed.
Ketamine-assisted IV Therapy has been shown to assist in treating the root source of several mental health conditions.
Alongside sessions guided by a licensed therapist Forum Health Santa Rosa provides Ketamine therapy treatments.
If you are struggling with a mental health challenge- Ketamine assisted IV therapy may help.
Ketamine treats the common source of several mental health conditions:
- Depression and other mood disorders
- Addiction or compulsion, including substance use and eating disorders
- Anxiety disorders, including OCD and PTSD
- It might also be useful in cases of chronic pain
Meet Trish Henrie-Barrus, PhD
A licensed psychologist with a focus on integrative medicine, Dr. Barrus is the owner of Riverwoods Behavioral Health.
She works alongside Dr. Andrew Petersen to lead Forum Health’s revolutionary IV ketamine program.
Our approach expertly combines two effective treatment options: ketamine administration and guided psychotherapy.
Dr. Barrus earned her doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of State. She’s now an assistant professor at the school, where she helped create the nationally recognized Positive Psychology certificate program.
Her specialties include addiction, anxiety, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, depression, and pain management.
I believe ketamine-assisted psychotherapy can and does help people who’ve been emotionally stuck become more psychologically healthy.
Forum Health Santa Rosa Is A Proud KAPER LAB Partner
Forum Health Santa Rosa is a proud partner of Kaper Lab – the leader in clinical research, education, and practice in the field of psychedelic medicine.
Kaper Lab provides clinical trial services to patients with psychiatric and neurological disorders including but not limited to substance abuse, cognitive impairment, and process addiction (i.e gambling pornography, or eating disorders).
Improve your well-being — safely and effectively.
What Are Our Patients Saying About Ketamine Therapy
What is ketamine?
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic. Because it’s safe for pediatric patients and starts working quickly, it’s the short-lasting anesthetic of choice for many hospitals and surgical centers. In fact, it’s one of the most widely used drugs in modern medicine, listed on the World Health Organization’s Model List of Essential Medicines.
At the right dose, ketamine causes a short period of disconnection between the mind and body. In this state, users feel out of control. They might experience hallucinations and sensory distortion. This dissociative effect is proving to have wide-ranging therapeutic potential for mental health conditions — especially after other treatments fail.
How does ketamine work?
Ketamine works through the glutamate pathway in your brain. Glutamate is a powerful neurotransmitter. That means it’s responsible for sending signals between nerve cells. This process plays an important role in regulating learning and memory.
Learning and memory directly influence mood and behavior. Experiences — often early in life — can entrench negative thought patterns in the subconscious. These can cause or perpetuate unhealthy mental, emotional, and physical states.
Ketamine treatment allows a reprieve. The dissociated period gives your brain a chance to reprocess painful experiences. As unconscious thought patterns come to the surface, a mental health practitioner will guide the learning of more appropriate perceptions.
Essentially, it’s a loop in the brain of messages that aren’t true. Your brain is telling you you’re not safe. It’s sending a message that leads to depression.
We believe that dissociative experiences tend to relieve psychological pain and allow a more positive way of looking at life. An altered state of mind — and the exploration of possible states of consciousness — leads to new neural pathways and, therefore, different ways of thinking and being.
For psychiatric issues, we’ve found that guided therapy with a psychologist or other licensed therapist makes ketamine much more effective. But for issues like chronic pain, a lower regular dose can be effective without need fordissociation or therapy.
What is the ketamine experience like?
Your ketamine experience will be unique to you, and each session will be different. There’s no “right” way to be during therapy. Treatment sessions will be an adventure, enhanced by relaxing and not resisting the experience.
During treatment, you’ll maintain conscious awareness. But your typical concerns and preoccupations should be eased. You’ll likely have a peaceful feeling — devoid of stress, tension, or depression.
You might also feel psychedelic effects. These can include distorted visualization of colors, a feeling of floating, out-of-body sensations, vivid dreaming, and changes in how you process sight, touch, and sound. Although some experiences might be temporarily disturbing, we’ll work to help you understand and process them.
A licensed therapist will attend every session. They’ll spend time upfront getting to know your concerns and mental health issues. Your therapist will then act as a guide to facilitate a growth-promoting and even life-changing experience.
Psychedelic effects typically start within 5 minutes of ketamine dosing. The dissociative effect usually dominates for 20–30 minutes, although this period seems timeless. Ketamine is sometimes administered again partway through the session to maintain effects.
Each session lasts between 60 and 90 minutes, depending on the individual. Ketamine usually works immediately to some degree and can continue working for days and weeks. Though the benefits might be felt quickly, we recommend 2–3 sessions per week for the first few weeks to achieve more ensuring benefit. Repeated ketamine treatments have a cumulative effect.
We’re confident you’ll feel an improvement in your emotional state and reduction in symptoms. You might also notice a difference in your relationships and perception of life.
Why psychotherapy?
Both psychotherapy and ketamine are effective in helping with mood disorders and pain. But our experience suggests that combining the two is much more effective than either by itself.
During our psychotherapy program, a licensed therapist will:
- Explore limiting thought patterns and conditions that might be keeping you “stuck”
- Prepare you for your ketamine sessions, helping with any questions or concerns
- Guide you through ketamine sessions to ensure a positive experience
- Help you explore and integrate your experiences after treatment
Ketamine creates an altered state of consciousness that promotes openness and vulnerability. Trust between you and your provider allows the deepest possible work to occur. Psychotherapy sessions are meant to build a sense of connection. They’ll also help you gain insight into what might be keeping you from a healthy relationship with yourself.
Forum Health does it better.
Some clinics treat ketamine as a magical cure-all. At Forum Health Santa Rosa, it’s just one option available to patients as part of their personalized care plan.
With known potential for abuse, ketamine can be dangerous in the wrong hands. Forum Health providers are vigilant. We start by building a relationship with each patient. Then we carefully assess the risks and benefits of ketamine therapy. If we move forward, we’ll determine the right dosage for you based on factors including weight, sensitivity to medication, and history of drug use.
Every treatment takes place at a Forum Health practice. A mental health practitioner — specially trained in IV ketamine therapy — is always in the room. Our medical team will check your vital signs before and after administration. And they’ll be on hand throughout the session to monitor your physiological response.
Would you like more information about IV Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy?Get in touch with us today
