Somatic Support for Ketamine Assisted Therapy

Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic medication that has been used in medicine for decades, including as an anesthetic and for pain management. At lower, therapeutic doses, it can produce changes in perception, sensation, thought, and one's sense of self. Ketamine is also being used and studied as a treatment for a range of mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety.

In a therapeutic setting, these shifts in consciousness can sometimes create space to experience yourself, your emotions, and familiar patterns in new ways.

Item Ketamine affects everyone differently, and the experience can vary depending on the dose, setting, and person. You may feel deeply relaxed, physically heavy or light, or notice changes in your perception of time, space, sound, and your body. Some people experience vivid imagery, unusual sensations, or a dreamlike or expanded state of awareness. Others may feel more detached from their usual thoughts, emotions, or sense of identity.

You don't necessarily need to “do” anything with the experience. Sometimes there is a sense of moving inward, letting go of familiar ways of thinking, or encountering something that feels difficult to put into words. The experience can be gentle, profound, strange, emotional, or simply restful—and there is no single “right” way for it to feel.

No. Ketamine must be prescribed and managed by your own licensed medical or mental-health provider.

Reach out to me if you are looking for a prescriber. I can help connect you.

Yes. This work is intended for people participating in a medically supervised ketamine treatment plan.

Yes. If you wish, coordination with your treatment team can be part of the process with your written permission.

No.

We may engage in dialogue, emotions might be expressed and processed, and we may engage in somatic relational work, however this is a somatic bodywork modality that complements, but does not replace, medical or psychotherapeutic care.

Not exactly. You remain fully clothed and actively engaged in your experience throughout the session.

The work may include elements of massage, touch, and gentle bodywork, but the intention is not to passively receive a treatment. Instead, we work together to support your awareness of what you’re sensing, feeling, and experiencing in your body.

I might offer to hold your ankles, spine, shoulder, or head to support a physiological shift. I might offer to hold your hand for relational support. I might gently rock your body to help you let go. At times I might sink with deeper pressure in your abdomen to support an emotional process, or I might offer some joint mobilization to support relaxation. I may simply sit by your side. We collaborate on the touch you receive, and you are always in charge.

Somatic bodywork invites you to experience your body from the inside out. Rather than focusing only on symptoms, it brings attention to sensations, emotions, movement, breath, and other aspects of your present-moment experience.

Unlike conventional massage, it is often more participatory, although deep rest and stillness are welcome too.

Touch is always consensual and negotiated, and typically involves gentle holding of certain areas — commonly the feet, under the back, shoulders, head, and sometimes the chest and belly.

Occasionally I utilize manual techniques from shiatsu or myofascial release when appropriate.

Touch is never required. You can choose to receive little or no touch, and you can change your mind at any point during a session. We work collaboratively with whatever feels supportive and appropriate for you.

My work draws from training in somatic movement, craniosacral therapy, relational somatic healing, and hakomi mindfulness somatic therapy.

I have been practicing somatic bodywork and somatic movement education for over ten years, and completed specialized Ketamine Assisted Therapy training through Sage Integrative Health.