Ketamine Therapy in Chicago, IL

In the mental health arena, Ketamine is used to treat symptoms of depression, PTSD, and chronic pain. The goal of Ketamine is to create new ways of viewing and perceiving mental blocks or traumatic experiences. It helps guide our brains out of the depressive thought loops these experiences create and promotes the facilitation of new, positive thought patterns.

It can also help isolate our emotional response from triggering events or thoughts so that we can address them from a feeling of safety and objectivity. We might think of this as the way we would view situations if they happened to someone else rather than ourselves. This, in turn, helps retrain our brains to associate vulnerability with safety rather than with threat, to remove barriers, and promote healing. The Ketamine aids us in dissociating, by entering into a trance-like state, so the mind is free to wander and make these new perspective connections.

It's important to note that Ketamine is not a cure-all treatment. It won't magically fix all of our problems. What it will do is help us to gain new tools and perspectives to better navigate and overcome challenges with greater choice and ease.

1. Alcohol use throughout ketamine treatment will slow down and inhibit full results. Reduce or avoid alcohol all together, if possible.
2. The ketamine treatment experience is different for every single person who goes through it. We are all different and we are all in different places in life. We all have different timelines for everything: goals, growth, and healing. Ketamine treatment honors that and where you are right now. Depending on the timeline stage you find yourself, you’ll gain what is needed. This will look and feel very different at different stages. At earlier stages it may be getting more comfortable with unfamiliar and uncomfortable experiences and circumstances. Earlier stages may bypass specifics (such as thoughts, feelings, emotions, memories) entirely, in order to first establish a foundational layer of safety. When we are able to feel safe when we are vulnerable, on a subconscious level, that sets in motion what’s necessary to bring things up to the conscious level. Then we can really see, observe, and examine them.
3. You may experience anxiety during treatment. This is most commonly caused by the want to feel in complete control of your mind/body. As you reach dissociation, the feeling of disconnect between mind and body may seem uncomfortable or scary - this is part of the process which allows your mind to wander and make healing connections much more easily than it would be able to otherwise. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the body is an incredibly complex organism, your mind and body know exactly what they need to do to keep you safe during your ketamine sessions. Trust them and approach the experience with curiosity.

Minor side effects from treatment can include the following and tend to resolve within a few hours:

• Nausea or Vomiting - To minimize this it is recommended that you are well hydrated and avoid eating or drinking for 3 hours before treatment
• Temporary Elevated Blood pressure - The most common physical side effect is a short-term spike in blood pressure, pulse, or heart rate
• Drowsiness and sedation
• Blurred vision
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Impaired balance and coordination
• Headache

Adverse side effects resulting from high dose, chronic use of Ketamine are very rare in medically supervised settings. Please inform your providers immediately if you notice any of these side effects:

• Frequent, painful, or difficult urination
• Permanent bladder dysfunction or cystitis - when drug is abused

Psychologically, ketamine has been shown to worsen certain psychotic symptoms in those who suffer from schizophrenia or other serious mental disorders.

Our treatment is set up to last 9 weeks. Sessions take place once per week for the 9 weeks. Ultimately, the number of treatments you complete is up to you. You are not obligated to continue the full 9 weeks if you decide not to.

Each session lasts approximately 2 hours.

We have 3 administration options: nasal spray, troche (dissolvable lozenge), and intramuscular injection. Prior to starting treatment, you will discuss with Able staff which administration method is best for you.

Your experience during your ketamine sessions will be dictated by where you are on your personal timeline of growth and healing. You may experience a range of things throughout your treatment depending on where you're at in your journey. The most commonly reported experiences include feelings of happiness, calm, and relaxation. Alternatively, some people experience visual or time distortions or even the feeling they are out of their body. It is also common for people to feel like they don't have full control over their mind and body, which may cause moments of brief anxiety.

When you come to the office you will get comfortable in one of our Ketamine rooms. You are encouraged to listen to music, watch our tv visuals, meditate, or whatever you find helps you to relax. We'll start each appointment by taking your resting blood pressure and go over Ketamine administration. During your session, you will embark on a self-guided exploration where you will learn more about yourself in often unexpected ways. Throughout your appointment, Able Psychiatry staff are always available to assist with any needs you have and will be checking in on you periodically.

The biggest way to maximize the benefit of ketamine treatment is to allow your mind to wander. This means being open to the exploration of whatever thoughts, feelings, or memories come up. It can be helpful to set an intention or choose a topic you would like to explore before each session. This gives the mind directions on where to go during your appointment.

There is no specific outcome needed or expected during your sessions, just the opportunity to experience alternative perspectives and lenses to view whatever your mind brings up. This gives you the opportunity to consciously choose how you want to view and interpret it. If you are able to record any of the insights you gain during your session, they can be very useful to explore in future psychotherapy sessions you may have.

Gauging the efficacy of your ketamine treatment will depend on your own unique set of criteria. A common indicator that treatment is working is experiencing the ability to just let things sit and allow them to be (without the need to take action/fix/restrict/etc). Other factors to consider might include:

• Ability to view things from a different perspective (for example, if you default to a common thought or behavior, do you experience times when you also think of an alternative thought/behavior different from this - even if you don't fully believe or follow it?)
• Increased self-compassion or self-acceptance
• Increased compassion or acceptance of others

These are just a few examples of how benefits may manifest. Since every person's reasons for and expectations of treatment will be different, so will the way that they benefit from treatment.

Our Ketamine treatment is different in cost, ease of administration and holistic effect. Ketamine infusion costs often range from $350 - $500+ per single infusion. Infusions can be very effective, but they do require the insertion of an IV into the arm to deliver the medication. Due to the ketamine entering directly into the bloodstream the effects are felt almost immediately and much more intensely than with other administration methods. Depending on the patient, this may not be the best introduction to Ketamine or it's benefits given the invasive nature and intensity level.

At Able Psychiatry, our priority is your comfort and feeling of safety. Effects of treatment do not have to feel super intense to yield benefits. Positive outcomes can come from effects as seemingly mild as the sense of complete relaxation. We recognize that different dosage intensities unlock different thoughts, feelings and sensations, all of which bring benefits. Lasting positive changes are not the result of the medication alone, but a combination of the treatment space, staff care, and self-directed integration before and after each session. We provide as much guidance as possible on how to maximize the benefit of your treatment with recommendations based on your individual intent for treatment.

Ketamine treatment costs $350 per session. Each session must be paid out of pocket, prior to starting the appointment.

We also offer financing options through CareCredit. If interested in learning more, please visit https://www.carecredit.com/go/667GCX/

Please note, appointment cancelations made less than 24 hours in advance will result in a $175 fee. No call, no shows will result in a $350 fee.

Certain medications do interact with ketamine, causing it to be less effective. To adjust for this, make sure to tell us of all current medications you are on to maximize treatment efficacy.

Once you have completed your treatment, the next two months will be used for observation of how the treatment effects are holding. You are required to participate in two (2) monthly check-in appointments (30 days and 60 days after your final Ketamine session). These check-in appointments are crucial in order to build upon and further the work you’ve already done, as well as to determine if additional treatment cycles would be beneficial.