Medicine and therapy, working together.
KAP pairs in-clinic ketamine sessions with structured preparation and integration therapy. For patients ready to do deeper work on trauma, grief, identity, or long-standing depression, and who want a trained therapist alongside the medicine.
Ketamine is the medicine. The therapist is the guide.
In Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy, the pharmacology is the same as our IV pathways, what changes is the container around it. Sessions are bookended by therapy: a preparation visit before the series to set intentions, and an integration visit after each infusion to make sense of what came up and translate it into change.
Softens defenses
Ketamine temporarily quiets the patterns that keep painful material out of reach, so therapeutic work that has felt stuck can finally move.
Creates new openings
In the 24–48 hours after an infusion, the brain is more receptive to new associations. This is the integration window, and the heart of KAP.
Anchors the change
Insight without integration tends to fade. Working with a trained therapist after each session is how a felt shift becomes a lived one.
Autumn Gray, MA, LMHCA
“I take an integrative, collaborative approach to counseling. Therapy with me is trauma-informed, LGBTQIA+ affirming, and weight-neutral. Specific therapeutic techniques are tailored to your needs and may include EMDR, Parts Work, and KAP.”
A rhythm of preparation, medicine, and integration.
Each infusion sits inside a longer arc of therapy. The protocol isn’t rigid, our therapist paces it to the work you’re doing, but the structure below is the spine of every KAP plan at NWKC.
Preparation
A 60–90 minute session with our therapist before your ketamine series begins. You set intentions, surface anything that needs holding, and build the therapeutic relationship that will carry the work. One preparation visit at the start, not before every infusion.
Medicine session
Clinical, monitoredKetamine is administered in our clinic by the NWKC medical team. The therapist is not present in the room during the infusion, our staff monitors you throughout while you stay in your own internal experience.
Integration
A standard KAP protocol includes an integration session 24–48 hours after each ketamine infusion to make sense of what arose, anchor insights, and translate them into lived change.
The right tool for some patients, not all of them.
KAP asks more of you than IV-only treatment: more time, more emotional bandwidth, more sustained engagement with a therapist. For the right patient, it pays that effort back many times over.
Trauma and PTSD
Including complex / developmental trauma where the body and the story haven’t reconciled.
Long-standing depression
Depression with a strong psychological component, patterns that medication alone haven’t shifted.
Grief and existential distress
Loss, identity work, and the kind of suffering that benefits from being held, not just medicated.
Already in therapy
Patients who want to deepen the work already underway with a trusted clinician.
- You want the medicine without therapy → consider our IV Healing Pathways instead.
- You’re in active crisis or have unmanaged psychotic-spectrum symptoms.
- You’re uncomfortable with introspective work or don’t have the bandwidth for weekly integration.
Transparent rates for integration sessions.
NWKC delivers the medical side, screening, dosing, monitoring, and the clinical container. Therapy is provided by our trained therapists. Below is what NWHW charges for the preparation and integration sessions that complete each KAP cycle.
Standard rate for any patient adding integration sessions to their ketamine treatment, à la carte, as many as you’d like.
Reduced rate for patients on the Nervous System Calm Pathway. One integration session is included in the Pathway plan, additional sessions are billed at this rate.
NWKC Maintenance Members get the lowest rate. Combine with booster infusions for ongoing KAP-style work.
KAP, answered honestly.
Do I have to do KAP to get ketamine treatment at NWKC?
No. KAP is one path among several. Most NWKC patients do IV-only Healing Pathways without a dedicated KAP therapist, that’s still ketamine treatment with clinical support. KAP is for patients who specifically want therapy woven through the medicine.
Will the therapist be in the room during my infusion?
No. The therapist is not present during the infusion itself, that’s a clinical procedure handled by our medical team. Our therapist meets with you separately for one preparation session before your series begins, then an integration session 24–48 hours after each infusion, where the therapeutic work happens.
How many integration sessions will I need?
A standard KAP protocol includes one integration session 24–48 hours after each ketamine infusion. At NWHW, integrations are à la carte, most patients do one per infusion, but you can add more if a session opens up material that needs further work.
Can I do KAP with my existing therapist instead?
In many cases, yes. If your therapist is open to coordinating with NWKC and has KAP training, we can work alongside them. If they don’t, our therapist is your in-network option. We’ll talk through it during your free consultation.
Is our therapist covered by my insurance?
Our therapist and integration sessions are out-of-network. We will provide a superbill so you can submit to your insurance for possible reimbursement, but we do not bill insurance on your behalf. NWKC handles benefits checks for the ketamine portion of treatment.
How is KAP different from regular talk therapy?
In standard therapy, the work is paced by what your conscious mind can access. KAP uses ketamine to widen what’s accessible, patterns, memories, or feelings that have been hard to reach, and then uses the integration session to anchor what came up. It’s not better, it’s a different tool.
Talk to us about your KAP plan.
On your fre 30 minute consultation we'll review your history, talk through whether KAP, IV-only, or a hybrid plan that fits best and answers every question about how the medicine and therapy fit together.