Processing and managing trauma, depression, or anxiety can be mind numbing and exhausting.
EMDR Center of Denver’s integration of Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) through ketamine dosing sessions followed by Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) sessions 24-72 hours following the ketamine dosing session, is believed to increase the effectiveness of both treatments through the science of neuroplasticity.
For approximately seven to ten days following each ketamine dosing session, neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to form new neural connections for learning and positive change, is significantly enhanced. By integrating EMDR sessions following ketamine dosing sessions during these enhanced neuroplasticity windows, folks can experience more rapid relief and lasting change than either ketamine treatments or EMDR treatment completed separately.
As an example, if you wanted to get more in shape, combining healthy eating with working out will offer greater, more rapid physical changes in your body than only healthy eating or working out due to the cascading metabolic and physiological benefits found in combining both together.
What Are EMDR and Ketamine Therapy?
EMDR: Helping Your Brain Process Anxiety, Pain, or other hangups.
EMDR is a type of therapy that helps folks work through painful memories, existing anxieties, or future fears. While it was originally created to provide relief for combat vets returning from the Vietnam War, EMDR has since been shown to be highly effective for treating anger, depression, grief and loss, and anxiety. EMDR uses eye movements or other forms of bilateral stimulation to activate both sides of the brain. By stimulating both sides of the brain through eye movements, EMDR deactivates the amygdala, a part of the brain that helps manage stress and anxiety in the body and increases mood, alertness, and an overall sense of calm. Here at EMDR Center of Denver, we have many clients report that they begin to notice subtle, yet present improvements in their sleep and mood following even the first eye movement session. EMDR can make painful memories or existing anxieties less overwhelming and can lessen the intensity of emotion associated with them.
Ketamine Therapy: A Reset for the Mind
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy involves using the drug, ketamine, at a low, clinical dose in a controlled setting to promote relief from treatment-resistant conditions, including treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, OCD, and anxiety. Unlike traditional antidepressants, which can take weeks to work, ketamine may provide relief from symptoms within hours or days. It helps “reset” the brain by increasing neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to form new pathways and break out of rigid, distressing thought patterns. According to research, ketamine helps folks to think more clearly and reflect on their emotions in a deeper way. Many folks describe ketamine experiences as eye-opening, allowing them to view their pain or life roadblocks and hangups from a new perspective and get past those barriers to the relief and mental reset they are craving.
Ketamine has been used as an FDA-approved, safe anesthetic for more than 50 years. Ketamine can offer rapid relief for those struggling, often leading to a swift reduction in symptoms and a boost in mood and quality of life.
How Do These Therapies Work Together?
Even though EMDR and ketamine therapy are different, they can complement each other when used in a separate but structured way with a therapist. So how can that work?
1. Using ketamine to prepare for EMDR: For some folks, revisiting painful memories in EMDR can feel overwhelming. Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy can help by:
- Lowering anxiety and depression, making it easier to take part in EMDR sessions.
- Creating distance from painful memories, so they feel less overwhelming.
- Offering new insights that can be explored further in EMDR.
2. Using EMDR to make Ketamine insights last: Ketamine can bring up deep emotions and important realizations, but these need to be processed to create lasting change. EMDR can help by:
- Organizing and making sense of thoughts and emotions that came up during ketamine therapy.
- Reprocessing painful memories, current anxities, or future fears in a safe space.
- More fully integrating positive core beliefs and ways you desire to see yourself and others
How Ketamine and EMDR Work Together for Depression
Ketamine therapy and EMDR can be a powerful combination for depression relief. Ketamine helps by quickly lifting depression, which creates an opportunity for deeper work. Once depression is less engulfing, EMDR can help uncover and process underlying experiences, memories, or core beliefs that may be adding to your depression. By using both Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy and EMDR, folks experiencing depression can experience significant emotional breakthroughs and more lasting relief from anxiety, depression, and anger.
How Ketamine and EMDR Can Work Together for Trauma
Prior trauma can be hard to find relief from, especially when traditional approaches don’t seem to be working. Ketamine therapy can help by reducing some of the symptoms of PTSD, like numbing or avoidance, which can allow folks space to access their pain in a less distressing way. EMDR then provides a structured process to work through those memories, reprocessing them so they no longer cause intense reactions and emotions.
How Ketamine and EMDR Can Work Together for Anxiety
Chronic anxiety can be exhausting, especially when traditional treatments, like therapy or medication, don’t provide relief. Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy can help by disrupting anxious thought loops and creating a feeling of calm, making it easier to identify and work to dissolve the origins of the negative thought spirals. Together, Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy and EMDR help folks break free from the cycle of chronic worry to live a happier, more satisfying life.
If you are wanting relief, reach out to the EMDR Center of Denver today to schedule a free consultation to determine if Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy and EMDR may be a good fit for you.
More research on the effectiveness of Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy and EMDR:
Ketamine: Benefits and Risks for Depression, PTSD & Neuroplasticity by Huberman Lab Podcast
Ketamine for Social Anxiety Disorder: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial
Gessica Cross, LCSW
Gessica has more than a decade of experience helping people find relief from the barriers holding them back so that they can create a more fulfilling, satisfying life. She is formally trained in EMDR and graduated with a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Illinois with honors. She moved to Colorado after completing a post-graduate fellowship in India in which she provided pro bono work among survivors of kidnapping, abduction, and human slavery. She has specialized in helping people recover from trauma, depression, and anxiety. She is excited to work with you!