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Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy: Top 10 Questions Answered
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Feb 6, 2025
Welcome to Adaptable | Behavior Explained! Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) is an emerging approach to mental health treatment that offers valuable solutions for those struggling with various challenging issues. By combining the administration of ketamine, a medication with unique properties, and psychotherapy techniques, KAP enables therapists and clients to address deeply-rooted mental health concerns more effectively. KAP has demonstrated promising results for individuals grappling with treatment-resistant depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), paving the way for its integration into modern clinical practice. I'm Kelly O'Horo, Attachment based EMDR Therapist, EMDRIA Consultant, and Advanced Trainer. I'm a mom of 5, Nonna of 5, wife, and a healer. I have the honor of spending my workdays walking along side people while they brave their healing journeys. I try to live with the generous assumption that we're all doing the best we can with what we know. Therapists are teachers for the "life stuff" and "emotional vocabulary" that may not have been learned due to gaps in our care givers capabilities. In the last 15 years I've learned that people are freaking amazing, resilient, and inspiring. Most importantly, we are hardwired for connection and for healing! I hope to bring an authentic, compassionate, and unpolished approach while we explore a variety of topics such as parenting, marriage, relationships, dating, trauma, attachment, adoption, depression, addiction, anxiety, and love! There's a why for all behaviors and an explanation that makes perfect sense as emotion is at the root of it all. -- Links -- https://linktr.ee/kellyohorolpc https://youtu.be/rLnARKekvgo https://www.emdria.org/find-an-emdr-therapist/
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0:06
hi everyone I'm Kell ooro and this is
0:09
adaptable Behavior explained hi
0:12
everybody thanks so much for tuning in
0:14
today we are going to talk about a topic
0:16
that's really hot right now which is
0:19
psychedelic assisted Psychotherapy uh
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specifically ketamine assisted
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Psychotherapy today uh infinite healing
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and wellness my practice uh nine of us
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have been uh trained to provide ketamine
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assisted Psychotherapy lately and as a
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result of us uh adding this modality to
0:37
our treatment we've been getting a lot
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of questions as well as questions from
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our viewers uh as well as questions from
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Instagram so today I thought I would
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just address some of the answers to
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those questions because it's becoming so
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um popular and there's a lot of people
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doing different forms of psychedelic
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assisted therapy and there's a lot of
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differences between how it's done and um
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if you didn't watch the other episode
1:01
that I had Jen Jennifer montjoy on I
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recommend watching that one first
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because she is a psychiatric nurse
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practitioner who specializes in this
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very topic it's a really good one to
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watch before you watch this one so again
1:14
thanks for tuning in and if this is a
1:15
topic that's interesting to you uh or
1:17
someone could benefit who's been
1:19
interested in this topic please feel
1:21
free to like and share uh And subscribe
1:23
so that you don't miss any future shows
1:25
so the first question that I'm going to
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answer uh today is can I benefit from
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cap and this one came from a client uh
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who was interested in adding this as an
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adjunct treatment therapy uh to their
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EMDR work so cap or ketamine assisted
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Psychotherapy can be effective for
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various forms of depression treatment
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resistant depression anxiety disorders
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PTSD Eating Disorders bipolar disorder
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and just people who are feeling a little
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bit stuck or stagnant in their own
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personal growth and so it really is
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beneficial for a whole lot of different
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people so this next question came in
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from uh another client who was
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interested when we sent out our
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newsletter about the introduction of
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this topic and just wanted to know what
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is this in the first place so cap what
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is cap cap combines ketamine treatments
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with Psychotherapy to promote longer
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lasting change and symptom Improvement
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so this differs from a traditional
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ketamine infusion type of place where
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they just offer you the ketamine and
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they don't do any of the integration
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work so they don't have a mental health
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professional necessarily as part of the
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treatment experience and we offer ifs
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informed strategies to help to offer
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long-term Improvement as well as
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integration of the information that
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comes up through the ketamine experience
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and so we want to combine our efforts
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the medicine as well as the uh therapy
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so this next question came in through
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our Instagram Direct messaging um so
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thanks for doing that and participating
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and uh expanding your knowledge about
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this awesome topic so this question is
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how does ketamine work so ketamine's
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thought to promote the grow growth of
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new neural connections so our brains
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fire and wire data and this opens up the
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expanse we think that can help alleviate
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symptoms of mental health conditions so
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we're basically changing the way the
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brain can access information and opens
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up new neural connections which
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ultimately allows for more access to
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Adaptive information the other thing
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that we know about how it works is that
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it helps after the six recommended
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sessions to have a full autonomic
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nervous system reset so IT addresses the
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sympathetic nervous system response and
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helps people come to a more natural calm
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State without having to um take ongoing
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medications so this question comes in
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from another client as well who has
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concerns about addiction and doing
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something like this would it potentially
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exacerbate a a family addiction or a
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history of addiction uh behaviors so
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there are concerns about the potential
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for addiction with this medicine so it's
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important that you use ketamine under
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the supervision of a healthc care
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provider however it's not something that
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you have to necessarily worry about
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because the symptoms that drive
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addictive behaviors are oftentimes
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massively improved so uh one of the
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clients currently being treated in the
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practice right now uh reported a
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complete change in their their
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relationship with wanting to even drink
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drink after only a couple of uh cap
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sessions uh just not even thinking about
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it which is so fast to have such a quick
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symptom change around addiction or
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addictive behaviors so um the answer is
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yes and no it can be addictive however
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it can also treat and uh alleviate
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addictive symptoms as well this next
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question comes in from YouTube which is
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uh how many treatment sessions will I
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need so this is an interesting question
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because uh it does it does depend it
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varies based on individual needs and
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then responses to the treatment however
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we we do know that based on Research a
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minimum of five to six sessions within 3
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weeks time is what's recommended and it
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does show the best outcomes and I can
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say that having been through the
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training and my training cohort we opted
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to complete all five of the sessions it
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was so fascinating because each time it
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built on the previous which was really
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awesome as far as the intention setting
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component goes and every experience was
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totally different from the one before so
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there's not really a lot of
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predictability around what the
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experience is like however knowing that
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the full six sessions to complete the
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series is highly recommended um because
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you can get the most benefit out of the
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experience and the treatment if you
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complete it so this next question came
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in from one of our clients who wanted to
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participate in cap and the question is
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do I need to take off work for cap so
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you may need to plan for time off work
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as sessions can require recovery time
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and I recommend that you make sure to
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prepare for your sessions by limiting
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content and exposure that's stressful as
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much as you can prior to and even
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following the experience if possible you
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want to be able to focus in on your
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desires your intentions and the healing
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that you're looking to achieve and set
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the stage for yourself to have the best
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mindset going in so it is a little bit
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time intensive however it'll be very
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worth it if you decide to commit to this
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work for yourself so this next question
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came in from a client um what medical
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conditions might disqualify me from cap
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so this is a great question because not
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everybody can participate in this kind
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of treatment uh certain medical
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conditions might prevent safe use of
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ketamine and a health care provider can
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provide specific guidance on this but uh
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some medical conditions can actually
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disqualify a person from this uh TR type
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of treatment so one thing would be
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active Mania if there's a bipolar
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presentation that's untreated people who
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are experiencing an active manic episode
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might not be suitable right now however
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if we can get the bipolar disorder into
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a stabilized place then um uh whether
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it's medication induced or just timing
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uh then they could possibly be a
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candidate again uh getting with a health
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care provider or prescriber would be
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best for that answer to that question if
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someone is experiencing current
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psychotic symptoms those people are
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typically excluded because we don't want
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to trigger Tri a psychotic onset with a
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medication uh someone with uncontrolled
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hypertension would not be a good fit
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again uncontrolled so if there's high
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blood pressure and it's not well Managed
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IT can pose risks uh during the ketamine
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experience however someone with high
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blood pressure with medication
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management that can be uh a safety uh
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experience that makes it possible for
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someone with this condition to
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participate if someone has clinically
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significant substance abuse or a history
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of substance abuse that was um perhaps
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exclusionary it might affect the safety
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or the efficacy of cap in other words if
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they're currently mixing things we don't
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want to deal with that because it could
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be complicating in the body and the
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biology uh as well as perhaps blunt the
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access depending on what people might be
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using or abusing and of course with
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alcohol we don't want any complications
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there because that can actually be
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lethal mixing uh alcohol and ketamine so
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these are some things we want to make
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sure we're we're mindful of when working
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with clients or if you're considering
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this treatment for yourself if you're
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pregnant uh there's potential risks to
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the fetus so pregnant people are not
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eligible uh if you have glaucoma or a
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recent ocular surgery or eye conditions
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from a recent surgery this can be a
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contra indicator because it can increase
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uh blood flow in that area and if
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there's any intracranial pathology so
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conditions that involve a brain AB
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abnormality um or like an active
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contusion or something going on it might
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disqualify a a person from receiving cap
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again because of the increased pressure
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so it's important for people that are
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interested in this to consult with a
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healthcare provider to discuss their
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medical history and determine if cap is
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safe for them and if it's an appropriate
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treatment option so this next question
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comes in from another DM do I need a
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referral from my doctor so they wanted
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to know if they could get treatment
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without a referral so this depends on
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the practices policies some might
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require a referral some might not I know
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that here at my company um we actually
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have to send our patients to a
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prescriber for the medication itself and
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an intake is involved for that uh but
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then they actually self administer
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through sublingual troes and so um they
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get the medication through a prescriber
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and they bring it to us and then they uh
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like I said self administer and then we
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take care of the Psychotherapy while uh
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while they're on the property so every
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place does it different this next
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question actually came in from an email
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to uh our uh admin and the question is
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how much does cap cost so this is a
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really hard question to answer because
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every place does it differently and it
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can really vary widely depending on the
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administration route the medical uh
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staff on site and the modality that
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they're using so are they
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anesthesiologists and medical doctors
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which don't have the mental health
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background um they might be able to uh
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provide this treatment and have medic uh
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and have insurance cover it um it's
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still considered an off Lael uh
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treatment for mental health issues and
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so insurances sometimes do sometimes
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don't cover that treatment but often
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times an HSA or a flex spending account
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would would very much cover uh a
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ketamine assisted Psychotherapy
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experience so these are all things
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you'll need to explore depending on the
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treatment uh place that you uh choose to
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attend and the method of um
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Administration so this next question
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comes in from a current client who is
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interested in exploring different
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psychedelics so the question is what
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other psychedelics are being used to
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treat mental health conditions so this
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is a great question there is so much
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research being conducted right now and
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we're very close in some states to being
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able to use different um different
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psychedelics for mental health
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conditions and some states actually
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already have those approvals so it
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depends on your state but the first one
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I'm going to talk about is still a sibin
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so this is the found in the magic
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mushrooms it's being studied for
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depression PTSD and end of life anxiety
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so that they're finding a lot of benefit
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to that uh medicine in that way LSD
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known for its use in the 60s is being
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researched for various conditions
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including anxiety uh MDMA commonly known
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as ecstasy is showing a lot of Promise
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in treatment of PTSD H specifically
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related to developmental or attachment
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injuries because of the expanse and the
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openness to the safety of of connection
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while in the medication experience uh
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mesin is being studied which is derived
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from peyote Cactus and it's being
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considered for substance abuse disorders
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and depression and another drug that's
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being researched is DMT which is found
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in iasa and it's being studied for
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depression and addiction this topic has
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come a long way and there's so much
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exciting research out there and so
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hopefully uh within uh not too distant
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future these will be approved for on
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label use for
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uh practitioners to offer these so that
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people can um heal from their
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experiences and don't necessarily need
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to be an ongoing medication management
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for their issues so these substances are
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typically used in controlled clinical
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settings often alongside Psychotherapy
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to enhance treatment outcomes however
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it's important to note that most of
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these substances are not yet approved
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for widespread clinical use and are
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subject to ongoing research to determine
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their efficacy and the safety and the
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dosing I hope that you found this topic
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interesting and that some of your
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questions about cap or psychedelic
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assisted Psychotherapy were answered and
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uh that you can do some research if you
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feel like this is something that is a
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good fit for you in the meantime don't
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forget to lead with love it'll never
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steer you wrong
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