Ketamine Therapy for Grief & Traumatic Loss
Bellingham
WA
KAP isn't about bypassing the work, it’s about helping you reach the work that matters most.
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) in Bellingham, WA offers a research-informed, depth-oriented approach for adults navigating grief, traumatic loss, and unresolved emotional pain.
Whether you are coping with the death of a loved one, suicide loss, or forms of non-death loss that others may not fully recognize, KAP can create space for healing when traditional therapy alone has not felt sufficient.
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy can companion you through:
Depression connected to grief
Traumatic bereavement
Shame after stigmatized loss
Emotional numbness or shutdown
Anticipatory grief anxiety
PTSD following a loss
Existential betrayal
Break Through
with
Ketamine Therapy
Emotional Blocks
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) is an innovative approach
for depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Ketamine produces rapid antidepressant and mood-enhancing effects, often noticeable within hours and lasting days or even weeks.
Ketamine works by targeting the glutamate system — a neurotransmitter network that shapes mood, cognition, and perception.
Ketamine’s gentle dissociative effects soften habitual defenses
creating an opening toward a more expansive inner experience. You can begin to step back and witness your:
Thought patterns without judgement
Emotional tone with curiosity
Body sensations without panic
Internal narrative with neutrality
With skilled therapy, ketamine goes beyond a chemical reset
it becomes a therapeutic accelerator. In this state, buried emotions, unresolved trauma, and unknown limiting beliefs become more accessible.
The inner critic softens, making room for self-compassion and clarity. As longstanding patterns are interrupted, new ways of seeing yourself and the world can take root.
Window of Opportunity
One of ketamine's most significant benefits is its ability to promote neuroplasticity— the brain's capacity to change, adapt, and form new connections.
This effect begins as early as 24 hours after treatment
Peaks around 72 hours
And can last up to three weeks
During this neuroplastic window, the brain is primed for change — making it an ideal time to release patterns that no longer serve you and experiment with new ways of being.
This isn't simply about swapping one habit for another. It's about loosening the grip of rigid self-imposed demands and making choices that reflect what genuinely matters to you.
You’re the medicine. I’m your guide.
The healing wisdom you seek is already within you. My role is to help you get the most from this experience by weaving mind-body centering practices into a depth psychology framework.
Before your dosing session, we'll build a foundation together — practices that cultivate the capacity to release control and trust what spontaneously arises.
Ketamine can open the door, but your psyche decides how far we go.
Ketamine is a potent healing ally, but it doesn't do the therapy for us. This is a co-creative process. And like any meaningful relationship, it asks something of both of us — your openness and active engagement aren't just welcome here, they're essential.
Being With What Arises
Images and sensations during your journey may bring up parts of yourself you'd rather avoid — sadness, fear, anger, shame, disgust.
The invitation is to stay with discomfort rather than escape it.
As trust in the process deepens, we practice meeting these experiences with kind curiosity. A delicate dance between willfulness and surrender is the heart of the work. Building emotional strength to tolerate conflict without withdrawing, release blocked grief, and speak your truth without fear of abandonment.
Our Process
1. Complete an Inquiry Form
Before we begin, you’ll be asked to complete a brief inquiry form. This helps me get a clearer sense of who you are and what type of support you’re seeking. If it seems like we might be a good fit working together, I’ll reach out to schedule a brief consultation call to clarify any questions you may have.
2. Intake Process and Preparation
During your intake process, we’ll explore a rough outline of your treatment plan and what to expect. We’ll meet for a minimum of six preparation sessions to establish your goals and lay the foundation for KAP. You’ll then participate in one to three KAP sessions, depending on your needs and response to treatment.
3. Connect with Your Prescriber
Before we begin, you'll meet with a licensed prescriber for a medical intake and evaluation. If ketamine is a good fit, they'll write your prescription. You'll be responsible for scheduling that appointment and obtaining the medication before your first dosing session.
4. Grounding with Intention
You’ll be guided through a visual intention-setting practice to help anchor your focus. By imagining your intentions already coming into fruition and connecting with how that feels in your body, you create a sense of emotional resonance. This offers a source of motivation and a reminder of what is worthy of your attention.
5. The KAP Dosing Session
You’ll take the sublingual ketamine and allow yourself to settle as the medicine takes effect. Your experience may be directed inward for the first portion Most clients find themselves naturally moving between inner exploration and shared insight. I’ll support you in staying connected to your body and intention.
6. Building Blocks for Integration
As the effects of the medicine begin to wear off, we’ll explore insights or emotional “downloads” that arose during the journey. We might utilize expressive art. You may feel clear and inspired, or raw and tender. These reflections often carry powerful threads that we return to in future sessions.
Why try KAP with me?
Because you're not just seeking treatment—
you're seeking meaning.
Every modality I offer is an invitation to bring the unconscious into the room — and engage with it consciously.
Why? Because the unconscious often holds the missing ingredient in your healing.
It doesn't speak in plain language. It communicates through imagery, symbol, felt sensation, dream, and metaphor. There's always a message waiting to be received.
This work isn't only about resolving the past. It's about expanding your capacity to meet life fully, now and into the future.
My strength lies in helping you build a relationship with these symbolic messages and translate them into practical insights that support tangible change in your daily life.
The true power of KAP isn't found in the dosing session alone.
It lives in how you choose to integrate the experience, consciously and courageously.
Investment
KAP Intake & Preparation
$240 per 50-minute intake session
Preparation Sessions 6-16:
$240 per 50-minute session (potential insurance reimbursement)
KAP Dosing Session & Integration
$630 per 3-hour session ($210 per hour)
Integration Sessions:
$240 per 50-minute session (potential insurance reimbursement)
Medical Consultation with Provider
Typically, the initial medical consult provides two sessions worth of medication; a follow-up consult decides the remaining course of treatment. Cost and insurance coverage vary by provider.
Frequently Asked Questions
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At Intra, Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy sessions use sublingual ketamine lozenges, which dissolve slowly under the tongue. This method allows the medication to be absorbed through the mucous membranes (mucosa) creating a gradual onset that supports a reflective, inward therapeutic experience.
All medication is prescribed and overseen by a licensed medical provider, while I guide the psychotherapeutic preparation, support during the experience when appropriate, and integration afterward.
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Yes, I partner with Nomad Therapeutics a medical provider that offers at-home intramuscular (IM) ketamine treatments throughout the greater Seattle area. This can be a good option for clients who live in Seattle and want to work with me for Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) but prefer not to commute to Bellingham for in-office dosing sessions.
Nomad Therapeutics’ medical team determines medical eligibility, develops your treatment plan, prescribes the medication, and administers and monitors the IM sessions in your home.
As your psychotherapist, my role is to guide the therapeutic process surrounding the dosing sessions. We will meet for 4–6 preparation sessions to establish safety, resourcing, and clear intentions for your dosing sessions. After each at-home IM session, we will schedule integration therapy within 72 hours to help process and translate insights from the experience into meaningful change in daily life.
This collaborative model allows you to receive medically supervised IM treatment at home while maintaining consistent therapeutic support and integration.
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Absolutely! I deeply enjoy ketamine preparation and integration work. Complete my contact form to get started today.
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KAP may be helpful for:
• Death of a loved one
• Traumatic or sudden loss
• Suicide loss
• Pregnancy or fertility loss
• Divorce or relational loss
• Loss of identity during midlife
• Caregiver burnout and anticipatory grief
• Disenfranchised or stigmatized griefGrief is not only about death. It is also about the loss of what you thought your life would be.
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Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) is a therapeutic approach that combines medically supervised ketamine with structured psychotherapy. For grief, KAP can gently loosen rigid patterns of despair, numbness, or self-blame so deeper emotional processing becomes possible.
Unlike traditional talk therapy alone, KAP can create a temporary shift in perspective that allows clients to access emotions, memories, and meaning with less overwhelm and defensiveness.
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Grief can become “stuck” when the nervous system stays in survival mode — cycling between numbness, agitation, guilt, or existential despair.
Ketamine may help by:
• Softening harsh self-judgment and shame
• Reducing depressive symptoms that block emotional processing
• Increasing cognitive flexibility
• Allowing connection to memories without retraumatization
• Supporting meaning-making after lossMany clients describe feeling able to approach their grief with more compassion and less fear.
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Not in the way trauma re-experiencing does.
Most clients remain aware and conscious. The experience can feel dreamlike or symbolic. Rather than forcing you to relive painful memories, KAP often creates enough internal space that you can approach them differently — with less overwhelm and more perspective.
Preparation and integration sessions are essential to ensure safety and grounding.
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The process typically includes:
1. Preparation Sessions
We clarify your intentions, history of loss, and emotional patterns. This stage builds safety and nervous system stability.2. Dosing Session
You receive a medically supervised dose in a comfortable therapeutic setting. You are supported throughout.3. Integration Sessions
We process insights, emotions, imagery, and shifts that emerged. Integration is where lasting change happens.Grief work in KAP often centers around meaning-making, identity reorganization, and developing an ongoing internal relationship with the person or chapter that was lost.
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It depends.
Acute grief is a natural and necessary process. KAP is generally more appropriate when:
• Grief feels frozen or inaccessible
• Depression is interfering with daily functioning
• Trauma symptoms are present
• You feel chronically numb or disconnectedWe carefully assess timing together.
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This will be dependent on many factors. Most commonly, I work with clients for 6-8 dosing sessions for an initial course of treatment, typically scheduled either once a week or once every two weeks.
You will work with your prescriber to establish what course of treatment would work best for you.
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Ketamine has a long medical safety history when the appropriate screening process is applied by licensed mental health and medical professionals. You will undergo a medical screening with your prescriber to determine eligibility. If you do not have a prescriber, I will work with you to provide appropriate referrals from my trusted network of providers.
It may not be appropriate if you have:
• Uncontrolled high blood pressure
• Certain cardiac conditions
• Active psychosis
• PregnancyPlease note this is not an exhaustive list and that your safety is always the priority.
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The most noticeable effects of ketamine last for roughly 45 minutes to 1 hour. These effects can make you feel “far from” your body, and facilitate shifts in perception that can often feel expansive in nature. Your motor and verbal abilities will be reduced, so you’ll be lying down in a comfortable position during your KAP experiences.
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No.
The goal is not to erase grief or sever attachment. Healthy grief includes building capacity to turn toward and sit with the complex emotions accompany loss without being overrun by them.
KAP can help reduce secondary suffering that feels immobilizing while allowing grief to move in a more integrated, life-affirming way.
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Yes. Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy is available locally in Bellingham and Whatcom County, we also offer telehealth preparation and integration sessions for adults located in Seattle and surrounding areas, in collaboration with licensed medical providers.
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Yes. You cannot drive after a dosing session. You will need a trusted person or rideshare (such as Lyft) to transport you safely.
Plan for a quiet, restorative day or evening afterward.
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Yes. I am trained to offer telehealth KAP sessions, allowing you to participate from the comfort of your own home. We will collaborate in advance to thoughtfully create a therapeutic “setting” that supports safety, comfort, and inward focus during your dosing session.
For at-home KAP, you will need a trusted adult “trip sitter” present in your home during the session. Your sitter does not participate in therapy and does not need to be on camera with us. Their role is simply to be available for basic physical support if needed—such as bringing a blanket, refilling water, or assisting you safely to the bathroom.
Together, we will review clear preparation guidelines so your home environment supports a contained, intentional, and therapeutic experience. After your dosing session, we will meet for integration to help you process and apply insights from the experience.
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IV (intravenous) ketamine enters the bloodstream immediately and Intramuscular (IM) ketamine is absorbed into the bloodstream through the capillary network surrounding the muscle tissue. Both IM and IV ketamine administration produce rapid, intense effects.
Oral ketamine lozenges are designed to dissolve slowly in your mouth, allowing the medication to be absorbed directly through the mucous membranes (mucosa) under your tongue and along your cheeks. This results in a gradual onset and a milder experience.
Sublingual dosing is commonly used in KAP because it offers a gentler and longer therapeutic window, allowing more time for guided exploration during the session.
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Dosing sessions for KAP are not covered by insurance and will need to be paid out-of-pocket at the time of service. However, preparation sessions and integration sessions may be covered by your insurance provider.
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Fill out my contact form to get started.
