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 has rapid antidepressant and mood-enhancing effects, often noticeable within hours and can last for days or even weeks. Ketamine works by targeting the glutamate system, a neurotransmitter network that influences mood, cognition, and perception. Ketamine’s pleasant dissociative effects help to soften your protective layers in order to turn toward a more spacious inner experience. In this state, you can begin to "zoom out" and observe your:
Thought patterns without judgement
Emotional tone with curiosity
Body sensations without panic
Internal narrative with neutrality
When paired with skilled psychotherapy, ketamine becomes more than a chemical reset, it’s a therapeutic accelerator. You may find greater access to buried emotions, unresolved trauma, or unacknowledged limiting beliefs. Voices of self-doubt quiet down, making space for kindness and clarity. As old mental and emotional loops are interrupted, new perspectives can emerge.
Window of Opportunity
One of ketamine’s greatest benefits is its promotion of neuroplasticity — the brain's ability to change, adapt, and form new connections.
The earliest effects of neuroplasticity can begin at approximately 24 hours, peaking at 72 hours, and lasting up to 3 weeks after treatment.
This “neuroplastic window” is an ideal time to let go of old habits that no longer serve you and perhaps try something new. It’s not just about swapping “bad” habits for “good” ones. It’s about loosening rigid ego demands, and making choices that reflect what truly matters to you.
The healing wisdom you seek is already within you. My role is to help you get most of the experience by integrating mind-body centering techniques within a depth psychology framework.
Before the dosing session, we will build practices that will support you in learning how to “let go” of control and trust whatever spontaneously arises. Ketamine can open the door — but your psyche decides how far we go. While ketamine is a potent healing ally, it doesn’t do the therapy for us. This is a co-creative experience. Like any meaningful relationship, this collaboration requires both openness and engagement. Your conscious participation is not only welcome, it’s essential.
You’re the medicine. I’m your guide.
Being With What Arises
Images and sensations during the ketamine journey may be infused with emotions or parts of yourself you prefer to disown—such as sadness, fear, anger, shame or disgust. As trust in the process deepens, we begin to practice how to stay with discomfort, and meet it with curiosity and compassion. A delicate dance between willfulness and surrender is the heart of the work. Learning how to hold both effort and ease builds the inner resilience needed to overcome existing obstacles with creativity, strength, and presence.
Our Process
1. Complete an Intake Form
Before we begin, you’ll be asked to complete a brief intake form. This helps me get a clearer sense of who you are, what you’re seeking, and how I can support you most thoughtfully and effectively. 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 & 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 four to 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 ketamine-assisted therapy, you’ll need to meet with a licensed prescriber for a medical intake and evaluation. If appropriate, they will write the ketamine prescription. You are responsible for scheduling this appointment and obtaining the medication prior to 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 allowing yourself to settle as the medicine takes effect. Your experience may be directed inward for the first portion with moments of reflection. Most clients find themselves naturally moving between inner exploration and shared insight. I’ll gently 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 artistic expression that words may fail to capture. You may feel clear and inspired, or raw and tender. Early reflections often carry powerful threads that we can return to in future sessions for deeper integration.
Why try KAP with me?
Because you're not just seeking treatment—
you're seeking meaning.
In my practice, 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 process.
The unconscious doesn’t speak in plain language. It communicates through imagery, felt sensation, metaphor, and symbol. Learning how to receive and interact with the unconscious will point us toward your life force. Whether it arises in a dream, a waking fantasy, or a ketamine journey, there's always a message waiting to be received.
This isn’t just about tending to unresolved issues from 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. Together, we translate them into practical insights that support tangible change. 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
$180 for 50-minute intake session (potential insurance reimbursement)
Preparation Sessions 2-4:
$180 per 50-minute session (potential insurance reimbursement)
KAP Dosing Session & Integration
$630 per 3-hour session ($210 per hour)
Integration Sessions 2-6:
$180 per 50-minute session (potential insurance reimbursement)
Medical Consultation
Typically, there is an initial medical consult where two sessions worth of medication are provided and a follow-up consult (often enough for up to 6 sessions). Cost and insurance coverage will be dependent on your 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.
