Ketamine Therapy
in Washington, DC
Ketamine-assisted therapy (KAP) combines carefully prescribed ketamine with intentional preparation, a supported therapeutic experience, and integration afterward.
At Proactive Psychiatry, ketamine is not treated as a stand-alone experience it is incorporated into a broader psychiatric and therapeutic plan built around your goals.
Practice Distinction: At Proactive Psychiatry, your evaluation, treatment planning, ketamine care, integration, and ongoing psychiatric follow-up are provided all in one place, rather than being divided among a rotating team of clinicians.
Ketamine Therapy
with Proactive Psychiatry
For some people, traditional approaches to mental health treatment can only take them so far. Medication may help without creating the deeper change they are looking for. Therapy may provide insight while certain patterns continue to feel difficult to shift.
Ketamine-assisted therapy offers a different way of approaching that work.
Proactive Psychiatry provides individualized ketamine-assisted therapy for appropriate adults in Washington, DC and through telehealth where clinically and legally appropriate.
What Is Ketamine-Assisted Therapy?
Ketamine-assisted therapy, often called KAP, combines the effects of ketamine with a structured therapeutic process designed to help you explore thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and patterns from a different perspective.
Ketamine is a medication that has been used in medicine for decades. At lower doses used in psychiatric settings, it can produce changes in perception, attention, emotional processing, and a temporary sense of distance from habitual thought patterns.
For some people, this altered state can create an opportunity to approach difficult experiences or deeply established patterns with greater curiosity and less defensiveness.The medication itself is only one part of the process.
At Proactive Psychiatry, KAP includes:
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A comprehensive psychiatric evaluation
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Medical and psychiatric screening
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Individualized treatment planning
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Preparation before ketamine sessions
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A structured ketamine experience
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Therapeutic support
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Integration following the experience
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Ongoing psychiatric care when appropriate
The goal is not simply to have an unusual experience.
The goal is to determine whether that experience can be translated into meaningful changes in everyday life.
What Makes Proactive Psychiatry’s Approach Different?
Ketamine-assisted therapy is highly personal. Your care should be, too.
At Proactive Psychiatry, you aren’t passed between a rotating team of clinicians.
Your evaluation, treatment planning, ketamine care, and ongoing psychiatric follow-up are provided by Ryan Sheridan, DNP, PMHNP-BC, allowing one clinician to understand your history, your goals, your response to treatment, and how each experience fits into the larger picture of your mental health.
One Clinician. Continuity Throughout Your Care.
Many larger treatment models separate psychiatric evaluation, prescribing, therapy, ketamine sessions, and follow-up across multiple clinicians or services.
Proactive Psychiatry intentionally takes a different approach.
Working with the same clinician over time means we don’t have to start over at every stage of treatment. What comes up during preparation can inform the ketamine experience. What happens during treatment can inform integration. And what we learn throughout the process can shape your broader psychiatric care.
That continuity is especially valuable in ketamine-assisted therapy, where trust, context, and understanding the person behind the diagnosis matter.
Ketamine Within Comprehensive Psychiatric Care
Ketamine isn’t treated as an isolated procedure or stand-alone product.
Your treatment can be considered alongside the other factors affecting how you feel and function, including:
Medication — Existing medications, previous responses, and your overall psychiatric treatment plan.
Therapy — Insights are most useful when they translate into meaningful changes outside the treatment session.
Sleep — Sleep can profoundly affect mood, anxiety, attention, and emotional regulation.
Physical and metabolic health — Mental and physical health are deeply interconnected.
Nutrition and exercise — Both can influence mood, cognition, energy, and resilience.
Relationships and environment — The life you return to after a ketamine session matters.
The goal is to help create meaningful changes that continue to matter in ordinary life.
How Is Ketamine Therapy Different From Regular Psychiatric Treatment?
Traditional psychiatric treatment often works by gradually modifying symptoms over time.
Ketamine works through different neurobiological pathways and may temporarily create a mental state that feels less constrained by familiar patterns of thinking and responding.
That difference is one reason ketamine has generated significant interest within psychiatry.
Traditional psychiatric medications frequently target serotonin, dopamine, or norepinephrine systems. Ketamine primarily affects the brain’s glutamate system through NMDA-receptor activity and downstream signaling involved in neural communication and plasticity.
But biology is only part of the picture.
A ketamine experience can sometimes bring forward emotions, memories, perspectives, or insights that feel different from ordinary waking consciousness. KAP attempts to use that period intentionally rather than viewing the medication session as an isolated medical procedure.
What Can Ketamine Therapy Help With?
Ketamine has been studied most extensively for depression, while research is also exploring its use across several other psychiatric conditions. Whether ketamine is appropriate depends on your diagnosis, treatment history, medical history, goals, and individual risk factors.
Ketamine or ketamine-assisted approaches have been studied in areas including:
Depression and treatment-resistant depression
Ketamine has particularly strong research interest for people whose depression has not adequately responded to conventional treatments.
Anxiety
Some patients with significant anxiety symptoms may be considered for ketamine treatment depending on the broader clinical picture.
Trauma and PTSD
Ketamine is being studied in trauma-related conditions, including approaches that combine ketamine with psychotherapy.
Rigid emotional or behavioral patterns
Some people pursue KAP because they feel intellectually aware of their patterns but find that insight alone has not translated into change.
Existential distress, burnout, disconnection, ADHD, and neurodivergence
These experiences do not automatically represent indications for ketamine treatment. However, they can be important therapeutic themes when KAP is being used as part of treatment for an appropriate psychiatric condition.
Ketamine is not automatically the right treatment simply because someone wants a psychedelic or altered-state experience. A careful evaluation comes first.
What Does a Ketamine-Assisted Therapy Program Look Like?
KAP is a process rather than a single appointment. Treatment typically includes evaluation, preparation, one or more ketamine sessions, and integration afterward.
1. Comprehensive Evaluation
Treatment begins with understanding you, not simply determining whether you can receive ketamine.
We review your psychiatric history, previous treatments, current medications, medical history, substance use, sleep, physical health, therapeutic goals, and other factors that may affect safety or treatment planning.
Ketamine is not appropriate for everyone.
2. Preparation
Before the ketamine experience, we discuss what to expect, your intentions for treatment, potential emotional responses, safety considerations, and how to approach the experience without trying to control exactly what happens.
Preparation is particularly important for people who have never experienced a significantly altered state of consciousness.
3. Ketamine Session
During the ketamine session, the emphasis shifts away from ordinary problem-solving.
Depending on your treatment plan, you may be encouraged to use music, an eye mask, breathing, mindfulness, or periods of quiet internal attention.
Some experiences are deeply emotional or insightful. Others are subtle. Some can feel confusing or uncomfortable.
There is no requirement to have a dramatic or mystical experience for treatment to be meaningful.
4. Integration
Integration is the process of examining what emerged and determining what, if anything, you want to carry forward into your life.
That might involve relationships, behaviors, emotional responses, values, boundaries, habits, or the way you understand yourself.
An insight during a ketamine session is not automatically a truth that needs to be acted upon. Integration creates space to reflect on the experience thoughtfully.
Is Ketamine a Psychedelic?
Ketamine is technically a dissociative anesthetic rather than a classic psychedelic such as psilocybin or LSD, although ketamine can produce experiences that share some features with psychedelic states.
People may experience changes in:
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Perception of time
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Awareness of the body
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Emotional intensity
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Visual imagery
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Perspective on personal experiences
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Sense of self
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Connection or meaning
For this reason, ketamine is frequently discussed within the broader field of psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Unlike most classic psychedelics, however, ketamine is already a prescription medication that clinicians can legally prescribe in the United States when medically appropriate.
Can Ketamine Therapy Be Done Virtually?
Some components of ketamine-assisted therapy can potentially be provided through telehealth when clinically appropriate and permitted by applicable prescribing and practice requirements.
A virtual KAP model requires more than simply mailing medication to a patient and starting a video call.
Appropriate virtual treatment may involve:
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Comprehensive screening
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Clear safety protocols
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Appropriate monitoring
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A suitable treatment environment
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Transportation restrictions
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A responsible support person when required
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Preparation and education
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Follow-up and integration
Not every patient or clinical situation is appropriate for at-home ketamine treatment.
Proactive Psychiatry evaluates virtual treatment individually rather than assuming that remote care is appropriate for everyone.
Who Should Not Try Ketamine Therapy?
Ketamine requires medical and psychiatric screening because certain conditions, medications, or circumstances can make treatment inappropriate or require additional evaluation.
Considerations can include cardiovascular conditions, uncontrolled blood pressure, certain psychiatric conditions, substance-use concerns, pregnancy, medication interactions, and other medical factors.
A history of bipolar disorder, psychosis, significant cardiovascular disease, or substance-use disorder does not necessarily lead to the same decision in every circumstance, but it requires careful individualized assessment.
Safety screening occurs before treatment is recommended.
What Should I Expect to Feel During Ketamine Therapy?
Ketamine experiences vary considerably from person to person and can also vary from one session to another.
Some people describe:
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Feeling deeply relaxed
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Distance from ordinary worries
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Increased emotional openness
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Changes in body awareness
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Vivid imagery
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A different perspective on relationships or life experiences
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A sense of connection
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Temporary dissociation
Others have quieter or less obviously meaningful experiences.
You do not need to force insight, solve a problem, or achieve a specific type of experience.
The therapeutic work often becomes clearer afterward.
How Do I Know Whether Ketamine Therapy Is Right for Me?
The best way to determine whether KAP makes sense is to consider the clinical reason for treatment, your previous treatment history, your medical and psychiatric risk factors, and what you hope to accomplish.
Ketamine may be worth discussing if:
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Traditional treatment has not provided adequate relief
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You feel stuck despite meaningful work in therapy
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You are interested in a treatment that works differently from conventional daily medications
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You want a structured therapeutic approach rather than medication alone
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You are willing to participate in preparation and integration, not simply the ketamine experience
It may also turn out that another treatment is more appropriate.
The evaluation is designed to answer that question rather than presuming ketamine is the answer.
Is Ketamine Therapy FDA Approved?
Ketamine itself is FDA-approved as an anesthetic, but it is not FDA-approved for the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Its psychiatric use is therefore off-label.
Off-label prescribing is common throughout medicine and means a clinician is using an FDA-approved medication for an indication, dosage, route, or population that differs from its original FDA-approved labeling.
Ketamine should not be confused with esketamine (Spravato®).
Esketamine is a related medication administered as a nasal spray and has specific FDA-approved psychiatric indications and monitoring requirements.
Proactive Psychiatry discusses these distinctions with patients as part of informed consent and treatment planning.
Ketamine-Assisted Therapy
in Washington, DC
Proactive Psychiatry offers private-pay psychiatric care with longer appointments and individualized treatment planning.
Ketamine-assisted therapy is available for appropriate adults following clinical evaluation and screening.
Care may be available to patients in Washington, DC and other jurisdictions where Proactive Psychiatry is able to provide treatment, including virtual care when clinically appropriate.
Interested in Ketamine Therapy?
Start with an evaluation to discuss your goals, treatment history, and whether ketamine-assisted therapy may be an appropriate option.
Explore Ketamine Treatment Options & Pricing →
Schedule a Consultation →
Benefits of Ketamine and Other Psychedelics in Mental Health
Ketamine and other psychedelics, are emerging as powerful tools in mental health treatment, offering new hope for those struggling with conditions that traditional therapies sometimes fail to address. Here’s why these innovative therapies are gaining momentum:
1. Rapid Relief for Depression and Anxiety
• Unlike conventional antidepressants, which can take weeks to show effects, ketamine often provides relief from depressive symptoms within hours or days. This rapid action is particularly helpful for individuals facing severe or treatment-resistant depression.
2. Breaking Patterns of Addiction and PTSD
• Natural psychedelics, especially psilocybin and ayahuasca, have shown promise in breaking addiction cycles and alleviating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They help patients confront deeply ingrained traumas and maladaptive thought patterns, paving the way for healthier behaviors.
3. Increased Self-Awareness and Mindfulness
• Psychedelic experiences often lead to profound shifts in self-awareness, which can foster greater mindfulness, self-compassion, and insight into personal behaviors. This heightened awareness can be transformative, helping individuals make lasting positive changes in their mental health and lifestyle.
4. Enhanced Neuroplasticity
• Research indicates that ketamine and psychedelics promote neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections. This can be particularly beneficial for those whose mental health conditions have led to rigid, negative thought patterns, as it supports a mental “reset” that opens pathways for new, healthier perspectives.
5. Reduction in Suicidal Ideation
• Ketamine, administered in a safe, controlled environment, has been shown to reduce suicidal thoughts in individuals with severe depression. This makes it a valuable option in crisis situations, offering a safe alternative for those who might not respond to standard interventions.
6. Support for Emotional Healing and Resilience
• Psychedelics are often described as facilitating “inner journeys” that allow users to confront and process repressed emotions. This therapeutic process can lead to emotional healing and increased resilience, helping people better manage life’s challenges.
7. Lasting Effects on Mood and Well-being
• The effects of ketamine and psychedelics aren’t just temporary; many patients report lasting improvements in mood and well-being, sometimes even after a single session. For those who feel trapped by recurrent mental health symptoms, these therapies offer hope for long-term relief and improved quality of life.
Safety and Therapeutic Guidance
While the benefits are promising, it’s essential to approach ketamine and psychedelic therapies with caution and professional guidance. These treatments should be administered by trained professionals in controlled environments, as this ensures safety and maximizes therapeutic benefit.
Science Behind Psychedelics in Psychiatry
In recent years, psychedelics have garnered significant attention in the field of psychiatry for their potential to offer relief from treatment-resistant mental health conditions. Evidence-based psychedelic therapy taps into the unique neurological effects of compounds like ketamine, psilocybin, and MDMA, which are shown to influence brain activity in ways that promote emotional resilience and reduce depressive symptoms.
Studies indicate that psychedelics act on the brain’s serotonin receptors, particularly 5-HT2A, which are linked to mood and perception. This interaction fosters neural plasticity—the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new connections—which is crucial for breaking negative thought patterns often associated with conditions like depression, anxiety, PTSD, and even ADHD.
Emerging evidence also suggests that psychedelics, when combined with psychotherapy, can lead to sustained mental health improvements. Clinical trials highlight the potential for psychedelic-assisted therapy to accelerate therapeutic breakthroughs by allowing patients to explore deeply rooted emotional experiences in a controlled setting, often with results observed within a few sessions.
Our integrative psychiatry approach leverages these findings to offer a safe, structured pathway for patients to experience the benefits of psychedelics in a medically supervised environment, ensuring that each therapy plan is tailored to individual needs and therapeutic goals.
Frequently Asked Questions About Ketamine Therapy
Is ketamine the same thing as Spravato?
No. Ketamine and esketamine (Spravato®) are related but distinct medications. Spravato is an FDA-approved nasal esketamine product with specific psychiatric indications and regulatory requirements. Ketamine used for psychiatric treatment is prescribed off-label.
Will I be unconscious during ketamine therapy?
Ketamine-assisted psychiatric treatment generally uses doses intended to create an altered state while maintaining consciousness, rather than the substantially higher doses historically used to produce anesthesia.
Do I need to stop my psychiatric medications?
Not necessarily. Medication decisions are made individually. You should not discontinue psychiatric medication in preparation for ketamine without discussing it with your prescribing clinician.
How many ketamine sessions will I need?
There is no universal number of KAP sessions appropriate for every patient. Recommendations depend on the clinical indication, response to treatment, goals, tolerability, and treatment model.
Is ketamine addictive?
Ketamine has abuse and dependence potential, which is one reason screening, prescribing practices, monitoring, and appropriate boundaries around treatment matter.
Is ketamine therapy covered by insurance?
Proactive Psychiatry is a private-pay practice. Coverage and reimbursement vary by plan and service. Treatment costs and options are reviewed before beginning care.
*Ketamine is FDA-approved as an anesthetic but is not FDA-approved for the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Psychiatric use of ketamine is off-label. Esketamine (Spravato®) is a separate medication with FDA-approved psychiatric indications. Information on this page is educational and does not constitute individualized medical advice. Treatment recommendations are made following appropriate clinical evaluation and informed consent.