Virtual Ketamine-Assisted Therapy
Virtual ketamine-assisted therapy (KAP) brings psychiatric evaluation, preparation, supported ketamine treatment, and integration together through a structured telehealth model for appropriate patients.
At Proactive Psychiatry, virtual KAP is individualized care, not simply ketamine prescribed online.
Providing KAP to patients in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, New York, and Colorado
Virtual Ketamine-Assisted Therapy
with Proactive Psychiatry
Virtual care can make ketamine-assisted therapy more accessible and allow some patients to experience treatment in a familiar environment.
But convenience should not come at the expense of thoughtful psychiatric care.
At Proactive Psychiatry, virtual ketamine treatment begins with a comprehensive evaluation and continues with the same clinician throughout your care.
One clinician. One therapeutic relationship. Continuity from evaluation through integration.
What Is Virtual Ketamine-Assisted Therapy?
Virtual ketamine-assisted therapy combines telehealth psychiatric care with ketamine treatment that may take place in an appropriate home setting when clinically and legally appropriate.
Rather than traveling to a clinic for every component of treatment, eligible patients may be able to complete portions of the KAP process remotely.
Depending on the individualized treatment plan, virtual KAP may include:
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Comprehensive psychiatric evaluation
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Medical and psychiatric screening
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Medication review
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Preparation sessions
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Education about ketamine and altered states
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Safety planning
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A supported ketamine experience
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Integration
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Psychiatric follow-up
The goal is to create a coherent treatment process rather than a transaction centered around receiving medication.
Learn How Ketamine-Assisted Therapy Works →
How Does Virtual Ketamine Therapy Work?
Virtual KAP typically begins with a comprehensive telehealth evaluation, followed by preparation and safety planning before any ketamine session is considered. Appropriate patients may then complete treatment in a suitable home environment with follow-up and integration afterward.
At Proactive Psychiatry, the process generally follows several stages.
Step 1: Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation
Before discussing a ketamine prescription, we first determine whether ketamine makes sense for you.
Your evaluation considers your:
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Current symptoms
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Psychiatric history
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Previous treatments
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Current medications and supplements
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Medical history
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Cardiovascular history
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Substance use
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Therapy experience
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Sleep and lifestyle
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Treatment goals
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Potential contraindications or risk factors
Sometimes the evaluation leads to ketamine-assisted therapy.
Sometimes another treatment makes more sense.
The purpose of the evaluation is to determine which is true for you.
Step 2: Preparation and Safety Planning
Virtual treatment requires more planning than simply choosing a comfortable room and opening a video call.
Before treatment, we discuss the physical environment, what ketamine may feel like, expectations, intentions, monitoring, emergency planning, transportation restrictions, and whether another responsible adult should be present.
Preparation may include:
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Creating an appropriate treatment environment
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Understanding expected medication effects
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Reviewing medications and relevant instructions
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Discussing food and fluid instructions when applicable
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Planning appropriate monitoring
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Establishing emergency procedures
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Arranging post-treatment support
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Identifying a responsible adult when indicated
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Discussing what to do if the experience becomes uncomfortable
If the home environment cannot support treatment safely, virtual KAP may not be appropriate.
Step 3: The Ketamine Experience
For appropriate patients, the ketamine experience may take place in a familiar private environment while following an individualized treatment and safety plan.
During treatment, patients commonly reduce external stimulation and turn their attention inward.
Music, an eye mask, comfortable positioning, breathing, and mindfulness may be incorporated depending on the treatment plan.
Ketamine experiences vary considerably.
You may notice changes in:
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Perception of time
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Body awareness
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Thought patterns
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Emotional intensity
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Visual imagery
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Memories or associations
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Perspective
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Sense of self or surroundings
Some experiences feel significant or emotionally powerful.
Others are quiet, confusing, unusual, or relatively subtle.
There is no requirement to have a profound or mystical experience.
Step 4: Integration and Follow-Up
Integration shifts the focus from what happened during ketamine to what may be useful afterward.
We may explore emotions, perspectives, memories, recurring patterns, relationships, behaviors, or questions that arose during the experience.
Importantly, not everything experienced during an altered state should be interpreted literally.
Integration provides an opportunity to examine the experience after the acute effects have resolved and consider whether anything is relevant to your everyday life.
How Is Proactive Psychiatry Different From Online Ketamine Programs?
Proactive Psychiatry is intentionally built around continuity with one clinician rather than moving patients through a sequence of intake clinicians, prescribers, coaches, and support staff.
Virtual ketamine care has become increasingly available.
But not every virtual treatment model looks the same.
Some larger programs divide evaluation, prescribing, session support, coaching, and follow-up among different people.
Proactive Psychiatry takes a different approach.
Your care is provided by Ryan Sheridan, DNP, PMHNP-BC, allowing one clinician to understand your history and follow your treatment over time.
One Clinician Throughout Your Care
Your evaluation doesn’t disappear into a chart before you meet someone new.
The same clinician can understand what came up during preparation, how you responded to treatment, what emerged during integration, and how those experiences relate to your broader psychiatric care.
Evaluation → Preparation → Ketamine Treatment → Integration → Follow-Up
That continuity can be particularly valuable in KAP, where context, trust, and understanding your history matter.
More Than Medication Delivery
Virtual KAP at Proactive Psychiatry is not designed as a mail-order ketamine subscription.
The medication is one component of a broader treatment process.
Ketamine may be considered alongside your existing medications, therapy, sleep, physical health, nutrition, exercise, relationships, stress, and other factors affecting how you feel and function.
The goal isn’t simply access to ketamine.
The goal is thoughtful psychiatric care in which ketamine may be one useful tool.
What Are the Potential Benefits of Virtual Ketamine Therapy?
For appropriate patients, virtual treatment can reduce travel, provide access from home, and allow the ketamine experience to occur in a familiar environment.
Potential advantages can include:
A Familiar Environment
Some people feel more comfortable experiencing an altered state in their own home than in an unfamiliar clinical room.
Less Travel
Virtual care can reduce repeated travel to and from a clinic, although patients still need to follow all post-treatment driving and transportation restrictions.
Privacy
Treatment can occur in a private environment selected intentionally for the experience.
Continuity
Telehealth can make it easier to maintain an ongoing relationship with the same psychiatric clinician across evaluation, preparation, integration, and follow-up.
Convenience alone, however, doesn’t determine whether virtual treatment is appropriate.
Safety comes first.
Is At-Home Ketamine Therapy Safe?
At-home ketamine requires careful patient selection, appropriate prescribing, a suitable treatment environment, monitoring and safety planning because ketamine can cause significant psychological and physiological effects.
Potential effects include:
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Dissociation
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Sedation
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Dizziness
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Nausea
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Changes in blood pressure or heart rate
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Impaired coordination
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Changes in perception
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Psychological distress
Ketamine also has abuse and dependence potential.
The FDA has specifically raised concerns about compounded ketamine products, including oral formulations, used at home without adequate monitoring.
Virtual treatment therefore should not be understood as unsupervised self-treatment.
Who May Be a Candidate for Virtual KAP?
Virtual KAP may be appropriate for some adults after psychiatric and medical screening, but not everyone who is a candidate for ketamine is necessarily a candidate for treatment at home.
Factors considered can include:
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Psychiatric diagnosis and symptoms
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Medical history
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Cardiovascular health
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Current medications
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Substance-use history
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Previous response to treatment
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Ability to follow safety instructions
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Home environment
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Availability of appropriate support
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Access to emergency services
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Overall clinical stability
The decision is individualized.
Who May Not Be Appropriate for Virtual Ketamine Therapy?
Certain medical, psychiatric, substance-use, environmental, or safety factors may make at-home treatment inappropriate or require additional evaluation.
For example, concerns may arise around certain cardiovascular conditions, uncontrolled blood pressure, some psychiatric presentations, active substance-use concerns, pregnancy, medication interactions, inability to follow monitoring requirements, or an unsafe treatment environment.
This is not an exhaustive list.
A diagnosis alone also does not necessarily determine eligibility.
The appropriate setting for treatment is decided after individualized evaluation.
Do I Need Someone With Me During Virtual Ketamine Therapy?
A responsible adult may be required or recommended depending on the treatment plan, individual risk factors, medication protocol, and circumstances of the session.
A support person may help maintain a safe environment and assist if an unexpected issue occurs.
Specific requirements are discussed before treatment.
Patients should not assume that virtual treatment means ketamine should be taken alone.
Can I Drive After At-Home Ketamine Treatment?
No driving should occur while ketamine is affecting judgment, coordination, perception, or reaction time, and patients must follow the specific post-treatment restrictions provided with their treatment plan.
Transportation and activity restrictions should be planned before the session rather than after medication has been taken.
The same principle applies to other potentially hazardous activities or important decisions while medication effects persist.
Is Virtual Ketamine Therapy Legal?
Telehealth prescribing of controlled substances is governed by federal and state law, professional licensing requirements, prescribing regulations, and the circumstances of the individual patient and clinician.
Ketamine is a Schedule III controlled substance.
Current federal telemedicine rules may permit appropriately registered practitioners to prescribe controlled medications through qualifying telemedicine encounters without a prior in-person medical evaluation when applicable requirements are satisfied.
Those federal rules do not eliminate state-specific requirements.
Because telemedicine regulations continue to evolve, eligibility for virtual ketamine treatment depends partly on where you are physically located when receiving care and the laws and regulations applicable at that time.
Proactive Psychiatry determines availability individually rather than promising virtual ketamine treatment in every location.
Where Is Virtual
Ketamine-Assisted Therapy Available?
Proactive Psychiatry provides telehealth psychiatric care in jurisdictions where Ryan Sheridan, DNP, PMHNP-BC is appropriately licensed and where the requested treatment can be provided in accordance with applicable law and clinical standards.
Availability of virtual KAP can differ from availability of ordinary psychiatric telehealth care because ketamine is a controlled substance and additional prescribing, pharmacy, monitoring, or state-specific requirements may apply.
Your physical location at the time of treatment matters.
Current availability is reviewed during the intake process.
Is Virtual Ketamine Therapy
the Same as Spravato?
No. Ketamine and esketamine (Spravato®) are related but distinct medications with different regulatory requirements.
Ketamine used for psychiatric treatment is prescribed off-label.
Spravato is an FDA-approved esketamine nasal spray for specific psychiatric indications and is subject to a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS).
Spravato must be administered in a certified healthcare setting under direct observation and requires post-administration monitoring.
It is therefore not an at-home virtual treatment.
Is Compounded Ketamine
FDA Approved?
No. Compounded ketamine products are not FDA-approved, and the FDA does not review compounded medications for safety, effectiveness, or quality before marketing in the same way it evaluates FDA-approved medications.
Compounding can serve legitimate medical needs in appropriate circumstances, but the distinction should be transparent.
Ketamine itself is FDA-approved as an anesthetic. It is not FDA-approved for the treatment of psychiatric disorders.
Its psychiatric use is off-label.
What Should I Look for in an Online Ketamine Provider?
Virtual ketamine treatment should involve substantially more than obtaining a prescription online.
Useful questions include:
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Who performs my psychiatric evaluation?
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Who actually prescribes the medication?
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Will I see the same clinician throughout treatment?
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How am I screened medically and psychiatrically?
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What monitoring is required?
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What happens if I have a difficult experience?
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Is there a clear emergency plan?
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What happens after the ketamine session?
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Is integration available?
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How does ketamine fit with my existing psychiatric medications?
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What happens if ketamine isn’t the right treatment for me?
At Proactive Psychiatry, these questions are part of the treatment model rather than afterthoughts.
Virtual KAP With One Clinician Throughout Your Care
Virtual care can make treatment more convenient.
It shouldn’t make it impersonal.
At Proactive Psychiatry, you work with Ryan Sheridan, DNP, PMHNP-BC throughout your care rather than being passed between a rotating group of clinicians.
That means your evaluation, preparation, response to treatment, integration, medications, and broader psychiatric care can be understood within one continuous therapeutic relationship.
One clinician. One relationship. Individualized care.
Interested in Virtual
Ketamine-Assisted Therapy?
The first step is a comprehensive evaluation to determine whether ketamine is appropriate and whether virtual treatment is a suitable setting for you.
There is no assumption that everyone who schedules an evaluation should receive ketamine.
The goal is to determine what treatment makes sense for you.
View Treatment Options & Pricing →
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.