Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy

1. Trauma and the Brain

   • Trauma often creates rigid neural pathways and overactive fear circuits (like the amygdala).

   • This rigidity makes it hard for the brain to integrate traumatic memories or develop new perspectives.

   • Both Ketamine and EMDR aim to unlock these stuck patterns, but in different ways.

2. What Ketamine Does

   • Neuroplasticity Boost: Ketamine blocks NMDA receptors and increases AMPA signaling → triggers BDNF release and new synaptic growth.

   • State Shift: Creates a dissociative, dreamlike state, reducing the grip of fear and hypervigilance.

   • Emotional Buffering: Makes clients less reactive

3. What EMDR Does

   • Uses bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tapping, tones) to help the brain reprocess traumatic memories.

   • Moves the memory from implicit (emotional, sensory) storage to explicit (narrative) memory → less triggering over time.

   • Strengthens adaptive memory networks, so clients can attach new meaning to old events.

4.  Why They Work Well Together

   • Ketamine opens the door; EMDR walks through it.

   • Ketamine: Increases plasticity, reduces fear response, and creates psychological flexibility.

   • EMDR: Provides a structured way to reprocess and integrate trauma while the brain is in this flexible state.

   • Together:

     •  The client feels safe enough to approach traumatic memories. ◦ The brain is biologically primed to form new connections.

     • The emotional intensity is softened, so processing is less overwhelming and more effective.

5. The Healing Sequence

   1.  Ketamine session → brain plasticity increases for hours to days.

   2.  EMDR session during this window → leverages neuroplastic state for deep reprocessing.

   3. Result: Stuck trauma patterns loosen, and new adaptive beliefs and emotional responses take root faster. 

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In short: Ketamine helps the brain open up and grow new pathways, and EMDR guides those pathways toward healing and integration.