Preparation + Integration in Ketamine Therapy: Why They Matter More Than You Think

Bathje, Majeski, & Kudowor (2022) - A Synthesized Model of Integration.

When it comes to ketamine-assisted therapy (KAT), EXPANDED Women’s Health and Wellness bridges science with soul.

If you’ve been feeling the pull toward ketamine-assisted therapy, you’re not alone. Maybe you’ve read about its success with depression or trauma. Maybe you’ve heard a friend describe it as “ten years of therapy in one session.” Or maybe you’re just curious—drawn to something that sounds mysterious, powerful, and maybe even a little weird.

Whatever brings you here, welcome. This work is powerful. And it deserves to be treated as such.

Let’s Start With the Basics: What Is Ketamine Therapy?

Ketamine is a legal, FDA-approved medication originally used for anesthesia. In the last two decades, it’s emerged as a breakthrough treatment for depression, PTSD, anxiety, and chronic pain—especially for people who haven’t responded to traditional medications or talk therapy.

And, as I continuously remind my clients: ketamine by itself isn’t a magic fix. The real transformation comes when the medicine is paired with intentional preparation, safe container-setting, and thoughtful integration. In other words—how you go in, and how you come out.

Why Preparation and Integration Are the Heart of the Work

Think of ketamine like a doorway: it opens you up. It can loosen the grip of anxiety, soften rigid thought loops and dim the inner critic. For a window of time, you have access to something bigger, wiser, freer.

Here’s the critical piece: what you do with that window matters. If you rush in unprepared—or exit without reflection—the insights can fade. The nervous system might not know how to hold what it touched. The experience might feel interesting, but disconnected from your daily life, which fails to meet therapeutic expectation.

A recent excerpt from the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Science (MAPS) states:

“Integration requires active effort to revisit and work with psychedelic experiences and content that emerges from them. Without such active effort, valuable lessons tend to fade, and difficult experiences can reinforce traumas or existing patterns and defenses. Contrary to common belief, rather than doing the healing for us, psychedelics may give us an experience of and orientation toward wholeness, along with insight into the barriers and misalignments that will need to be addressed to continue toward or maintain wholeness.” Bathje, Majeski, & Kodowor (2022)

Preparation, the days and weeks before your medicine session, serves to ground you. Your therapist will help you set intentions, clarify what’s rising to the surface, and create safety in your system so that you can surrender into the experience. Integration brings it home. It’s the process of weaving the insights from your session into your real life—your relationships, your choices, your sense of self.

From the same recent MAPS communication: “Integration is a process in which a person revisits and actively engages in making sense of, working through, translating, and processing the content of their psychedelic experience. Through intentional effort and supportive practices, this process allows one to gradually capture and incorporate the emergent lessons and insights into their lives, thus moving toward greater balance and wholeness, both internally (mind, body, and spirit) and externally (lifestyle, social relations, and the natural world).” Bathje, Majeski, & Kodowor (2022)

A Bridge Between Science and Soul

At EXPANDED, we don’t believe in passive consumption of ketamine. Some clinics, sometimes termed “infusion mills” or “infusion clinics” take a purely medicalized approach—white walls, headphones, monitors, and solo trips (one of my patients coming from such an environment was frequently on his phone or watching Netflix during infusions, which can blunt or distract from sustainable therapeutic benefit). Other facilitators lean more into the ceremonial, with less structure or clinical expertise. Both have their place, and everyone should choose which is best for their needs after careful research.

At EXPANDED, we walk a third path: a bridge between science and soul.

The Science:

• We use trauma-informed protocols grounded in neuroscience, behavior analysis, and cutting-edge psychedelic research.

• Dosing is personalized: we offer both low-dose, lucid sessions that support deep therapeutic work and slightly higher doses that allow for full inner journeys.

• We monitor safety, regulate the nervous system, and honor consent at every step.

The Soul:

• Our spaces feel like a retreat, not a hospital. Think soft lighting, music that speaks to your spirit, weighted blankets, and trusted therapeutic presence.

• We guide you—not just clinically, but compassionately. Our work is rooted in intuition, presence, and attunement.

• You are never alone. You are seen, held, and heard. This is therapy as ceremony. This is where the real work happens.

What Will Your Session Look Like?

At EXPANDED, a typical ketamine-assisted therapy journey includes:

• Initial Consultation + Intention Setting

We’ll explore what’s bringing you here and how ketamine may support your healing. This is paired with a full medical evaluation for safety with our psychiatric nurse practitioner.

• Preparation Sessions

These sessions include grounding practices, exploration of fears or questions, and tools for navigating altered states.

• Ketamine Sessions/Medicine Sessions

Conducted in our Georgetown office (or a local retreat space), you’ll be guided through the experience with Gianna. Curated playlists, breathwork, and therapeutic support may be used to deepen your journey. Wellness items like eucalyptus facial cloths, beverages and healthy snacks are offered after each session to nurture and restore you.

• Integration Session(s)

After each experience, we unpack what surfaced. We help you find the threads, the meanings, the messages—and translate them into real-life shifts.

This isn’t a trip. This is a return—to yourself, your clarity, your capacity to feel and heal.

Is This Right for You?

• If you’re seeking an approach that’s neither cold and clinical nor totally untethered…

• If you want science-backed care wrapped in warmth, curiosity, and soul…

• If you’re ready to move through pain—not around it—and want a guide who honors the sacred, not just the symptoms…

We’re here for you.

Get ready to meet yourself—gently, bravely, and with support.

Want to Learn More?

We offer consultation calls, microdosing support, and a private wellness collective (The Expanded Collective) for those looking to deepen their healing journey. You can learn more here or by contacting us directly to explore what’s next.

This process is about coming home to yourself— one expanded breath at a time. We can’t wait to meet you.