10 Things to Know When Being A Ketamine Specialist

When you make the ultimate decision to become a ketamine specialist, there are a lot of things you need to know. In fact, there are way more than the 10 things in this blog post. But if you are starting out as a ketamine infusion specialist, or curious about exploring opening a ketamine clinic yourself you need to start somewhere. Reflecting back on all the things that I have learned and studied about ketamine since starting our ketamine clinic in 2018, I was able to come up with 10 things to share with you today. I believe you definitely need to know these to help you get started!

There is so much more to getting better than just ketamine treatments. We encourage our patients to create positive changes in their everyday lives as well.

1. Ketamine is only part of the treatment. Integration, set & setting, ritual, and the providing person IV ketamine are all crucial. 

From a purely biological chemical perspective, the medication is where all the magic happens. But the reality is that there is so much more. The patients who have worked on integrating their ketamine experience into actionable changes in their everyday life do so much better than those who don’t. 

Also, patients whom we have had the pleasure of taking care of, but also had gotten infusions at other clinics where the set & setting or ritual were not created around the infusion, had a much more profound and healing experience with us. Take our advice here, and recognize there is more to it than ketamine in helping your patient get better. 

There's no doubt that ketamine is an effective treatment for depression, but that’s not always the case. When you experience non-responders, remind yourself to not take it personally.

2. Understanding that non-responders will occur (up to 20-25%). Never take it personally. 

Ketamine’s track record is amazing in treating depression symptoms. You will see patients have drastic resolution of their symptoms or even elimination of their symptoms altogether. But it is not for everyone, and there will be that 20-25% that don’t respond. When our patients do well, we feel good (and as doctors, you probably know where we are going with this). When our patients don’t do well or have poor outcomes despite our best efforts, we can get depressed or be hard on ourselves. The problem here is that you are taking these non-responders personally. You have the choice to not let that affect you. 

Simply do the right thing, and be clear with your patients that there are non-responders. Be honest with your patients when you see ketamine may not be for them. And at the same time, don’t be so hard on yourself either!

Just like anything else, more ketamine isn’t always better. Sometimes, patients don’t need a high dose during treatment.

3. Finding the right dose for each patient is important. It’s not about getting blasted off necessarily, but about remembering the situation.

Sometimes more isn’t better, and ketamine is no different. We, like many ketamine infusion practices, usually increase each subsequent infusion dose. However just because we do so doesn’t mean that the patient will only get benefit if they are “blasted off” into space or have a very intense psychedelic experience. 

What we have found over our years of experience is that when a patient is able to remember and navigate their ketamine induced non-ordinary state, they are able to get deeper insights, perspectives, and clarity than when they were too dissociated to comprehend what was going on.

There are patients who have near death-like experiences during ketamine infusions. And from these experiences, they are motivated to make positive changes in their lives.

4. Ketamine induced near death-like experiences can be a catalyst for people's transformations. 

You’ve probably heard of people completely turning their lives around after having a near death experience. Well the same thing can happen during ketamine infusions. During these ketamine induced non-ordinary states of consciousness, they can have a near death-like experience. This results in gaining a new perspective on past or current events and reframing the way they think and feel about these which could be causing them pain. 

The insights gained from “almost dying” motivates changes in their everyday lives, such as ending unhealthy relationships, quitting addictive substances, etc. These changes result in profound life transformations. We are always amazed by seeing what self-initiated changes our patients make in their lives for the better!

Due to the neuroplastic effects of ketamine, which occur right after infusions, patients should take advantage of this “new” brain by taking action.

5.  Take advantage of neuroplasticity which can occur 24-72 hours after infusions with actions aka “homework” for the patient.

After the ketamine infusions, we noticed that our patients seemed to be inspired to do new things or take actions they had never had the motivation to do before. Perhaps it was due to the profound psychedelic experience they had during the infusion, but also it may be due in part to the neuroplastic effects of ketamine. 

Over time, we actually started to encourage our patients, asking them what their next action would be after the infusion and to take advantage of this “new” brain of theirs. Like in #4, the infusion was a catalyst for change, and now their brain is flexible to embrace that change!

Ketamine treatments aren’t widely accepted yet in the medical world. So becoming a ketamine specialist can lead to criticism, which is part of the process.

6.  When one starts something new, there will be critics. Accept that and do your best to educate others.

As you may or may not know, once upon a time hand washing wasn’t widely accepted. In 1846, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis made the connection that all the fatal infections in women after delivery were a result of physicians not washing their hands after performing autopsies. While it is so obvious to us, it was to our pre-germ theory colleagues who ridiculed and criticised Dr. Semmelweis. 

For some doctors and other healthcare professionals, ketamine to treat chronic pain disorders and depression is outlandish. Their “cup is full” and can’t imagine how ketamine could actually work (despite all the growing scientific evidence). Accept that this is going to happen and educate those willing to listen and open to learn. Another take on this perspective is if you aren’t doing something that is being criticised, then you are actually doing something that is not innovative, going “out of fashion,” or sadly there to please others and not yourself.

As a ketamine specialist, we deal with patients who may have not been listened to. These patients will need a safe space where their doctor listens to them.

7. Talking less and listening more can be quite therapeutic. 

Doctors are used to talking. Sometimes we have to talk more than we want to. Whether it’s to help us get a clear history or document the relevant history to bill at the level we are encouraged to do so. But, this type of talking, the type that checks boxes or gives us the opportunity to impart our knowledge isn’t what the patient always needs. The majority of our patients aren’t listened to. Most have not had the experience of a doctor simply sitting and listening, and more importantly holding a safe space to share what’s weighing on their hearts and mind. The most powerful changes we have seen are the ones the patients have come up with on their own, and sometimes they need us to be quiet and listen.

As ketamine specialists, you will deal with patients from all economic levels suffering from the same pain. This will make you realize that we are all just human beings going through the same journey.

8.  Suffering happens at all economic levels.

It doesn’t matter how little or how much money you have, suffering happens. Whether it's emotional or physical pain, suffering doesn’t know how much you have in your bank account. 

Our ketamine clinic has taken care of people who have dealt with suffering regardless if they had great wealth or needed financial help to get their infusions. Observing this first hand reminded us that at the end of the day, we are all people and truly deep down, are no different from each other. And to recognize that we don’t know what is going on in another person’s life, no matter what car they drive or what they wear.

It’s important to play the right kind of music during ketamine treatments. This should be music that is relaxing and restorative.

9.  Music plays an integral role in the treatments.

Music makes a difference. The right music, with the intention to support a healing transformative experience is powerful in itself. The wrong music or rather distracting, negative or violent music can make the experience a nightmare. Most patients who come in don’t have a preference or are completely on board with our curated playlist they get to listen to during the infusion.  

When we first started, we had a few patients who demanded they wanted to listen to their own music, music that unfortunately was not conducive to healing. So it was no surprise their experience was not as relaxing or restorative as it could have been. Luckily, in subsequent infusions for these patients, they tried our playlist and had a much better experience.

As a ketamine specialist who owns a ketamine clinic, it can get very busy. But the fact that you get to help patients with depression and chronic pain conditions makes it all worthwhile.

10.  It's incredibly gratifying.

Starting your own private practice, running your business, and navigating taking care of patients as a ketamine specialist can keep you very busy. Sometimes so busy you lose sight of what is important, like actually helping patients get better from depression and chronic pain conditions! We have seen patients’ lives drastically and forever changed, and we are grateful to be part of their journey!

If you have been thinking about starting your own ketamine infusion clinic or adding ketamine infusions to your practice and want to learn how, join our email list and be notified about the next free webinar and open registration for Ketamine StartUp.

Becoming a ketamine specialist is a big step. There is so much more than just ketamine that you need to learn about. In our blog post, share with you the top 10 things that are crucial to become a great ketamine specialist based on our personal experiences.

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