In this blog post you are going to learn 5 practices which will help maximize your patient’s progress after receiving ketamine infusion therapy.

Ketamine can be a very effective treatment for mood and pain disorders and there’s research to support it. Since you’re reading this blog, we know we’re preaching to the choir. Although we are all “Team Ketamine,” the reality is that the treatment for these various disorders are complex. Ketamine can help our patients in a way no other traditional treatment has before. Years of being a ketamine specialist has shown us that ketamine is only part of the solution. Utilize the momentum for change after their infusions to maximize your patient’s progress with the 5 following ways:

Tip 1: Ask about sleep

Are your patients getting at least 6-7 hours of sleep at night? Are you even asking about sleep or your patient’s sleep hygiene? As doctors, we know you know the importance of sleep. But we also know, you are already juggling scheduling the patient, making sure all is going well during the infusion, and on top of that, you just found out you need to hire someone new to answer the phone!

Remembering to ask about sleep (or even getting enough sleep yourself!) can easily fall down your to-do list. This is an easy one to overlook. But it’s also a low hanging fruit to pick for improvement. If your patient is easily able to doze off right when they start streaming a show, they are not getting enough sleep.

While we’re on the topic of sleep, how’s your sleep? Just like seeing patients after a good night’s rest is much better than after being up all night, so is starting a clinic!

Tip 2: Suggest getting active

Inquire about their level of physical activity, just like you did with their sleep. Are they basically sedentary or are they already able to run a marathon? Don’t know? Ask. Regardless of their level of physical activity or physical ability, some sort of physical practice can be very supportive for your patients during their treatments.

The key is for them to do something active plus something they could do long term, i.e. sustainable. That means they decide what they want to do and can easily be incorporated in their life. For many of your patients, this will look like informal exercise like long walks or dancing.

Not only will the physical activity help with a release of endorphins, like you already know, but also with helping them get out of their heads and into their body. When their negative thoughts seem like they are too overwhelming, they will have started an easy to do physical practice that can help them get into their body and into a more supportive state.

Tip 3: Advocate being of service to others

When we set out to help someone outside of ourselves, two things can happen. Firstly, by helping others such as mentoring an at-risk youth or volunteering at an animal shelter, we gain connection. The unpleasant feelings from depression and anxiety, or the isolation experienced from chronic pain can disconnect you from those around you. Reconnecting with others allows your patient to recognize they are not alone in their life experience.

Secondly, being of service to others provides your patients an opportunity to look beyond and outside of themselves. Similar to how they can gain a new perspective during their ketamine infusion experience, helping someone out allows them to pull the focus outside of themselves and see from fresh eyes.

Tip 4: Counsel being conscious of what they “consume”

This is going beyond the traditional review of their medications and medical history. We’re talking about anything that could fit within their life. That includes not only the drugs and alcohol, but the type of media they consume or even the people they spend time with.

Many of these behaviors, like alcohol-consumption or watching hours of TV, are coping mechanisms. Consider challenging your patient to take a break from it for a week prior to their treatment, or even between their infusions. Often we (patients and us too!) do these things mindlessly, which can then be detrimental to both our health and sleep.

Tip 5: Encourage a daily ‘spiritual’ practice

Feel free to substitute “spiritual” with “mindfulness” or “grounding” practice. You can introduce your patient to simple breath meditations like taking 5 minutes in the morning to focus on their breath and center themselves. Or They could try journaling about their feelings for 10 minutes in the morning.

For some of our patients, we’ve noticed that those who had grown up in a traditional religious background and no longer pray reconsider and start praying again after their treatments. There is something powerful and healing, about connecting with something/someone that is greater and beyond us. We are reminded we are not alone.

Shoelaces of various colors being weaved together — Over the years, we have seen that ketamine patients who incorporate positive actions into their daily lives see the most transformation.

Real life experience and integration

Now, you may be wondering, “Where’s the randomized control trials supporting these recommendations?” To be honest, there isn’t anything that we found as of this writing. Sure, if you took some time to go through Pubmed, you could find more research to support each one. Here’s the thing: over the many years we have taken care of our ketamine patients, we have seen that our patients who have taken these above actions have had the most transformation. These actions are part of their integration of their ketamine experience.

We have also seen that progress and maximizing their ketamine therapy doesn’t require them to do all of the above. They don’t necessarily need to take large, time-consuming steps at first. What’s interesting is some of our patients will begin to notice a change in themselves. They may actually desire to take these actions on their own. It is a beautiful feedback loop. The ketamine infusions help them feel better, leading them to sleep better and want to help others, which in part helps them feel better!

A piece of advice from our past experience: the most significant change in our patients are the ones that the patients came up with themselves. Encourage and suggest, but let the patient come up with their own ideas!

4 seedlings in different stages of growth all sprouting from soil — Ketamine is only part of the equation when it comes to transforming your patients. When your patients take an active part, that is when the true transformation happens.

Ketamine: the fertilizer to your patient’s garden of life

Consider these 5 ways as the things your patients do to take care of a garden. They need to water, weed, and protect their plants from pests. Ketamine is like a fertilizer for their garden. Sure, their plants would probably grow on their own. But the plants need care, just like their mental health. Fertilizer can definitely help their garden flourish, but no amount of fertilizer can keep their garden growing if they don’t tend to it.

Ketamine alone is not going to help your patients. Yes, it can help them tremendously in ways no other treatments have. However, to believe or lead your patients to think ketamine is the only answer is incorrect and wrong. Your patient’s transformation and healing will primarily happen in between the infusion supported by the ketamine. Through taking positive action, your patients can make the most of their ketamine treatments to achieve true transformation.

Are you ready to begin transforming people’s lives through starting your ketamine clinic? Join our email list and be notified about the next free webinar and open registration for Ketamine StartUp.

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