Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy: A Systematic Narrative Review of the Literature

Summary & key facts

This systematic review looked at 17 studies with a total of 603 participants on ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP). The reviewed reports say KAP can, in some cases, start and lengthen meaningful reductions in pain, anxiety, and depression, and help with rapport, treatment engagement, and abstinence for people with substance problems. However, how KAP was done varied a lot across studies, and the authors say larger randomized trials are needed to know how well KAP works long-term and to develop standard practices.

Key facts:

• The review identified 17 articles that together included 603 participants.
• Ketamine is described as having rapid-acting pain-relief and antidepressant effects but limited short-term durability, which motivated combining it with psychotherapy.
• Available publications reported that combined ketamine and psychotherapy could, in specific circumstances, initiate and prolong clinically significant reductions in pain, anxiety, and depressive symptoms.
• Reports also noted that KAP helped build rapport, increase treatment engagement, and promoted abstinence in patients with substance use disorders.
• There was substantial variation across studies in how KAP was delivered, including the route of ketamine administration, ketamine dose and frequency, type of psychotherapy, and overall treatment length.
• The authors conclude that psychotherapy given before, during, and after ketamine sessions may help maximize and prolong benefits, but they say large-scale randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm this and to develop standardized m

Abstract

Currently, ketamine is used in treating multiple pain, mental health, and substance abuse disorders due to rapid-acting analgesic and antidepressant effects. Its limited short-term durability has motivated research into the potential synergistic actions between ketamine and psychotherapy to sustain …

Topics

Mental Health Research Topics Treatment of Major Depression Tryptophan and brain disorders

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Pharmacology

Tags

Anxiety Intensive care medicine Ketamine Law Medicine MEDLINE Mental health Narrative review Political science Psychiatry Psychology Psychotherapist Randomized controlled trial Surgery Systematic review