Ketamine Clinic

Treatment for depression, suicidal thoughts, trauma and OCD

Why Choose Us as a Ketamine Clinic?

Before your first ketamine clinic treatment, you will receive a full psychiatric evaluation from Dr. Papp. This is important to make sure that the treatment is right for you and to help make the experience safe and effective.

Patients get individualized treatment at our ketamine clinic. The treatment is administered and monitored by Dr. Papp himself. There will be no other patients receiving ketamine while you are with us.

Each treatment visit is scheduled for two hours. It begins with an assessment of your response to the prior treatments, setting up monitoring and making sure the room feels comfortable for you. The ketamine effect itself (the “trip”) lasts for about 40-70 minutes. The visit concludes with a discussion of the experience and making a plan for the next treatment.

Our treatment rooms are serene and comfortable, helping to make the experience more enjoyable. While in the treatment room, your vital signs will be continuously monitored to assure your safety. You will also be under remote video observation, so that at any time, your doctor can know how you are doing while under the medication’s effects.

Improvement can be rapid. Some patients feel less depressed within 12-24 hours. However, patients would be advised to commit to 4 – 6 treatments, since it may take that long to notice a meaningful effect. A minority of patients do not get sufficient benefit from this treatment even after 6 visits.

What Makes Ketamine Different?

Ketamine treatment stands out due to its rapid onset of action, unlike traditional antidepressants that may take weeks or months to show effects. Within hours to days, patients often notice a significant improvement, a unique feature among antidepressants. Additionally, this medication is administered intermittently, sparing patients from daily medication concerns and potential side effects associated with daily use.

This medication bypasses the slow molecular machinery that is utilized by conventional antidepressants. It facilitates nerve regeneration in the hippocampus and dampens activities of brain structures that mediate depression (such as the habenula and “the default mode network”)

Originally used as an anesthetic in the 1970s, ketamine’s efficacy in depression treatment was recognized in studies from the early 2000s. Since then, its use has expanded exponentially, proving effective in treating various psychiatric conditions, including severe depression, suicidal thoughts, PTSD, premenstrual mood symptoms, and certain substance abuse disorders.

Integrating psychotherapy with ketamine treatment can enhance its benefits, as studies suggest a synergistic effect between the two. At our ketamine clinic, we employ “Ketamine Coordinated Therapy,” strategically timing psychotherapy sessions before and after medication administration to optimize outcomes.

By planning sessions to coincide with periods of heightened brain connectivity induced by ketamine, typically 1-2 days post-administration, we aim to leverage the flexibility and insight facilitated by these new neural connections. Additionally, psychotherapy aids in integrating experiences from medication sessions, maximizing the therapeutic potential of the treatmen

Why Add Psychotherapy to Ketamine?

Is the Point Loma Clinic a Typical Ketamine Clinic?

“Ketamine clinics” are often run by non-psychiatrists and focus on giving ketamine only, typically to several people at the same time. No full scope mental health treatment is offered at most of these facilities, and patients must see other providers for psychiatric medication or psychotherapy treatments. At our ketamine clinic, we offer all-inclusive psychiatric treatment and evaluation, as needed.

We are a private mental health practice, where we use ketamine integrated into a well-rounded practice of general adult psychiatry and psychology, i.e., full psychiatric/psychological assessment, traditional psychiatric medication, psychotherapy (which may include biofeedback), psychogenetic testing, and other treatments you may need. (Please see our page “Collaborative Care”)

The care at our ketamine clinic will be tailored to your needs and preferences, rather than to the dictates of an insurance company. Appointments are available within days and our doctors respond to calls directly.

What Type of Ketamine is Used?

Ketamine can be administrated in a number of ways: directly into tissue (the intramuscular, intravenous or subcutaneous routes), or though mucous membranes (the intranasal, sublingual or oral routes). The absorption of this medication is the most reliable when administered via the intramuscular, intravenous, or subcutaneous routes. Research has not found any difference in the effectiveness between these three treatment methods. At the Point Loma Clinic, we use the intramuscular route due to its simplicity. If you are interested in the intranasal spray formulation Spravato (esketamine), you may learn more on the product’s website. We do not prescribe compounded ketamine for home use because we do not consider that practice to be safe. You can be assured that your safety is one of our primary concerns.

Ketamine Facts

What is Ketamine?

Ketamine, originally used for anesthesia and acute pain management, has gained attention for its promising role in treating severe depression and other mental disorders due to its fast-acting nature.

Ketamine in Psychiatry

In addition to depression, studies with ketamine suggested effectiveness in PTSD, premenstrual disorders, bipolar depression, and OCD. Psychiatric doses are very low compared to other uses.

Other Uses of Ketamine

Ketamine can be used to treat severe chronic pain, which is administered by anesthesiologists at higher doses than that used for mental health conditions. (We don’t offer ketamine for pain at PLC.)

Ketamine Abuse

When Ketamine is used as a “party drug”, it’s taken in much higher doses than that used in medicine. Ketamine in psychiatry is given in a controlled setting and is extremely unlikely to lead to abuse or dependence.

Learn More

Watch a short video by Dr. Papp, which he presented online at the Ketamine and Related Compunds for Psychiatric Disorders Conference, 2024 in Oxford England.

Read scientific research articles about ketamine.