Graphic by Reece Nations.
By Giselle Mendoza
Legal psychedelics are here, but perhaps not how one might expect.
Picture a small room. Dim lighting gives it a cozy sanctuary vibe. All one has to do is sit back, relax, and indulge in the feeling of a warm hug.
Ben McCauley was only 16 years old when his father got struck by lightning and killed on a family backpacking trip. The trauma from the event lived in his heart for many years.
Later, McCauley was diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. He sought mindfulness and therapy for inner healing and peace. What he found to be the most effective in his journey was a simple substance that some associate with parties and others with going under anesthesia in the operating room: ketamine.
“It changed my life,” said McCauley, now the owner and director of Denovo Therapy, located at 6803 Indiana Ave., Lubbock’s first clinic to offer ketamine-assisted psychotherapy.
His inviting nature gives the essence of a friendly therapist instead of a frightening doctor.
Before answering a question, McCauley asks for a minute. He sinks back into the sofa chair with his hands on his knees. He slowly stretches his shoulders, neck and back. He sits in a meditative state for a few moments before opening his eyes to speak.
Psychotherapy, sometimes called talk therapy, is the practice of treating mental health issues by talking with a psychologist, psychiatrist, or another mental health provider, according to a description by the American Psychiatric Association. A variety of psychotherapy types are used to treat patients with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, personality disorders and addiction.
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic with hallucinogenic effects. Developed by Edward Domino in the 1960s, it has been used in medical procedures for humans as well as in veterinary medicine. It is chemically related to phencyclidine, also known as PCP.
Recently, the drug has started to be offered in conjunction with therapy to treat various mental health conditions, including depression, PTSD, suicidal ideations, bipolar disorder and more. McCauley’s ketamine clinic is one of only 400 clinics in the United States as of 2022. It is the only access to this kind of therapy in the West Texas region.
Photo obtained from Denovo Therapy on Facebook.
Limited access inspired McCauley to open his own clinic. His medical experience dates back 15 years and ranges in experience in the emergency room, labor and delivery, operating room, lab, medical, and clinical informatics. His desire to help others heal led him to train with Dr. Phil Wolfson of the Ketamine Training Center and Richard Schwartz of the Internal Family Systems Institute.
Wolfson, a practicing psychotherapist for 57 years and a practicing psychiatrist for 51 years, has conducted extensive post-graduate training in different kinds of psychotherapy and has published research on the use of MDMA, also known as Ecstasy, in psychotherapeutics. He has been licensed to practice medicine in both Washington, D.C. and California, where he is currently based and still practices psychiatry.
Schwartz, an adjunct faculty of the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, developed a therapeutic model for treating psychiatric patients called the Internal Family Systems model, or IFS. To date, Schwartz has published over 50 articles on IFS and is the founder and president of the IFS Institute, which certifies therapists and practitioners under the IFS model.
Getting a ketamine treatment starts with a warm and cozy set-up. A patient sits in a comfortable, reclining chair and is given blankets, pillows and an eye mask. Headphones and eye masks are for altering one’s access to their own senses. The infusion they receive then works with neural pathways that strengthen one’s ability to respond to stressful stimuli.
McCauley said there are “various treatment care models including psychedelic experiences with physiological and psychological benefits.”
Therapist Elizabeth Landry, herself a client of KAP, described a feeling of being “held” during her first infusion.
“It’s like a big warm hug,” she said. “It is like when you are driving, and you have to take a detour because there is so much construction going on.
“Instead of going from point a to point b, there would be detours to points a1, a2, a3, et cetera,” Landry continued. “After my first treatment, I was simply able to respond to stimuli without the workaround of emotions.”
She said the experience accesses a form of playfulness that, in essence, “plugs” one back into common humanity and allows for an expanded human experience. She remembers going about her day and noticing she could attend to stressful situations with ease.
But even experts on the subject say that ketamine-assisted therapy isn’t for everybody.
This is why therapists are extremely thorough with patient evaluations and cautious with use. Therapists will not recommend it, for example, to anyone under the age of 15 or to those with histories of substance abuse or schizophrenia.
The frequency with which patients undergo the treatment varies depending on the person and their personal experiences. Some may not need as many sessions as others to treat their symptoms.
To those who question using hallucinogenic substances to treat mental health conditions, McCauley counters by reminding them that “all drugs are tools, and the tools are not the problem,” but they can be if used improperly. Landry expressed similar sentiments about disputes surrounding this novel kind of psychotherapy. She said she “wants to do what’s best for the people.”
“It is ethical across the board, no cutting corners,” said Landry, describing the value of client care.
Denovo Therapy, the first clinic in Lubbock to offer ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, is located at 6803 Indiana Ave.
She said she is not fearful of criticism and will do whatever she can to protect this kind of therapy.
On the other end of the spectrum, some are eager to undergo psychotherapy for the first time. They are desperately seeking freedom from depression or wanting to experience a necessary breakthrough.
Texas Tech Bio-Med student Erika Camarillo said she plans to undergo ketamine therapy within the next year. She said experiencing a high volume of mental health issues including anxiety disorder, severe depression, bipolar mood disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder is what motivated her to seek out the treatment.
Camarillo first heard of Denovo Therapy from a professor who mentioned the presence of a clinic in Lubbock that used psychedelics legally. After doing more research on it, she made up her mind.
“I’ve been saving for it. I want to feel like everything is okay,” Camarillo said. “I want to know that my mind can be stronger than the stressful circumstances that can’t be avoided in life. I want to feel resilient.”
The only thing Camarillo has ever used for her mental health issues are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs.
“SSRIs work with neurotransmitters and serotonin levels,” McCauley said. “They are completely different mechanisms it is like comparing a tree to a duck. Deep psychological content, deep child work, past trauma, present-day grief situations are the physiological attributes of the medicine.”
In her recollection, Landry mentioned having undergone the treatment for the first time in 2020 right before the COVID-19 pandemic struck and quarantine first began. She said she “could not imagine going through the pandemic [without] this sort of resilience from the therapy.”
Joshua Willms — a Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center alumnus with a Ph.D. in pharmacology and neuroscience — conducted a case report in which he typed journals while receiving ketamine infusions for suicidal ideation, treatment-resistant depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. His experiment allowed him to describe his experience as well as add commentary from the research team. He could type almost normally while being blindfolded throughout the entire infusion experience.
“I couldn’t stop feeling so much love and gratitude for everyone and everything in my life,” Willms said. “A true feeling of knowing that I was going to be okay because I was so calm and relaxed. I couldn’t stop saying ‘I love you so much.'”
Willms’s journals describe beautiful imagery throughout their pages. He described scenes including purple skies, waterfalls, glowing stars, amazing canyons, interstellar galaxies, indescribable beauty, amazing colors, and more. He repeatedly referred to what he called “the room” which was a 3D geometric space he would frequently experience halfway through the ketamine infusion sessions.
Before receiving ketamine infusions, Willms had been troubled with suicidal ideations for five years. After, Willm’s said he no longer experiences insomnia, nightmares, anxiety, or depression.
He felt an increase in his energy, focus, and groundedness. His academic performance had also improved along with his interpersonal relationships. He no longer had any thoughts or plans of harming himself.
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy is continuing to become more prominent among psychiatric experts. The effects of this process have shown significant improvement in various dimensions of one’s well-being.
Research has shown promising outcomes for treating people who suffer from mental health issues. Although it may not be for everybody, its healing powers can give one access to a well-lived life with resilience.
More information on ketamine-assisted psychotherapy can be found here. Consult with a doctor, psychiatrist or mental healthcare practitioner before undergoing treatment. Consultation information is available on Denovo Therapy’s website.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration‘s free, confidential helpline operates 24/7, 365 and offers treatment referral and information services. Call 1-800-662-HELP (4357), or call/text 988 for situations of suicidal crisis or emotional distress.
About Reece Nations
