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When Traditional Therapy Hasn't Been Enough

Ketamine-Assisted Therapy in Scotts Valley, CA

Low-dose ketamine combined with Brainspotting — a deeply supported approach to healing trauma, anxiety, depression, and narcissistic abuse from the inside out.

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You've worked hard to heal. What if the missing piece wasn't more effort — just a different door?

Maybe you’ve spent years in therapy. Maybe you’ve read the books, listened to the podcasts, learned about your patterns, practiced setting boundaries, and become incredibly self-aware. You may understand exactly why you feel the way you do. And yet… something still feels stuck.

You may find yourself repeating the same patterns, reacting in ways you thought you’d moved beyond, carrying a weight you can’t quite explain, or knowing intellectually that you’re safe while some deeper part of you hasn’t caught up.

If this sounds familiar, it doesn’t mean you’ve failed at therapy. It doesn’t mean you’re not trying hard enough. And it doesn’t mean you’re broken.

Sometimes, healing requires us to approach an experience differently — not by thinking about it more, but by creating enough space to experience it from a new perspective.

Ketamine-assisted therapy may offer that space.

When combined with Brainspotting, preparation, and integration, ketamine can become part of a deeply intentional therapeutic process designed to help you explore what has remained difficult to access or change.

WHAT IS KETAMINE-ASSISTED THERAPY WITH BRAINSPOTTING?

Two Approaches Coming Together in One Therapeutic Process

Ketamine-assisted therapy — also known as Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) — combines a medically prescribed medication with psychotherapy.

In my practice, this work combines low-dose ketamine with Brainspotting, along with preparation and integration sessions, in a supportive, in-person setting in Scotts Valley, California.

The intention isn’t simply to have an altered experience. The intention is to use that experience therapeutically.

  • Ketamine is a prescription medication that has been studied extensively for its mental health benefits, particularly for depression and other forms of psychological distress.

    Depending on the individual and prescribed dose, ketamine can temporarily shift perception, emotional processing, and habitual patterns of thought.

    Some people describe feeling less attached to their usual inner dialogue. Others experience a greater sense of spaciousness, emotional distance, curiosity, or a different perspective on something they’ve been struggling with. Many describe it as a quiet lifting of the veil they didn’t realize they were carrying — not a loss of self, but a loosening of the grip.

    The experience can be difficult to put into words — and it doesn’t need to be. There isn’t a “right” ketamine experience.

    My role is not to tell you what you should experience, but to create a safe, grounded therapeutic space where you can notice what emerges.

    Ketamine is prescribed and medically overseen by a licensed medical provider. I am not a prescriber; I collaborate with a trusted medical provider as part of your care team.

  • Brainspotting is a brain-body trauma therapy that uses focused eye positions to help access and process experiences that may be difficult to reach through traditional talk therapy.

    You don’t have to remember everything. You don’t have to explain everything. You don’t have to find the perfect words.

    Instead, we pay attention to what is happening in the present moment — thoughts, emotions, body sensations, memories, images, impulses, or simply a felt sense that something is there.

    Brainspotting allows us to follow what emerges rather than forcing the process in a particular direction.

  • Ketamine opens the door. Brainspotting helps you explore what is on the other side.

    Ketamine may create a temporary shift in your usual patterns of thought and emotional processing. Brainspotting gives us a therapeutic framework for working with what becomes accessible. And integration helps you bring what you discover into your everyday life.

    The goal isn’t to force healing. It’s to create the conditions where something new may become possible.

WHY MIGHT THIS WORK DIFFERENTLY?

When You Understand Your Patterns but Still Can’t Seem to Change Them

One of the most frustrating parts of healing can be knowing what’s happening and still feeling unable to change it.

You know you’re people-pleasing. You know you overthink. You know you keep choosing emotionally unavailable people. You know that voice criticizing you isn’t really your voice. You know what happened wasn’t your fault.

And yet your thoughts, emotions, and reactions don’t always seem to have received the memo. This is one reason ketamine-assisted therapy may be worth exploring.

Researchers are studying how ketamine temporarily affects brain networks involved in mood, perception, learning, memory, and self-referential thinking. Ketamine also appears to promote neuroplasticity — the brain’s capacity to form and strengthen new connections.

This doesn’t mean ketamine simply “rewires” your brain or erases trauma. Instead, it may create a temporary opportunity to step outside some of your familiar ways of thinking and experiencing yourself.

A little more space. A little less certainty that the old story is the only story. A chance to experience something differently.

And sometimes, experiencing something differently can be the beginning of changing it.

THE BRAIN, NEUROPLASTICITY & THE DEFAULT MODE NETWORK

What We Know About How Ketamine May Affect the Brain

The Default Mode Network (DMN) is a network of brain regions involved in internally focused thought, autobiographical memory, self-reflection, and our sense of self.

It is active when the mind turns inward — thinking about the past, imagining the future, reflecting on relationships, or developing stories about who we are.

When we become caught in repetitive patterns of thought, it can feel as though our minds are running along the same familiar tracks.

You may find yourself:

  • Replaying conversations

  • Anticipating what could go wrong

  • Questioning yourself

  • Criticizing yourself

  • Revisiting the past

  • Trying to figure out what someone else was thinking

  • Feeling trapped inside the same emotional story

Research suggests that ketamine can temporarily alter activity and connectivity within several brain networks, including the Default Mode Network. Research also suggests that ketamine may increase neuroplasticity — the brain’s capacity to form and strengthen new connections.

This doesn’t mean the brain is simply “rewired.” Rather, ketamine may temporarily create greater flexibility in how we think, perceive, and respond.

That flexibility can create an opportunity for therapeutic work.

Ketamine may create more space. Brainspotting helps us explore what becomes accessible within that space. Integration helps connect those experiences to your life outside the therapy room.

WHO IS THIS WORK FOR?

You Might Be a Good Fit If You're Experiencing…

Ketamine-assisted therapy may be worth exploring if you’ve been working on yourself for a long time but still feel like something isn’t quite shifting.

You may be living with trauma or PTSD and find yourself hypervigilant, emotionally shut down, easily activated, disconnected from yourself, or unable to fully settle even when you know you’re no longer in danger.

You may be experiencing depression, numbness, hopelessness, or a sense of disconnection despite trying therapy, medication, or other approaches. For some people, ketamine has been associated with relatively rapid antidepressant effects, including among people who haven’t responded adequately to conventional treatments.

You may struggle with anxiety and overthinking — constantly analyzing conversations, anticipating other people’s reactions, second-guessing yourself, or trying to prevent something from going wrong. Ketamine-assisted therapy may create an opportunity to step outside some of those familiar patterns and explore what lies underneath them.

You may be healing from narcissistic or emotional abuse and still find yourself questioning your own perceptions long after the relationship has ended. Perhaps you’re struggling with self-trust, boundaries, shame, hypervigilance, or people-pleasing. You may understand intellectually what happened and still feel emotionally caught in it.

You may be an adoptee, former foster youth, or someone who experienced early relational trauma. Some experiences begin before we have the words to describe them. Early separation, loss, instability, or disrupted relationships can leave questions and feelings that are difficult to explain intellectually. You don’t necessarily have to remember every detail for those experiences to matter.

And you may simply be someone who has already done a lot of therapy. You’re highly self-aware. You understand your patterns. You’ve gained insight and perhaps made significant changes already — but something still feels stuck.

You may not need more information. You may need a different way of experiencing what you already know.

This work isn’t about fitting you into a particular category. It’s about exploring whether a different therapeutic approach might help you access something that has remained difficult to reach through traditional talk therapy alone.

WHAT TO EXPECT

A Carefully Supported Process From Preparation Through Integration

Ketamine-assisted therapy — also known as Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) — combines a medically prescribed medication with psychotherapy.

In my practice, this work combines low-dose ketamine with Brainspotting, along with preparation and integration sessions, in a supportive, in-person setting in Scotts Valley, California.

The intention isn’t simply to have an altered experience. The intention is to use that experience therapeutically.

  • 1. Initial Consultation & Assessment

    We begin by talking about what brings you in, what you've tried, what you're hoping to change, and what you're looking for from ketamine-assisted therapy. 

    If we decide to move forward, we complete a more thorough clinical assessment and coordinate with the prescribing provider. 

    The medical provider determines whether ketamine is medically appropriate for you.

  • 2. Preparation

    Before your first ketamine-assisted session, we'll spend time preparing. 

    We'll talk about your intentions, what you're hoping to explore, what you might encounter during the experience, and how you can approach the process without putting pressure on yourself to achieve a particular outcome. 

    Preparation is an important part of creating a sense of safety and trust.

  • 3. Ketamine-Assisted Brainspotting

    The prescribing medical provider determines the medication and dose. 

    Once the ketamine takes effect, we'll work together using Brainspotting and therapeutic support appropriate to the session.

    You don't need to make anything happen. You don't need to produce a breakthrough. You don't need to remember something from childhood. 

    We follow what emerges. 

    Sometimes that may be an emotion. Sometimes a body sensation. Sometimes a memory or image. Sometimes a realization you've never been able to access before. And sometimes… nothing dramatic happens at all. 

    There is no right way to experience the process. 

  • 4. Integration

    The experience doesn't end when the ketamine wears off. Integration is where we slow down and explore what the experience may mean for you. 

    What did you notice? What surprised you? Did something shift? Did something become clearer? What do you want to carry forward? 

    Integration helps translate an experience into something meaningful and usable in your everyday life. 

    The goal is not simply to have an experience. The goal is to make meaning from it and integrate what you've learned.

The Medical Side of Your Care

You’re Supported by a Team

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and Brainspotting therapist — not a medical prescriber.

Ketamine is a prescription medication and is prescribed and medically overseen by a qualified licensed medical provider.

I collaborate with the prescribing provider so that the medical and therapeutic aspects of your care are appropriately coordinated.

Your medical provider is responsible for determining whether ketamine is appropriate for you, prescribing the medication, and providing medical guidance.

My role is the therapeutic one: creating the space for preparation, supporting you during the therapeutic process, and helping you integrate what emerges.

Two different roles. One coordinated approach to your care.

Is This Right for You?

Ketamine-Assisted Therapy Isn’t for Everyone

This approach isn’t something I recommend simply because someone is interested in ketamine.

Your mental health history, medical history, current medications, goals, stability, and readiness all matter.

The prescribing provider will screen for medical contraindications and determine whether ketamine is medically appropriate.

We’ll also consider whether the therapeutic approach itself feels like a good fit. Sometimes the answer will be yes. Sometimes another form of therapy will make more sense.

The Research

An Evolving Area of Mental Health Research

Ketamine-assisted therapy is an evolving area of mental health research.

Research has found promising results related to ketamine’s effects on mood, cognition, emotional processing, and neuroplasticity, while researchers continue to study how these effects may translate into longer-term therapeutic change.

One of the areas researchers are exploring is how ketamine affects brain networks involved in self-referential thinking, emotional processing, and repetitive thought patterns.

Research also suggests that ketamine may promote neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to form and strengthen connections. This may help explain why some people experience a temporary shift in patterns that have felt deeply ingrained.

At the same time, the research does not suggest that ketamine is a simple “reset button” for the brain or that it produces the same experience or outcome for everyone.

The therapeutic context matters.

Preparation, intention, skilled support, and integration may all play an important role in how someone makes meaning from the experience.

A Note on MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies)

MAPS, a leading nonprofit research organization in the field of psychedelic medicine, has published foundational guidelines for Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) through their work with pioneering clinician Phil Wolfson, author of The Ketamine Papers. Their guidelines emphasize the importance of skilled therapist support, structured preparation and integration, and ethical care for the vulnerability that non-ordinary states of consciousness can create. These principles are central to how this work is offered here.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Yes. Ketamine is a Schedule III controlled substance in the United States and has FDA-approved uses as an anesthetic. Medical providers may also prescribe ketamine off-label for certain psychiatric conditions. Ketamine used as part of this practice is prescribed and medically overseen by a licensed medical provider.

  • Ketamine affects everyone differently. At lower doses, you are able to communicate while experiencing changes in perception, emotional processing, or your usual patterns of thought. Some people describe feeling more spacious or less attached to their normal thought patterns. Others experience more noticeable perceptual changes. There isn’t one predictable ketamine experience.

  • Ketamine has potential benefits as well as risks and side effects, and it isn’t appropriate for everyone. The prescribing medical provider conducts a medical assessment and screens for factors that may make ketamine inappropriate. Your therapeutic readiness also matters.

  • Absolutely. You do not need previous Brainspotting experience. We’ll introduce you to the process during preparation and make sure you understand what to expect before beginning ketamine-assisted sessions.

  • Yes. Brainspotting is available as a standalone therapy, including Brainspotting Intensives. Ketamine-assisted therapy is an additional option for clients who are interested in this approach and are appropriate candidates.

  • No. I am a licensed clinical social worker, not a medical prescriber. Ketamine is prescribed and medically overseen by a qualified licensed medical provider with whom I collaborate.

  • No. Ketamine-assisted therapy is currently offered in person only at my office in Scotts Valley, California.

  • There isn’t a universal number of sessions. Your treatment plan will depend on your goals, clinical needs, response to treatment, and recommendations from the prescribing provider. We’ll discuss what makes sense for you during the assessment and preparation process.

Ready to Explore Whether This Is Right for You?

Maybe you’ve been in therapy for years. Maybe you understand your patterns better than anyone. Maybe you’ve done everything you know to do — and you’re still waiting for something to shift.

Ketamine-assisted therapy isn’t a magic answer. It isn’t for everyone. And it isn’t about forcing a breakthrough.

It’s about creating a different kind of therapeutic space — one where you may be able to loosen your grip on the familiar, experience yourself differently, and explore what becomes possible when you aren’t working so hard to figure everything out.

If something in you is curious, that may be enough to start a conversation.

Some part of you already knows when it’s time.

Schedule Your Consultation

Or reach out to learn more about ketamine-assisted therapy in Scotts Valley and whether this approach may be a good fit for you.

Erin Burton, LCSW is a Brainspotting-certified therapist in Scotts Valley, CA. Ketamine-Assisted Therapy sessions are offered in person only at her Scotts Valley office.

Ketamine is a prescription medication. All ketamine used in this practice is prescribed and overseen by a licensed medical provider. This page is for informational purposes and does not constitute medical advice.