Safety
Your safety is paramount. This has a lot of aspects. Some of this has been discussed in detail, such as making sure ketamine is right for you and watching for medical complications.
Creating the envelope
I will sit with you the entire time through the journey. It’s my job to monitor medical safety; it’s also my job to create a safe envelope for you to go into your deepest self. Here I get metaphysical: this is energy work, plain and simple, creating a psychic space where you can feel safe. Surrounding your being with love and compassion, to do with as you see fit.
This is one place where having a second person, a “co-sitter,” can be very helpful: the synergy of two people holding you in love is very powerful in helping the journey be what you need it to be.
Safety during the journey
The psychedelic experience can be terrifying. In particular, this is a journey Into unknown territory, done in a closed room with a male practitioner whom you may not know. Especially for women coming into this situation, many people can be triggered to re-experience old trauma. While re-experiencing trauma may be a part of healing, the fear of re-enactment can be very real. And the psychedelic state can make it hard to distinguish reality from hallucination.
For this reason I will generally have a co-sitter during the first sessions with a new client, and ongoing if you wish. This would be a woman who has some training in sitting and who has experienced ketamine at its deepest level, and who understands healing and hurt.
Having a co-sitter has another advantage: as alluded to earlier, two of us holding the space for you is not just additive in its metaphysical power but is synergistic. I only came to understand that when I did some sessions assisting my dear friend and mentor, Katie Fassbinder in sitting for some journeys.
If I don’t have a co-sitter, either because you feel you no longer need one or because I couldn’t get one and you want to go ahead with the journey, I generally will video the entire session, with a copy given to you on a flash drive. If you have a feeling of something being wrong, which can emerge from your inner work, you need to know with certainty what happened in the physical room. Alternatively, if you have someone in mind who you trust deeply and would like present, I would be glad to discuss this option. It’s rare for me to decline but I have to use my judgment as to who might enhance or interfere with your journey.
Touch
The rule during a ketamine session is simple: you will not be touched, with a few specific exceptions. Your space and your physical being will be honored completely.
The first exception is the mechanics of giving the medication, including checking blood pressure if needed and giving a shot if needed. I will talk to you before touching for these reasons.
The second exception is your physical safety. I will do what I need to do to keep you from falling off the chair onto the floor, for example. I won’t let you run out into Main Street traffic.
If you need to use the bathroom during the session I, or the co-sitter, will accompany you and offer you steadying.
The third exception is touch that is pre-negotiated and that you specifically indicate you want during the session. This is limited to holding your hand if you reach out, touching your shoulder if that is comforting, perhaps a hand on the forehead - but that’s pretty much the limit. There will be nothing that can be misinterpreted as sexual touch. And we will need to sort out what is okay ahead of time.