• Ketamine Assisted Therapy Waitlist

  • If you are considering ketamine assisted therapy (KAT) services at Alchemy Community Therapy Center, please complete this waitlist form. You're welcome to reach out to info@alchemytherapy.org if you need support or have any questions.

    Please note: we currently only have openings for clients who can pay higher rates on our sliding scale. Since we are one of the few sliding scale ketamine assisted therapy locations in the Bay Area, we have a long waitlist for the lowest end of our services. We also do not have medical staff on-site (only therapists) and most of our therapists are still working towards licensure, so we may need to refer out if prospective clients need more intensive support. 

    We recommend taking a look at other community resources if you are seeking more immediate mental health support, or signing up for weekly talk therapy interest form.

  • Our Model

  • Ketamine is currently the only legally available psychedelic in California outside of clinical trials. Its dissociative and psychedelic effects, along with its relatively short-acting duration and affordable costs make it an ideal candidate for therapeutic work. Ketamine is a schedule III substance, so proper screening and assessment is a vital part of the treatment process to decide whether or not it's the best fit for you.

    At Alchemy, we see ketamine as a tool in supporting therapy. There are other models of ketamine treatment (like ketamine infusion clinics), which may not even include therapy. Although we have often seen major benefits from the specific ketamine assisted therapy model we use at Alchemy, we encourage people to find the model that works best for them.

    We only use prescribed oral lozenges clients self-administer at our clinic, which minimizes the cost of having a medical provider on-site for administration.

    Please keep in mind that we cannot guarantee ketamine assisted therapy to anyone until we get to know them. We will work with you and your prescriber to assess if this is the most appropriate therapeutic modality and medicine for your needs at this time.

  • The Sessions

  • Preparation Sessions

    We ask for at least three 50-min preparation sessions if you have an ongoing therapist before your first 3-hour ketamine session, or at least 8 preparation sessions if you are not actively seeing a therapist. This preparation time gives us an opportunity to get to know you, build relational safety, review relevant logistics, and create a treatment plan that meets your needs.

    Ketamine Session

    Ketamine sessions usually take place at our office in Oakland, though sometimes may occur virtually (depending on your therapist's practice and your therapeutic needs). During the session, you and your therapist will check-in and review your intention for the session, as well as how you want to mark the opening of time together. After getting comfortable and making sure you're prepared for the journey, you will self-administer the lozenge at a dose that's within the range you were prescribed. Your therapist will be present with you throughout the whole 3 hours and will make space for any material that comes up. The dissociative and psychedelic qualities of ketamine may make it easier for you to discuss challenging emotional material while feeling safe, which may help you heal past experiences. You may also experience a shift in perspective, which can be an opportunity to shift out of stuck patterns via increased neuroplasticity. While no journey can be predicted and difficult experiences can sometimes arise, your therapist will treat whatever comes up as important to your healing process, supporting you along the way. By the end of the session, your support person (or driver) will arive to pick you up from the appointment and ensure you arrive home smoothly. 

    Integration Sessions

    After each ketamine session, our therapists will usually schedule at least two 50-min integration sessions with you to make sure you get the most out of your experience. This is oftentimes where "the work" begins. You can review what came up in the session, make meaning from it, expand on your present emotional experience, and plan for ways to make sustainable changes in your life.

    Sample Schedule

    While it's often difficult to know exactly how many ketamine sessions may end up feeling sufficient, many share it can be helpful to have at least 3 to start in order to understand their own unique relationship with the modality. Below is a sample schedule we've included for reference, though each treatment is highly individualized and can vary greatly based on presenting concerns and therapist availability.

  • Two-month therapeutic schedule showing medical intake, prep/integration session, and ketamine session. Image states that there may be varying session durations and frequency, which may extend the treatment beyond two months. The calendar shows weekly prep or integration sessions, and bi-weekly ketamine assisted therapy sessions.

  • Contact Info

  • Due to licensing laws, unfortunately we are only able to provide services to California residents. 

    If you live outside of California, here are some resource lists that may help you find support near you: 

    • Inclusive Therapists
    • Open Path Collective
    • KRIYA Ketamine Providers
    • MAPS Psychedelic Integration
    • Psychable
    • Psychedelic.Support

  • Income

  • Sliding Scale Tool

  • Alchemy works as a sliding-scale clinic, a tool built to help repond to historic and present-day systemic imbalance of wealth in many marginalized communities. By creating a range of rates, we are able to support our mission of equitable access to mental health services for diverse populations.

    We've built the tool below to help you calculate where you land on our scale. Although we recognize financial security cannot be distilled to a series of questions, we hope this can be used as a good starting point to reflect on your resources and what you're able to contribute. We appreciate your transparency and honesty through this process.

  • Sliding Scale Payment

  • Ketamine Session Cost Estimate

  • Based on your {hourlyHighrate} sliding scale rate, here is an outline of the costs associated with ketamine assisted therapy:

    • {initialMedicalHigh} for initial medical intake, {followupMedicalHigh} for follow-up medical appointments (both of these are provided by the Center for New Growth)
    • {50minPrepHigh} for 50-min prep and integration sessions (we require at least 3 prep sessions when getting started if someone is currently seeing a therapist. We also usually require 2 integration sessions in between ketamine sessions)
    • {3hrInpersonHigh} for 3hr in-person ketamine sessions
    • {3hrVirtualHigh} for 3hr virtual ketamine sessions (if your therapist offers virtual sessions and it is clinically appropriate)

    Given the costs above, 3 rounds of ketamine assisted therapy with the minimum number of preparation sessions for someone who's currently in therapy comes out to about {costFor3High}. Additional sessions may be added at the same rates listed above, depending on each person's individualized treatment plan. Frequency and number of sessions can greatly vary.

    *Please note there's an additional cost for the medication itself, which has tended to be somewhere around $80 for a few sessions (though this is determined and charged by the pharmacy itself, not by Alchemy).

  • Based on your {hourlyHighrate} sliding scale rate, here is an outline of the costs associated with ketamine assisted therapy:

    • {initialMedicalHigh} for initial medical intake, {followupMedicalHigh} for follow-up medical appointments (both of these are provided by the Center for New Growth)
    • {50minPrepHigh} for 50-min prep and integration sessions (we require at least 8 prep sessions when getting started if someone is not currently seeing a therapist. We also usually require 2 integration sessions in between ketamine sessions)
    • {3hrInpersonHigh} for 3hr in-person ketamine sessions
    • {3hrVirtualHigh} for 3hr virtual ketamine sessions (if your therapist offers virtual sessions and it is clinically appropriate)

    Given the costs above, 3 rounds of ketamine assisted therapy with the minimum number of preparation sessions for someone who's currently not in therapy comes out to about {costFor8High}. Additional sessions may be added at the same rates listed above, depending on each person's individualized treatment plan. Frequency and number of sessions can greatly vary.

    *Please note there's an additional cost for the medication itself, which has tended to be somewhere around $80 for a few sessions (though this is determined and charged by the pharmacy itself, not by Alchemy).

  • Based on your {katHourlyLow} sliding scale rate, here is an outline of the costs associated with ketamine assisted therapy:

    • {initialMedicalLow} for initial medical intake, {followupMedicalLow} for follow-up medical appointments (both of these are provided by the Center for New Growth)
    • {prepintegLow} for 50-min prep and integration sessions (we require at least 3 prep sessions when getting started if someone is currently seeing a therapist. We also usually require 2 integration sessions in between ketamine sessions)
    • {inpersonKatLow} for 3hr in-person ketamine sessions
    • {virtualKatLow} for 3hr virtual ketamine sessions (if your therapist offers virtual sessions and it is clinically appropriate)

    Given the costs above, 3 rounds of ketamine assisted therapy with the minimum number of preparation sessions for someone who's currently in therapy comes out to about {costFor3low}. Additional sessions may be added at the same rates listed above, depending on each person's individualized treatment plan. Frequency and number of sessions can greatly vary.

    *Please note there's an additional cost for the medication itself, which has tended to be somewhere around $80 for a few sessions (though this is determined and charged by the pharmacy itself, not by Alchemy).

  • Based on your {katHourlyLow} sliding scale rate, here is an outline of the costs associated with ketamine assisted therapy:

    • {initialMedicalLow} for initial medical intake, {followupMedicalLow} for follow-up medical appointments (both of these are provided by the Center for New Growth)
    • {prepintegLow} for 50-min prep and integration sessions (we require at least 8 prep sessions when getting started if someone is not currently seeing a therapist. We also usually require 2 integration sessions in between ketamine sessions)
    • {inpersonKatLow} for 3hr in-person ketamine sessions
    • {virtualKatLow} for 3hr virtual ketamine sessions (if your therapist offers virtual sessions and it is clinically appropriate)

    Given the costs above, 3 rounds of ketamine assisted therapy with the minimum number of preparation sessions for someone who's currently not in therapy comes out to about {costFor8Low}. Additional sessions may be added at the same rates listed above, depending on each person's individualized treatment plan. Frequency and number of sessions can greatly vary.

    *Please note there's an additional cost for the medication itself, which has tended to be somewhere around $80 for a few sessions (though this is determined and charged by the pharmacy itself, not by Alchemy).

  • Demographic Info

    Please fill out as much of the demographic info as you feel comfortable sharing. We use this to make sure we're fulfilling our mission of providing equitable therapy to diverse populations.

  • Therapy Info

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