When a Ketamine Experience feels meaningless

As both clinicians and clients, we put a lot of weight on the “meaning” of a ketamine journey.  We set the stage with meditative exercises, set intentions, and burn palo santo wood.  

Soothing music is playing, the medicine begins to wash over you, and you enter into your altered state.  And then… nothing.  

In this nothingness, time has no meaning.  You are neither in another world nor in this one, and when the medicine wears off, you may feel lighter and whole but also confused.  Why did the brain just go quiet like that?

While most ketamine journeys end with a robust transcription by the Ketamine Psychotherapist of the client’s expansive thoughts and experiences, occasionally, a journey can leave you speechless.  

No words can really describe such a ketamine experience because the journey is almost just the absence of a journey.

This type of ketamine experience can be disappointing for someone looking to solve their dilemmas or heal their traumas.  However, it is important to trust that the brain is going where it needs to go.  This dissociative state can be like a long needed nap for our conscious mind.  

For those with anxiety, our prefrontal cortex can be a hamster wheel of thoughts, worries, hopes, goals, fears, and feelings.  Even in a dreaming state, we are processing thoughts, emotions, and memories.  With ketamine, such an overloaded brain can get the opportunity for a break.  

After this type of Ketamine trip, clients report that they feel more at ease, and like everything matters just a bit less.  Emotions are less raw, and the heart is open. 

Ketamine journeys don’t have to give us new insight in order to be valuable.  The value can lie simply in the recalibration, and the opportunity to experience a peaceful waking reset.  

If you are curious about whether Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy is right for you, please contact us at Kairos Wellness Collective. We would be happy to discuss it with you!