The Importance of Psychedelic Practice and Experience for Mental Health Practitioners
This past summer I completed a 12-week therapeutic ketamine journey practicum and supervision with Psychedelic Institute of Mental Health and Family Therapy. I am excited to share my experience with you!
My name is Dominique Condevaux, and I am a licensed addiction and professional counselor practicing out of the great states of colorful Colorado and mighty Michigan. I work in the therapeutic psychedelic space offering ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) to clients seeking relief from depression, PTSD, addiction, and anxiety, including moving through grief that many times accompany these feelings.
This past summer I completed a 12-week therapeutic ketamine journey practicum and supervision with Psychedelic Institute of Mental Health and Family Therapy. I am excited to share my experience with you!
Specifics of the program- 12 weeks of ketamine medicine journey broken into two six (6) week blocks. This enabled me to experience 12 ketamine journeys myself utilizing sublingual, nasal and suppository routes of administration. Under supervision, I learned to facilitate journeys for others using an online platform, adding on to my already existing tele-mental health practice. I was able to update my tech knowledge to include creating music playlists, exploring different virtual platforms, realize the importance of a safe sitter and emergency protocols, and practice a cognitive-behavior therapy modality (CBT) as it overlaps with psychedelic therapy. Additional benefits include ongoing access to a current evidence-based research database, guest speakers, and a psychedelic mental health clinician community created by Psychedelic Institute of Mental Health and Family Therapy.
Meeting the medicine not just once, but over the course of multiple visits, allowed me to build a healthy relationship with this medicine– a very important process in the journey of the practicum. Understanding the working mechanics of the relationship between myself and the medicine allows me to better support my clients in their work with ketamine psychedelic therapy. This also allowed me to prepare for how to work with other psychedelic medicines as they begin to be more available.
This 12-week learning journey has moved me forward immensely in both my personal growth and as a practitioner in my own private practice. When we assume the essence of the person is good, we are able to shift the focus on working to change behaviors and actions with compassion and a fresh sense of unconditional acceptance of Self, Others, and the situations that life throws at us. Further, we are able to assess situations that we’re placed in as a result of our own unhealthy reoccurring thoughts, feelings, behaviors and actions, and feel better able to make the changes that might lead out of that suffering. This experience with ketamine helped me find balance within the parts of my Self to better work in conjunction with each other, allowing me to progress on my own quest to be more wholly integrated, and more deeply understanding of my personal and professional paths and how they intertwine.
For thousands of years, humans have sought to deepen their understanding of themselves, bringing truths to light from the furthest reaches of our brains. With this curious search for depth, we have have also found the reaches of apathy and the allure of escapism. Psychedelic practices around the world share a perspective of an intentional relationship with the psychedelic experience and method of reaching that experience. When viewed as a psychedelic medicine, ketamine can be approached with a similar respect and set of expectations as with any other psychedelic or plant medicine practice and the resulting effects to mental health and general well-being.
I highly recommend this program to my peers and colleagues in the therapeutic psychedelic world. To experience the medicine and the depths of what it can do is integral to being a guide for others on their therapeutic journey. With this full experiential, therapists, physicians, coaches, clinicians, and facilitators leave better prepared to better support therapeutic ketamine with access to appropriate mental health support. This experience was paramount for my professional practice and considering the understandings gained, I believe this is necessary for any healing professional working within the therapeutic psychedelic space, psychedelic-assisted therapy, and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy ecosystem.
I'll be sharing more of my experiences at https://psychedelicmentalhealth.net Do feel free to contact me if you'd like to find out more.
Related:
Michael DeMarco, PhD
Michael DeMarco, PhD
