Reclaiming the Divine: A Queer Guide to Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy

Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) as an Option for Queer Healing

Psychedelic-assisted therapies (PAT), such as ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP), can be a powerful tool for affirmation of queer and trans identities.

Queer and trans people are sacred after all, and anything that supports you in internalizing and integrating this truth about yourself is worth further investigation. For some queer and trans people, working with ketamine can result in a reconnection to the fullness of life, such as a renewed relationship with pleasure and joy, as well as increased space for queer expression and affirmation. Preliminary studies have also shown that following ketamine treatments, individuals experience reduced feelings of depression, anxiety, and symptoms of PTSD.  

Ketamine as a medicine 

Ketamine is not a classic psychedelic and is classified as a dissociative. Working with ketamine offers a psychedelic experience with a dissociative quality. Ketamine can create different experiences depending variables present (e.g., modality, individual sensitivity to ketamine, therapeutic, clinical vs recreational use). These experiences may have a challenging (e.g., recalling of traumatic memories) or transformative (e.g., mystical experiences and insights) quality.

Some individuals do not experience much impact at all. They do not experience a psychedelic effect or a state of non-ordinary consciousness. Ketamine is not for everyone. A medical screening will always be part of the ketamine treatment process. See the Rooted Acorn Counseling KAP pagefor more information about whether KAP is an appropriate and safe option for you.

Understanding the possible benefits of Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)

Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) offers several potential benefits, such as reconnecting you with inner resources and your higher self, as well as connecting you to feelings of confidence and pride.

Confidence and joy can be powerful for individuals holding stigmatized identities such as LGBTQ+ identities. KAP can be a helpful tool in healing from past trauma, anxiety, depression, internalized homophobia or transphobia, burnout, or any particular area of your life where you need a new perspective. New perspectives and understandings of previous patterns of thought underlying feelings of stuckness, depression, or anxiety can follow medicine sessions with ketamine, too. Working with ketamine creates opportunities for you to reexamine well-worn thinking patterns, and with distance from rigid thinking patterns, there is space to gain new points of clarity.

Taking the leap to try Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)

5 things to consider before trying Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)

1. Set reasonable expectations when working with ketamine

As with any therapy, KAP requires active, regular change efforts in your life. This is why integration is a crucial component of this work. KAP having a lasting impact on your life will involve finding ways to integrate insights from your ketamine sessions into your day-to-day. 

Also, it is important to consider that KAP is not a miracle treatment. Working with ketamine is a modality that can be a powerful medicine for some folks. At the same time, for some individuals, not much impact is experienced. This is disappointing, of course. An important part of working with any psychedelic, ketamine included, is to talk about how and what it will be like for you to hold space for this possibility during your preparation meetings. 

2. What the research shows

So what does the research say? Currently, very few studies exist addressing KAP and LGBTQ+/queer individuals. Sevelius (2025) presented preliminary findings involving group-based ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) that offer preliminary support for the use of ketamine assisted therapy with trans communities. Specifically, Sevelius (2025) noted findings from a group ketamine therapy model where group participants reported increased feelings of belongingness, increased self-affirmation and self-compassion of important parts of identity, reduced shame and internal transphobia, as well as improvements in mental health outcomes (reductions in anxiety and depression, more flexible and expansive thinking patterns). KAP shows promise in helping queer and trans individuals to reclaim their power and confidence, increase embodiment of joy, increase openness to new ways of being with self, others and the world, and acceptance and celebration of all parts of self and identity (Stott et al., 2025). 

3. Educate yourself

There is a painful history for the LGBTQ+ community and psychedelic therapies. In the past, Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies (PAT) have been used in ways harmful to queer and trans communities. Specifically, these therapies have been used in the past to uphold toxic systemic cisnormativity. For example, PAT has been used in conversion therapy. Outside of the field of PAT, there is a long history of behavioral therapies being used in conversion therapy under the belief that certain expressions of sexual orientation and gender identity were mental illnesses. So of course, it makes sense to approach PAT, and any therapy for that matter, with caution or not even consider it as an option for growth and healing. If that’s where you are in this moment, I want to welcome that caution in you, as well as invite whatever level of curiosity you can hold in this moment. Honor what feels right. 

Harm in the past, whether it is harm we have experienced directly or harm that our queer and trans ancestors have experienced, can create risk. There is some risk in being open, especially when there is uncertainty around levels of safety. Participating in PAT does require some toleration of risk and vulnerability. Being in an altered state of consciousness with a therapist is vulnerable. The invitation here is to take time to find a therapist who is a good fit for you. 

4. Find a therapist that is a good fit

Our community deserves to have access to PAT, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy included, as another tool for healing. I want to encourage you to consider what can create a safe enough container, if you choose to participate in PAT. Name for yourself if there is any hesitancy with a therapist or any kind of therapy, especially PAT, and be curious about what you want and/or what can create more safety.

Van Derveer and Kurlander (2026) note the importance of finding a therapist that is a good fit in their book Psychedelic Therapy: A Revolutionary Approach to Restoring Your Mental Health and Reclaiming Your Life:

“Clients who have experienced systemic oppression or racial trauma may feel safer and more understood by a therapist who shares a similar background or has a deep understanding of these specific challenges. This shared perspective—or at the very least, an awareness of systemic issues— can foster trust and minimize the risk of retraumatization, creating space for deeper healing. (p. 115)”

The KAP process at Rooted Acorn Counseling

Hi, I’m Sharon, our KAP therapist, queer human, and stardust gazer extraordinaire.

In my work with clients, I treat this work with deep respect and care. This looks like me being a whole human with you, and collaborating and working specifically with you to determine what creates safety. This is a priority. I also understand the power of a genuinely welcoming environment, and you can expect to be welcomed as a whole human. Together, throughout prep, medicine, and integration session our work with be a process of ongoing collaboration and helping you feel empowered in what you want and need. In my work with clients, we work together to figure out what understanding, learning, and changes individuals want to jump-start in their lives. We explore this in preparation, integration and throughout our work together.

As mentioned earlier, therapy work with ketamine can help you to break rigid thinking patterns, mindsets, and beliefs to gain new points of clarity. With this clarity, together, we will talk about what you want to do with this newfound clarity. Do you want to lean into more social risks? Begin building more community? Start practicing being more open with your loves and friends? Repair and deepen your relationship with spirituality and purpose?

References:

• Stauffer, C., Sevelius, J., & Back, A. (2025, June 16th-20th). Beyond the Individual: Group Dynamics in Psychedelic- Assisted Therapy [Conference session]. Psychedelic Science, Denver, Colorado, United States.

• Stott, B., Golden, R., Mukerjee, R., Saniyah, S., Sevelius, J. & De Castro, W (2025, June 16th-20th). Reclaiming Our Joy: The Liberatory Power of Psychedelics in Queer and Trans Communities [Conference session]. Psychedelic Science, Denver, Colorado, United States.

• Van Derveer, W., & Kurlander, K. (2026). Psychedelic therapy: A revolutionary approach to restoring your mental health and reclaiming your soul. Shambhala Publications.