Paradigms of Ketamine Treatment: Biochemical, Psychological, and Psychedelic  Raquel Bennett (KRIYA Institute, Berkeley, CALIFORNIA )   C5

Dr. Bennett will present on what is happening at the cutting edge in the field of therapeutic ketamine treatment. Ketamine is a medicine that was developed as a human surgical anesthetic, but which also has rapid-acting antidepressant effects and visionary properties. Dr. Bennett will describe different ways of working with ketamine, including low-dose infusions and nasal spray, ketamine-facilitated psychotherapy, and psychedelic ketamine journeys. She will highlight the advantages and limitations of each approach. She will talk about which patients are appropriate for ketamine treatment, and which patients would not be a good fit, according to the most current medical literature. Then she will talk about the legal considerations for clinicians who would like to add ketamine services to their practices. She will discuss some of the most recent developments and current controversies in the field, including the use of ketamine lozenges, and the advent of esketamine nasal spray. Raquel Bennett, Psy.D. is a psychologist and a ketamine specialist from Berkeley, CA. She is fascinated by the antidepressant properties of ketamine, and has been studying this for over eighteen years. She also has a long-standing interest in the psychedelic and mystical properties of ketamine, and the potential for this medicine to be used for spiritual exploration. In her clinical practice, Dr. Bennett primarily works with people who are living with severe depression, bipolar disorder, and/or suicidal ideation. As a consultant, Dr. Bennett lectures internationally on therapeutic ketamine and has trained thousands of clinicians on how to use this unique medicine. Dr. Bennett is the founder of KRIYA Institute and the organizer of KRIYA Conference, which is an annual and international event devoted to the use of ketamine in psychiatry and psychotherapy. She is currently writing a book about therapeutic ketamine, which will be out in early 2021. You can learn more about her work at www.kriyainstitute.com.