How Ketamine-Assisted EMDR Can Enhance and Deepen Trauma Healing

Article written by Denver KAP and EMDR therapist, Lauren Battista

Over the past several years, both Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) have gained recognition as powerful tools for trauma healing. When combined, these two approaches can help people access and release emotional material that may have felt “stuck” for years.

In this post, we’ll explore how each therapy works, why they complement one another so effectively, and what clients often experience when combining EMDR with ketamine-assisted therapy.

Understanding EMDR and Ketamine Therapies Separately

EMDR helps the brain reprocess distressing memories that are still charged with emotion and negative self-beliefs. Through gentle bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements, tones, or tactile buzzers), the brain can link these experiences with new, adaptive information. This process can lead to healing, insight, and resolution..

Ketamine, a legal psychedelic medicine, works differently but beautifully supports this process. It quiets areas of the brain that are overactive and overly-sensitive after exposure to trauma—like the amygdala (our internal “alarm system”)—and increases neuroplasticity.

This process helps the brain form new pathways and more flexible patterns of thinking. This makes it easier to approach difficult experiences with greater openness and compassion.

Two Ways Ketamine and EMDR Work Together

There isn’t just one way to blend these modalities. Ketamine-Assisted EMDR (KA-EMDR) is typically practiced in two main formats:

1. Low-Dose Ketamine During EMDR

In this approach, clients take a low (psycholytic) dose of ketamine—prescribed and managed by a medical provider—while actively engaging in EMDR reprocessing.  The gentle dose allows clients to remain present, verbal, and reflective while still benefiting from ketamine’s calming and expansive effects. This state can make it easier to explore painful material, release emotional blocks, and gain new insight during the session itself.

2. EMDR as Integration After a Higher-Dose Ketamine Session

In other cases, clients engage in a higher-dose (psychedelic) ketamine session focused on deep inner exploration and then return for EMDR within the next few days as part of the integration process.

Because ketamine enhances neuroplasticity and disrupts rigid thought patterns, EMDR conducted afterward can feel especially accessible and effective. Clients often notice they can connect to emotions, imagery, or insights from their ketamine journey with more clarity and ease.

Both paths ultimately aim to support healing by helping the brain and body process past experiences in a way that feels safe, effective, and less resistant to difficult emotions.

Why Combine EMDR and Ketamine?

When used together in an intentional, structured way, KA-EMDR offers several unique benefits:

• Greater emotional safety: Ketamine soothes the nervous system, allowing people to revisit painful experiences without being overwhelmed.

• Enhanced self-compassion and connection: Clients often report a sense of peace, openness, or curiosity during or after ketamine sessions. This emotional softening makes it easier to connect with and care for parts of themselves that once felt unreachable.

• Increased brain flexibility: Ketamine boosts brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which supports new neural connections and helps interrupt rigid or unhelpful patterns.

• Helping the brain update old memories: Traumatic memories can feel frozen in time, as if the danger is still happening. Ketamine helps loosen that grip, creating space for EMDR to help the brain restore the memory in a calmer, more balanced way.

What Clients Often Report with Ketamine-Assisted EMDR

Clients frequently describe KA-EMDR as feeling softer and more fluid than standard EMDR. As though their defenses relax just enough for healing to unfold naturally.

Many share that they were able to:

• Feel safe enough to explore what once felt unbearable 

• Experience less self-judgment and more compassion 

• Connect with emotions without being “flooded” 

• Revisit and reprocess memories with more distance and perspective 

These experiences align with what’s happening in the brain—greater calm in the limbic system, improved communication between emotional and rational centers, and a deeper sense of internal integration.

Integration: Where Continued Work Happens

The healing benefits continue after the medicine session itself. Integration sessions look a little different depending on the type of ketamine experience.

For those doing low-dose KA-EMDR, most of the reprocessing happens in real time during the session itself, so additional follow-up integration sessions aren’t always necessary. Some, however, prefer to alternate—doing one KA-EMDR session followed by a talk therapy or integration session—to reflect, integrate, and stabilize between deeper reprocessing sessions.

For those doing higher-dose KA-EMDR, the EMDR often serves as a central part of the follow-up integration session. These sessions typically occur within one to three days after the ketamine experience, when the brain is still especially open and receptive.

This timing allows clients to deepen understanding, process lingering emotions, and bring meaning and closure to the experience.

Who Might Benefit from Ketamine-Assisted EMDR

KA-EMDR can be a powerful option for some, but it isn’t for everyone. Before beginning, clients must meet with a licensed medical provider or prescriber with knowledge of or training in ketamine-assisted therapy. This provider conducts a medical and psychological evaluation to ensure safety and appropriateness and oversees all dosing and administration.

Once medically cleared, the client and their therapist collaborate on how EMDR might best support their healing journey.

This approach is often most beneficial for individuals who:

• Have already developed emotional awareness and tolerance for a range of feelings in therapy

• Struggle with patterns of rigidity, avoidance, or a lack of improvement despite traditional approaches

• Experience PTSD, depressive symptoms, or complex trauma that haven’t fully responded to other treatments

• Are open to exploring altered states of consciousness as a pathway to healing

Moving Forward With Hope and Clarity

Both EMDR and ketamine therapy are grounded in the same belief: that every person holds an innate capacity to heal. When combined, these approaches work together to help the brain, body, and spirit reconnect in deeper ways.

KA-EMDR can provide access to healing experiences that feel profound, peaceful, and deeply meaningful. It offers not only relief from suffering but also a renewed sense of hope and possibility.

If you’re curious about how KA-EMDR might support your healing process, our team at Denver Metro Counseling offers both EMDR therapy and ketamine-assisted therapy services. We collaborate closely with trusted prescribers to ensure the process is safe, well-supported, and tailored to your unique needs.

To learn more schedule a free consultation by reaching out.  We’d be happy to answer your questions and help you explore whether this approach feels right for you.

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Denver Therapist, Lauren Battista

Lauren Battista is a certified Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapist and trained EMDR therapist at Denver Metro Counseling.

Lauren is also Brainspotting Level 2 trained and utilizes these and other trauma-informed therapies to support her clients. Lauren brings compassion, curiosity, excitement for learning, and a sense of support to all her work with clients, and our team.

In addition to supporting clients of DMC with KAP, Lauren also works with therapists outside of DMC to provide Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy to their clients as a collaborative approach to treating depression, anxiety, and trauma.