The number of options for ketamine-assisted therapy is growing quickly, and you may be wondering how to choose the one that is right for you. Nushama happens to be quite different from most clinics—in fact, we don’t even call ourselves a “clinic,” and here are the reasons why.
1. Preparation and Integration
At Nushama, we invest in preparation and integration because getting the most out of your psychedelic journey will require both. Ketamine therapy is unlike any other treatment you are likely to have encountered, so preparing your mind and body for the experience is critical. Before you can begin the infusion, we will conduct a medical consult to make sure your physical and psychiatric history is a fit for the treatment. We’ll give you information on how to cultivate a positive mindset, including avoiding the news or alcohol, in the weeks leading up to your journey. We will also encourage you to set an intention before each infusion, a goal or purpose for your journey that will help direct the experience and gather insights. We then advise people “let go” of this intention and other thoughts and be open to what emerges by being present with the medicine. After the infusion, the important process of integrating your experiences starts. Whereas some ketamine infusion places consider their job done at this point, at Nushama, we don’t believe integration should be an afterthought. Integration is the key to making lasting change, and our staff will work with you to take what you’ve learned on your journey and incorporate it into your everyday life.
2. High-dose, IV-Ketamine Journeys for Individuals
There are a number of ways that ketamine can be administered, but intravenous (IV) infusions are the safest, and most efficacious and researched. Other companies may administer ketamine with intranasal sprays in-office or even provide lozenges for at-home use. However, IV infusions give the medical professionals supervising your journey a certain level of control. This IV method involves inserting a catheter into your vein and delivering the full, sub-anesthetic dose directly into your bloodstream, ensuring you receive the maximum benefits of ketamine treatment in the safest way possible. Additionally, if you are at all uncomfortable, an IV-administered ketamine journey can be stopped within minutes. The other options make the amount of ketamine that reaches your brain difficult to gauge, and possible side effects like nausea and increased blood pressure harder to mitigate. Administering treatment in a psychedelic-inspired setting also provides you with a serene environment that can positively influence your mindset. While at-home kits for ketamine-assisted therapy may seem appealing, there is a risk of addiction and misuse.
3. Community Programming
Nushama recognizes the value that community can have for the healing process. Community structures have driven the growth of successful organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous. A sense of community has been shown to improve psychological wellbeing and connectedness, and it can be validating to share this incredible journey with people who are participating in a shared experience. At Nushama, we have community “members,” not “patients,” because we do not believe that people seeking ketamine therapy are sick. We host year-round events for our members, including everything from cacao ceremonies to sound healing.
We are also proud to offer group psychedelic therapy as an option, and at a more affordable price than individual therapy. Groups at Nushama are conducted with a cohort of 6-8 members participating in the entire treatment protocol together, including preparation, the journey itself, and integration.
4. Set and Setting Innovation
Set and setting are vital when it comes to psychedelic therapy. That’s why Nushama goes to great lengths to create an immersive, journey-like experience for our members the moment they step off the elevator. When you enter Nushama, you will be greeted by the sounds of nature, cherry blossoms and silk florals draping the space’s archways, and murals by artist Jessica Lichtenstein, created specifically to evoke feelings of rebirth. Treatment rooms contain ambient lighting, therapeutic dreamscapes by artist Navina Khatib, and Zero-gravity chairs designed for complete relaxation. Eye masks and noise-canceling headphones are provided, along with curated playlists with music to enhance the psychedelic experience. We have a couple’s room that faces a terrace and a group therapy room with multi-colored Moon Pods that seats up to eight people. Attention has gone into every detail of the space, ensuring that when you begin your journey, your mind and body are in the best possible place for healing.
5. Medical Supervision
Ketamine-assisted psychedelic therapy may be a far cry from the kinds of treatments you are used to, it is still medicine, it is backed by medical research, and needs to be administered by medical professionals. Nushama is a medical practice staffed by doctors, and nurses. Ketamine is powerful, but safe under close medical supervision. While receiving a ketamine infusion at Nushama, you will have someone monitoring you every 10 minutes. Trained integration coaches or licensed therapists will also be there to guide you at the beginning and end of your infusion, helping you to make sense of what can be a profound, mystical experience, and will follow up with you after treatment to determine whether you need a “booster” session or additional integration or psychotherapy.
6. Hero’s Journey and Monthly Scholarships Provide Access
Paying for psychedelic therapy is an investment in yourself, but at Nushama, we recognize that the price of treatment can be a significant barrier to healing for many people. We are proud to offer monthly scholarships for people experiencing financial hardship. These scholarships cover the full cost of group or individual ketamine-assisted therapy, including the price of intake, preparation, infusion, and integration. We have also expanded access with our “Hero’s Journey” program. Given all that frontline workers and first responders did for us during the pandemic, we believe that making it easier for these heroes to process their experiences though psychedelic therapy is the right thing to do. With the “Hero’s Journey” program, we have reduced the price of all our services by more than one-third for members who are active-duty military personnel, veterans, police officers, fire department members, EMT workers, nurses, and teachers.
7. Informed and Influenced by Tradition and History
The name “Nushama” comes from the Hebrew word for soul, “neshama.” Though we believe our state-of-the-art treatments are the future of mental health, we also pay homage to the shamanic practices that came before us. Psychedelic healing has happened in Indigenous tribes for millenia, and any facility that failed to honor the history of Indigenous plant medicine would be doing their patients a grave disservice. Indigenous Americans have used psychedelics for 7,000 years, and the way these ancient cultures used psychedelics as a community, in particular, inspired Nushama’s group therapy protocol. Nushama also honors psychedelic luminaries of the past century like Amanda Fielding, Stanislav Grof and Aldous Huxley, naming the rooms in our treatment center for them, and filling our library with their pioneering works.
8. The Intersection of Science + Spirituality
At Nushama, we pay attention to both the scientific and spiritual aspects of psychedelic therapy. Research into ketamine-assisted therapy has progressed rapidly in recent years, and our medically backed, evidence-based treatment protocols are informed by all the latest trials, studies and data. Scientific advances have pointed to ketamine’s usefulness in treating depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, and more. Research also reinforces up the importance of the mystical experience in successful treatment. At Nushama, individuals receive six infusions over the course of three weeks, and at doses high enough to produce peak psychedelic experiences. These effects can make you feel temporarily disconnected from your body and separated from your usual modes of thinking, allowing you to experience an altered state of consciousness in which healing is possible. At Nushama, we also understand the importance of integration for turning these mystical experiences into lasting change—something that the latest research also supports.
Our Holistic Approach
Nushama has a holistic approach at the intersection of science and spirituality. Combining state-of-the-art treatment protocols with compassion and a belief in the power of the mystical experience, we provide our members with a serene, safe environment to reset and reconnect. Guided by a team with deep and recognized expertise in mental health, design, and community building, Nushama applies hospitality to medicine and provides a holistic path of mindful intention setting, ketamine journeys, and thoughtful integration in safe, healing-focused settings.
