Five questions for a Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) Practitioner
Julane Andries is a psychotherapist and former acute care medical professional, pioneering the use of Ketamine- and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. She treats depression, anxiety, PTSD, and supports couples and individuals in transformation.
She co-founded the Ketamine Research Foundation and Ketamine Training Center, leading national trainings and developing protocols for adolescents, those facing life-threatening illness, postpartum depression, and PMS.
Julane served as an investigator in the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies or MAPS Phase 3 study of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD and was principal co-therapist in the MAPS Phase 2 trial for anxiety related to life-threatening illness. She continues to support and train new therapists working with psychedelic-assisted therapy.
If you could distill your entire practice into one guiding principle, what would it be?
Helping people heal primarily through a relationship that offers safety and curiosity—a space to be seen and to see, and to explore both the true self and possible selves—with the support of psychedelics, including ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. This approach reveals the rapid transformation that can occur through these powerful healing medicines.
What is a moment with a client that continues to challenge or inspire you?
There are moments of discovery where I see a person, and suddenly—whether it’s through a slow process or an instantaneous realization—I feel that I (or we) "get it." There is nothing like witnessing a client and the universe aligning. At times the world or the cosmos opens up and gives them the gift, the opportunity to feel very easy with themselves—touching God or being part of a universe that now, in this moment, makes absolute sense.
What do you believe people most fear about their own expansion, and how does that shape their choices?
Ahh, Fear! The great unknown, the great mountain to climb and call one’s own. I do believe it is human nature to want to evolve, to heal, to expand, to become more. Sometimes the hardest thing for someone to look at or confront is their own wounds, their own shadow, to see and understand themselves—all that is good and all that is dark or shameful. We unconsciously, and sometimes consciously, create defenses to protect us from just that. Fear comes from the unknown, the fear of pain or sadness, fear of shame and judgment. It is, at times, easier for some people to not know than it is to look and then really know. And of course, that’s where control and anxiety stem from. And that’s where coming to work with me and others like me can be so transformative.
Psychedelic-assisted therapy has a way of letting the layers and veils of shame drop away, and the carefully constructed defenses also start to drop away, at least for a time.
The medicine facilitates both the client and the therapist in an exploration of fear, to understand the history of it, and how it manifests. The inner world becomes part of the exploration. It happens a bit at a time, a step at a time, a session at a time. Most people grow and have less fear, more depth, and more wisdom from this process.
What is the most misunderstood aspect of your work?
Some of the most common misunderstandings that I hear are, firstly, a fear that the medicine could be addictive, or that it might make them go crazy. Another misunderstanding is that things should happen in just a few sessions. And while it can be true that people do start noticing a change right away, I try to teach and explain that the change is not linear and it takes time. Meaningful change happens with integrating the medicine—integrating the therapy into one’s life. So it’s important to give it time.
After all your years of practice, what still feels like an unanswered question or a mystery in your field?
One thing that keeps me in this work and that I love about it is that so much of it is still a mystery. We only understand how 5 percent of the brain works. And ketamine, along with some of the other psychedelic medicines, gives us a portal view into the mind and brain, but also into the mystical and the spiritual. So when I’m present with someone who has had what I would define as a “mystical experience,” I’m humbled and gratified by bearing witness to it.
To learn more about Julane Andries’ work and research, please explore the links to publications below.
I love you.
Juliette
Ketamine Group Treatment for PTSD with Catherine Oxenberg Foundation and Healix Immersions (video)
MAPS MDMA Study for Life-Threatening Illness
Ketamine Seen As Possible Breakthrough Drug For Treating Range Of Mental Health Issues
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy in Adolescents with Multiple Psychiatric Diagnoses
Ketamine Stirs up Hope-and Controversy-as a Depression Drug
Ketamine Trials: Pioneering the Future of Mental Health Treatment