What’s the Difference Between KAP and Ketamine Infusion Therapy with Integration?
Important Notes & Disclaimers
As of 9/1/2025, I am no longer affiliated with Wellness for Life. I do not have any reccomendations for ketamine infusion therapy as most clinics in the area do not provide integration. While I am no longer affiated with Wellness for Life, I still ofer psychedelic integration and psychedelic support.
If you’ve been looking into ketamine treatments, you’ve probably come across words like Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP), ketamine infusion therapy, and psychedelic integration. It can feel confusing — they sound similar, but they’re actually quite different.
Part of that confusion comes from the long history of psychedelics themselves. These medicines have been used for thousands of years by medicine men and women in indigenous traditions, held within ceremonial and spiritual frameworks. Now, as the psychedelic world enters the realm of Western mental health, it’s easy for the lines to blur and for the distinctions between approaches to get lost. That’s why it’s so important to be clear about what each model offers — and what it does not.
That difference really matters. Each approach offers something unique, and knowing what to expect can help you make choices that fit your needs.
In this post, I’ll share what each of these terms means in plain language and, most importantly, explain the difference between therapy and integration. My hope is to give you clarity, so you know exactly what kind of support you’re considering.
What is Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)?
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy, often called KAP, is when ketamine is used alongside a traditional therapy session. A licensed therapist is present with you during the experience, guiding and supporting you in real time while you’re in the ketamine state.
In most cases, KAP is done with troches (small dissolvable tablets that melt in your mouth) or with a nasal spray. Both methods are designed to create a lighter, more manageable ketamine experience. You may feel relaxed, open, and a bit altered, but you are usually still aware of your surroundings and able to speak and engage with your therapist.
The idea is that this altered state can sometimes open doors to emotions, memories, or insights that may be harder to access in ordinary talk therapy. With KAP, the therapist helps you process those things right as they come up, weaving them into the therapy work as it happens.
This approach can be especially meaningful for people who want therapy to be the central focus of their ketamine sessions. And this is exactly why it’s so different from infusion therapy, where the medicine takes you so deep into a non-ordinary state that speaking and processing in real time simply aren’t possible.
What is Ketamine Infusion Therapy?
Ketamine infusion therapy is very different from KAP. Instead of combining the medicine with talk therapy during the session, ketamine is delivered through an IV in a medical setting, where your vital signs and overall safety are carefully monitored by trained professionals.
This isn’t the same as microdosing with a nasal spray or a troche (a dissolvable tablet). Infusions bring you into a much deeper, more immersive state of consciousness — often described as a non-ordinary reality. In this state, the usual rules of the everyday world no longer apply. In ordinary reality, if you drop a pencil, it falls to the floor and it’s still a pencil.
In an infusion, that same pencil might seem to melt into a puddle of color, dissolve into light, or transform into something entirely unexpected.
Because of the depth of this state, speaking and processing with another person simply aren’t possible during the infusion itself. The medicine dose used in infusions takes you beyond ordinary awareness — there is no back-and-forth dialogue happening. Unlike KAP, where a therapist can guide you through the experience in real time, an infusion is inward. The only “therapeutic process” occurring is what naturally unfolds in your own mind and body.
These experiences can feel incredibly meaningful — a sense of profound spiritual connection, clarity, or deep insight. But they can also be overwhelming, even disorienting, when you return to ordinary reality. This is why integration is such an important part of the process: not as therapy, but as a supportive way to reflect on what came up and consider how it might be carried into everyday life.
What is Integration? (and what it is NOT)
After an infusion, many people come out of the experience with powerful feelings, images, or insights that don’t always fit neatly into everyday life. Sometimes there’s a sense of deep spiritual connection. Other times, there may be an “ego death” — where your sense of self temporarily dissolves. These experiences can feel profoundly healing, but they can also be disorienting and difficult to return from. This is where integration becomes so important.
Integration is not therapy. No amount of psychotherapy will “cognitively” help the brain make sense of a non-ordinary state of reality, because what happens in an infusion isn’t just mental — it’s experiential, symbolic, and often deeply spiritual.
Instead, integration is about asking: How can I take what happened in that altered state and root it into my everyday life? How can this experience be more than just a fleeting bouquet of flowers, and instead become something that grows into lasting change?
An integration session might involve reflective conversation, journaling prompts, grounding exercises, creative practices, or simply having someone skilled in non-ordinary states of reality hold space while you share your experience. The goal isn’t to “fix” anything. It’s to bridge the gap between the infusion space and ordinary daily reality.
For example, someone might come out of an infusion with a profound sense of being connected to the entire universe and all living things. In the moment, it feels powerful and undeniable. But back in ordinary reality, they may wonder: What do I do with this? How do I live differently now? An integration session could help explore practical ways of honoring that connection — maybe by creating daily rituals, cultivating presence in relationships, or finding small ways to live more intentionally.
Integration is about grounding : taking the profound, often ineffable moments from an infusion and planting them in soil where they can grow into meaningful change.
Therapists vs. Integration Specialists
One of the clearest ways to understand the difference between KAP and infusion therapy with integration is by looking at the roles of the people who support you.
In KAP, a licensed therapist, uses that state to work through emotions, memories, or trauma in real time. The focus is on therapy as it happens, inside the altered state.
In infusion therapy with integration, the dose of ketamine is higher and takes you into a non-ordinary state where speaking and processing simply aren’t possible. There is no therapy happening during or after the infusion itself — only what unfolds in your own mind and body. Afterward, an integration specialist supports you in making sense of what you experienced. Their role is not to diagnose or treat mental health conditions, but to help you reflect, root, and carry meaning into your daily life.
Because infusions often bring on experiences like profound spiritual connection, symbolic imagery, or even ego death, integration requires someone who understands non-ordinary states of reality. A traditional psychotherapy model — analyzing or problem-solving through words — simply doesn’t apply here.
It’s important to recognize that KAP, infusion therapy, and integration are not interchangeable — KAP is psychotherapy during a ketamine session, while infusion therapy is a deep, non-ordinary journey that cannot involve talk therapy, followed by integration afterward to help make meaning of the experience.
Think of it this way: in KAP, a therapist works inside the ketamine state with you. In infusion therapy, an integration specialist steps in afterward to help you reflect on what emerged, make meaning from it, and consider how to translate that insight into real change in your life.
This is where my background comes in. As a shamanic practitioner, I have been holding space in medicine ceremonies for almost a decade, drawing on training and guidance from tribes and indigenous teachers, as well as my own lived experiences in working with psychedelics. I have personally navigated many non-ordinary states of reality, and I bring that depth of experience to the integration process. My role is not to provide therapy, but to create safe, grounded, and spiritually informed support for making sense of these profound states.
Think of it this way: in KAP, a therapist works inside the ketamine state with you. In infusion therapy, an integration specialist — in my case, someone with years of experience in shamanic practice and non-ordinary states — steps in afterward to help you reflect on what emerged, make meaning from it, and consider how to translate that insight into real change in your life.
Why Both Approaches Matter
In my work, I’ve seen how different people are drawn to different paths of healing, and ketamine can meet them in more than one way. This is why both KAP and infusion therapy with integration matter — they aren’t competing approaches, they’re simply different doors into the same house.
For some, Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) is the right fit. The medicine is given in a lighter dose, usually through a troche or nasal spray, so the person can still speak, process, and engage with a therapist in real time. This can be powerful for those who want therapy to remain central — weaving insights, emotions, and memories into traditional talk therapy while the medicine is gently working in the background.
But not everyone comes to ketamine wanting to process trauma through the medicine itself. In fact, for some, trying to work through trauma during a psychedelic state can actually be overwhelming or even re-traumatizing, because the imagery that surfaces can be so intense and difficult for the brain to process.
Many people are simply seeking the benefits that ketamine infusion therapy has been shown in research to provide: increased neuroplasticity, a calmer sense of self, relief from symptoms of depression or anxiety, and a renewed sense of clarity.
This is where infusions truly shine. Due to the research, we know that infusion therapy has the highest reliability, safety, consistency, and overall success. Infusions take someone into a non-ordinary state of reality where talking isn’t possible, but the brain itself is receiving the medicine in the most effective way. Integration afterward then offers a supportive space — not therapy, but guidance — to reflect on the experience and explore how to carry the benefits forward.
Both models highlight the range of how ketamine can be used — from therapy-driven sessions to deep infusions that provide neurological and emotional reset. What matters most is clarity: knowing which path you’re on, what kind of support is being offered, and which approach best aligns with your own needs and intentions.
Why Clarity Matters
Understanding the difference between KAP and ketamine infusion therapy with integration is essential, because the expectations — and the experiences — are so different. In KAP, you’re able to talk, process, and receive therapeutic input in real time, since the medicine is delivered in a way that keeps you present enough to engage. In infusion therapy, however, the medicine takes you into a much deeper, non-ordinary state of reality where talking and processing simply aren’t possible.
This is why integration is so important. It creates a bridge between the depth of the infusion experience and everyday life. But it’s equally important to be clear: integration is not therapy. It does not replace licensed mental health treatment. Instead, it offers a supportive, reflective space to help you understand your non-ordinary experiences and consider how to carry insights into your daily world.
When people understand these distinctions, they’re better able to choose the approach that fits their needs. Some may want the real-time therapeutic engagement of KAP. Others may be drawn to the profound depth of infusions, supported by integration afterward. Both models can be meaningful, but they are not the same — and knowing the difference helps you step into the process with clear eyes and open expectations.
Conclusion
Ketamine can be a powerful tool for healing, but it’s important to understand the real differences between approaches. Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) involves therapy during the medicine session, with a licensed therapist guiding and engaging in real time. Ketamine infusion therapy, on the other hand, is a medical procedure that takes you into a deep, non-ordinary state of reality where talking and processing aren’t possible. Afterward, integration provides support in making sense of the experience — not as therapy, but as a way to root insights into everyday life.
At Wellness for Life, ketamine infusion therapy with integration. We do not offer KAP. My role is to support clients in integration — helping them reflect on, ground, and make meaning from their infusion experiences, so they can carry those insights into real and lasting change.
In a world filled with misconceptions, in an ever-expanding Western model where we are taking all forms of healing and trying to fit them into a Westernized box, I hope this blog post provides clarity to anyone wondering about the differences — and helps you consider the best route for yourself.
Important Notes & Disclaimers
As of 9/1, I am no longer affiliated with Wellness for Life.
Disclaimer:: This post is for educational and informational purposes only. I am not a licensed mental health provider. The services I offer are not intended to diagnose, treat, or replace therapy, counseling, or medical care. Please seek licensed professional support for mental health concerns. When I use the term somatic in describing my work, it refers specifically to embodiment practices drawn from yoga, shamanic energy work, and self inquiry. I am not a licensed somatic therapist, nor do I offer somatic therapy as a clinical modality. My work is supportive and non-clinical, intended to help clients reconnect with their bodies and energy systems, and should not be confused with licensed therapeutic care.
All ketamine infusion are administered and monitored by licensed medical professionals. The infusion process itself is strictly a medical procedure to ensure safety and appropriate dosing.
As of 9/1, I am no longer affiliated with Wellness for Life.
What I Offered: My role is in integration support — helping people reflect on and make meaning from their non-ordinary infusion experiences. Integration is not therapy. I do not diagnose, treat, or provide psychotherapy. Instead, I offer space for reflection, spiritual support, grounding practices, and guidance for weaving insights into everyday life.
What I Don’t Offer: I do not conduct therapy during ketamine sessions (that is Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy, or KAP). I also do not provide mental health diagnoses, psychotherapy, or crisis intervention. I do not prescribe, diagnose, or administer ketamine. If you are seeking psychotherapy or psychiatric care, I encourage you to seek support from a licensed mental health provider. Read my disclosure and scope of practice here.
Safety First: Ketamine is not appropriate for everyone, and it should only be administered in a safe medical setting. If you are considering ketamine treatment, please consult with a qualified medical professional to determine if it is right for you.
