Harvard researchers test coaches in ketamine therapy
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- Food and Drug Administration approved ketamine as a remedy for acute depression in 2019.
- Ketamine clinics have proliferated, creating a loosely regulated “wild west” of infusion sites that expanded treatment access for many Americans without much regulation.
- Providers are divided on whether ketamine should be used strictly as a pharmacological intervention or combined with psychotherapy or monitoring.
- Studies have shown that giving ketamine without psychological support can reduce depressive symptoms and suicidality within hours.
- Harvard researchers will test the importance of psychological supports, such as psychedelic coaches, during ketamine therapy.
Why it matters: The study will directly test whether adding psychedelic coaches improves ketamine outcomes, a question that sits at the heart of the provider split and will inform clinic protocols and patient care standards, addressing the current wild‑west environment of largely unregulated infusion clinics that expanded after the 2019 FDA approval.
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