What to Expect From Your First Ketamine Therapy Session

Starting something new can stir a mix of emotions—especially when that something is a deeply personal and potentially transformative experience like ketamine therapy.

If you're reading this, you may be feeling a blend of hope, curiosity, and uncertainty, especially if this is your first consultation for addressing depression. That's perfectly okay. This guide is here to gently walk you through what to expect from your first ketamine treatment session—so you can arrive informed, supported, and empowered.

Understanding Ketamine Therapy

Ketamine therapy is a newer option for individuals navigating treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, PTSD, mood disorders, mental health challenges, and chronic pain. It’s currently being used under medical supervision in therapeutic settings, where its unique properties and therapeutic effects offer new possibilities for relief.

Unlike traditional antidepressants, ketamine works differently in the brain—engaging pathways that support neuroplasticity and, in some cases, helping individuals shift out of long-standing patterns.

But ketamine therapy isn’t just about symptom relief; it may also involve states of dissociation. These states can sometimes be challenging to navigate and preparing in advance can ease tension during these experiences. It's about creating a safe space where healing can begin—and your role and your provider's role in that space matters.

Preparing for Your First Session

Before your session, try to create space around the experience. Choose a day when you can take it slow. Give yourself permission to rest afterward. Some people bring a trusted person along for support—that's welcome, too.

You might also take a moment to reflect on why you’re doing this. What are your hopes? What does the term "healing" mean for you. What would symptom relief look like for you? Writing these down can bring clarity and serve as an intention you carry with you into the session.

Tools like Limitless Guided Visualizations can offer calm, structure, and grounding before, during, and after your experience. Consider using an app to ease into the space.

The Role of Your Ketamine Provider

Your provider is more than a technician—they’re a partner in your care. Whether you’re working with a nurse, physician, therapist, or coach, they can help guide you through each step with compassion and clarity.

They’ll check in with you, answer your questions, and adjust your care plan as needed. Most importantly, they'll be present. That presence can be incredibly reassuring when you're navigating something unfamiliar.

The Setting: What It Should Feel Like

The room where you receive ketamine therapy should feel calm and comforting. Soft lighting, a cozy chair or couch, quiet music or ambient sound—these details matter.

Some ketamine clinics or telemedicine ketamine providers use guided visualization apps or soundscapes to support your experience. Others have you use your own playlist, journal, or grounding objects. Music can be incredibly powerful in influencing the mind during ketamine treatment. Choosing gentle soothing music can be very helpful. The goal is to help you feel safe so your mind and body can relax into the experience.

The Initial Consultation

Before your first session, you’ll have a one-on-one consultation where you can discuss any potential side effects of the treatment and set clear patient expectations regarding the therapy process. This is your chance to ask questions, express any concerns, and learn more about how ketamine therapy works.

Your provider will go over your health history and conduct a consultation to talk with you about your goals. This conversation helps build trust and creates a shared foundation for your care by clarifying patient expectations.

How Ketamine is Administered

There are several ways ketamine can be administered:

• IV infusion: Typically administered in a ketamine clinic, higher doses can be given, and typically lasting 1-3 hours.
• Spravato: A non-invasive option often used in clinical settings, given nasally.
• Intramuscular or subcutaneus injections: Can be given in a less clinical environment and can be a quicker method.
• Oral lozenges, tablets or nasal spray: More commonly prescribed for at home use, and sometimes used as part of a long-term care plan.

Your provider will recommend a treatment method based on your needs, history, depression, mood disorders, anxiety, pain conditions, mental health, and preferences. Regardless of the form, whether at home or in a medical office, you’ll be monitored during your course of treatment to ensure your comfort and safety.

What the Session Feels Like

As the medication takes effect, you might feel a sense of lightness, stillness, or dissociation, separation from your usual thoughts. Some describe it as dreamlike or introspective.

This altered state isn’t about escape—it’s about opening space for insight and experiencing the therapeutic effects of the medication. You might notice new thoughts, emotions, or visual imagery. You might feel deeply relaxed. You might not remember everything—and that’s okay.

Whatever you experience is valid. Everyone’s response is different, and there’s no “right” way to feel.

Emotional Expectations

Your emotional landscape may shift during and after the session. You might feel peaceful, curious, tearful, or even unsure at times.

These feelings are part of the process. If difficult emotions surface, you can share with your provider and ask for the support you need. Sometimes, a sense of clarity or emotional release comes later—in the hours or days following the session.

Be gentle with yourself. This is tender work.

Safety and Monitoring

If you are recieving oral or nasal ketamine for at home use, your provider will provide their guidelines for ketamine safety. They often require someone to be home with you to monitor you throughout the session.

If you are being prescribed ketamine in a clinical setting, your provider will check in with you throughout your session and can help you with anything that comes up during the session.

If you are receiving IV ketamine, they’ll often monitor vital signs, check in with you as needed, and create a steady, reassuring presence. This isn’t just about medical supervision—it’s about treatment and care.

You’ll be given time to rest and recover afterward, and you’ll only leave when you feel ready.

Integration After the Session

The session may end—but the journey continues.

Integration is the process of making meaning from what you experienced. This could be as simple as journaling, talking with a therapist, or going for a quiet walk.

You might notice subtle shifts in how you think or feel. These are worth paying attention to. Support tools like the Limitless app can help you stay connected to what emerged during your session.

Follow-up and Ongoing Care

Your care team may schedule a consultation to talk with you about next steps, ensuring that your treatment aligns with patient expectations and that your health is prioritized throughout the process. Ketamine therapy often involves a series of sessions, each one building on the last, allowing the therapeutic effects to deepen and strengthen over time, particularly for those managing PTSD, anxiety, and mood disorders such as depression.

You’ll have opportunities to reflect, adjust, and explore what’s working. Together, you and your provider will co-create a plan that fits you—not just your symptoms, but your story.

Side Effects to Be Aware Of

Some people experience mild side effects like dizziness, nausea, disorientation, or dissociation. These usually pass fairly quickly.

You might also feel emotionally tender or tired afterward, which are common side effects. These sensations are part of the body’s response and tend to ease with time, rest, and hydration.

If anything feels uncomfortable or unclear, your care team is there to support you.

Final Thoughts

Your first ketamine infusion therapy session is the beginning of a personal, often profound journey of treatment.

You don’t need to have it all figured out. You don’t need to be anyone but yourself. Just show up with openness—and know that support, safety, and care are there to hold you.

This process is about more than treatment. It’s about healing. It’s about you.

And you are worth it.

For gentle support before, during, or after your session, explore Limitless Guided Visualizations—a companion app designed to meet you where you are.

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