Psychedelic Therapy for Trauma & PTSD in Colorado
Heal from Trauma: Psilocybin & Ketamine-Assisted Therapy for PTSD
Trauma doesn't define you, but it can feel like it controls your life. If you've tried traditional trauma therapy without finding relief, or if you're tired of managing symptoms rather than healing their source, psychedelic-assisted therapy may be the right path for you.
How Psychedelic Therapy Facilitates Trauma Healing
Trauma gets "stuck" when the brain's threat system remains activated long after danger has passed. Psychedelic therapy helps by:
1. Reducing Reactivity: Both psilocybin and ketamine reduce activation in the amygdala (the brain's fear center) during trauma processing, allowing you to approach traumatic material without being overwhelmed by the threat response.
2. Promoting Empathy and Connection: Psychedelics promote empathy and reduce feelings of isolation, helping repair the disconnection trauma creates. This occurs during both the therapeutic relationship and the internal experience.
3. Facilitating Safe Trauma Processing: The expanded state creates psychological distance from traumatic memories, allowing you to process them as an observer rather than being retraumatized. Research shows this promotes "fear extinction" — breaking the association between triggers and danger.
4. Modifying Brain Networks: Psychedelics alter brain network connectivity, reducing the rigid patterns that keep trauma memories "frozen" and promoting integration of traumatic experiences into your life narrative.
5. Creating Transformative Experiences: The profound, often spiritual experiences during sessions improve PTSD outcomes through generating hope, meaning, and a sense of connection larger than the trauma.
6. Enhancing Neuroplasticity: Psychedelics promote the growth of new neural connections (neurogenesis), helping the brain rewire trauma responses and develop healthier patterns.
Why Traditional Trauma Treatment Often Falls Short
Conventional approaches have helped many people, but often leave trauma survivors still struggling:
Talk therapy alone may not access trauma held in the body and nervous system
Prolonged exposure therapy can be retraumatizing without proper support
EMDR helps but may require many sessions for complex trauma
Medications manage symptoms but don't resolve the underlying trauma
Years of treatment with incremental progress while trauma continues impacting daily life
What the Research Shows
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP):
59% of these people maintained improvements one month after treatment ended.
Ketamine therapy was effective in alleviating PTSD symptoms across multiple clinical trials.
There is significant relief from PTSD symptoms when Ketamine is combined with psychotherapy.
Psilocybin Therapy:
PTSD can be improved through psychedelic treatment based on systematic reviews.
Psilocybin therapy can bring significant relief from PTSD symptoms.
Post-Traumatic Growth: Beyond Symptom Reduction
Research shows psychedelic therapy doesn't just reduce PTSD symptoms — it facilitates post-traumatic growth:
Discovering new possibilities in life
Stronger, more authentic relationships
Greater personal strength and resilience
Spiritual development and meaning
Deeper appreciation for life
You can emerge from trauma not just "recovered" but transformed.
Taking the First Step
Trauma has already taken too much from you. You don't need to spend more years in slow, incremental healing while symptoms continue controlling your life.
Psychedelic-assisted therapy offers accelerated trauma resolution — evidence-based, legally accessible in Colorado, and proven to create lasting change.
Get Started
Psychedelic therapy works differently — creating a neurobiological and psychological state that facilitates accelerated trauma processing and resolution.
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Yes — research demonstrates strong safety profiles when conducted in appropriate therapeutic settings. We carefully screen each client and ensure your life circumstances are right for Psychedelic therapy. In a study of 73% of PTSD participants achieving substantial symptom reduction with ketamine, no serious adverse events related to the treatment were reported .Multiple trials show that proper preparation, trauma-informed facilitation, and integration support create safety rather than risk. The key is working with trained professionals who understand trauma.
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The difference between re-traumatization and reprocessing is the amount of safety that you feel during the experience. While challenging material can and does arise during psychedelic sessions, the safety that will be created makes these experiences therapeutically useful. Many people describe observing traumatic memories from a new perspective rather than re-experiencing them viscerally. The medicine naturally brings forward what you're ready to process. If overwhelming material comes up, you will be professionally supported in working with it during the session. As Psychedelic therapists and facilitators, we do not confront you with your trauma and instead allow the medicine to bring up whatever it is going to bring up. Sometimes specific memories arise during the session and sometimes they do not.
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Psychedelic therapy accelerates trauma processing through multiple mechanisms simultaneously. While EMDR reprocesses trauma through bilateral stimulation and prolonged exposure uses gradual habituation, psychedelics reduce amygdala reactivity, increase neuroplasticity, promote empathy, and facilitate perspective shifts all at once. This creates conditions for profound healing in 1-2 intensive sessions rather than many months of weekly therapy. Many trauma therapists are now incorporating psychedelics into their practice because of the accelerated results. Put simply psychedelics allow enough safety and perspective to experience the content that was previously intolerable, thereby changing how it sits in the system.
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Yes — complex PTSD (C-PTSD) from childhood abuse, neglect, or attachment trauma can benefit from psychedelic therapy. For complex trauma, we often recommend ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) as the first approach because the weekly sessions provide more stabilization and gradual processing. Some people then transition to psilocybin therapy for deeper transformation. Complex trauma typically requires more integration support than single-incident PTSD. Psilocybin can also be a good option for those with C-PTSD who are already receiving extensive support from an ongoing therapist. Overall complex PTSD can be treated in the context of ongoing therapeutic relationships.
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Both are effective — the choice depends on your needs, preferences, and level of stability in your life. Ketamine (KAP) works well for people who prefer gradual approaches, those needing more stabilization, complex PTSD without prior work, and trauma survivors who feel overwhelmed by intense emotions. Psilocybin works well for people ready for intensive deep work, those seeking spiritual dimensions of healing, single-incident trauma, and well-contained PTSD. Many people benefit from both in sequence — KAP first for stabilization, then psilocybin for transformation.
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For ketamine: The standard protocol is 6 weekly sessions (each 2-3 hours), with 73% of participants achieving substantial symptom reduction in research when adhering to this protocol. Some people benefit from additional sessions or periodic boosters. For psilocybin: We use use 1-2 intensive sessions (each 7 hours) with preparation and integration. Complex PTSD often requires more sessions than single-incident PTSD.
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Dissociation requires careful consideration but isn't necessarily a contraindication. If you experience significant dissociation, we'll assess whether additional stabilization would be helpful before medicine sessions. Ketamine, which is itself dissociative, can sometimes help people who dissociate by providing a sense of safety in "disconnection." For psilocybin, we might use lower doses with more grounding techniques. Severe dissociative identity disorder may require specialist support before psychedelic therapy. With dissociation the overall goal is to associate to it. To get good at noticing when it comes in. Psychedelic-assisted therapy can help by providing perspective towards the dissociation.
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Yes. Combat-related PTSD can be addressed with psychedelic therapy. A study on U.S. military veterans with severe treatment-resistant depression (which commonly co-occurs with combat PTSD) found significant sustained reductions in symptoms up to 12 months after psilocybin treatment. Psychedelics also show benefit for moral injury — the deep spiritual/ethical pain that can accompany combat experiences. Many veterans report that psychedelic therapy helps them process war experiences in ways traditional therapy couldn't reach.
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Yes, with some considerations. SSRIs are commonly prescribed for PTSD and can reduce psilocybin's effectiveness (but not ketamine's). We may recommend supervised tapering before psilocybin treatment. Benzodiazepines (often prescribed for trauma-related anxiety) can reduce effectiveness of both medicines and may need tapering. Prazosin (for nightmares) typically doesn't interfere. We'll review all medications during consultation and create a safety plan.
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Temporary increases in trauma symptoms during integration are not uncommon and represent material surfacing for processing. This is why integration therapy is essential — we work with you in the weeks following sessions to process emerging content. These temporary intensifications typically resolve and lead to deeper healing. We equip you with grounding techniques for managing activation.
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Yes — anger and irritability often improve significantly. These hyperarousal symptoms stem from an overactive threat-detection system. By reducing amygdala reactivity and increasing psychological flexibility, psychedelic therapy helps regulate emotional responses. Many people report feeling calmer, more patient, and less reactive to triggers. The increased self-compassion that often emerges during treatment also reduces self-directed anger and harsh self-judgment common in trauma survivors.
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Alyahya, N. M., & Al Saleem, E. A. (2024). Therapeutic Use of Psychedelics for Mental Disorders: A Systematized Review. Journal of Nature and Science of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.4103/jnsm.jnsm_76_24
Breeksema, J. J., Niemeijer, A. R., Krediet, E., et al. (2020). Psychedelic treatments for psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and thematic synthesis of patient experiences in qualitative studies. CNS Drugs, 34, 925-946.
Dore, J., Turnipseed, B., Dwyer, S., et al. (2019). Ketamine assisted psychotherapy (KAP): Patient demographics, clinical data and outcomes in three large practices administering ketamine with psychotherapy. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 51(2), 189-198.
Khan, A. J., Bradley, E., O'Donovan, A., & Woolley, J. (2022). Psilocybin for trauma-related disorders. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, 56, 319-332.
Luoma, J. B., Chwyl, C., Bathje, G. J., Davis, A. K., & Lancelotta, R. (2020). A meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials of psychedelic-assisted therapy. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 52(4), 289-299.
Quigley, B. L., Can, A., Dutton, M., et al. (2024). Low dose oral ketamine treatment on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (OKTOP): An open-label pilot study. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.11.26.24318024
Yermus, R., Bottos, J., Bryson, N., et al. (2024). Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy provides lasting and effective results in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder at 3 and 6 months: Findings from a large retrospective effectiveness study. Psychedelic Medicine.