KAP Provider Workshop

Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) Workshop for Therapists

Ketamine is a catalyst for profound transformation of our patient’s lives and is going to revolutionize mental health care.
Ketamine is the only legal psychedelic available (used in clinical practice for years now) and is now the best and possibly safest antidepressant available.
Ketamine is being used to successfully treat treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, anxiety, OCD and eating disorders.
Long-term use of typical SSRI’s have worse efficacy than if patients just had psychotherapy.
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) enhances the efficacy and durability of treatment
KAP includes 3 aspects of preparatory, experiential, and integration sessions to help patients obtain new perspectives and heal spiritual trauma as a root cause of mental distress.

Iowa KAP Workshop will be in the Spring, 2024 at the new Cedar Rapids location: Mott Bldg, 42 7th Ave SW, Suite 100, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404. For more information: call: 319-800-2125 or email: info@holisticia.com, or book a free 15-min consultation with Dr. McCormick Visit Calendly

St Thomas, US Virgin Islands KAP Workshop will be in the Spring, 2024 at the Nirvana Temple, St Thomas, USVI. For more information: call: 340-244-9658 or email: info@holisticia.com, or book a free 15-min consultation with Dr. McCormick Visit Calendly

The KAP Workshop for Professionals

This workshop was developed by Amber Kerby, LMFT, as an opportunity for professionals in the behavioral health field to learn about ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and how to work with clients integrating ketamine experiences.
This workshop will include an optional experiential component, providing an opportunity to bring in an embodied personal experience of medicine into your work with clients.

3-hr morning workshop (9AM-noon): introduction to the basics of using ketamine in clinical practice, including indications and contraindications, efficacy and safety, latest research, case-studies, and best/practical approaches to support clients integrating Ketamine experiences for profound interpersonal transformation.

4-hr afternoon experiential (Ipm-5pm):eligible participants will spend the afternoon directly engaging in the KAP process. This opportunity will allow you to deepen your understanding of the dynamics of the medicine itself, treatment modality, and integration of the experience. Experiential includes experiencing a ketamine session (oral or intranasal): includes preparation including “set & setting” and intention making, self-administration of ketamine, post ketamine integration. The ritual of sage smudging, Qigong and sound bath will be elements of the experiential.

To engage in the experiential component, you will become a temporary patient of Holistic Wellness & Psychiatry, PLLC under the care of Laurie McCormick, MD. A 30-minute telehealth assessment is required to ensure suitability + medical consultation for the ketamine prescription with Dr. McCormick.

Optional overnight retreat experience provides extended time and space for self-reflection and peer-led integration. This includes organic nurturing meals and next morning yoga.

*Amber Kerby is the lead facilitator of this workshop in Iowa, co-hosted by Laurie McCormick. Amber is not associated with this practice and has her own private practice in Des Moines, IA (Amber Kerby)

Available Packages
KAP workshop only ($350) KAP Workshop + Experiential ($750)
KAP Workshop + Experiential (Overnight retreat double occupancy) (4 spots) ($850)
KAP Workshop + Experiential (Overnight retreat single occupancy) (2 spots) ($950)

*CME/CE credit available

$200 deposit required. Payment required in full before medical evaluation for the Experiential component of the workshop and/or overnight retreat.

To learn more about provider personal experiences with ketamine:

KAP for Providers Workshop Facilitators:

Amber Kerby, MS, LMFT

Amber Kerby, MS, LMFT is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Iowa and New Hampshire. She maintains a private practice that offers a hybrid of telehealth and in office services. Her experience in the field of mental health ranges from home-based therapy and school-based counseling to clinical work in private practice.

As the founder of Non Ordinary Therapy, LLC, Amber is expanding access to novel approaches in mental health therapy. She is trained in Internal Family Systems (IFS) and utilizes this approach to assist clients in changing perspectives and deepening understanding of themselves and their symptoms.

Amber is a certified psychedelic assisted therapy provider, who offers Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy in her private practice. This practice expands from work with clients to providing education, consultation, and training for clinicians and mental health organizations around ketamine assisted psychotherapy and psychedelic integration as a therapeutic intervention.

Dr. Laurie McCormick, MD, DFAPA

Dr. Laurie McCormick, MD, DFAPA is Board Certified Psychiatrist & Family Physician who provides Integrative Psychiatry and Ketamine Assisted Therapy in her private practice locations in North Liberty, Iowa as well as St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. She offers a hybrid of in-person and/or telehealth appointments. Her experience in the field of mental health started with a career in academic medicine and neuroscience research in eating disorders and brain stimulation and now primarily in an outpatient clinical setting in private practice to improve access to safe and equitable ketamine and other psychedelic assisted therapies. Laurie has been prescribing ketamine (intranasal and/or sublingual routes) for nearly 4 years and is completing the Numinus (Explore now) and IPI Year Long Psychedelic Assisted Therapy and Ketamine Provider Training(Explore now). She is passionate about being able to offer new options where other treatment interventions have failed and the impact of one’s spiritual experience being a valued as part of the healing process.

Dr. Yael Baldwin, PhD

Dr. Yael Baldwin is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Asheville, NC. She specializes in psychodynamic and existential approaches to enhancing our relationships (to self, others, and the world) while working through trauma, loss, and life transitions. She is also a psychedelic-assisted therapist (trained through the Integrative Psychiatry Institute and Living Medicine Institute) currently offering Ketamine-assisted therapy. Yael is also a Professor Emerita from Mars Hill University where she was the chair and professor of clinical psychology for almost twenty years. She has been researching, writing, teaching, and practicing a variety of mental health treatments, from psychoanalysis to meditation and psychedelics, for over two decades. Dr. Baldwin is on the board of the Western North Carolina Psychologists Association and is an international author and speaker. Her life’s work focuses on how we can all suffer less and flourish more, together.

Dr. Aaron McDonough, PharmD

Dr. Aaron McDonough, PharmD is a Co-Owner and the Chief Innovation Officer of Towncrest Pharmacy Corporation. Towncrest Pharmacy has six ambulatory community pharmacy sites, one Long-Term Care pharmacy and one alternative/functional medicine clinic and compounding pharmacy. Dr. McDonough spends majority of his time working in the functional medicine clinic and compounding pharmacy offering comprehensive functional medicine/wellness consultations and precision compounding expertise in areas of mental health, pain, women’s/men’s hormonal health, dermatology, dental, and veterinary medicine. The functional wellness clinic serves a diverse patient population and manages drug-induced nutrient depletion, mental health, chronic pain, cardiometabolic, gastrointestinal, pediatrics, and various other unique patent health concerns. Dr. McDonough’s goal is to personalize alternative medicine and compounds to tailor the individual needs of every patient he serves.