An adjunct to addiction treatment
Ketamine Therapy for Addiction
Clinically supervised ketamine infusions used alongside addiction treatment — to ease cravings, address underlying mental health symptoms, and open space for therapy to work.
About this therapy
Ketamine for addiction
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic, FDA-approved since 1970 and considered an essential medicine by the World Health Organization. At doses far below anesthesia, it has shown positive effects on the brain that are being applied to addiction treatment — at Ambrosia, strictly as an add-on to inpatient and outpatient programs.
Ketamine’s history is complicated: alongside decades of legitimate medical use, it was heavily abused as a street drug. Today it is administered safely in clinical settings, and in addiction care it serves two purposes — helping reduce cravings and withdrawal burden, and addressing the underlying mental health symptoms that feed negative substance use patterns. In a safe, comfortable environment, clients can look inward and build healthier patterns of behavior.
Ketamine therapy for addiction is used as an add-on service at Ambrosia’s West Palm Beach, Port St. Lucie, and Singer Island programs, always in conjunction with established therapeutic methods.
How it may help in addiction
Ketamine blocks the brain receptor NMDA and consistently increases glutamate production, which facilitates the brain’s ability to restructure itself — the neuroplasticity underneath learning and forming new memories. According to Dr. John Krystal of Yale Medicine, it is the brain’s response to ketamine, not the substance itself, that drives the effect: reactions in the cortex that support the regeneration of brain connections.
For alcohol use disorder in particular, research suggests ketamine can act as a harm-reduction tool by disrupting the memory patterns that drive drinking — the environmental cues, social settings, and associations. Sessions can leave people more receptive to new information, essentially helping override the memories behind the behavior.
What the evidence shows — and what it doesn’t yet
Early studies have found ketamine can prolong abstinence from alcohol and heroin and reduce craving and self-administration of cocaine. Proposed mechanisms include enhanced neuroplasticity and neurogenesis, relief of depressive symptoms, blocking of drug-related memories, and making psychological therapy itself more effective.
That said, the research base is young and its methods have limits. Further randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm efficacy, and identifying exactly how ketamine works remains an open question. It is a promising adjunct — not a standalone solution, and not a substitute for treatment that addresses the whole person.
What a session involves
Each session follows FDA-regulated protocols and is closely monitored by our medical team in a comfortable, controlled environment. Before the first infusion, your therapist reviews your medical history and medications to confirm ketamine is appropriate and safe for you.
During the infusion you receive a carefully controlled IV dose while staff monitor you throughout. You can speak and breathe normally, but expect an altered, dissociative state — visual distortions, floating sensations, dream-like awareness — with your therapist guiding you through it. A full course typically involves a series of about ten infusions. Afterward you remain at the clinic while the effects wear off, and you cannot drive yourself home. Talk therapy sessions alongside the infusions reinforce and build on what surfaces.
Side effects and risks
Ketamine’s effects scale with dose and can include sedation, dizziness, poor coordination, slurred speech, nausea, and elevated heart rate or blood pressure — along with mental effects like diminished attention, memory disruption, confusion, and anxiety. In a monitored clinical setting these are managed and typically short-lived, but they are real, and so is ketamine’s potential for abuse outside clinical care. This is exactly why it is administered only under supervision, within a broader treatment program.
Is it covered by insurance?
Most insurance companies do not cover ketamine for addiction treatment, so out-of-pocket costs vary by patient and plan. Some policies are beginning to change, so contact your provider directly about the specific treatment — and our admissions team can help you verify coverage and understand the costs before you decide.
Ready to talk with admissions?
Admissions is available 24/7 to answer questions about mental health and substance use treatment options.