Frequently Asked Questions

Primary Care Consulting is a patient-centered service designed to empower people to take charge of their wellness journey by working with a primary care doctor who prioritizes understanding core health goals and motivations. This approach fosters better outcomes by reducing unnecessary interventions, promoting thoughtful medication use, and empowering people to embrace their own inner healing wisdom while exploring options.

Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) is a transformative approach that combines the psychedelic effects of ketamine with integrative healing practices, therapy, and mindfulness techniques. Administered either as a rapidly dissolving oral lozenge or via intramuscular (IM) injection, ketamine facilitates a profound, expanded state of consciousness.

This visionary state is highly effective for therapeutic reprocessing, personal growth, and healing. When combined with mindfulness practices, KAP becomes a powerful tool for addressing a range of challenges, including mental and emotional stress, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, chronic pain (such as fibromyalgia and migraines), and substance use issues.

By quieting the ego and creating space for deeper insight, ketamine serves as a catalyst for healing processes that often unfold and evolve in the days, weeks, and months following treatment.

We are happy to collaborate with your therapist. In fact, as psychotherapists, we find that the gains received from psychotropic medicine are realized and maintained in strong relationships. If you have a psychotherapist, we are happy to consult with them about what treatment has looked like and how KAP can assist in this process. We will continue to do preparation and integration before and after dosing sessions and communicate directly with your provider to assist to realizing the gains made after KAP.

We do have openings! We are currently accepting new psychotherapy clients and new KAP clients. Please reach out via phone or email so we can connect you to one of our clinicians.

Ketamine is a Schedule III medication that has been safely used for decades as an anesthetic and analgesic. In recent years, it has emerged as a tool to add to treatment for depression, alcoholism, substance use disorders, PTSD, and other mental health conditions, as well as a tool for navigating existential, psychological, and spiritual crises. Ketamine works by blocking the activity of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, which is involved in regulating mood, cognition, and pain perception. This mechanism is believed to contribute to its  antidepressant and anti-anxiety  effects, with many patients experiencing symptom improvement within hours or days after treatment. As a dissociative anesthetic, ketamine is currently the only legally available psychedelic medicine in MT that medical providers can prescribe to provide access to “expanded states of consciousness,” often associated with classic psychedelics.

Individuals experience Ketamine differently. One common effect is the loss of a sense of self for a short period of time. Scientists who have been studying Ketamine and other psychedelics have posited that it works through relaxing the Default Mode Network (DMN) in our brains. The DMN has been likened to what some people may call their ‘ego’ or their usual way of moving through their life. When a person’s typical pattern of thinking is relaxed, it makes room for an alternative manner of thinking, feeling and behaving to be established. With preparation and integration centered around the areas that you want to change, Ketamine is able to facilitate the needed change.

By combining the psychedelic effects of ketamine with psychotherapy, the aim is to achieve more sustained results with fewer treatments compared to traditional IV ketamine infusions without accompanying support. This holistic approach helps individuals connect with their inner wisdom and provide ideas for integrating the change into a life of your creating.

Some believe that the support, preparation, and integration are not necessary and that it is the medicine that creates the change. However, we know from the research with other psychotropic medicine, it is the combination of psychotherapy and medicine that produces the greatest change. At Inner Journey, we do not believe it is just the molecule that creates change, it is you. It is you who moves forward in your life after the medicine wears off.

If you have medical insurance, you also are covered for Behavioral Health treatment. If you have one of the insurances we accept (MT BCBS, Pacific Source, Allegiance, Aetna, First Choice, or Mountain Health Co-op), we will bill your insurance directly. If you have a co-pay, we will charge your credit card or accept a check on the day of your appointment. If you have insurance with a different company, we provide you with a ‘superbill’ which you can present to your insurance company and they will reimburse you a portion of the bill. We currently are unable to accept Medicaid and Medicare. For Medicaid clients please see us to determine if we can help with a cash pay plan.

Currently, the provision of Ketamine in the context of behavioral health is not covered by any insurance companies. However, at Inner Journey, the Ketamine Program includes a number of services that are covered by insurance. These include: Intakes, Medical Clearance, Preparation Sessions, and Integration Sessions. In many circumstances, your dosing session (when you receive the Ketamine) can be covered through your HSA.

Inner Journey is the only behavioral health facility that provides KAP  by licensed therapists with some services covered by insurance. We offer Ketamine treatment in groups or individuals and we are happy to connect you with  referrals to healers who provide somatic therapies. We are situated in the heart of beautiful Missoula, Montana in a safe, comforting environment that promotes healing. We have received extensive training in psychotherapy and psychedelic assisted psychotherapy. We are trusted members of the community who thrive in connecting with our neighbors.

If you are already established send us an email or phone call the day before or the morning of and if we have a slot open we can fit you in for telehealth or clinic visit if possible.