A Pilot Study Comparing a Community of Practice Program with and without Concurrent Ketamine-Assisted Therapy

• Published in: Journal of psychoactive drugs pp. 1 - 10
• Main Authors: Tsang, Vivian W. L., Ragazan, Dragos C., Kryskow, Pamela, Walsh, Zach, Dames, Shannon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.09.2023
• ISSN: 0279-1072; 2159-9777
• DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2023.2253798

The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has increased among healthcare providers, while the effectiveness of conventional treatments remains limited. Ketamine-assisted therapy offers a promising alternative; however, few have integrated ketamine with a group-based therapeutic modality. We report a retrospective, secondary analysis of a 12-week pilot of a Community of Practice (CoP) oriented group therapy program with optional, adjunct ketamine for depression, anxiety, and PTSD in a sample of 57 healthcare providers. All participants moved through the treatment as one group, with 38 electing to also receive three adjunct ketamine sessions in addition to the weekly CoP. Symptoms were assessed at baseline and pilot completion with the PHQ-9 for depression, GAD-7 for anxiety, and PCL-5 for PTSD. We observed significant reductions in the mean change among all participants, suggesting that benefit was derived from the CoP component, with or without ketamine as an adjunct. PHQ-9 scores decreased by 6.79 (95% CI: 5.09-8.49, p < .001), GAD-7 scores decreased by 5.57 (CI: 4.12-7.00, p < .001), and PCL-5 scores decreased by 14.83 (CI: 10.27-19.38, p < .001). Reductions were larger, but statistically nonsignificant, among those receiving ketamine. Further research is required to assess the impact of ketamine as an adjunct in group-based therapies.