Ketamine therapy in Wesley Chapel, dosed in our office
Wesley Chapel is not a referral stop on the way to somewhere else. It is where the treatment actually happens: a monitored, in-person subcutaneous injection in a private room off SR 54, with one psychiatric provider running your evaluation, your dosing, and your follow-up. Most patients reach this page after two or more antidepressants, or a full course of trauma or anxiety treatment, have not gotten them far enough.
- Treated here, not referred outWesley Chapel is the practice's dedicated ketamine site. You are evaluated and dosed in person at the same suite.
- Subcutaneous, not IV, not at-homeA small monitored injection with vitals checked throughout, not an infusion line and not a mailed at-home kit.
- One prescriber, every sessionAnna Stouffer, PMHNP-BC evaluates, doses, and follows up. No rotating tech, no handoff between visits.
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Monitored in our office, not mailed to your door.
The fastest-growing way to get ketamine right now is an app that ships lozenges to your home with no one in the room. Ascend does the opposite: every dose is a subcutaneous injection given and watched at the Wesley Chapel clinic, with vitals tracked throughout, by the same provider who evaluated you. That supervision is the point, not a formality.
Request a callbackSearching "ketamine therapy Wesley Chapel" mostly returns IV infusion centers and at-home apps. Here is what Ascend actually is, and where.
Ketamine therapy in Wesley Chapel is provided in person at Ascend Mind and Body's clinic at 27724 Cashford Circle, Suite 102, off SR 54 near Meadow Pointe Boulevard, by Anna Stouffer, PMHNP-BC. This is the practice's dedicated ketamine site: the same suite where you are evaluated and dosed. Treatment is subcutaneous racemic ketamine, off-label, a small injection under the skin rather than an IV infusion, monitored in a private room. The psychiatric consultation can be done first by Florida telehealth. Ketamine is a Schedule III controlled substance, and individual responses vary. Call (813) 670-3005 or book a consultation.
Two clarifications up front, because search terms and reality do not always match. First, Ascend is not an infusion clinic and not an at-home service. "Ketamine infusion" is the phrase most people use by habit, but Ascend uses a subcutaneous injection, not an IV drip, and it is given here rather than mailed to your home; the section on route of administration below explains why that distinction matters clinically, not just as wording. Second, if you searched for ketamine specifically for anxiety or PTSD, this page covers those directly: severe treatment-resistant anxiety and PTSD are both evaluated off-label alongside depression, and each has its own honest section below with the actual research behind it.
For Wesley Chapel itself and the surrounding Pasco and North Tampa communities, this is the local option that keeps your whole course of care in one place: one psychiatric provider who runs your evaluation, your dosing, and your follow-up start to finish, at a clinic most patients here reach in 10 to 25 minutes, rather than a rotating clinical staff or a fixed protocol applied the same way to everyone.
Yes, this is a ketamine clinic in Wesley Chapel. No, these are not infusions.
Illustrative
The label on the door matters less than who evaluates you, who is in the room during dosing, and how you are monitored afterward.
"Ketamine clinic," "infusion center," and "ketamine therapy" are used interchangeably by searchers but can describe different setups. Ascend's Wesley Chapel suite is a real, dedicated ketamine site inside a full psychiatric practice, not a stand-alone infusion bay, and it uses subcutaneous racemic ketamine, a single small injection, rather than an IV infusion drip.
- Ketamine clinic / treatment center: generally implies a dedicated location built specifically around ketamine dosing. That is exactly what the Wesley Chapel suite is: a private dose room with monitoring equipment and a supervising provider present for the full session.
- Ketamine infusion / infusion therapy: technically refers to IV administration. Many people use it loosely to mean any monitored ketamine treatment. Ascend does not run IV infusions; we use a subcutaneous injection.
- At-home telehealth ketamine: some national services mail oral or sublingual ketamine for self-administration at home with no in-person monitoring. That is a fundamentally different level of clinical supervision from the monitored, in-person session done here, and it is worth understanding the difference before choosing one.
- Intranasal esketamine (Spravato): an FDA-approved, single-enantiomer nasal spray self-administered under observation in a certified setting. It is a different molecule and approval pathway from the racemic ketamine used here.
There are several ways ketamine reaches a patient in psychiatric use today, and they are not interchangeable. Ascend uses the subcutaneous route because a placebo-controlled pilot trial comparing routes of administration (Loo CK, et al., Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 2016) found response rates for subcutaneous ketamine comparable to the IV literature, with a simpler delivery process and shorter monitoring than a maintained IV line.
How the delivery routes compare
An informational comparison, not a self-diagnosis tool. Route of administration is one factor; the level of clinical supervision matters at least as much.
| Route | Used at Ascend | Typical setting | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subcutaneous (SubQ) | Yes, this is Ascend's protocol | Psychiatric practices, outpatient clinics | A single small injection; comparable response rates to IV in published research with a simpler delivery process. |
| Intravenous (IV) | No | Infusion clinics, hospital-based programs | The method used in most original research trials; requires a maintained IV line for the infusion duration. |
| Intranasal esketamine (Spravato) | No | Certified REMS-monitored sites | FDA-approved single-enantiomer drug with its own approval pathway for treatment-resistant depression. |
| Oral or sublingual | No | Some at-home telehealth ketamine services | Lower, less predictable bioavailability due to first-pass liver metabolism; less studied than injectable or intranasal routes. |
Conditions ketamine is evaluated for at our Wesley Chapel clinic
Treatment-resistant depression is the primary, best-studied indication. PTSD and severe, treatment-resistant anxiety are evaluated off-label, alongside a smaller set of case-by-case indications like OCD, bipolar depression, and select chronic pain. None are guaranteed to respond, and each is assessed during a real psychiatric evaluation, not a walk-in intake.
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DepressionPrimary indication
Treatment-resistant depression: inadequate response to two or more antidepressants at adequate doses and duration.
Read more -
PTSDOff-label
Evaluated when trauma-focused therapy and first-line medication leave intrusive symptoms, hypervigilance, or numbing.
Read more -
Severe anxietyOff-label
Severe, treatment-resistant anxiety that has not responded to standard medication and therapy. Smaller evidence base.
Read more -
OCD & moreCase by case
OCD, bipolar depression, and select chronic pain conditions are evaluated individually, off-label, weaker evidence.
Read more
If what you are experiencing feels like an immediate danger to yourself or someone else, call 988 or 911 now. Ketamine therapy is scheduled care evaluated over days to weeks, not an emergency intervention.
Ketamine for treatment-resistant depression in Wesley Chapel
Treatment-resistant depression, generally defined as an inadequate response to two or more antidepressants at therapeutic doses for an adequate trial length, is the primary, best-studied indication for ketamine therapy. If you have tried a first antidepressant, then a second, possibly with a therapy add-on, and the depression is still largely unmoved, you are the patient this treatment was built to evaluate. Most antidepressants target serotonin and norepinephrine; ketamine works differently, as an NMDA receptor antagonist affecting glutamate signaling, which is part of why it can help some patients who have not responded to the standard route. A foundational NIMH-led randomized controlled trial (Zarate CA Jr, et al., Archives of General Psychiatry, 2006) first demonstrated ketamine's rapid antidepressant effect in treatment-resistant patients, and a later two-site randomized controlled trial (Murrough JW, et al., 2013) replicated that effect above an active control. None of this means ketamine works for everyone; it means this indication has the strongest evidence base of anything ketamine is used for. Learn more on our treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder pages.
Ketamine for PTSD in Wesley Chapel
Ketamine is evaluated off-label for PTSD when trauma-focused therapy and first-line medications have not resolved intrusive symptoms, hypervigilance, or emotional numbing, and it is considered alongside continued therapy rather than as a replacement for it. Wesley Chapel and the wider Pasco corridor have a meaningful veteran and first-responder population, and PTSD is one of the more common off-label conversations Anna Stouffer has during evaluations, particularly with patients who have already completed a course of trauma-focused therapy such as EMDR or prolonged exposure and are still carrying significant symptoms. A randomized clinical trial (Feder A, Parides MK, Murrough JW, et al., JAMA Psychiatry, 2014) found that a single ketamine infusion produced a significant, rapid reduction in PTSD symptom severity compared to an active placebo in patients with chronic PTSD. That trial used intravenous ketamine and a single dose in a research setting, not the subcutaneous, multi-session protocol used here, so the exact numbers do not transfer directly to what any one patient should expect. What it establishes is a real, controlled evidence base for using ketamine in PTSD, which is why it is offered here as a genuine off-label option rather than an unproven add-on. If you have already been evaluated through VA or Tricare-affiliated care and treatment-focused therapy has not resolved your symptoms, mention that history during your consultation. See our PTSD condition page for more.
Ketamine for severe, treatment-resistant anxiety in Wesley Chapel
Ketamine is evaluated off-label for anxiety that has not responded adequately to standard first-line medications and therapy, most often generalized anxiety or anxiety with a significant treatment-resistant component. If you searched specifically for ketamine for anxiety in the Wesley Chapel area, this is the section written for you, and we would rather you read it honestly than land on a generic contact form. A controlled trial (Glue P, Medlicott NJ, Harland S, et al., Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2017) examined dose-related effects of ketamine on anxiety symptoms in patients with treatment-refractory anxiety disorders and found meaningful, dose-related reductions in symptom scores. The evidence base here is real but smaller and earlier-stage than the depression research. Standard treatment for anxiety, SSRIs or SNRIs alongside cognitive behavioral therapy, remains the appropriate first step for most people, and ketamine is not a substitute for that first-line approach. It becomes a reasonable conversation when anxiety has been genuinely treatment-resistant and severe enough to significantly limit daily functioning. See our anxiety and generalized anxiety disorder pages for more.
Other conditions evaluated case by case, off-label
Beyond depression, PTSD, and anxiety, Anna Stouffer also evaluates ketamine for a smaller number of additional off-label indications during the same consultation. None carry a stronger evidence base than depression, and all are assessed individually.
- OCD: generally after first-line exposure and response prevention therapy and SSRI trials have been tried without adequate relief.
- Bipolar depression: evaluated with particular care given mood-stabilization considerations; a placebo-controlled add-on trial (Diazgranados N, et al., Archives of General Psychiatry, 2010) found a rapid antidepressant response when ketamine was added to an existing mood stabilizer, though this population requires closer coordination with existing medication management.
- Chronic pain: including complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and neuropathic pain, considered as an adjunctive, off-label option alongside existing pain care, not a replacement for it.
Not sure if ketamine is the right next step?
That is exactly what the psychiatric evaluation is for. Anna Stouffer will tell you honestly whether ketamine is worth trying for your situation, or whether something else should come first. The first conversation is information, not a commitment.
Consultation available by Florida telehealth; every dosing session is in person at the Wesley Chapel clinic.
The protocol, and what actually happens on a dosing day
Most of the anxiety patients report before a first session comes from not knowing what to expect, not from the treatment itself. Here it is, walked through honestly.
Illustrative
Evaluation, then a six-session induction over two to three weeks, monitored dosing at each visit, then a maintenance schedule set by how you respond, not a fixed calendar. Each session runs about 90 minutes from check-in to discharge, and you cannot drive yourself home.
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1
Psychiatric evaluation
About 60 minutes, available by Florida telehealth or in person. Anna Stouffer reviews your treatment history in detail: which medications you have tried, at what doses, for how long, and what happened. She reviews current symptoms with standard clinical measures, prior trauma-focused therapy if PTSD is part of the picture, your medical history and current medications, and the contraindications screened in the safety section below. No guarantees are made at this stage or any other.
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2
Induction series
Six sessions over approximately two to three weeks. This spacing is deliberate: ketamine's antidepressant effect in clinical trials builds with repeated dosing rather than appearing after a single session, which is why a compressed series, not one dose, is the standard induction protocol.
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3
Active dose and monitoring
Each visit runs about 90 minutes: roughly 10 to 15 minutes of pre-session vitals and check-in, 40 to 60 minutes of active dose time in a recliner in a private treatment room, and 20 to 30 minutes of recovery observation before you are cleared to leave with your ride. Anna Stouffer or a trained clinical team member monitors blood pressure, heart rate, and your overall response throughout, not periodically.
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4
Maintenance, set by your response
Determined by how you respond, not a preset calendar. Some patients need no maintenance dosing after induction; others do well with a single session every four to eight weeks. Because the Wesley Chapel clinic is local for most patients here, maintenance visits are a short trip rather than a project, which is worth planning candidly with Anna Stouffer.
What a first treatment session actually feels like
You arrive at the Wesley Chapel suite and check in. A clinical team member confirms you have a ride arranged, a hard requirement, and takes baseline vitals. You are brought to a private treatment room, not a shared bay, with a recliner, dim lighting, and the option of an eye mask and headphones. Anna Stouffer or a trained team member administers the subcutaneous injection, a single small injection rather than an IV line maintained for the duration.
Over the next 40 to 60 minutes, most patients describe a dissociative or dreamlike state, a sense of detachment from the body, mild visual or perceptual changes, sometimes a feeling of floating or of time moving differently. You are monitored continuously, vitals are checked at intervals, and the dose is a measured clinical amount. Some patients feel mildly nauseated or lightheaded; this is common and typically manageable. As the active effects fade, you move into a recovery period, generally 20 to 30 minutes, before discharge. You will not be cleared to drive, and most patients plan to do very little the rest of the day.
What improvement can look like, and what it does not
When ketamine works, patients typically describe a lifting of the heaviness rather than a dramatic personality change, and it tends to show up gradually across the induction series rather than as a single transformative moment. Common patterns in responders include sleep normalizing before mood does, a reduction in the intensity of negative thought loops rather than their disappearance, and for PTSD specifically, a reduction in the intensity of intrusive memories rather than their absence. What it typically does not look like: an instant cure, a permanent fix requiring no further care, or a replacement for the underlying work of therapy and, where appropriate, ongoing medication management. Some patients notice nothing meaningful across the full induction. That is a real, expected outcome for a meaningful minority, discussed directly at your follow-up rather than glossed over.
One prescriber, start to finish: Anna Stouffer, PMHNP-BC
Anna Stouffer, MS, PMHNP-BC, FNP-BC handles every ketamine evaluation, every dosing session, and every follow-up at Ascend Wesley Chapel. There is no rotating tech and no handoff between the person who evaluated you and the person administering treatment.
- Dual board-certified (PMHNP-BC, FNP-BC)
- Psychiatric and medical evaluation in one visit
- Same provider every session
- Full psychiatric practice, not a stand-alone clinic
Anna is dual board-certified in psychiatric-mental health and family nurse practice, which means her evaluation looks at both the psychiatric picture and the broader medical context, cardiovascular history, current medications, and other factors that affect ketamine candidacy, in the same visit rather than requiring a separate medical clearance step. She personally administers or directly supervises every dose, reviews your response after each session, and adjusts the plan based on what she is actually seeing, not a fixed protocol applied the same way to every patient.
What this looks like in practice for a Lakeland patient: your first telehealth or in-person consultation is with Anna, your induction sessions are with Anna, and if maintenance dosing is appropriate later, that is with Anna too. If ketamine turns out not to be the right fit, and for some patients it will not be, your care can shift to a different approach within the same practice without starting your history over with a new provider. Read Anna's full provider bio.
Why subcutaneous, not IV, and not intranasal esketamine
Ascend uses subcutaneous racemic ketamine, a single small injection rather than an IV line, because it produces a comparably effective, more predictable dose with meaningfully less equipment than an IV setup, while still requiring the same level of direct clinical supervision. A comparative review (Bahji A, Vazquez GH, Zarate CA Jr, Journal of Affective Disorders, 2021) found broadly similar effect sizes between racemic ketamine and esketamine for depression. What matters more than the specific route is the structure: every dose is set based on your response, the same provider monitors every session, and your protocol is reassessed after each visit rather than following a fixed script regardless of how you are doing.
Illustrative
Continuity of provider is not a luxury detail. It is what lets your dosing plan get adjusted to your actual response rather than a generic protocol.
What we screen for, and what side effects to expect
The evaluation is designed to identify the small number of patients for whom ketamine is not appropriate, before anyone drives 45 minutes for a first dose.
Most side effects are mild and resolve before you leave the clinic. Ketamine is a Schedule III controlled substance, which is exactly why it is administered only under direct medical supervision. Pregnancy, uncontrolled cardiovascular disease, uncontrolled hypertension, active psychosis, and untreated substance use disorders are screened during evaluation and can make ketamine inappropriate.
Most effects during and immediately after a session are transient and resolve before discharge: temporary dizziness or nausea, mild and short-term increases in heart rate and blood pressure, brief perceptual changes or mild euphoria during the active dose window, and occasional headache or fatigue afterward. Ketamine is a Schedule III controlled substance under DEA classification, reflecting a real potential for misuse, which is why dosing, timing, and monitoring are controlled by the clinical team in a clinical setting rather than left to the patient to self-regulate.
During your evaluation, Anna Stouffer screens specifically for conditions that may make ketamine therapy inappropriate, including severe or uncontrolled cardiovascular disease, uncontrolled hypertension, active psychosis or a documented history of a primary psychotic disorder, active or untreated substance use disorders, and pregnancy. If any apply to you, that comes up directly during the consultation, and Anna will discuss alternative treatment options rather than proceeding regardless.
Medications and interactions we review before dosing
Bring a complete, current medication list to your evaluation and to every session. Benzodiazepines are the most frequently discussed interaction; some research suggests concurrent benzodiazepine use may blunt ketamine's antidepressant effect, so Anna Stouffer will talk with you about timing if you take one regularly. Stimulant medications, certain blood pressure medications, and MAOIs are also reviewed given ketamine's own cardiovascular effects during the dose window. Lithium and other mood stabilizers are not a reason to avoid evaluation but do require closer coordination, particularly for the bipolar depression indication. None of this means you should stop any medication before your consultation; it means come with an accurate list, including over-the-counter supplements.
A note specific to the Lakeland drive: because you cannot drive yourself home and the return trip is 45 to 60 minutes, plan your ride and your day around feeling tired, foggy, or simply wanting to rest, rather than assuming you will be back to normal activities immediately.
Is ketamine therapy right for you? A quick self-check
Ketamine therapy is worth a real evaluation if standard treatment has had a fair trial and has not gotten you far enough, not as a first step and not as a shortcut around therapy or medication. Consider scheduling a consultation if several of the following are true:
- You have tried two or more antidepressants at adequate doses for adequate lengths of time, generally six to eight weeks each, without meaningful relief.
- You have been through trauma-focused therapy for PTSD symptoms and still struggle with intrusive symptoms, hypervigilance, or numbing.
- Your anxiety has been treated with standard medication and therapy and remains severe enough to interfere with daily functioning.
- You are not currently in acute crisis. Ketamine is not an emergency intervention; if you are in danger, call or text 988 or call 911.
- You do not have uncontrolled cardiovascular disease, uncontrolled high blood pressure, active psychosis, an untreated substance use disorder, or a pregnancy, all screened during evaluation.
- You can arrange a ride home after each session and commit to the induction schedule, even with the Lakeland to Wesley Chapel drive factored in.
None of this replaces an actual psychiatric evaluation. It is a filter to help you decide whether the drive and the consultation are worth your time.
When ketamine might not be the right next step
We would rather tell you this before you drive 45 minutes than after. If you have not yet completed a full course of first-line medication and therapy, are in acute crisis, are looking for a single one-time dose rather than a structured series, or have an unmanaged medical condition on the contraindication list, the honest recommendation is often to address that first. Ketamine is a second-line or later option, evaluated over days to weeks, not a way to skip ahead. None of this is meant to discourage a real evaluation; it is meant to set accurate expectations before you make the drive.
What the research shows, and what it does not promise
Ketamine has decades of safety data as an anesthetic, a growing but still developing evidence base for psychiatric use, and consistently rapid but individually variable antidepressant effects in clinical trials, none of which amount to a guarantee for any single patient.
Ketamine has been an FDA-approved anesthetic since the 1970s, a separate approval from its psychiatric use; the lower-dose psychiatric administration discussed on this page is off-label. It works as an NMDA receptor antagonist modulating glutamate signaling, distinct from the serotonin and norepinephrine systems most standard antidepressants target, which is part of why some patients who have not responded to those medications respond to ketamine.
A foundational randomized controlled trial (Zarate CA Jr, et al., Archives of General Psychiatry, 2006) first demonstrated ketamine's rapid antidepressant effect in treatment-resistant depression. A subsequent two-site randomized controlled trial (Murrough JW, et al., American Journal of Psychiatry, 2013) reported that 64% of participants met response criteria 24 hours after a single infusion, compared to 28% in an active midazolam control arm. An American Psychiatric Association-affiliated consensus statement (Sanacora G, et al., JAMA Psychiatry, 2017) summarized the broader evidence and outlined clinical considerations, and a later meta-analysis (Wilkinson ST, et al., American Journal of Psychiatry, 2018) found a single dose associated with a rapid reduction in suicidal ideation, a separate line of evidence from the depression-outcome research.
Group averages from clinical trials describe what happened to groups of research participants under research conditions. They are not promises about what will happen to you. Individual responses vary, not every patient responds, and ketamine is not effective for everyone who tries it, which is exactly why a real psychiatric evaluation, not a walk-in intake form, comes before any treatment decision at Ascend.
How Ascend compares to your other options
The tradeoffs are real, and we would rather you know them before you call. This compares care models, not brands.
| Option | Prescriber continuity | In-person monitoring | Integrated psychiatric care |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ascend Mind and Body (SubQ) | One PMHNP every session | Full vitals monitoring | Full psychiatric practice |
| Stand-alone IV infusion clinic | Staff may rotate between visits | In-clinic monitoring | Often ketamine only |
| At-home telehealth ketamine | Often matched, may vary | Self-administered at home | Usually stand-alone service |
| Hospital interventional psychiatry | Team-based, rotates | In-facility monitoring | Case-by-case access |
A few honest questions worth asking any provider you are considering, including us: who performs my evaluation and are they a licensed prescriber; is the same provider present for treatment sessions; what is monitored during and after dosing; and what happens if I do not respond after the induction series. A credible program has honest answers to all four.
Illustrative
Treatment happens at the Wesley Chapel suite, off SR 56 near the Wiregrass corridor. The Lakeland office handles local psychiatric medication management.
The drive from Lakeland, planned honestly
Expect 45 minutes outside rush hour and up to 60-plus minutes at peak, each way, for every in-person visit. The route is I-4 west to I-75 north, then SR 56 east to Cashford Circle. The consultation can be done by telehealth so you do not drive up twice.
Ascend Mind and Body, Wesley Chapel
27724 Cashford Circle, Suite 102
Wesley Chapel, FL 33544
Phone: (863) 510-2624
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Free parking, ground-floor suite. Get directions.
Most Lakeland patients settle into one of three patterns: a daily commute with a partner or friend driving each direction; a telehealth consult first, followed by a two- or three-night stay near the Wiregrass corridor to compress two or three induction sessions into one trip; or clustered scheduling, requesting consecutive days so the total number of travel days drops. Anna Stouffer's scheduling team will work with whichever pattern fits your job, caregiving responsibilities, and tolerance for the drive.
Approximate drive times from around Polk County
| From | Approximate drive time |
|---|---|
| North Lakeland (33809, 33810) | 40 to 45 minutes via I-4 and I-75 |
| Downtown Lakeland (33801) | 45 to 55 minutes via I-4 and I-75 |
| South Lakeland (33803, 33813) | 50 to 60 minutes via Polk Pkwy and I-4 |
| Plant City | 30 to 40 minutes via I-4 and I-75 |
| Auburndale | 50 to 60 minutes via I-4 |
| Winter Haven | 55 to 65 minutes via I-4 |
For psychiatric medication management closer to home, Lakeland patients can use the Ascend Lakeland office at 832 South Florida Avenue, Suite 1, Floor 2. Ketamine therapy specifically remains at Wesley Chapel because it requires a dedicated dose room, monitoring equipment, and a supervising provider present for the full session; duplicating that across three offices would thin out clinical coverage rather than improve it. Also see Florida telehealth for completing the consult from home, and our insurance and payment page for billing questions. For the full clinical overview, see ketamine therapy at Ascend.
The honest version: what ketamine can and cannot do
Ketamine helps a meaningful share of patients with treatment-resistant depression and select off-label conditions, but it is not fast for everyone, it is not guaranteed, and it works best as part of a broader treatment plan, not as a standalone cure.
We are not going to tell you ketamine fixes everything, that it will definitely resolve your depression or PTSD, or that any single dose is a cure. Off-label use for depression, PTSD, anxiety, and the other indications on this page is exactly that, off-label, and individual responses vary by condition, history, and how consistently you engage with the surrounding care. Some patients notice nothing meaningful across a full induction series. That is a real, expected outcome for a minority of patients, not a failure of the process.
What we can tell you: treatment-resistant depression has the strongest evidence base of anything ketamine is used for, the subcutaneous route has research supporting comparable response rates to IV with simpler delivery, and continuity of a single prescriber is what lets your dosing plan get adjusted to your actual response. Ketamine tends to work best when it is one component of ongoing psychiatric care, alongside therapy and, where appropriate, medication management, rather than in isolation.
If ketamine does not produce meaningful change, Anna Stouffer will tell you directly at your follow-up rather than defaulting to more sessions. Because Ascend is a full psychiatric practice, your care can shift to a different approach without starting your history over with a new provider elsewhere.
FAQs about ketamine therapy in Lakeland
Still deciding? These are the questions Lakeland patients ask most before they call.
Is there a ketamine clinic in Lakeland, FL?
Ascend Mind and Body's ketamine program is not physically located in Lakeland itself. We evaluate Lakeland patients and administer ketamine therapy at our Wesley Chapel clinic, about 45 to 60 minutes west via I-4 and I-75. The psychiatric consultation that determines whether ketamine is appropriate can be done by Florida telehealth from Lakeland; the treatment sessions themselves happen in person at Wesley Chapel.
Is the drive from Lakeland worth it?
That is a personal calculation. The honest answer: the drive is real, 45 to 60 minutes each way during induction. The two reasons Lakeland patients have told us it remained worth it are that a single provider runs every session rather than a rotating-tech infusion model, and the protocol is subcutaneous rather than IV. After induction, maintenance is typically less frequent, which lowers the total drive load over time.
What is the difference between ketamine therapy and ketamine infusions?
Ketamine infusion usually refers specifically to an IV drip, the method used in the original research trials and many stand-alone infusion clinics. Ascend uses subcutaneous ketamine instead, a single small injection rather than a maintained IV line. Research on subcutaneous administration has found comparable response rates to IV with a simpler delivery process. Both fall under the broader category of ketamine therapy; the route of administration is the difference.
Can ketamine help with PTSD?
It is evaluated off-label for PTSD, most often for patients who have completed trauma-focused therapy and still have significant intrusive symptoms, hypervigilance, or numbing. A randomized controlled trial found a single ketamine dose produced a significant reduction in PTSD symptom severity compared to placebo, though that trial used a single IV dose in a research setting rather than the multi-session subcutaneous protocol used here. Individual responses vary, and ketamine is typically used alongside continued PTSD therapy, not as a replacement for it.
Can ketamine help with severe anxiety?
It is evaluated off-label for severe, treatment-resistant anxiety, generally after standard medications and therapy have not provided adequate relief. A controlled trial found dose-related reductions in anxiety symptoms among patients with treatment-refractory anxiety disorders. The evidence base here is real but smaller and earlier-stage than the depression research, so this is discussed candidly during your evaluation rather than presented as a sure thing.
How many sessions will I need before I notice a difference?
The standard induction series is six sessions over two to three weeks. Some patients notice changes within the first one or two sessions; others do not see meaningful change until later in the series, or not at all. Ketamine's antidepressant effect in research settings has appeared rapidly, sometimes within 24 hours of a single dose, but that is a group average from clinical trials, not a guarantee for any individual.
What does a ketamine session feel like?
Most patients describe a dissociative or dreamlike state, a feeling of detachment from the body, mild visual changes, sometimes a sense of floating. Effects of the active medication wear off within one to two hours. You are monitored the entire time. You cannot drive afterward; arrange a ride. Common transient side effects include nausea, dizziness, and brief blood pressure or heart rate changes.
Can I get the psychiatric evaluation by telehealth so I do not drive up twice?
Yes. The initial psychiatric consultation can be done by Florida telehealth from your home in Lakeland. Most Lakeland patients complete the consult by telehealth and then drive up for the first in-person treatment session. The treatment sessions themselves are always in person at Wesley Chapel.
How long does a session take?
About 90 minutes from check-in to discharge: 10 to 15 minutes pre-session vitals, 40 to 60 minutes active dose, 20 to 30 minutes recovery observation. Add the 45- to 60-minute drive home, which you cannot do yourself, and plan to be off-duty the rest of the day.
Is ketamine addictive?
Ketamine has potential for misuse, which is why it is classified as a Schedule III controlled substance. In a supervised clinical setting with structured, clinically determined dosing, monitored by the same provider each visit, that risk is actively managed rather than left to the patient to self-regulate.
What if ketamine does not work for me?
Not every patient responds, and Anna Stouffer will tell you honestly if the induction series is not producing meaningful change. Because Ascend is a full psychiatric practice rather than a stand-alone infusion service, your care can shift to a different medication strategy, therapy referral, or other approach without starting your history over with a new provider elsewhere.
Is ketamine the same as Spravato (esketamine)?
No. Spravato is an FDA-approved intranasal spray containing only the S-enantiomer of ketamine, esketamine, self-administered under observation in a certified setting. Ascend uses racemic ketamine, the full R- and S-enantiomer mixture, by subcutaneous injection, used off-label for psychiatric indications. Research comparing the two has found broadly similar effect sizes for depression.
Can I drive myself home after a session?
No. You will not be cleared to drive after a ketamine session. Arrange a ride before you arrive; our team confirms this at check-in. For Lakeland patients, this means planning the 45- to 60-minute return trip with a driver, not attempting it yourself.
Is ketamine appropriate during pregnancy?
No. Pregnancy is one of the conditions screened during evaluation that makes ketamine therapy inappropriate. This is reviewed directly during your psychiatric consultation, along with other contraindications like uncontrolled cardiovascular disease, uncontrolled hypertension, active psychosis, and untreated substance use disorders.
Does insurance cover ketamine?
Coverage for racemic ketamine used off-label is variable and most often out-of-network. We do not bill insurance for the ketamine sessions themselves, though we can provide a superbill for potential out-of-network reimbursement. The psychiatric consultation may be partially covered by in-network psychiatric benefits depending on your plan.
What conditions does ketamine therapy treat?
Treatment-resistant depression is the primary, best-studied indication. Off-label use also includes PTSD, severe and treatment-resistant anxiety, OCD, bipolar depression with additional clinical assessment, and select chronic pain conditions like CRPS and neuropathic pain. Each is evaluated case by case during the psychiatric consultation, and none are guaranteed to respond.
Should I stay overnight near Wesley Chapel for the induction series?
Many Lakeland patients do. A two- or three-night stay along the Wiregrass corridor allows two or three induction sessions to be done back-to-back without daily I-4 round trips. The clinical protocol is identical either way; the choice is purely logistical.
Is this a Lakeland ketamine clinic, and are these infusions?
Ascend is a psychiatric practice that provides ketamine therapy, not a walk-in infusion clinic located in Lakeland itself. We use subcutaneous racemic ketamine, a small injection rather than an IV infusion drip, administered and monitored by Anna Stouffer, PMHNP-BC. Lakeland patients are evaluated and scheduled through our team, with the dosing sessions themselves at the Wesley Chapel suite.
Still have a question? Talk it through with our team.
(863) 510-2624Sources
- Zarate CA Jr, Singh JB, Carlson PJ, et al. A randomized trial of an N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist in treatment-resistant major depression. Archives of General Psychiatry. 2006;63(8):856-864.
- Murrough JW, Iosifescu DV, Chang LC, et al. Antidepressant efficacy of ketamine in treatment-resistant major depression: a two-site randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2013;170(10):1134-1142.
- Sanacora G, Frye MA, McDonald W, et al. A consensus statement on the use of ketamine in the treatment of mood disorders. JAMA Psychiatry. 2017;74(4):399-405.
- Wilkinson ST, Ballard ED, Bloch MH, et al. The effect of a single dose of intravenous ketamine on suicidal ideation: a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2018;175(2):150-158.
- Feder A, Parides MK, Murrough JW, et al. Efficacy of intravenous ketamine for treatment of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Psychiatry. 2014;71(6):681-688.
- Glue P, Medlicott NJ, Harland S, et al. Ketamine's dose-related effects on anxiety symptoms in patients with treatment refractory anxiety disorders. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 2017;31(10):1302-1305.
- Diazgranados N, Ibrahim L, Brutsche NE, et al. A randomized add-on trial of an N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist in treatment-resistant bipolar depression. Archives of General Psychiatry. 2010;67(8):793-802.
- Bahji A, Vazquez GH, Zarate CA Jr. Comparative efficacy of racemic ketamine and esketamine for depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2021;278:542-555.
- Loo CK, Galvez V, O'Keefe E, et al. Placebo-controlled pilot trial testing dose titration and intravenous, intramuscular and subcutaneous routes for ketamine in depression. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 2016;134(1):48-56.
Last medically reviewed by Anna Stouffer, PMHNP-BC on 2026-07-06.
This page is educational and does not replace an individualized clinical evaluation. Ketamine is a Schedule III controlled substance used off-label for treatment-resistant depression and select indications under physician supervision; individual responses vary and outcomes are not guaranteed. Adults 18 and older, Florida residents.
Start with an evaluation, not an assumption
Tell us what has already been tried and we will schedule a psychiatric consultation with Anna Stouffer, by Florida telehealth from Lakeland or in person at Wesley Chapel. She will tell you honestly whether ketamine is worth trying for your situation.
In crisis right now? Call or text 988 anytime. Ketamine therapy is not an emergency service.