Medical evaluation.
A prescriber with Ascend's ketamine program decides whether ketamine is appropriate for you. That decision is medical, and it comes before any ketamine session.
KETAMINE-ASSISTED PSYCHOTHERAPY & INTEGRATION
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and integration.
A ketamine session can bring up a lot. Therapy is where you make sense of it. Kaylee Mills Brenneman, LMHC, and Ashley Huston, RMHCI, work with patients in Ascend's medically supervised ketamine program on the therapy side: getting ready before sessions, working through what surfaced afterward, and staying on track in between.
Accepting New Patients · Therapy alongside Ascend's ketamine program
KETAMINE-ASSISTED PSYCHOTHERAPY
Therapy built around your ketamine care.
Call (863) 510-2624, or leave your details and a patient coordinator will call you back.
Got it. We will be in touch.
A care coordinator will reach out within one business day. If you would rather not wait, call (863) 510-2624.
Ketamine sessions are self-pay. Psychiatric visits can use insurance. Calls are answered Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Please don’t include medical details here; we cover those on the call.
Or call directly: (863) 510-2624
Your information is kept confidential.
Quick answer
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy at Ascend pairs ketamine sessions, given in person at the Wesley Chapel office by the prescribers in Ascend’s ketamine program, with preparation and integration therapy from Kaylee Mills Brenneman, LMHC, and Ashley Huston, RMHCI, in person or by secure video. Your therapist never prescribes or adjusts ketamine. Sessions and therapy are self-pay; psychiatric visits can use insurance.
Two parts, one plan
Medical + therapy
The medicine and the therapy are separate jobs.
Ascend's ketamine therapy program handles everything medical: the psychiatric evaluation, the decision about whether ketamine is appropriate, and the medically supervised ketamine sessions themselves. Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy is the therapy that sits around that care. Your therapist does not prescribe, give or adjust ketamine, and anything about dosing, side effects or medication goes to the ketamine team.
If you want to understand why the days after a session get so much attention, our guide Ketamine integration: why the days after matter covers it in more depth.
How it fits together
Before, during, and after.
This is how the pieces fit together. Your therapist and the ketamine team work out the details with you.
Preparation with your therapist.
You talk through what you hope to work on, what tends to come up, and a plan for the time after a session, including who will drive you home and how you will rest.
Ketamine sessions.
Your ketamine sessions happen under medical supervision with Ascend's ketamine program, as described on the ketamine therapy page.
Integration sessions.
Afterward, you and your therapist sort through what surfaced, connect it to the goals you set, and choose small, specific next steps.
What the work covers
Preparation, integration and coaching.
Support on the therapy side of your care. None of it is medical advice.
Preparation
Naming what you want to change, setting intentions, and getting ready for the emotional side of a session so it does not catch you off guard.
Request an appointmentIntegration
Making sense of the thoughts, memories or feelings that came up, and turning what you noticed into something you can use in everyday life.
Read the integration guideCoaching between sessions
Check-ins on the routines and goals you set, help spotting old patterns as they show up, and someone who knows your plan. Medication questions go to the ketamine team.
Request an appointmentOngoing therapy
When the ketamine part of your plan winds down, the therapy does not have to. Some clients continue with regular sessions, including EMDR or DBT-informed work.
About EMDR therapy
Your therapists
Who you would work with.
Kaylee Mills Brenneman, LMHC
Kaylee leads the Lakeland therapy team and is comprehensively trained in DBT, a skills-based therapy for handling intense emotions. That background shapes how she helps clients prepare for a session and hold onto what they learn afterward.
View Kaylee's profile
Ashley Huston, RMHCI
Ashley works mind-body: breathwork, body awareness and grounding alongside talk therapy. In integration, that often means paying attention to what a session left in the body as well as the mind. She practices under licensed clinical supervision.
View Ashley's profile
What it costs
Self-pay
Paying for the therapy side.
Therapy sessions are self-pay, and we provide itemized superbills you can submit to your insurer for out-of-network reimbursement. Ketamine treatment sessions are self-pay too. A patient coordinator confirms the fee with you before you book.
About the medication
What to know about ketamine.
Ketamine is a Schedule III controlled substance and should be administered only under medical supervision. In Ascend's program it is given under the supervision of a licensed prescriber for treatment-resistant depression and select indications. The full medical details, including risks and the evaluation, are on our ketamine therapy page.
Clinical Disclosures
ImportantFDA status: The racemic ketamine used at Ascend is a compounded preparation that is not FDA-approved. It is not FDA-approved for these uses.
Controlled substance: Ketamine is a Schedule III controlled substance and is administered only under medical supervision at our Wesley Chapel clinic.
Individual responses vary: Clinical studies suggest ketamine may produce improvement in depressive symptoms in some patients. Not all patients respond. There is no guarantee of response.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions.
What is ketamine-assisted psychotherapy?
It is therapy organized around ketamine treatment: preparation sessions before a ketamine session, integration sessions afterward, and support in between. At Ascend, the therapy is provided by Kaylee Mills Brenneman, LMHC, and Ashley Huston, RMHCI, and the ketamine itself is handled separately by the medical team in our ketamine program.
Will my therapist give me ketamine or change my dose?
No. Your therapist does not prescribe, give or adjust ketamine. The psychiatric evaluation, the decision about whether ketamine is appropriate, and every ketamine session are handled by the prescribers and clinical team in Ascend's ketamine program.
What does coaching mean here?
Coaching is support between sessions: checking in on the routines and goals you set, helping you notice old patterns when they come back, and keeping the plan you made with your therapist in view. It is not medical advice. Questions about medication, dosing or side effects go to the ketamine team.
Do I need to be in Ascend's ketamine program?
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy at Ascend is set up to work alongside our own ketamine program, so the medical and therapy sides can stay in touch. If you are getting ketamine somewhere else, call (863) 510-2624 and a patient coordinator will tell you what is possible.
Will therapy make ketamine work better for me?
No one can promise a particular result. Research on pairing ketamine with therapy is still developing, and individual responses vary. What therapy offers is structure: a plan going in, a place to sort through what comes up, and help turning it into changes you can keep.
Is ketamine FDA-approved?
No. Ketamine is not FDA-approved to treat depression, and the preparation used at Ascend is compounded, which is not FDA-approved for any use and has not been reviewed by the FDA for safety, effectiveness, or manufacturing quality. A licensed prescriber may still prescribe it within the standard of care. You sign an informed consent covering exactly that before a first dose.
Currently Accepting New Patients
Talk it through with our team.
Whether you are already in the ketamine program or just starting to look into it, a patient coordinator can walk you through how the therapy side works.
Therapy with Kaylee and Ashley, alongside Ascend’s ketamine program