Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) for Dissociative Parts Work

Seaghan Coleman
Jun 27
5 min read

Psycholytic vs. Psychedelic Dosing — An Early Clinical Exploration

My Journey Into KAP with Clients with Complex Dissociation

I have been working with clients diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and its related diagnosis, Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, version 1B (DDNOS-1B), for many years. This work has been some of the most meaningful—and complex—I have done as a therapist.

Over the years, I have also provided individual training and consultation for agencies and clinicians working with this population. Like many trauma clinicians, though, I eventually found myself nearing burnout from the intensity of the work. At one point, I made a clear decision to stop accepting new DID/DDNOS-1B clients—to preserve my energy and balance.

One of the great challenges of this work is that resistance and denial are natural and common responses to confronting a dissociative diagnosis. Clients can understandably struggle to accept the reality of their inner system, making progress slow and complex (though deeply worthwhile).

Recently, though, I’ve noticed something exciting: I’ve had a new wave of clients presenting with remarkable openness to exploring this work. Many of them screen high on the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and their presentations are corroborated through clinical interview and the Multidimensional Inventory of Dissociation (MID). What’s striking is how ready many of these clients are to engage with their parts and to begin healing work more rapidly than I have often seen in the past.

This has renewed my interest in early clinical exploration of how Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) might support this population.

A Cautionary Note

This blog reflects early, exploratory clinical thinking—not an established, evidence-based model. The use of KAP for DID and complex trauma is an emerging field. While initial reports and experience are promising, formal research is still limited, and best practices are evolving.

The ideas below are offered to encourage thoughtful, careful experimentation by experienced trauma clinicians—not to suggest a standardized protocol.

How Dosing Works in KAP

In KAP, ketamine is prescribed by a medical prescriber in coordination with both the client and therapist. After a medical evaluation, the prescriber provides a prescription for sublingual (oral) ketamine, usually shipped directly from a compounding pharmacy to the client.

The prescriber typically provides a range of allowable doses, based on safety and clinical judgment. Within this range:

The therapist and client collaboratively select the appropriate dose for each session.
The choice of dose depends on the therapeutic purpose and goals (e.g., parts work vs. trauma processing).
The client typically self-administers the ketamine under the therapist’s supervision during the session.

This flexible approach allows each session to be individually tailored and responsive to the client’s readiness and healing journey.

Psycholytic Dosing: Building Internal Communication and Readiness for Trauma Work

Typical Range: 25–150 mg sublingual ketamine

In working with DID and complex trauma, psycholytic dosing is my primary starting point—and the cornerstone of parts work in KAP.

At this lower dose range, ketamine helps clients access dissociated parts in a gentle, safe, and grounded way—while maintaining connection to the therapist and their own ego states.

Key therapeutic functions:

Facilitates "conference room" work — creating an internal meeting space where parts can interact safely (inspired by IFS and other parts models).
Supports Internal Family Systems (IFS)-based work — helping clients dialogue with and understand their parts.
Builds capacity and coherence for EMDR preparation — helping clients achieve the stability needed to begin memory reprocessing.

Benefits:

Enables gradual, safe access to feared or exiled material.
Strengthens internal leadership (e.g., Self energy in IFS).
Supports the development of cooperation and trust between parts.
Allows parts to verbalize their stories and needs.

Best for:

Clients early in parts work.
Clients who dissociate easily or lack strong internal alliances.
Preparing for future EMDR and/or psychedelic work.

Support strategies:

Use imagery, drawing, and symbolic tools.
Practice parts mapping and journaling.
Create internal "conference room" spaces for structured dialogue.

In my clinical experience, many months of psycholytic work can lay the essential foundation for deeper healing—making EMDR and eventual psychedelic work much safer and more effective.

Psychedelic Dosing: Deep Processing and Integration (For Later Phases)

Typical Range: 200–400 mg sublingual ketamine

Psychedelic dosing is typically introduced only after a significant amount of psycholytic work has been completed and the client has developed sufficient internal coherence and leadership.

In later phases of treatment, psychedelic doses can be used to:

Process specific trauma memories (often after extensive EMDR work).
Support transpersonal and integrative experiences.
Help disrupt entrenched identity patterns and foster broader shifts in self-perception.

Benefits:

Accesses implicit memory and deeply stored emotional material.
Facilitates compassionate reframing of suffering.
Supports experiences of connection, awe, and unity that can promote integration.

Risks and considerations:

High risk of flooding or destabilization if introduced too early.
Loss of contact with parts needing co-regulation.
Requires extensive preparation and post-session integration.

Support strategies:

Start low and go slow with dosing.
Prepare clients and parts thoroughly for the experience.
Conduct post-session integration work to help parts process and understand what arose.

The Importance of Pacing and Safety

Clients with DID and complex trauma have limited capacity to tolerate overwhelming emotional material without reverting to protective dissociation strategies (freezing, amnesia, depersonalization).

Signs of flooding include:

Panic or terror.
System shutdown or withdrawal.
Rapid part switching.
Inability to remember the session.

Protective measures:

Build therapeutic trust first.
Establish internal "rules" and agreements between parts.
Use strong safety anchors and grounding practices.
Introduce psychedelic dosing only after extensive stability work.

Choosing the Right Approach: Dosing Goals by Treatment Phase

Goal	Recommended Dosing Strategy
Build internal communication and trust	Psycholytic
Increase access to dissociated parts	Psycholytic
Prepare for EMDR trauma processing	Psycholytic
Process specific trauma memory (with supports)	Psychedelic
Disrupt entrenched patterns/identity structures	Psychedelic
Facilitate transpersonal/spiritual insight	Psychedelic

Psycholytic and psychedelic dosing can be combined across the course of treatment, but psycholytic work is foundational for establishing the safety and stability required for deeper psychedelic experiences.

The Clinician’s Role

Assess system organization and part dynamics.
Help clients develop internal agreements before dosing sessions.
Use non-pathologizing language (IFS, structural dissociation, archetypal models).
Validate both cognitive insights and felt-sense experiences.
Support integration of all session material.

Conclusion

KAP offers exciting possibilities for supporting dissociative parts work—but it must be approached with caution, patience, and deep respect for the complexity of this population.

In my clinical experience, psycholytic dosing is the heart of KAP for DID—helping to build the safety, trust, and capacity required for transformative trauma processing. Psychedelic dosing, when used later and with careful preparation, may offer profound opportunities for further healing and integration.

This is early exploratory clinical work—and I share these reflections in hopes of contributing to the thoughtful development of this emerging field.

References

Brewin, C. R. (2011). The nature and significance of memory disturbance in posttraumatic stress disorder. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 7, 203–227.
Fisher, J. (2017). Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Internal Self-Alienation. Routledge.
Krystal, J. H., et al. (2019). Neurobiology of dissociation and implications for treatment. Biological Psychiatry, 85(9), 727–738.
van der Hart, O., Nijenhuis, E. R. S., & Steele, K. (2006). The Haunted Self: Structural Dissociation and the Treatment of Chronic Traumatization. W.W. Norton.
Wolfson, P., & Hartelius, G. (2015). The Ketamine Papers: Science, Therapy, and Transformation. MAPS.