TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A study from Mass General Brigham found that 55% of individuals receiving ketamine treatment reported improvements in depressive symptoms.
In light of these promising results, efforts are underway to make this treatment more accessible. In Tucson, a local collaboration of therapy providers conducted a groundbreaking trial to provide ketamine therapy to first responders suffering from trauma.
Cathexis Psychedelics partnered with Sequoia Springs Trauma Healing Center to conduct a four-week trial involving ketamine injections paired with group talk therapy and sand tray therapy.
The trial aimed to address PTSD and anxiety, conditions that have long plagued many first responders. The study’s participants included former firefighters and ER nurses.
The emotional end of the trial saw significant improvements for participants like Susan "Sam" Major, a retired ER trauma nurse, who shared her deeply personal story.
“My sons were killed through arson,” Major said. “Being that they’re all firemen, it was so significant.”
Major described how the ketamine treatments allowed her to feel her sons' presence, bringing her a sense of peace.
“We have to give up that control and just surrender,” she said. “And the ketamine is what facilitates that letting go.”
Another participant, Owen Hardy, a retired fire captain, had struggled with job-related PTSD for years.
“It’s been an amazing transformation in a short period of time,” Hardy said. “I’ve stopped taking two different medications that I’ve been taking for years.”
Jeff Galbraith, a retired coin dealer who participated in the study, said that his anxiety had gotten to the point where he was unable to leave the house. This left him trying to find solutions for years of traditional therapy with few results.
“I’ve had severe anxiety my whole life and I’ve never been able to get rid of it or even reduce it,” Galbraith said. “When I heard about ketamine, I thought it might help calm that down.”
He describes his first ketamine experience as like being in “another dimension.”
“I was in a forest walking,” he says of his experience. “I could visualize the problems I was having in my life and focus on another path to take. It opens your mind to other alternatives.”
Throughout the four weeks, participants all said that the group grew close despite many having anxiety leading up to the trial.
“It was pretty special. We all clicked really fast,” said Mike Fielder, a former paramedic and firefighter who participated in the study. “We all let our guards down real fast. The second week, we had our first session with the ketamine and after that, everybody was like ‘this is real.”
Fielder says that he had issues he had carried around since junior high melt away immediately following the treatment. This was an experience he hadn’t been able to achieve through years of traditional therapy.
The trial combined ketamine injections with innovative therapies such as sand tray therapy, where participants used miniature figurines to express and process their experiences.
Tim Mills, Clinical Director and CEO of Cathexis who ran the study, explained the significance of this approach.
“You start to realize the story that you’re telling in the sand and the meaning of those figurines,” Mills said. “Much like dream work, the unconscious comes to the conscious.”
This holistic treatment, typically costing up to $2,000, was provided free of charge during the trial. Along with Cathexis and Sequoia Health, additional funding was provided by Thank You Life, a nonprofit that provides financial aid for psychedelic therapy to treat depression.
Despite evidence of positive effects in treating trauma, ketamine treatments are not covered under most health insurance plans. This motivated Mills to push for the study, hoping that the results would encourage health authorities like the FDA to consider its application in therapeutic practices.
The participants also expressed hope for broader acceptance of ketamine therapy in the medical field.
“I really would love to see this mainstream,” Major said. “Insurance needs to be aware too.”
Mills plans to present the findings from this trial at the Denver Psychedelic Science Conference next June.
He is optimistic about the future of similar trials and hopes to continue this work in the next six months.
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Joel Foster is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9 who previously worked as an English teacher in both Boston and the Tucson area. Joel has experience working with web, print and video in the tech, finance, nonprofit and the public sectors. In his off-time, you might catch Joel taking part in Tucson's local comedy scene. Share your story ideas with Joel at joel.foster@kgun9.com, or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram or X.
