Preparing for ketamine therapy means tending to your “set” (your mindset, hopes and fears) and your “setting” (the room, the music and the people around you), and naming an intention to guide the session. Good preparation won’t control what happens, but it helps you meet whatever comes.
At SomaVerse, preparation is built into every ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) program through a pre-treatment therapy assessment and a session with a ketamine wellness guide. This page gathers what we teach in those meetings, including founder Anissa Pfannenstiel’s approach to intention-setting, so you can start before you walk in.
You might be here because…
- You’ve booked your first ketamine therapy session and want to do it well.
- You keep hearing “set and setting” and want to know what it means in practice.
- You’re stuck on what your intention should be, or worried you’ll choose the wrong one.
- You’ve completed our main program, been approved for supported sessions at home, and want your space ready.
- You’re the support person and want to know how to help without hovering.
Why preparation matters
Researchers who study psychedelics have long argued that context, meaning a person’s mindset and environment, strongly shapes what a session feels like and what comes of it. A 2018 paper by Carhart-Harris and colleagues made that case for classic psychedelics, and clinicians apply the same thinking to ketamine.
The structure of preparation, session and integration also has history in ketamine research: a 2002 trial of ketamine psychotherapy for heroin addiction built every session around it. To be honest about the evidence, no study has isolated preparation on its own as the active ingredient. It’s best practice recommended by experts and by long clinical experience, not a proven formula.
In everyday terms, preparation lowers fear. When you know what to expect and have chosen what you’re turning toward, surprises feel less like threats and more like information.
Setting a ketamine intention
An intention is a short, honest statement of what you’re opening to. Anissa Pfannenstiel, LSCSW, who directs SomaVerse, describes it as setting the coordinates for an inner navigation system: it doesn’t guarantee where you’ll land, but it helps orient you when things feel unfamiliar.
She suggests three moves. First, make quiet space to listen inward, through breath, journaling, a walk or meditation, and ask what is calling for attention and which patterns you’re ready to shift. Second, speak from the heart rather than the fix-it mind: instead of “I want to get rid of my anxiety,” try “I want to understand where my anxiety comes from.” Third, keep it simple. A few words, like “I open to love,” are enough.
- An anchor to return to when the session feels intense
- A light when the way forward feels unclear
- An offering of trust to your own inner wisdom
- A container for what you’re ready to explore
Set: your mindset in the days before
Notice what you’re carrying into the session. Write down your hopes and your fears, and bring both to your preparation meeting. Fear named out loud tends to shrink, and your therapist or guide can help you plan for it.
Protect your nervous system in the days leading up. Sleep as well as you can, move your body, spend a little time outside, and limit alcohol, which we ask you to avoid entirely the day before and the day of. If a big stressor lands, like a conflict or bad news, tell your team. Sometimes it’s wiser to reschedule.
Setting: the room, in office and later at home
Everyone begins in office. At our offices in Lawrence, Overland Park and Topeka, the setting is ready for you: a private, quiet room with a reclining seat or mat, blankets, eye shades and music, and a therapist or guide nearby. Your job is simply to arrive.
Once you’ve completed at least our main program with us and are medically approved, you may be approved to continue troche sessions at home. For a supported session at home, create a space that feels both safe and soft. Choose a room where you won’t be interrupted, silence your phone, and set out a blanket, pillow, eye shade, water and a small bowl in case of nausea. Make sure the bathroom is close and the path to it is clear. Keep your troches stored securely and take only the dose you were prescribed.
Your support person should be a sober adult who stays in the home for the whole session and the rest of the day. They don’t need to do much: sit nearby, help you to the bathroom, and contact your medical provider or emergency services if something seems wrong.
Music as a guide
Music often becomes the thread you follow through a session. Instrumental, ambient or gently rhythmic music tends to work best; lyrics in a language you understand can pull your thinking mind back in. Headphones help you turn inward, especially at home.
Choose your playlist ahead of time so you don’t have to touch your phone mid-session. Our ketamine resources page lists playlists our clients use, including ones designed for psychedelic-assisted therapy. If a track ever feels wrong in the moment, you or your guide can simply change it.
Medical preparation: tell us everything
Before any dose, our medical provider needs an accurate picture of your health. Share every medication and supplement, any blood pressure or heart history, past substance use, and any history of psychosis or mania. Benzodiazepines and lamotrigine, for example, can blunt ketamine’s effects, and alcohol or sedatives add risk.
Follow the eating instructions you’re given, which often include a light meal several hours before. Arrange your ride home, since you can’t drive for the rest of the day. Read our ketamine safety guide for the fuller picture.
Holding the intention lightly
During the session, let the intention go once you’ve said it. You don’t need to steer. Sometimes the experience reflects your intention directly; other times it takes a different route entirely, and that can be just as meaningful.
Afterward, come back to it. Journal about how it showed up, or didn’t. What did you learn? What felt unfamiliar but important? How might you keep living into it? Bring those notes to your integration session or group, where the intention starts to take root in daily life.
