Into the SomaVerse is our weekend ketamine retreat: three days of medically guided group journeying in Lawrence, Kansas, with integration group work, expressive arts, shared meals and preparation woven through the weekend. It’s for adults who want concentrated, communal healing work with certified psychedelic therapists, a guide and medical support close at hand.
In Anissa’s words, “sometimes healing invites us to explore beyond familiar approaches.” Some people describe spiritual experiences. Others say it felt like pressing a reset button on patterns they’d been carrying for decades. Many simply rest more deeply than they have in years. Two post-integration sessions afterward help the weekend take root.
The retreat meets in Lawrence, where our group space is: a house at 616 Kentucky Street, a few blocks from Massachusetts Street. Retreats run several times a year. We don’t list dates far ahead, so text “SomaVerse” to (785) 615-1995 or email SomaVerse@mbhealingcollective.org to hear about the next weekend.
A retreat might fit if…
- Weekly appointments keep getting swallowed by work, kids and errands, and you want a few days set apart for yourself.
- You’ve done individual ketamine sessions and wonder what happens when the work is held by a group.
- You feel isolated in what you’re carrying, and the idea of healing alongside other people sounds steadying rather than scary.
- You’re drawn to psychedelic retreats but want something legal, medically screened and close to home.
- You live in Kansas City, Topeka or across the Missouri line and can get to Lawrence for a weekend.
- You learn best by immersion: one long, focused stretch instead of a little at a time.
What is a ketamine retreat?
A ketamine retreat is a short, immersive program where a small group takes several ketamine sessions over consecutive days, with preparation, processing and rest woven between them. Instead of one session a week for two months, the work happens in one held stretch of time.
At SomaVerse, the weekend uses the same sublingual troches as our individual ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) program. What changes is the container: a shared house, a circle of 6–10 people, and a trained ketamine team that stays with the group from the first morning to the closing circle.
Why choose a weekend retreat over weekly sessions?
Momentum is the main reason. In weekly work, ordinary life rushes back in between sessions. Over a weekend, each session builds on the one before, and you don’t have to switch back into work mode in between.
The group matters too. Hearing someone else name a grief you thought only you carried can be as healing as anything the medicine shows you. You’re never required to share, but most people find the witnessing powerful.
There’s a trade-off. A retreat leaves less time between doses to try new insights out in daily life, so follow-up support matters more afterward, not less. If you’d rather go slowly, weekly group ketamine therapy or individual sessions may suit you better.
Are ketamine retreats legal in Kansas?
Yes, when they’re run the way ours is. Ketamine is a Schedule III medication that licensed medical providers can prescribe. Every participant has their own medical evaluation and their own prescription before the weekend, and the medicine is used under medical oversight.
That’s the key difference from the psilocybin and ayahuasca retreats people travel abroad for. Those substances are Schedule I under federal law and illegal in Kansas and Missouri. A ketamine retreat lets you do deep, psychedelic-style work without leaving the state or breaking the law.
One honest caveat: using ketamine for mental health is off-label, and troches are compounded medications that the FDA hasn’t evaluated for psychiatric use. Read more in is ketamine therapy legal in Kansas and Missouri?
Three days of group journeying
Each day of the weekend centers on group journeying: the circle takes ketamine together, under medical oversight, and rests into the experience side by side. Your dose always stays within what our medical team has approved for you.
Every journey is followed by integration group work and expressive arts, so nothing gets stacked on top of something unexamined. Making something with your hands can say what words can’t yet. And deeper isn’t automatically better. Research on whether the intensity of a ketamine experience predicts results is mixed, so a gentler journey can still be meaningful work.
What the research does and doesn’t say
We want to be straight with you: there are no peer-reviewed outcome studies of ketamine retreats specifically. The closest evidence comes from group ketamine-assisted therapy, and it’s still early.
A Canadian community-of-practice program for healthcare workers with PTSD and depression reported improvements in anxiety, depression and PTSD screens across three cohorts. A 2025 case series of healthcare workers and first responders in groups of six reported lower depression, anxiety, PTSD and burnout scores, with few adverse events. Both are observational, with no control group. We think the format is promising, and we won’t call it proven.
Longer and destination retreats
Alongside the weekend format, SomaVerse occasionally offers a longer 6-day, 5-night retreat in a nature-rich setting, with ketamine sessions, integration circles, somatic practices, holistic therapies and shared meals. Now and then we also plan destination retreats.
Dates and prices for these aren’t published yet. If you’d like to hear first, text or email us and ask to join the retreat interest list.
After the weekend: the SomaVerse Booster Group
Once you’ve completed a SomaVerse program, including the retreat, you can return for the SomaVerse Booster Group: a group journey for 6–10 people to revisit and deepen the work, $150 per person. Booster groups meet in Lawrence, where our group space is.
Text “SomaVerse” to (785) 615-1995 for upcoming dates. Between boosters, integration groups ($20) and group ketamine therapy keep the circle going.
What the weekend costs
Into the SomaVerse is $999 per participant. That includes your ketamine prescription, three days of group journeying, integration group work, expressive arts, meals, preparation and two post-integration sessions after the weekend.
Your medical evaluation is billed separately, and we file insurance for it where it applies. For comparison, a single IV infusion often costs $350 to $700 or more. See every SomaVerse option on our pricing page.
