A Pilot Study Comparing a Community of Practice Program with and without Concurrent Ketamine-Assisted Therapy

• Published in: Journal of psychoactive drugs 2024-11, Vol.56 (5), p.627-636
• Main Authors: Tsang, Vivian W. L., Ragazan, Dragos C., Kryskow, Pamela, Walsh, Zach, Dames, Shannon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Anxiety; Anxiety - drug therapy; Combined Modality Therapy; Communities of practice; Community of Practice; depression; Depression - drug therapy; Female; Humans; Ketamine; Ketamine - administration & dosage; Male; Middle Aged; Pilot Projects; Post traumatic stress disorder; Psychotherapy, Group - methods; Retrospective Studies; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - drug therapy; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - therapy; therapy; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 0279-1072; 2159-9777; 2159-9777
• DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2023.2253798

The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has increased among healthcare providers, while the effectiveness of conventional treatments remains limited. Ketamine-assisted therapy offers a promising alternative; however, few have integrated ketamine with a group-based therapeutic modality. We report a retrospective, secondary analysis of a 12-week pilot of a Community of Practice (CoP) oriented group therapy program with optional, adjunct ketamine for depression, anxiety, and PTSD in a sample of 57 healthcare providers. All participants moved through the treatment as one group, with 38 electing to also receive three adjunct ketamine sessions in addition to the weekly CoP. Symptoms were assessed at baseline and pilot completion with the PHQ-9 for depression, GAD-7 for anxiety, and PCL-5 for PTSD. We observed significant reductions in the mean change among all participants, suggesting that benefit was derived from the CoP component, with or without ketamine as an adjunct. PHQ-9 scores decreased by 6.79 (95% CI: 5.09-8.49, p