Touting the therapeutic use of psychedelic therapy from the frontlines in our own Southwest Florida backyard, MY Self Wellness, in Bonita Springs, opens their doors to anyone looking for relief from their mental health struggles through ketamine therapy. With a network of loving, conscious practitioners that help empower and assist individuals in unblocking their natural healing energies with the use of ketamine therapy, Chief Education Officer and brand ambassador Charles Patti says, “People are transcending their traumas and letting go of obstacles on the physical, psychological and spiritual levels. This is significant now because mental health care is in crisis. We have rising rates of depression, anxiety, suicide and eating disorders.” 

A December 2000 issue Journal of Personality and Social Psychology reported that in a case study by Case Western Reserve University, the average American child today reported more anxiety than juvenile psychiatric patients in the 1950s. “This study even suggested that cases of depression would continue to increase in the coming decades, as anxiety tends to predispose people to depression. Study author Jean M. Twenge, Ph.D., also noted that other implications of the findings suggested that alcohol and drug abuse would continue to be an increasing problem because anxiety usually precedes the onset of substance abuse,” says Christina Thomas, MY Self Awareness president and founder.

“One of the most talked-about benefits of ketamine for treating anxiety disorder is how quickly it works in helping remedy many unwanted symptoms. Unlike many other anxiety treatment options that take weeks or months to feel a difference, the effects of ketamine therapy can be felt within a few hours of the first treatment,” says Thomas.

Referred to as the biggest breakthrough in mental health treatment in more than 50 years, ketamine-assisted therapy is considered the safest and quickest path to seeing past traumas from a new perspective. Ketamine has been a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved general anesthetic used in hospitals and other medical settings since the 1970s. It physically remaps and restructures the neural pathways in the brain, enabling neuroplasticity, or new neuron connections in the brain, and turns on receptors which create dopamine and releases the neurotransmitter glutamate. This sets off a chain reaction within the brain which affects thinking and emotional regulation.

In simple terms, the brain reacts to ketamine in a way that triggers hormones that help create feel good emotions. This effect occurs quickly after a person receives their treatment, but some people may need several treatments before they experience the highest level of benefits. There is a connection between healing our trauma and rewiring our nervous system. Psychedelics can be a useful tool when done in a safe setting, incorporating integrative practices that assist the individual in the long term. “The journey is not in the medicine, but where it takes what we have experienced and brings it into daily practice,” says Patti.

In a recent 60 Minutes interview regarding his new book, Spare, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, disclosed to Anderson Cooper that with the help of a therapist, he had used psychedelics to deal with the anxiety that plagued him after the loss of his mother, Princess Diana. Advising that he wouldn’t recommend anyone use psychedelics recreationally, but rather with the right professionals when suffering from loss or the grief of trauma, he said, “These things have way of working as a medicine. They cleared the windshield, the misery of loss.”

According to Patti, one recent MY Self Wellness patient, Maura, advised that after being on a cocktail of psychiatrist drugs for more than 22 years, in therapy for 37 years and undergoing 16 ECT treatments all by the age of 43, she could say with complete certainty that she’d gotten more out of six ketamine sessions than all of that combined. “Ketamine has saved my life. After losing my son unexpectedly 10 months ago, to trying to cope with a lifetime of trauma, I felt so hopeless. After completing six ketamine sessions, some in which I had visions of my deceased son, I’ve been shown my deep-rooted trauma that I would have never seen if not for ketamine. After completing six sessions, I decided to continue my healing journey with ketamine. My entire perspective on life, of myself, my grief and my purpose are so much clearer than ever before. I have also been able to come off two out of the five psychiatric medications I was taking. I have a newfound level of conciseness that I would never have found without the assistance of ketamine therapy, Dr. Ferber, Charles, Christina, Jess and Rachelle, who always make me feel so loved and so safe, always supporting me in my journey since day one.” 

“An excellent tool for meditation, ketamine calms the mind and shuts down the thinking process, making it an excellent tool for meditation. You can achieve in an hour what it takes a Buddhist monk years of meditation to achieve. We are very much about a personal touch and holding our client’s hand through their wellness journey. In our beautiful facility, which has a very soothing ambiance, we combine the healing benefits of ketamine with new lifestyle practices for a full mental reset. We help you get back to wellness so you can live a happy and joy-filled life again,” explains Patti.

MY Self Wellness is located at 3541 Bonita Bay Blvd., Ste. 200, in Bonita Springs. For more information, call 239-908-9958 or visit MySelfWellness.center.