Ajona Olsen, a local nurse practitioner, has opened her own ketamine assisted psychotherapy private practice at the Arizona Healing Collective, 1845 S. Dobson Road No. 211 in Mesa.

Ketamine assisted psychotherapy is a therapeutic method of treatment used to address a variety of mental health conditions, including depression, post-traumatic stress, chronic pain, addiction and anxiety, according to a release.

Using ketamine, a synthetic pharmaceutical compound, ketamine assisted psychotherapy may facilitate psychedelic experiences such as expanded consciousness. It is suggested that ketamine stimulates the regrowth of synapses, the connections between neurons, to effectively rewire the brain to think of the person’s mental health differently, which over time improves their mental health. Ketamine is an FDA-approved anesthetic and is currently the only legal psychedelic medicine available for licensed healthcare providers for the treatment of emotional suffering, the release states.

Olsen began her career in health care in 2001 as a registered nurse in the hospital and in 2006 became a nurse practitioner and continued working in corporate medicine. Her career path changed when she found ketamine assisted psychotherapy in 2021 and decided to open her own private practice.

“I have done the research and have seen the healing power that ketamine and psychedelics provide, which is why I am so excited to be opening my very own ketamine assisted psychotherapy private practice,” Olsen said in the reease. “This practice will serve those who are on a journey toward healing, and, in turn, I have found my own happiness through healing myself and my loved ones.”

Ketamine assisted psychotherapy administers low doses of ketamine where patients are likely to experience mild anesthetic, anxiolytic, antidepressant and psychoactive effects. The ketamine experience is different and unique for each patient as they undergo therapy in a comfortable, tranquil room that creates the perfect setting for psychedelic exploration, the release states.

Ketamine has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for medical use as an anesthetic since 1970. Ketamine is safe for use in people within a wide age range when taken correctly and in medical settings, it states.

For more information about Ajona Olsen and her ketamine assisted psychotherapy clinic, go to ajonaolsen.com.