Dr. Nick Brüss, LMFT

Dr Nick Brüss is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Santa Monica, California, who offers ketamine-assisted Internal Family Systems therapy as a concierge programme, along with IFS therapy, coaching and psychedelic integration. He is also a researcher and trainer in psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Approach

In IFS he helps clients get to know the parts behind their patterns, such as an inner critic or a part that shuts down, without treating them as illness. He has offered IFS since 2013 and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy since 2017, and combines them in four to eight-week programmes with weekly ketamine and integration sessions and daily practices. He treated and supervised in the MAPS Phase III study of MDMA for PTSD, and served as lead therapist in Compass Pathways’ Phase III psilocybin study for treatment-resistant depression. He co-founded the Psychedelic Coalition for Health, trains therapists for TheraPsil and volunteers with the Zendo Project.

Who it is for

His site names anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, shame, self-criticism and life transitions. Psychotherapy is open to residents of California, New York, Texas and Colorado, where he is licensed, while coaching and integration are available worldwide.

Practical details

A sample programme runs about three months: preparation sessions and a psychiatrist consultation, then six ketamine sessions, each followed within three days by integration. Prices are not published. In Colorado, where voters decriminalised personal psilocybin use for adults over 21 in 2022, he offers counselling and support for clients’ own use within the state’s rules.

Care and safety

Each plan is made with a trusted psychiatrist. Lozenge sessions take place online with an emergency contact nearby, and intramuscular sessions are in person with a member of a medical team. He is available by text between sessions and does not answer requests for illegal substances or underground referrals.