Karen Stewart, LCSW

Karen Stewart, a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and Internal Family Systems therapist based in Santa Barbara County, California, specialises in preparation and integration around psychedelic experiences and in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP). All her therapy is online, for clients living in California or Colorado, where she is also licensed.

Approach

Stewart has more than 30 years of experience in mental health, from community services and addiction treatment to hospital psychiatric emergency care, and spent ten years as a mental health specialist with Doctors Without Borders in Asia and Africa. She is trained to Level 3 in IFS, is a certified mindfulness meditation teacher and a certified addictions counsellor in Colorado, and also uses somatic experiencing and psychodynamic work with an intergenerational lens. In integration therapy no psychedelics are given and she is not present during the experience; she will not find or suggest guides, substances or ceremonies. She draws on her own long recovery from drugs and alcohol and her experience as a psychonaut.

Who it is for

She identifies as queer and puts weight on safer spaces for LGBTQIA+ clients. Other specialties include trauma, grief and loss, gender identity, and immigrant and refugee clients. She also offers clinical consultation to therapists on IFS and psychedelics.

Practical details

Therapy usually takes 4 to 12 sessions at $200 an hour, paid privately without insurance, and a few sliding-scale places exist. A free 20-minute consultation comes first, and new clients complete an intake form before the first session. Group consultation for professionals costs $75 per person for 90 minutes.