Laura Merritt, LCSW

Laura Merritt is a licensed clinical social worker in Seattle who specialises in trauma and anxiety, with ketamine-assisted therapy and psychedelic integration among her services. Her practice, first called Golden Path Therapy, now goes by the name Transforming Trauma Institute.

Approach

Merritt has more than 20 years of clinical experience. Her postgraduate training covers EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, the Gottman Method, and Prolonged Exposure and Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD. In psychedelic care she trained in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy at Polaris Insight Center, completed the MAPS training in MDMA therapy and holds a certificate in psychedelic therapies from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She has also learned from traditional healers in Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico. Her ketamine work includes ketamine-assisted EMDR.

Who it is for

She sees adults and couples dealing with anxiety, trauma and PTSD, grief, life changes, low self-worth and the after-effects of a difficult childhood, and she offers consultation to other clinicians. Her integration clients have used psilocybin, MDMA, ayahuasca or ketamine, in settings from microdosing to festivals, and some keep ayahuasca ceremony as a regular spiritual practice.

Practical details

Her office is at 1700 Westlake Ave N in Seattle, and she sees adults and couples online in Arizona, California, Texas and Washington. An individual session lasts 53 minutes and costs $250. She works outside insurance networks but can provide a superbill for reimbursement claims. A free consultation call comes first.

Care and safety

Merritt is licensed in Washington, California and Texas. Before a planned psychedelic experience she usually suggests two or three preparation sessions on education and intention. During a course of ketamine, integration sessions run once or twice a week, followed by two or three more afterwards. She does not supply or prescribe illegal substances.