Linnea Butler, LMFT

Linnea Butler is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) in Campbell, California, and the founder of Bay Area Mental Health, a group practice on Winchester Boulevard where she also sees clients. Her own focus is ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP), trauma therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) and somatic psychotherapy.

Approach

Butler worked as a genetics researcher in the pharmaceutical industry and then in biotech marketing before training as a therapist, and she says she has spent years treating serious conditions such as schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. At the practice, ketamine is taken as a lozenge in a three-hour session: the first 45 to 90 minutes are the medicine experience, and the rest is spent working through it with the therapist, who stays throughout. Dosing starts low and rises slowly, and integration may draw on parts work, meditation, journaling and expressive arts.

Who it is for

The practice works with people who have been through extreme experiences, for instance childhood trauma that led to PTSD or complex PTSD, and with severe depression or anxiety. It sees tweens, teens and adults, and also runs DBT skills groups, groups for survivors of sexual abuse and a neurodivergence group.

Practical details

Sessions are in person in Campbell or by telehealth, and KAP can also be done online for clients who qualify. A KAP session costs $650 to $850, a 90-minute extended intake $300 and a standard 50-minute session $185 to $250. The practice does not bill insurance directly, but clients can claim out-of-network benefits. A free phone consultation comes first.

Care and safety

Candidates for KAP are screened for risk factors such as heart or kidney problems, psychosis and dissociative disorders. They then need separate psychological and medical assessments, and a psychiatric assessment for KAP costs $500 to $550.