Silvia Popa, MA, LMFT
About
Silvia Popa is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT 154949) practising in Montecito and Santa Barbara, California, in person and by telehealth. Besides individual, couples and family therapy, she offers EMDR, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and psychedelic integration.
Approach
Her base is depth and transpersonal psychology, into which she blends EMDR, Internal Family Systems, art and drama therapy, CBT and somatic methods, fitted to each person. She holds an MA in counselling psychology from PGI, with further training in somatic trauma therapy, somatic Jungian psychology and IPI psychedelic therapy. Before this she worked in multinational business management and cultural PR, and lived in Romania and around Europe.
Who it is for
She sees adults, couples and families, and lists trauma, relationships, daily stress and transpersonal experiences among the issues she works with. Her site presents ketamine-assisted psychotherapy for treatment-resistant depression, anxiety and PTSD. Integration sessions suit people preparing alone for a psychedelic experience or making sense of one afterwards.
Practical details
Individual sessions last 75 minutes and cost $200. Couples and family sessions last 90 minutes for $250, and EMDR sessions of 90 minutes are $300. Psychedelic integration costs $200 for 90 minutes, and the first 15-minute call is free. She issues superbills and works with Aetna, Optum, UnitedHealthcare and Cencal.
Care and safety
Ketamine-assisted work starts with a consultation on medical history, symptoms and goals. The ketamine is prescribed by Samantha Lau (PMHNP-BC, FNP-BC) after her own medical intake, and comes from a designated pharmacy. The protocol is at least two preparation sessions ($180 for 75 minutes), a ketamine session ($350) of 45 minutes’ preparation, an hour with the medicine and 45 minutes’ integration, then integration sessions within three days. She states that she does not provide or support illegal substance use, and refers out conditions beyond her scope.
Practices
Listed in the FTO directory. Publication in the FTO directory does not constitute an endorsement of a provider, service, event, or practice.
