Soft Reboot Wellness

Soft Reboot Wellness is a physician-led ketamine infusion clinic in Menlo Park, on the San Francisco Peninsula, offering IV ketamine therapy, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and stellate ganglion block treatment. Its founder, Dr. Sara Herman, personally gives and monitors every treatment.

Approach

Herman is a board-certified anaesthesiologist and integrative medicine physician who trained in anaesthesiology at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital and has administered ketamine since 2007. Her psychedelic training includes the MAPS programme in MDMA therapy, a certificate from the California Institute of Integral Studies, Internal Family Systems and work with Dr. Phil Wolfson’s Ketamine Training Center. She adjusts each infusion to the patient’s response and feedback. Sessions usually run weekly, leaving time to process between them, and the clinic coordinates care with patients’ own therapists and doctors.

Who it is for

Its conditions range from treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, OCD and PTSD to burnout, insomnia, chronic pain, long COVID with dysautonomia and mood symptoms around perimenopause. Patients come from across the Bay Area and Northern California, and from other states.

Practical details

The first consultation with a physician costs $750, and patients who go ahead are asked to commit to at least two IV sessions, at $950 each. Each session includes two hours in the clinic, coaching from a certified psychedelic coach (one 60-minute preparation call and two 30-minute integration calls), an eye mask, a journal and mood tracking in the Osmind app. Stellate ganglion block costs $2,000 for a first treatment. The clinic is at 825 Oak Grove Ave and opens on weekdays from 9am to 5pm.

Care and safety

Before treatment, patients fill in an intake packet on their medical and psychiatric history, medications and supplements, with consent forms, and then have a virtual or in-person consultation. A ride-home agreement is part of the paperwork.