Transcend Health Solutions

Transcend Health Solutions is a ketamine therapy clinic in Austin, Texas, with a second clinic in San Antonio, that gives IV ketamine with psychotherapy before, during and after each infusion. It says it is owned and run by veterans and first responders.

Approach

The medical director and co-founder, Dr Cord Cunningham, is a board-certified emergency medicine physician and US Army Reserve colonel who has used ketamine in emergency care since 2003. The other founder, Will Ratliff, a nurse and former flight medic, runs operations and says he has facilitated more than 5,000 infusions. In each session a therapist trained in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy sets goals beforehand, works with the client during the infusion and helps with integration afterwards, while a registered nurse adjusts the IV pump in real time. The dose aims to keep clients lucid enough to talk. In Team KAP, two or three matched patients have their infusions together with two nurses and one therapist.

Who it is for

The clinic treats adolescents to seniors with treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, bipolar disorder, suicidal thoughts, problem drinking, postpartum depression and chronic pain, including complex cases. It reports that about 83 per cent of clients no longer have clinically significant symptoms after six to ten sessions.

Practical details

Pricing is based on income: Team KAP sessions start at $325, financing is available through Care Credit, and veterans and first responders get a discount. A visit takes about two hours, the infusion 35 to 50 minutes. Clients fast for three hours first and need a ride home.

Care and safety

Every client has a therapy intake and a medical intake first, and with consent the team coordinates with their own therapist and psychiatrist. Stimulants, benzodiazepines and medicines such as Lamictal may need to be paused, as they can blunt the treatment. No ketamine leaves the clinic.