Nushama also has “integration specialists,” who meet with patients to discuss their intentions before an infusion session, visit them during treatment to see how things are going, and return at the end of the session. But, according to Radowitz, these companions are not certified health providers but “are more like caregivers.”
Trip’
The clinic’s 18 treatment rooms are named after pioneers of psychedelic medicine, such as Ram Dass. Patients are given an eye mask and headphones to listen to spoken meditations and instrumental music by Deuter, a German New Age instrumentalist, who mixes Eastern and Western musical elements.
Each room has a zero-gravity leather lounge chair with a huge red button on the armrest to call a nurse to stop the drip, in an emergency. Ketamine can raise a person’s blood pressure and heart rate, explained Iosifescu, the New York University scholar, and some people feel sickness o discomfort during infusions; might as well trigger episodes of psychosis. For someone with an eating disorder, a condition Nushama claims to treat, this is a heightened risk because they are more likely to have heart problems due to their poor diet, Iosifescu said.
At the end of treatment, an integration specialist like James Gangemi, a 32-year-old former marketer, takes over. “After the experience, you are left thinking: ‘What do I do now? How do I deal with traffic or my colleagues?’” described Gangemi, who came to this profession through his own use of psychedelics. He talks to each patient about what their experience was like; he sometimes does breathing exercises with them. A doctor also checks his vital signs, monitors his heart rate and blood pressure.
Patients are invited to stay for a moment, read or journal about the experience—they can order something from a menu that offers mint tea, fresh fruit, and granola bars—and are encouraged to bring someone to help them to return home. Most stay for about an hour, Radowitz said, but can leave after a brief medical evaluation and a 15- to 20-minute meeting with the integration specialist.
MAPS’s Ginsberg expressed concern about the short amount of time Nushama monitors patients.