A Comprehensive Guide to Doing Guided Imagery for Ketamine Session

Isha Method

A Comprehensive Guide to Doing Guided Imagery for Ketamine Sessions

published:

May 11, 2023

updated:

May 17, 2025

Medical experts use the dissociative anaesthetic Ketamine to treat major issues relating to mental health, including depression, at present. Ketamine therapy has become increasingly popular. However, health professionals remain responsible for their traditional clinical administration. People can achieve better therapeutic outcomes from ketamine through guided imagery, which entails relaxation techniques that use imaginary mental pictures for calming purposes. Through this article, we will present information about doing guided imagery for ketamine sessions and examine scientific evidence related to this practice. 

What Is Guided Imagery?

This technique allows individuals to develop peaceful mental images through their imagination. People utilize this technique to manage stress as well as treat pain and relieve anxiety. The visualization process happens under the guidance of knowledgeable experts who include therapists and meditation instructors.

A person learns guided imagery by following professional guidance to focus on their breath while keeping their eyes shut during a session. The guide uses a guided process where participants perceive a serene and soothing image. To manage stress, the practice requires people to see calm pictures or think about good things happening in challenging moments. ‍

Guided Imagery For Ketamine Sessions

‍Ketamine therapy benefits can be strengthened when patients use guided imagery as an additional treatment method. The antidepressant benefits of Ketamine treatment occur rapidly, but they only emerge temporarily. Ketamine benefits potentially extend due to guided imagery, which promotes relaxation and reduces feelings of anxiety.

Ketamine, as a medication, induces dissociative patterns while producing hallucinations in its users. With the routes of administration with which medicine goes into your system fast (eg. IV, IM), people might experience intense medication effects that create anxiety and distress in patients. The psychological experience of ketamine could become less intense with guided imagery because this technique provides comforting mental visuals for patients to focus on. 

How To Do Guided Imagery For Ketamine Sessions

Individuals can do guided imagery before starting their ketamine session or practice it during its duration. Every individual should practice guided imagery as an anxiety reduction method ahead of their ketamine session. Most people use relaxing imagery or positive future imagery to enhance their ketamine session results.

Each person can benefit from guided imagery when experiencing difficulty due to ketamine's dissociative effects throughout their session. The individual imagines peaceful images during the ketamine treatment session while also focusing on achieving a favorable outcome for the session. These are the steps to perform guided imagery while undergoing a ketamine session:

  1. Choose a calming mental image. This may involve imagining a relaxing scene, such as a beach or a forest, or visualizing a positive outcome to the ketamine session.
  2. Focus on your breath. Take slow, deep breaths and focus on the sensation of the breath moving in and out of your body.
  3. Begin visualizing your calming mental image. Imagine yourself in the peaceful scene or experiencing the positive outcome.
  4. Use your senses. Engage your senses by imagining the sights, sounds, smells, and textures of your calming mental image. For example, if you are imagining a beach, imagine the sound of the waves, the feel of the sand between your toes, and the smell of the saltwater.
  5. Stay with the image. Continue to focus on your calming mental image throughout the ketamine session. If you begin to feel anxious or distressed, return to the mental image to help promote relaxation.

Scientific Evidence Supporting Guided Imagery

Guided imagery shows promise in reducing anxiety because of its proven stress management effects, but scientists have conducted minimal research about its use with ketamine sessions.

The analysis of randomized controlled trials conducted by Richardson et al. (2007) demonstrated that guided imagery boasted effective results to decrease anxiety levels among patients diagnosed with cancer, along with heart disease or surgery (Richardson et al., 2007). Research by Gross et al. (2015) proved that properly administered guided imagery could decrease both anxiety and stress during dental treatment (Gross et al., 2015).

Guided imagery shows promising results when used with other treatment methods for mental health disorders, according to available evidence. Guided imagery achieved successful results in decreasing symptoms of both depression and anxiety in patients who participated in trials along with cognitive-behavioral therapy, as reported in Cavanagh et al (2014).

Currently, there is scarce research regarding guided imagery approaches for ketamine sessions, but the available evidence suggests this method helps patients feel calmer and less anxious during their medical procedures. 

Here are some examples of good YouTube guided imagery videos:

  1. Guided Meditation - Blissful Deep Relaxation
  2. 20 Minute Guided Meditation for Reducing Anxiety and Stress--Clear the Clutter to Calm Down
  3. Guided Meditation For Anxiety & Stress, Beginning Meditation, Guided Imagery Visualization
  4. Guided Meditation for Calm (Anxiety / OCD / Depression / Pain) Spoken by Michael Sealey 
  5. 🎧 Guided Sleep Meditation - Pure Deep Relaxation
  6. Deep Sleep Meditation to Calm an Overactive Mind | Reduce Anxiety and Worry | Mindful Movement
  7. Spoken Affirmations For Panic Attack, Anxiety, and to calm down. (Using the law of attraction)
  8. Mindfulness Meditation for Deep Sleep: Recovery from Insomnia & Over-Thinking (Guided Meditation)
  9. GUIDED MEDITATION - Banishing Depression
  10. Emotional and Physical Healing with Self-Love | Deep Sleep Meditation | The Mindful Movement

Conclusion

Guided imagery represents a relaxation approach that lets people use their imagination to design peaceful mental images for self-soothing. Healthcare providers use this method together with ketamine to strengthen the therapeutic actions of the medication. The practice of guided imagery helps patients relax more while receiving ketamine, while reducing their session anxiety and extending therapeutic drug benefits. The minimal data about guided imagery for ketamine sessions is supported by existing evidence on anxiety reduction and stress management through this technique, which indicates its potential effectiveness as an anxiety reduction method during ketamine treatments.

You should talk to your healthcare provider before using guided imagery as part of ketamine therapy. Healthcare providers can guide accurate utilization practices of guided imagery and validate its proper implementation for safe and effective results.

FAQs

What happens during a typical ketamine treatment session?

The medication delivery for typical ketamine treatments happens through intravenous injection, intramuscular injection, intranasal administration or oral/sublingual tablet. Medical professionals monitor your treatment while you navigate the treatment course. When patients undergo ketamine therapy, they commonly experience two distinct conditions: dreamlike states with or without images, and gaining insights into issues that they have experienced or are experiencing. The medication sessions ranges between 40 minutes to 2 hours based on treatment requirements and dosage amounts.

What can you expect after a ketamine treatment session?

Patients usually experience feeling calm and sometimes tired, which resembles waking up from deep rest after finishing the treatment. Many people are surprised to discover feelings or memories that they were not aware of and revelations that come through different thought processes and experiences during the few hours following treatment. Patients who receive ketamine treatment need rest time and are recommended to avoid driving, hard physical activities and social media usage. Patients usually show improved moods and decreased depression or anxiety symptoms, starting from hours to days, subject to their personal medical response.

What are the steps to prepare for a ketamine infusion?

An effective beginning to ketamine infusion preparation requires patients to establish treatment expectations with their healthcare provider while sharing their therapeutic objectives. A  four-hour break in eating should occur together with a two-hour drinking restriction prior to your ketamine infusion session. Comfortable attire should be worn to sessions, while relaxation items such as blankets and playlists could help you feel more comfortable. Sporting relaxation skills or mindfulness training in advance will help you develop a positive emotional state before treatment.

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