The Road Where Two Healing Paths Meet: EMDR and Ketamine Therapy

There is a moment in trauma therapy I have come to recognize. It is the moment when the body begins to release something it has held for far too long. Sometimes it shows up as a deeper breath, a softening

There is a moment in trauma therapy I have come to recognize. It is the moment when the body begins to release something it has held for far too long. Sometimes it shows up as a deeper breath, a softening around the eyes, a subtle shift in posture, or a quiet tremble that signals the nervous system finally letting go. Other times it is a warmth spreading through the chest or a gentle sense of returning to oneself after years of disconnection. These are not dramatic moments. They are tender ones. And as someone who sits with clients through the slow unwinding that happens in EMDR, I have seen how this early phase of release can feel both liberating and unsettling. The body does not rush. It unravels piece by piece, allowing what was once frozen to come back into movement.

Over the past year, I have started integrating low dose ketamine into EMDR sessions for some clients, and I have seen how this pairing can create more space for healing. Not as a shortcut and not as a replacement for the core relationship. It works as a softening. A widening of the window of tolerance that helps clients access, process, and integrate trauma with more ease.

This approach has become a meaningful intersection between modern neuroscience and the embodied somatic wisdom I have trusted for decades.  It’s important to understand how low-does ketamine work with the brain and interacts with the process of EMDR therapy.   

When given in low, sub psychedelic doses, ketamine works less like a dramatic internal shift and more like a gentle loosening agent. I often describe it as something that temporarily softens the edges of long held defenses.

In this softened state:

• The amygdala becomes less reactive

• The prefrontal cortex stays online

• The body has more safety to approach sensations and memories that usually trigger shutdown or overwhelm

What I often see, and what clients often feel, is an internal exhale and the ability to witness their painful experiences with softness, compassion, tenderness, appreciation and emotional flexibility. 

A question that comes up often is “How exactly does ketamine work in my brain?” and that curiosity is healthy.   At low doses, ketamine affects the glutamate system, specifically the NMDA receptors. These receptors play a key role in learning, memory, and neuroplasticity. By modulating these pathways, ketamine temporarily increases the brain’s ability to form new connections while softening the rigidity of old trauma based patterns. It also quiets brain regions that stay stuck in alarm, such as the amygdala, while supporting areas responsible for reflection, perspective, and regulation.

In practice, this means clients usually feel less overwhelmed, less guarded, and more open to the work. It does not force change. It simply creates more internal flexibility.

Another important mechanism involves the Default Mode Network. This is the part of the brain responsible for self -referencing, rumination, autobiographical memory, and the internal narrative voice. In trauma, the Default Mode Network can become overactive, locking the system into shame stories, fear based predictions, and rigid self-perceptions.

Low dose ketamine helps calm the Default Mode Network, creating a temporary pause in those looping narratives. When this system settles, clients often experience:

• Less self-criticism (in and outside of session)

• A more compassionate internal dialogue

• A sense of spaciousness around old memories

• A greater ability to witness their trauma instead of reliving it

This is one reason ketamine pairs so powerfully with EMDR. The mind becomes less tangled in its old narrative, and the body can lead the way toward new meaning and integration.

EMDR already taps into the brain’s natural ability to integrate traumatic material. Bilateral stimulation helps move experiences toward completion instead of recycling them in loops of fear, shutdown, or shame.

Within the neuroplastic window created by ketamine, EMDR often unfolds with more ease.  My clients have shared with me that the work feels “more approachable.”  I have observed clients who would have otherwise been emotionally flooded be able to tolerate the emotional intensity of reprocessing traumatic memories while being able to stay with one foot in the present moment and one foot as the witness to reprocessing.  As our defenses soften, so does our body and we can work through painful memories without collapsing and insight arises quickly.

Every client is unique, but I consistently hear reflections like:

• “I could stay with the memory without shutting down”

• “My chest felt open for the first time in years”

• “There was distance between me and the story”

• “My body felt safe enough to feel”

These moments are powerful. They are the quiet breakthroughs that mark real movement.  These are statements that I hear about EMDR in general.  However, for those clients who are appropriate to integrate ketamine, they might not have been able to access these shifts in this way. 

Trauma is not just a cognitive story. It is a neural and somatic imprint. When ketamine temporarily relaxes those imprints, the nervous system becomes more flexible and receptive to healing.  Ultimately this leads to greater emotional flexibility, faster shifting from pain to health inside of how client’s view themselves and a reduction in feeling overwhelmed.  All of this leads to a profound shift in internal safety. 

Ketamine does not heal trauma. EMDR does not heal trauma.  The client’s nervous system heals trauma.  These tools simply help the system do what it is naturally designed to do.

I use ketamine thoughtfully and conservatively. Ketamine is not the right fit for every client.  It’s necessary and important to have appropriate training, consultation and medical supervision/proper screening to use ketamine with EMDR.  I spend time, slowly, preparing clients for what to expect from the experience and how we will integrate the changes that come up.  It is not for everyone. It is not a trend or a quick fix. But for the right person, with the right support, ketamine can create a deeply healing opening.

We are living in a time when neuroscience, somatic therapy, and trauma informed care are coming together in powerful ways. Combining low dose ketamine with EMDR is one of the clearest places where I see these worlds meet.

For clients stuck in freeze, looping in shame, or unable to reach deeper layers of their trauma, this pairing can offer a gentle and sustainable doorway into transformation. Healing is not something we force.  Healing is something we create room for.With the right support and the right timing, that room can open wide enough for profound change to take root.

With Light and Love,

Allison