We treat mental
illness with
psychedelic-assisted therapy

Ketamine-assisted therapy proceeds in several steps, from the initial meeting through psychiatric and physical assessments and preparatory meetings to the actual ketamine experience and subsequent integration sessions. You can read what the individual steps entail in more detail on this subpage dedicated to the specifics of ketamine-assisted therapy.

The foundation of ketamine-assisted therapy is to combine the benefits of psychotherapy with the pharmacological effects of ketamine in order to capitalize on the potential of both modalities. Ketamine has a direct anxiolytic and antidepressant effect. At the same time, it induces a state of expanded consciousness – a state of altered perception, thought, and experience, where one often comes into contact with a whole range of emotions and memories that are less accessible in the normal state of consciousness. This experience is then integrated into everyday life.

To put this in simpler terms: taking ketamine alone can make you feel better for a few days; however, your issues are likely to return. If you go to psychotherapy, it is possible that, despite all your efforts, you will not be able to resolve some problems, typically those that are lodged very deep within. And this is something that can happen in a ketamine session. Thus, ketamine-assisted therapy combines ketamine and psychotherapy to achieve longer-term relief and even greater improvement in mental health.

The risks associated with ketamine therapy are very low. Its safety has been demonstrated over more than 50 years of clinical experience in anesthesiology. In addition, the doses used to induce altered states of consciousness are approximately 5–10 times lower. Each client can discuss all possible risks and benefits individually with our doctors. Like any drug, ketamine has its package information leaflet (in Czech only) detailing all the information about the medication, including possible risks.

Ketamine does not cause addiction or dependence when administered as part of ketamine-assisted therapy. Our experience as well as that of other institutions shows that thanks to the therapeutic environment the clients do not need to abuse the substance on their own at all. To cause addiction and/or dependence, ketamine would have to be used regularly, practically on an everyday basis, over a very long period of time.

We currently have contracts with the following insurance companies:

•  Všeobecná zdravotní pojišťovna (111)
•  ZP Škoda (209)
• Vojenská zdravotní pojišťovna (201)
• Česká průmyslová zdravotní pojišťovna (205)
• Zdravotní pojišťovnou Ministerstva vnitra ČR (ZP MV ČR 207)
• Oborovou zdravotní pojišťovnou (OZP 211)
• RBP (213)

Clients of these insurance companies are fully covered for most of our psychiatric outpatient services and psychotherapy. Ketamine-assisted therapy is covered partially but to a significant degree. For detailed information on insurance coverage please see our price list. We are working hard to establish partnerships with more insurance companies. For information on newly acquired contracts, please follow our website or Facebook.

We also have a subsidy program which aims to make our services more accessible to people who cannot afford the standard prices. In this program, a client can apply for a subsidy or reimbursement of the treatment.

In general

As with any treatment, the results of ketamine-assisted therapy are always an individual matter. Here are a few facts that can give you a general idea.

• Three-quarters of our clients feel a positive and beneficial change at the end of treatment. A large number of them feel immediate relief already on the day of administration. This direct pharmacological effect of ketamine may gradually wear off, which is why we do intensive work with the experience in follow-up psychotherapy sessions.
• For some people, the time after the ketamine session can actually be rather challenging due to the resurfacing of difficult mental content that needs to be further processed (e.g. repressed emotions, memories, etc.). This is a normal and natural part of the treatment. Our therapy team will help you work through these issues to improve your mental health.
• After the completion of treatment, however, both of these groups of clients share the belief that what they experienced in KAT has been meaningful for them.
• From the perspective of psychotherapy, ketamine-assisted therapy affects the clients positively also because it facilitates change – put simply, it sets things in motion. This allows the client to see problems from a new perspective, approach previously inaccessible personal topics, and generally move forward.

Our clients’ experiences

Some patients have decided to share their experience with ketamine-assisted therapy. You can read or listen to their stories and experiences of treatment.

View client stories (in Czech only) >>

Effectiveness – what the data say

More than 1,500 patients have undergone ketamine-assisted therapy (KAT) at our clinic. In total, we have conducted over 3,200 ketamine sessions at Psyon, and we have data from nearly 1,700 individual courses of treatment (data cut-off May 2026).

In most patients, ketamine-assisted therapy led to a marked and rapid reduction in depression and anxiety. The data show that the reduction in anxiety and depressive symptoms persists not only immediately after the end of therapy, but for up to 6 months after the treatment is completed (this is the longest follow-up point measured; in practice, we see effects that last considerably longer).

Confirmed by data: relief came quickly and the effect was not just short-term

• Before treatment, patients on average had depression and anxiety at the level of moderate symptoms
• Shortly after treatment (approx. 1 week):
  • there was a marked decrease in symptoms
  • most patients fell below the threshold for clinically significant symptoms (i.e. a score below 10 points in the graph)
• After 1, 3 and 6 months:
  • the marked improvement was sustained
  • the effect weakened slightly in some cases, but symptoms did not return to their original level

“The data show us that the care we provide to patients at Psyon has a real and measurable benefit. In a large number of patients in routine clinical practice, we observe a marked improvement in symptoms of depression and anxiety, often with an effect that persists over time. However, it is important to bear in mind that this is not a controlled clinical trial and that several factors may contribute to the improvement achieved, including the intensity of therapeutic care or subsequent treatment. Nevertheless, the scope of the data and the long-term follow-up suggest that this approach is effective and deserves further systematic research.” – Filip Tylš, MD, PhD

How and from whom the data were collected

• The data come from routine clinical practice at Psyon, which has offered KAT since 2020. They are therefore not data from clinical trials.
• The data were obtained using standardised questionnaires for assessing depression (PHQ-9) and anxiety (GAD-7), which patients complete themselves. Standardised questionnaires are validated tools commonly used in healthcare that allow the severity of depression and anxiety to be assessed in a consistent and comparable way.
• The data were collected digitally via the DeePsy app, which is designed to assess patients’ mental state in both psychotherapeutic and psychiatric care.
• The questionnaires were completed repeatedly over time (the latest assessment takes place 6 months after treatment): 1) before starting KAT, 2) approx. 1 week after KAT, 3) 1, 3 and 6 months after KAT.
• Currently, data from more than 1,200 patients in clinical practice have been analysed. Only patients who actually completed the questionnaires were included, which is why the number of people assessed decreases slightly over time.
• The patients had difficulties such as: depression, persistent anxiety, obsessive thoughts, compulsive behaviour, eating disorders and dissociative responses to trauma.

Results in a graph

Symptom trajectory in patients with neurotic-spectrum disorders after ketamine-assisted therapy (KAT):

The graph shows the effect of KAT treatment on the significant (p < 0.001) reduction of depressive (PHQ-9) and anxiety (GAD-7) symptoms and somatisation (PHQ-13) in patients with neurotic-spectrum disorders (F41.2, F3X, GAD, PTSD, ED, OCD). The self-report scales were completed before KAT (n = 1,673), after KAT (1 week after the last ketamine administration, n = 1,330) and subsequently after one (n = 1,161), three (n = 1,032) and six months (n = 894). The treatment effect is expressed as Cohen’s d.

The graph includes various treatment models (with one or three ketamine administrations and varying numbers of psychotherapy sessions). The data were collected using the DeePsy app (www.deepsy.cz), which is used to monitor the effectiveness of psychotherapy. The cut-off score for clinically significant symptoms is ≥ 10 (5–9 mild, 10–14 moderate, 15–19 moderately severe; a PHQ-9 score of 20 or above indicates severe depression).

The decision on admission to ketamine-assisted therapy is always, without exceptions, made by a physician based on a comprehensive assessment.

This is individual for each client. Admission to our treatment is conditional on an initial meeting and then a comprehensive psychiatric and physical examination. Only after these examinations have been completed will a final decision be made as to whether ketamine-assisted therapy is appropriate and safe for the client, and a decision is also made as to the appropriate treatment approach.

In general:

• Indications for ketamine-assisted psychotherapy include depressive syndrome (including various diagnostic units), anxiety disorders (social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, OCD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and eating disorders.
• The main psychiatric contraindications include psychotic illness, family history of chronic psychotic illness, active addiction, acute risk of suicidality, and severe personality disorder(s).
• Other contraindications are serious somatic diseases (mainly cardiovascular and liver-related), pregnancy or breastfeeding, acute infection, allergies to ketamine, and the concomitant use of drugs that could negatively interact with it.
• Other conditions include a minimum age of 18 years, motivation to cooperate therapeutically, and at least one previous treatment attempt (i.e. an attempt to treat the issue such as psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, etc.).

Put briefly, it is because the use of ketamine to treat certain mental health conditions under clinically controlled conditions is effective, safe, scientifically sound, and legal.

Ketamine has been commonly used in clinical medicine for decades. Its use in psychiatry is warranted mainly due to its direct anxiolytic and antidepressant effect. In our ketamine-assisted therapy, we also utilize the fact that ketamine induces a state of expanded consciousness, i.e. a state of altered perception, thought, and experience. In the follow-up integration sessions after ketamine treatment, we systematically work with the client’s experience.

In the field of mental health (including our ketamine-assisted therapy), ketamine is currently used off-label, i.e. outside of its primary indications. For this reason, ketamine treatment may only be indicated if the client has had at least one treatment attempt for the current episode of illness (e.g., psychotherapy or relevant alternative and/or pharmacotherapy) before signing up for KAT. Off-label use is legal and legitimate if the scientific evidence points to the safety and effectiveness of a medication in an indication for which it has not yet been officially approved. The aim is to allow doctors to help more patients who may benefit from the medication.