Coaching as an Adjunct to Ketamine Therapy for Treatment-Resistant Depression
Massachusetts General Hospital
Summary
This study is being conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to explore whether adding psychedelic coaching can enhance the effects of ketamine or esketamine maintenance treatment in individuals with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). The investigators are currently enrolling participants who are receiving ongoing maintenance intravenous (IV) ketamine or intranasal esketamine (Spravato) treatment at the MGH Ketamine Clinic. Participation in the study will involve adding coaching sessions to your existing ketamine maintenance treatment.
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age 18 years or older at the time of informed consent/study enrollment. 2. Ability to understand and provide informed consent. 3. Fluent in English (spoken and written). 4. Willingness to have coaching sessions recorded via HIPAA-compliant MGB approved video-based platform. 5. Has a QIDS-SR score ≥ 11, indicating at least moderate depressive symptom severity at screening visit. 6. Lifetime diagnosis of a depressive disorder according to the MINI. 7. In the maintenance phase of ketamine or esketamine treatment, defined as the period following the initial acute treatment…
Interventions
- BehavioralPsychedelic Integration Coaching
Participation in the study will involve adding coaching sessions to existing ketamine maintenance treatment for patients receiving ongoing maintenance IV ketamine or IN esketamine treatment at MGH's Ketamine Clinic. If participants are eligible, they will be invited to participate in 12 weekly, 50-minute one-on-one coaching sessions conducted via Zoom. These sessions are designed to help participants process and integrate their experiences with ketamine treatment, to support personal growth and symptom improvement. The coaching is non-clinical, collaborative, and participant-directed, and is provided by trained psychedelic integration coaches from the Fireside Project. Throughout the 3-month coaching period and again at a 1-month follow-up, participants will complete monthly study visits that include brief remote assessments with a study clinician, along with additional self-report questionnaires. These visits will take approximately 1 to 2 hours, depending on the time point.
Locations (2)
- Massachusetts General Hospital's Depression and Clinical Research programBoston, Massachusetts
- Massachusetts General HospitalBoston, Massachusetts