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Scientists Are Using Psychedelics to Help People Cope With Racial Trauma
‘The nice thing about ketamine is it gives you this really nice third-person perspective’
At Connecticut’s Behavioral Wellness Clinic, therapist Mailae Halstead keeps a careful eye on her patients as they’re “pulled through time.” She’s there as they watch themselves survive a traumatic moment from a bird’s-eye view, or feel reimmersed in a joyful experience. She’ll ask few questions because there’s another force at work in their brains.
At the beginning of the session, her patients placed a ketamine-laced lozenge in their mouth for a very specific reason: to explore the psychological trauma left by systemic racism.
The ketamine dosing session is the culmination of weeks of preparation. Halstead has learned her patient’s personalities and histories with racism. She’s tweaked the office decor to make a patient feel more at home. She’s set a playlist running in the background. During the dosing session, she and another therapist are there to take notes and address any immediate needs, but they’ll get down to the bulk of the therapy once the drugs wear off. When the drug hits, they let the trip unfold.
