In December, we’re adding TMS therapy to our treatment options in Colorado Springs
For most people who seek out ketamine therapy, it is not the first thing they have tried.
It comes after years of antidepressants that helped partially or not at all, after adjustments and switches and augmentation strategies, after doing what a provider recommended and still not getting where they needed to be. Treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, and severe anxiety are not rare. They are common enough that a significant portion of people who seek psychiatric care never reach full remission through standard medication approaches.
Ketamine works differently. It targets the glutamate system rather than serotonin or norepinephrine pathways, which means it reaches a part of the brain's mood regulation process that most psychiatric medications do not. For many patients with treatment-resistant conditions, the response is faster and more complete than anything they have experienced through prior treatment.
Sage Psychiatry Services offers ketamine infusion therapy in Colorado Springs on Fridays at our in-office location, within an ongoing psychiatric care relationship. It is not a standalone service. Every patient who begins ketamine treatment at Sage is a patient of the practice, and their ketamine care is coordinated with their broader psychiatric management.
Ketamine therapy at Sage is available for adults with:
Major depressive disorder, including treatment-resistant depression, meaning depression that has not responded adequately to at least two antidepressant medications at appropriate doses and for appropriate durations. This is the condition with the strongest evidence base for ketamine’s use, and the one where the clinical literature is most consistent.
OCD, particularly for patients whose symptoms have persisted despite standard medication and therapy approaches. Ketamine is an area of active clinical interest for OCD that has not responded to first-line treatments, and some patients see meaningful symptom relief when other options have plateaued. For more on OCD care at Sage, visit our OCD treatment page
PTSD, particularly for patients who have tried other medication and therapy approaches without adequate relief. Ketamine’s effect on the glutamate system appears to support the kind of neural flexibility that helps process and integrate traumatic material, and it is increasingly part of evidence-based conversations around PTSD treatment. For more on PTSD care at Sage, visit our PTSD treatment page.
Severe anxiety, in cases where standard anxiolytics and antidepressants have not produced adequate control and where the severity of symptoms warrants a more aggressive approach. Ketamine for anxiety is evaluated on a case-by-case basis and requires a clinical determination that it is appropriate for your specific situation.
Severe mood disorders, including certain presentations of bipolar depression where other interventions have not stabilized mood adequately. Ketamine in the context of bipolar disorder requires careful clinical oversight and is not appropriate for all patients.
Every patient undergoes a clinical evaluation before beginning ketamine therapy. This is not optional, and it is not a formality.
The evaluation covers your psychiatric history, the specific medications you have tried and how each one affected you, your current symptom picture, relevant medical history including any cardiac conditions or history of psychosis that would make ketamine inappropriate, and your overall stability as a candidate for outpatient ketamine treatment.
The evaluation determines whether ketamine is clinically appropriate for your situation, what the starting protocol will look like, and what the monitoring plan will be. Patients who are in acute crisis requiring a higher level of care are not appropriate candidates for outpatient ketamine at Sage, and that will be addressed directly during the evaluation.
If you have already been evaluated by another provider and have documentation of your treatment history, bringing that to your evaluation appointment is helpful.
Ketamine sessions are offered Monday through Friday at our Colorado Springs office as IV infusions. The specific session structure is determined during your evaluation based on your clinical picture.
Your first session runs about two hours. Sessions after that are 90 minutes, if tolerated. Before each infusion, we check your vitals to confirm it is safe to proceed, a registered nurse monitors you throughout, and you are released once the appointment time is complete and your vital signs are stable. You will need a driver to take you home. We recommend not driving, operating heavy machinery, or making important decisions for at least 12 hours after treatment.
Most patients begin with an induction phase of six sessions, twice a week for three weeks. We have found this regimen gives patients the strongest chance of benefiting from treatment. After induction, we assess your response and move to a maintenance schedule, typically every other week and then monthly, depending on how you are responding.
Ketamine is not available via telehealth and is not offered to Montana patients remotely. It requires an in-person visit at our Colorado Springs office. All other psychiatric services at Sage are available via telehealth for patients throughout Colorado and Montana.
Ketamine is most effective as part of a full psychiatric treatment plan, not as a substitute for one. Patients who get the most from ketamine are typically also engaged in ongoing psychiatric care and, where appropriate, therapy.
The role ketamine plays varies by patient. For some, it produces a window of reduced symptoms that makes it possible to engage more effectively with other treatments. For others, it addresses a layer of depression or trauma that standard medications were not reaching, allowing the overall treatment plan to work better.
At Sage, ketamine care is coordinated with the rest of your psychiatric management. The same provider overseeing your evaluation and medication management is involved in your ketamine treatment, which means changes in your response, your medications, or your overall stability are tracked in one place rather than across separate providers who may not be communicating.
For patients who have been managing depression without adequate relief, or for whom medication management has reached a point of diminishing returns, ketamine therapy is worth a clinical conversation.
Ketamine is most effective as part of a full psychiatric treatment plan, not as a substitute for one. Patients who get the most from ketamine are typically also engaged in ongoing psychiatric care and, where appropriate, therapy.
The role ketamine plays varies by patient. For some, it produces a window of reduced symptoms that makes it possible to engage more effectively with other treatments. For others, it addresses a layer of depression or trauma that standard medications were not reaching, allowing the overall treatment plan to work better.
At Sage, ketamine care is coordinated with the rest of your psychiatric management. The same provider overseeing your evaluation and medication management is involved in your ketamine treatment, which means changes in your response, your medications, or your overall stability are tracked in one place rather than across separate providers who may not be communicating.
For patients who have been managing depression without adequate relief, or for whom medication management has reached a point of diminishing returns, ketamine therapy is worth a clinical conversation.
Every patient begins with a six-session induction phase, scheduled twice a week for three weeks. This standard course gives your care team enough information to see how you are responding to treatment. Maintenance sessions after induction vary significantly. Some patients benefit from a session every few weeks, others every few months, and some maintain their response without ongoing sessions. This is determined by how you respond to treatment.
IV ketamine is not covered by insurance, since it is not FDA-approved for the psychiatric conditions it is used to treat at Sage. Each session is $300. We offer CareCredit for patients who want to finance treatment, and we will be straightforward with you about costs and what to expect before any treatment begins.
IV ketamine uses racemic ketamine administered through an IV. Spravato uses esketamine, a related compound, administered as a nasal spray in a supervised clinical setting. Both act on the same receptor system and have demonstrated efficacy in treatment-resistant depression. The administration route, monitoring protocols, and insurance coverage differ. The approach used at Sage will be explained during your evaluation.
No. You will need a driver to take you home. The dissociative effects of ketamine make it unsafe to drive for the rest of the day following a session, and this is not negotiable. Please arrange transportation before your appointment.
Ketamine is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. A history of anxiety does not automatically rule out ketamine, but it is a factor in the clinical assessment. Some patients with co-occurring anxiety and depression respond well to ketamine. Others may find certain effects of the session difficult to tolerate. This is part of what the evaluation is designed to determine.
Not every patient responds to ketamine, and we will not represent it as a guaranteed treatment. If the initial series does not produce meaningful improvement, we discuss that directly and work through what the next options look like. A non-response to ketamine is useful clinical information, and it informs what comes next.
Not at this time. Ketamine requires an in-person visit at our Colorado Springs office and is not available via telehealth. Montana patients interested in ketamine can contact us to discuss what that would involve in terms of traveling to Colorado Springs for treatment.
If you are living with depression, PTSD, or anxiety that has not adequately responded to prior treatment and want to understand whether ketamine therapy is an appropriate next step, a clinical evaluation at Sage is the place to start. You can contact us to schedule or learn more about our full range of psychiatric services in Colorado Springs.
