Ketamine: A Consciousness Tool Requiring Conscious Use

A new guide from the Ketamine Research Foundation, featured in the MAPS Bulletin, offers essential insights on using ketamine safely and effectively for healing, highlighting the importance of intention, integration, and ethical care.

Whether you're a mental health professional, a seasoned psychonaut, or simply curious about ketamine's effects, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: intention and context matter. In the newly released Guidelines for the Personal Use and the Clinical Administration of Ketamine, Dr. Phil Wolfson and Dr. Mark Braunstein of the Ketamine Research Foundation offer a nuanced guide to navigating ketamine's therapeutic potential—and its risks.

Featured in the MAPS Bulletin, this comprehensive read journeys through ketamine’s layered psychological landscapes—from subtle emotional shifts to deeply altered states, once dubbed the "k-hole" and now redefined as the Transformational Space. The guide draws a crucial line between healing experiences and escapism, helping users and clinicians alike recognize when ketamine ceases to serve growth and begins to fuel avoidance.

What makes this guide so timely is its emphasis on ethics, integration, and harm reduction. It reminds us that ketamine’s power lies not just in symptom relief but in its potential for real transformation—when used with support, intention, and care.

As ketamine continues to be integrated into both therapeutic practices and broader culture, these guidelines act as a much-needed compass. Grounded in decades of research and clinical experience, Ketamine States: A Journey Through the Mind encourages a conscious approach to a consciousness-expanding medicine.

🔗 Read more in the MAPS Bulletin: Ketamine States Guidebook