A Note on Therapy
Why we don't offer therapy — and what we suggest instead.
This is a question we get often, so we’ve written this page properly. We don’t offer psychotherapy, CBT, mindfulness, life coaching, or ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. We have a clinical reason for that — and a practical alternative we’ll walk you through.
- Why We Wrote This
A question we get on almost every call.
Many patients arriving at Save Minds have read about ketamine therapy — particularly in the United States, where it’s almost always paired with structured psychotherapy sessions during the infusion. That model has a name: ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, or KAP.
We don’t offer it. We also don’t offer psychotherapy on its own, CBT, mindfulness-based therapy, or life coaching. This isn’t because we don’t believe in them — it’s because we’ve made a specific clinical choice about what Save Minds is for. This page explains that choice, and what we’d suggest if therapy is something you want alongside treatment.
- Honest Exclusions
What's not part of our service.
To be clear about what Save Minds is and isn’t, here’s what we don’t provide — either as bundled services or as add-ons:
Talking therapy with a qualified psychotherapist, ongoing weekly or fortnightly
Including trauma-focused CBT and CBT for OCD
Therapy delivered during or immediately after the ketamine infusion itself
For PTSD or complex trauma
The gold-standard psychotherapy for OCD
Every one of these is a legitimate, evidence-supported treatment in its own right. They’re just not what we specialise in.
- The Underlying Choice
Two ways of using ketamine for mental health.
Across the international ketamine field, two distinct treatment models have emerged. They are not the same thing, even though they use the same medication.
- Model 1 · KAP
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy
Common in the US private market
In KAP, ketamine is treated primarily as a psychological tool. The infusion is delivered alongside structured psychotherapy sessions — a therapist sits with the patient during the experience, then facilitates “integration sessions” afterwards to process what came up.
The underlying theory is that ketamine’s dissociative effects open a “window of psychological flexibility” through which therapy can work more effectively. KAP programmes typically involve 4–8 sessions, often using sub-anaesthetic intramuscular or oral ketamine.
Most published evidence for KAP is small-scale and uncontrolled. Larger trials are ongoing.
- Model 2 · What We Do
Neuroplasticity-Focused IV Treatment
The Save Minds approach
In our model, ketamine is treated primarily as a biological medication. It works through the glutamate system to trigger neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to grow new neural connections — over a structured course of 15–20 IV infusions.
The underlying theory is that the medication itself drives clinical change, by physically restoring brain function in regions affected by depression, anxiety, PTSD and OCD. Sessions are delivered in a calm clinical setting with monitoring, but without therapy during the infusion.
This is the model used in every major published clinical trial demonstrating ketamine’s effect on treatment-resistant depression.
Both models work for some patients. We chose the second one for clear, evidence-based reasons — explained in the next section.
- Our Reasoning
We follow what the evidence shows.
Our clinical choice isn’t arbitrary. It’s based on three things that became clear to Dr Yadhu over many years of practice — and that have been borne out by every major peer-reviewed trial since 2000.
Every major published trial demonstrating ketamine's effect on depression has used IV infusion without psychotherapy during the session. The clinical benefit comes from the neuroplastic effect of the medication itself — not from the psychological experience during the infusion.
By the time someone reaches Save Minds, they've typically tried multiple antidepressants and multiple forms of therapy. They're not looking for more therapy — they're looking for the missing piece. Our role is to provide that piece properly, not to repeat what hasn't worked.
Many of our patients pause or take a break from therapy during their Save Minds programme — and then return to it afterwards, often finding it more effective. The neural flexibility ketamine creates makes the work therapists do easier, in the weeks and months after treatment, not during the infusion itself.
None of this means we think therapy is less valuable. We just believe ketamine and psychotherapy are most effective as sequential and complementary tools — not blended into a single hour.
- Continuity of Care
Therapy alongside Save Minds is normal.
A significant portion of our patients are working with a therapist when they arrive — and we encourage that to continue. Some pause therapy for the duration of the Save Minds programme; some keep it going alongside; others restart it once their treatment finishes. What matters is that the relationship with their therapist exists, and that information flows where it needs to.
With your consent, we can share a clinical treatment summary with your therapist, your GP, or your treating psychiatrist at the start, middle, and end of your programme — so everyone involved in your care has the same information. Many of our most successful long-term outcomes have come from patients who combine our treatment with continued therapy in the months and years that follow.
- Practical Resources
If you're looking for the right therapist.
We don’t make referrals to specific therapists — that should remain your independent decision. But these are the professional bodies we’d recommend starting with, and the modalities that have the strongest evidence base for each condition we treat.
- Professional bodies — where to find a regulated therapist
The largest accreditation body in the UK; therapist directory searchable by condition and location.
bacp.co.uk
Accreditation body for psychotherapists; therapist directory with detailed practitioner profiles.
psychotherapy.org.uk
For CBT specifically; accredited register of practitioners.
babcp.com
Accreditation body for EMDR therapists; useful for trauma-focused work.
emdrassociation.org.uk
Free CBT, counselling, and guided self-help via your GP. Long waiting times in some areas, but worth referencing if cost is a barrier.
nhs.uk
- Which modality might suit you
CBT, Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), Behavioural Activation, schema therapy, and psychodynamic therapy all have evidence support. The right fit depends on your history and what's worked before.
CBT is the most-studied modality. ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and mindfulness-based approaches also have strong evidence.
Trauma-focused CBT and EMDR are the two NICE-recommended psychotherapies. For Complex PTSD, IFS (Internal Family Systems) and somatic-experiencing approaches are increasingly used alongside.
ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) is the gold-standard psychotherapy. Look for BABCP-accredited therapists with specific OCD experience.
Crisis-focused interventions, DBT (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy) for chronic ideation, and CBT-SP (CBT for suicide prevention). Discuss with your psychiatric team first.
We can’t recommend specific therapists individually — that’s a decision best made between you and the practitioner. But your Save Minds consultant is happy to discuss any of the above at your assessment.
- What's Built In
The support that is part of our service.
Although we don’t offer therapy, our treatment programme includes substantial psychological support built into the clinical structure. We don’t just deliver an infusion and walk away — there’s continuity, monitoring, and a consultant available throughout.
A two-question check-in via text every day, building a real-time picture of your wellbeing across the entire programme.
A clinical conversation with your consultant at the start and end of every session, focused on how you're doing and what's changing.
The same person who assesses you on day one is with you on day fifty. There is no rotation, no handover, no "next available."
Treatment plans are adapted continuously based on your clinical data — frequency, dosing, scheduling — to match how you're actually responding.
With your consent, we share treatment summaries with your therapist, GP, or psychiatrist to keep everyone informed.
A structured end-of-programme review, written summary, and plan for any maintenance or follow-up that may be appropriate.
This isn’t a substitute for psychotherapy. It’s the part of your care that we are uniquely well-placed to deliver.
- A Note from the Founder
Our role isn't to replace your therapist.
“I’ve spent over three decades in critical care medicine, and I know what good medicine looks like — and what its limits are. When we set up Save Minds, I made a deliberate choice not to offer therapy. Not because I don’t believe in it, but because I knew that if we tried to be everything to everyone, we’d dilute what we actually do well.
Most of our patients have already worked with excellent therapists. What they haven’t had is access to a properly delivered, properly monitored, properly measured medical treatment for the biological side of their condition. That’s what I built Save Minds to do — and that’s what we focus on, completely.
If you have a therapist you trust, keep working with them. If you don’t, please find one — they should be a long-term partner in your recovery, separate from us. Our job is to provide the medication and the monitoring that creates the biological space for the rest of your recovery to happen.”
Dr Rajalingam Yadhunanthanan · Founder, CEO & Lead Clinician
- Common Questions
Questions about therapy and our approach.
Can I continue seeing my therapist while doing treatment with you?
Yes, and we encourage it. With your consent, we can share a clinical summary with your therapist at the start and end of your programme so they’re informed about what you’re going through. Some patients pause therapy during the most intensive phase of treatment; others continue throughout. Either is fine.
Should I start therapy before, during, or after my treatment?
There’s no single right answer, but generally: if you have an established therapeutic relationship, keep it going. If you don’t, many patients find that starting therapy in the weeks after their main Save Minds programme is when it’s most useful — the neuroplastic effect of treatment seems to make therapy work better.
Do you ever refer patients to specific therapists?
No. We deliberately don’t make individual referrals because the therapeutic relationship works best when it’s chosen by you, not assigned. We’ve listed the professional bodies above where you can find a regulated therapist by location and specialism.
What if I can't afford therapy alongside treatment?
NHS Talking Therapies is free and accessible through your GP. Waiting times vary by area, but it’s a genuine option. Some employers (especially larger UK firms) offer Employee Assistance Programmes that include free short-term counselling. Some patients also find low-cost therapy through BACP’s reduced-fee directory.
Why does ketamine-assisted psychotherapy work in the US but not here?
That’s not quite the framing we’d use. KAP works for some patients, but the largest, strongest published trials demonstrating ketamine’s effect on treatment-resistant conditions have all used IV infusion without therapy during the session. The neuroplasticity model is more aligned with that body of evidence. The US private market also has unique commercial drivers — more sessions paired with therapy means higher per-patient fees, which isn’t a clinical argument.
What if I want to do psychedelic integration work — processing my experience?
Some patients want to process what comes up during sessions with a therapist afterwards. That’s a perfectly reasonable approach. The therapists most experienced with this kind of integration work tend to be those who’ve trained in transpersonal psychology, somatic experiencing, IFS, or psychedelic-integration specifically. The BACP and UKCP directories are good starting points; you can search by specialism.
What does "integration" actually mean?
Integration is the work of making sense of what came up during a treatment session — emotionally, narratively, or relationally — and connecting it to ongoing life and recovery. At Save Minds, our daily mood monitoring and pre/post-session consultant reviews provide one form of integration. If you want a more in-depth psychological integration process, that’s typically something a therapist would help you do separately.
Clear on what we do? Take the next step.
If our approach makes sense for where you are, the next step is a short eligibility check or a free, no-pressure discovery call with our team.