Ketamine Therapy Guide: Straight Answers Before You Decide
Plain answers to the questions people ask before trying ketamine therapy: how it works, what a session feels like, how many visits it takes, what it costs, and who should not have it.
Ketamine therapy is a supervised medical treatment in which a clinician gives a low dose of ketamine and monitors you while it takes effect. At Clear Ketamine Therapy in Tampa, the dose is a small injection under the skin, every session happens at the clinic, and the ketamine is compounded and not FDA-approved. This guide answers the common questions one at a time, with sources.
Clear Ketamine Therapy in brief
If you only read one section, read this one. These are the facts about how care works here, stated once and plainly:
- One location: our clinic at 3971 Moran Rd Ste 101-2, Tampa, FL 33618, open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
- How the medicine is given: a small subcutaneous injection, under the skin. We do not offer IV infusions, nasal sprays, or tablets.
- Where it is given: only in the clinic, with a clinician watching your breathing, blood pressure, and heart rate. Nothing is sent home with you.
- What can be remote: your first consultation, planning calls, and check-ins, by telehealth, as long as you are in Florida during the call.
- The medicine itself: compounded ketamine, which the FDA has not approved for any psychiatric condition.
- Paying: patients pay the clinic directly; we are not in any insurance network. You get the full cost of a recommended course in writing first.
- Who leads care: our Medical Director, Jason Saylor, DO, a board-certified family medicine physician licensed in Florida.
How to use this guide
Each guide below takes one question and answers it in its first paragraph, then goes deeper for anyone who wants the detail. Where a guide relies on research or a regulator, the source is listed at the bottom so you can read it yourself.
The guides are grouped loosely by the order people tend to ask: first what ketamine therapy is and what it feels like, then how a course of treatment runs, then safety and who should not have it, then the practical side of paying, referrals, and choosing a provider.
What this guide will not do
It will not tell you that ketamine therapy will work for you. Nobody can know that before an evaluation, and many people do not respond. It will not quote prices, because the cost depends on the course a clinician recommends for you. And it is not a substitute for advice from the clinicians who already know your history.
What it can do is help you arrive at a consultation with better questions, and recognise a careful provider when you meet one.
If you are struggling right now
Reading about treatment options is a good step, but it is not help in the moment. If you are thinking about harming yourself, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline answers calls and texts at 988, day and night, and 911 is there for emergencies. Neither this site nor our contact form is watched around the clock.
Every guide in this series
- Does Ketamine Therapy Get You High?Ketamine therapy can bring a brief, dreamlike altered state, but a monitored treatment session is a different thing from a recreational high. What people report, why dose and setting matter, and how fast it passes.
- How Many Ketamine Sessions?There is no standard number of ketamine sessions for depression. The schedules researchers have tested, why repeated sessions are usually studied, and how a plan here is reviewed as you go.
- How Long Does Ketamine Last?Research says more about how fast ketamine can act on depression than about how long the benefit lasts. What trials found about onset, fading, relapse after a course, and maintenance.
- Does Ketamine Therapy Work?A plain summary of the research on ketamine therapy for depression: what controlled trials and reviews found, what response and remission mean, who was studied, and where the evidence runs out.
- Subcutaneous vs IV KetamineHow subcutaneous, intravenous, and intramuscular ketamine differ, what the trials of the subcutaneous route found, and what is still unknown. Our clinic uses the subcutaneous route only.
- Driving After KetamineWhy you cannot drive yourself home after ketamine treatment, how to line up a driver for every session in a course, and how to spend the rest of a treatment day.
- Time Off Work for KetamineHow much of your day a ketamine session takes, how to fit a course of treatment around a weekday job, and the basics of medical leave and talking to your employer.
- Is Ketamine Therapy Addictive?Ketamine can be misused, and it is a controlled substance. What that means for supervised treatment, what the research does and does not show, and how screening fits in.
- Ketamine for Older AdultsWhat research shows about ketamine for depression in people over 60, the health questions that matter more with age, and how age fits into a treatment decision.
- Ketamine and Other MedicationsHow common medicines, from antidepressants to benzodiazepines and stimulants, can interact with ketamine, and why every change goes through the prescriber who manages it.
- What Is Ketamine-Assisted Therapy?Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy pairs ketamine sessions with structured talk therapy. How it differs from ketamine treatment on its own, what the research shows, and how ketamine care can work with a therapist you already see.
- Insurance and Ketamine TherapyWhy many health plans decline to pay for ketamine therapy, what Medicaid and TRICARE publish about their own rules, and how paying works at our Tampa clinic.
- Referrals for Ketamine TherapyYou can contact us directly, with no referral. Here is why we still ask about your other clinicians, which records help, and what a first evaluation looks at.
- Choosing a Ketamine ClinicA practical checklist for comparing ketamine clinics, in Tampa or anywhere: who supervises, how you are monitored, where the medicine comes from, and what happens afterward.
- How Ketamine WorksWhat is established about how ketamine acts in the brain, which explanations for its effect on depression are still hypotheses, and what that means if you are considering treatment.
- Preparing for TreatmentWhat to sort out before a ketamine session, and why: fasting, your medications, a ride home, what to wear, and how to plan the rest of your day.
- AftercareHow people may feel after a ketamine session, what to do for the rest of the day, how follow-up works, and which symptoms mean you should get help right away.
- FAQShort, direct answers about ketamine therapy at our Tampa clinic: how it is given, safety, time, cost, telehealth, referrals and what to do in a crisis.
- ResearchThe key studies behind ketamine therapy for depression and PTSD, what each one found, how strong the evidence is, and the questions research has not yet answered.
- For Referring ProvidersFor psychiatrists, therapists and physicians in the Tampa Bay area: how our clinic delivers ketamine therapy, how to refer a patient, and how we coordinate care with you.
- ResourcesNational crisis lines and reputable organizations for mental health information, support and treatment: 988, NAMI, NIMH, SAMHSA's FindTreatment.gov and the VA's National Center for PTSD.
Request a consultation
A conversation, not a commitment. Please don't include medical records, diagnosis details, or anything urgent — this form is not monitored for emergencies.
In person or by telehealth
You can be seen both ways. Consultations, planning conversations, and follow-up visits happen in person at our Tampa clinic or by telehealth — whichever works better for you.
Ketamine itself is always administered in person, at the clinic, with a clinician monitoring you throughout. We do not prescribe ketamine for use at home.
Telehealth visits require you to be physically located in Florida at the time of the visit.
How telehealth works here
- Telehealth is available to patients who are physically located in Florida, and the clinicians providing that care hold active Florida licenses.
- Your location is confirmed at the start of every telehealth visit. If you are not in Florida, the visit does not go ahead.
- Ketamine is never prescribed for you to take at home. It is administered only at our clinic, in person, with a clinician monitoring you throughout — a telehealth visit does not change that.
- You are seen in person before any treatment session, because every session happens at the clinic.
- A telehealth visit never guarantees that treatment will be offered, any more than an in-person evaluation does.
- Telehealth is not for emergencies. If you are in crisis or having thoughts of self-harm, call or text 988, or call 911.
Common questions
It is a medical treatment in which a clinician gives a low dose of ketamine, here as an injection under the skin, and monitors you in the clinic while it takes effect, as one part of care for conditions such as depression that other treatments have not helped enough.
No. Most guides explain ketamine therapy in general, using published research and regulators' statements. Where something applies only to Clear Ketamine Therapy, such as our subcutaneous route or our cash-pay model, the guide says so directly so you can compare it with other providers.
Our editorial team writes and reviews each guide and lists its sources at the bottom. Each one shows the date it was last reviewed. Nothing here replaces a conversation with a clinician who knows your medical history and current medications.
Start with the candidacy guide, then request a consultation. The first conversation can be a telehealth call while you are in Florida, and it commits you to nothing. If treatment is recommended, you see the plan and its full cost in writing before deciding.
Sources & further reading
- FDA warns patients and health care providers about potential risks associated with compounded ketamine products, including oral formulations, for the treatment of psychiatric disorders — U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Accessed 2026-11-02. October 10, 2023 alert, listed on FDA's Compounding Risk Alerts index. Ketamine is not FDA-approved for any psychiatric disorder; compounded products are not FDA-approved.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Accessed 2026-11-02.
Links point to external organizations. Clear Ketamine Therapy does not control their content.
Reviewed by Editorial team. Last reviewed 2026-11-02. Educational information only — not medical advice or a substitute for care from your own clinicians.
Keep reading
- Am I a Candidate?Candidacy for ketamine therapy depends on your diagnosis, treatment history, health, and medications. Learn the factors clinicians weigh — and the next step.
- What to ExpectA plain-language walkthrough of the full treatment process at our Tampa clinic — the evaluation, the sessions themselves, and the follow-up — including the parts that vary from person to person.
- Safety & Side EffectsThe full safety picture: common short-term side effects, who should not receive ketamine, the FDA's compounded-ketamine warning, and our monitoring practices.
- Cost & FinancingWhat ketamine therapy costs depend on, how insurance typically applies, and our commitment to transparent, confirmed pricing before you commit.
Talk with our clinical team
A consultation is a conversation, not a commitment. Ask questions, share what you are comfortable sharing, and learn whether ketamine therapy may be worth considering for you.
Not for emergencies — call or text 988 or 911 if you are in crisis.