Treating job-related stress with psychedelic group therapy: a case series on group ketamine-assisted psychotherapy for healthcare workers and first responders

Author: mycolabadmin
10/14/2025
View Source

Summary

Researchers tested a new group therapy approach using ketamine to help firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and healthcare workers dealing with job stress and burnout. Over seven weeks, 32 participants received three ketamine sessions combined with group therapy. The results showed significant improvements in anxiety, depression, trauma symptoms, and burnout within the group. This low-cost group approach not only helped individual symptoms but also created a supportive community where workers felt understood by others in similar situations.

Background

Job-related stress and burnout affect nearly half of all frontline healthcare workers and first responders, with current treatments being inadequate. Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) has shown promise for treating mental health conditions and may help alleviate burnout and work-related stress. This study evaluated a group-based KAP model delivered to healthcare workers and first responders in Northern Colorado.

Objective

To evaluate the effectiveness of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy delivered in a group format for addressing symptoms of anxiety, depression, trauma, and burnout in healthcare workers and first responders. The study measured changes in anxiety (GAD-7), depression (PHQ-9), PTSD symptoms (PCL-5), and burnout (MBI) before and after the intervention.

Results

Median pre- versus post-KAP scores showed significant improvements: GAD-7 (9.5 vs 6, p=0.003), PHQ-9 (12 vs 5, p<0.001), PCL-5 (27 vs 10, p<0.001), and all three MBI subcomponents improved. MEQ-30 mystical experience scores increased significantly (75 vs 105, p<0.001). Adverse events were rare with supportive group responses managing any emotional reactions.

Conclusion

Group KAP offers rapid and clinically meaningful reduction in depression, anxiety, and trauma-related symptoms among healthcare workers and first responders. This novel intervention was well-accepted and may represent a viable model for addressing job-related stress in the healthcare workplace. Larger controlled studies are warranted to confirm efficacy and assess systemic workplace impacts.

Published in:Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology,
Study Type:Case Series,
Source: PMID: 41112936, DOI: 10.1177/20451253251383415