Widening Circles
Frequently Asked Questions
ketamine program questions
What makes your ketamine program unique?
-
Ketamine clinics and practices have proliferated in recent years with little solid framework in using this medicine for mental health and substance use disorder treatment. "Settings vary widely ranging from IV or intranasal esketamine administration without any psychotherapy to close integration of ketamine with psychotherapy during the same session." (Handbook of Medical Hallucinogens, Ketamine chapter by Bravo, Grant and Bennett, 2021)
​
-
Some clinics are run by professionals with little to no experience or training in mental health and addictions. Our KAP program consists of licensed prescribers and psychotherapists who have been professionally trained to work with psychedelic medicine and non-ordinary states of consciousness. Consistent with our original established treatment program, we provide individualized, intensive treatment in an outpatient setting.
​
How long are KAP sessions?
-
Generally, each KAP medicine session lasts approx 2-3 hours depending on individual sensitivity and preference.
Will the prescriber be in every session with me?
​
Do I have to have a referral from a mental health provider?
Ideally, we receive a referral from a mental health provider. However, this is not required. Often patients come to us after a series of other treatment experiences. It is important to us to coordinate care with your referring provider.
Can I come for one ketamine session rather than engage in the program?
Yes, we have created an introductory offering that includes assessment, preparation, one KAP session and an integration session. Widening Circles provides high quality, integrative care. It is important to us that you have a solid experience with preparation and integration to optimize your treatment experience.
financial questions
Does insurance cover KAP?
Not at this time. KAP is a new treatment model not yet recognized by health insurance companies. If requested, our office can provide you with a courtesy “superbill” to submit to your insurance company for out-of-network benefits. We are not familiar with your insurance plan and are not able to tell you what your plan covers.
​
What is a “superbill”?
A superbill is a document that outlines our professional information, dates and relevant billing codes for services rendered. This list of codes corresponds to regularly recognized service codes in the insurance industry. Patients with health insurance may request a superbill to file for out-of-network benefits with their specific plans. A superbill is a document that includes 1) our pertinent professional information; 2) a list of received services/matching insurance codes; and 3) payment rendered by patient. If submitting a superbill to your insurance company, please be aware that an insurance company may only reimburse certain amounts for particular codes.
What are you doing to help increase accessibility?
We understand that this price point is out of range for many needing this level of care. We are committed to creating best practice models for KAP and other psychedelic therapies and are engaged in conversations around bringing this care to those who need it most.
In an effort to support financial accessibility, Widening Circles is excited to introduce our new offering, Heartwood Integrative Mental Health Intensive Outpatient Program. We are diligently pursuing CARF accreditation which will allow us to become paneled with most commercial insurance companies for an Intensive Outpatient Program level of care.
other questions
Can I make an appointment with a psychiatrist at Widening Circles?
At Widening Circles, all patients enrolled in our intensive outpatient or step-down programs have access to psychiatric care while enrolled in the program. Please note that Widening Circles does not provide psychiatric medication management outside of our IOP/Step-down services. All patients receiving KAP services through Widening Circles are expected to have a primary MH provider outside of Widening Circles, with whom we look forward to collaborating. We would be happy to provide you with a list of community referral resources for psychiatric services.
​
​
​