Can my partner sit in on the actual infusion?

Generally no, not during the dissociative portion of the session itself. Your treatment room is a private clinical space with anesthesia-level monitoring, and most patients find that having someone else present during dissociation pulls them out of the inward experience that drives the benefit. Your support person is welcome in our waiting area and is invited back at the end for the discharge handoff, when we walk through your post-session instructions together.

Will you tell my mom what we discussed if she asks?

Only with your written authorization. Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, healthcare providers may share information with a family member, friend, or caregiver only when the patient agrees, or when the patient is incapacitated and disclosure is in their best interest. In practice, that means if your mom calls us, we will not confirm you are a patient, share your treatment plan, or discuss your visit unless you have signed a release naming her.

Do I have to have someone drive me home after a session?

Yes. A sober adult driver is required after every ketamine session, with no exceptions. Office-based anesthesia standards require discharge to a responsible adult escort, and the dissociative and sedating effects of ketamine can linger longer than they feel. Rideshare alone does not meet this standard. See driving and ketamine for the full reasoning and the timeline for resuming activities.

What if my family is skeptical of ketamine therapy?

Bringing them is often the best way to address that. Skepticism is reasonable for a medication most people associate with anesthesia or recreational misuse. We answer their questions, walk through the research, and explain how the clinic operates. We do not try to sell them, and we do not pressure you. If they leave still uncertain, that is fine. The decision is yours, and a thoughtful family conversation tends to make that decision easier rather than harder.

Can my therapist join the consult instead of a family member?

Yes, with your consent we welcome integration partners. Many of our patients work with a psychotherapist alongside ketamine treatment, and a brief joint conversation at the consult helps us coordinate care. Your therapist can join in person or by phone. If you are still looking for someone, our guide on finding an integration therapist in Tennessee is a starting point.

Bringing a Partner or Family Member to Your Ketamine Consultation: What They Need to Know

Why bringing someone is encouraged at the consult

The first conversation about ketamine therapy covers a lot of ground in a short time. We talk through your medical history, current medications, treatment goals, the science of how ketamine works on the NMDA receptor and glutamate system, what a session actually feels like, costs, and the realistic range of outcomes. It is genuinely a lot to absorb, especially if you have spent years cycling through treatments that did not work and are arriving with mixed hope and skepticism.

A second set of ears helps. Partners and family often catch details you miss because you are doing the emotional work of telling your story. They remember the medication name you mentioned in passing. They notice the question you wanted to ask but lost track of. After the appointment, they are someone you can think out loud with on the drive home.

We genuinely welcome support people. The American Society of Ketamine Physicians, Psychotherapists & Practitioners (ASKP3), in its 2024 Standards of Care for Ketamine Therapy, recommends including a support person in the consent and education process where the patient consents to it. Our own experience matches that recommendation. Patients who bring someone tend to feel more settled going into their first session, and decisions made with a clear head and a trusted second perspective tend to be the right ones.

What they will see, hear, and be invited to ask

If you bring someone, they sit in the consultation with you for the entire conversation. They hear what we hear: your history, your current symptoms, your goals. We invite them to ask questions directly. Common ones from partners and parents include: how is the medication different from what I read about online, what are the actual risks, who is in the room during the session, what happens if something goes wrong, and how will we know if it is working.

We also walk through logistics that affect the household. Driving and post-session support. Time off work. Whether kids should be home that evening. Which days of the week work for the protocol. These are easier to plan in real time with the person who shares your calendar.

What they will not be asked to do is sign your consent. You are an adult, and the legal and ethical consent for treatment belongs to you alone. Their role is supportive. The decision is yours. If a family member tries to advocate strongly for or against treatment in ways that feel like pressure, we will gently steer the conversation back to what you want.

What we will and will not share with them — HIPAA in plain English

This is the part patients ask about most, and it is worth being precise. Under the federal HIPAA Privacy Rule, healthcare providers are not free to discuss your care with whoever asks. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services explains this clearly in its 2023 guidance, HIPAA Privacy Rule — Disclosures to Family, Friends, and Other Caregivers: a provider may share relevant information with a patient’s family member, friend, or caregiver only with the patient’s agreement, or, if the patient is incapacitated, when in the patient’s best interest as determined by the provider’s professional judgment.

In practice, that means a few specific things at our clinic:

If you bring someone into the room, your verbal consent in front of them is sufficient for that visit. We can speak openly with you and them present because you are agreeing in real time by inviting them in.
If your mother calls us tomorrow asking how you are doing, we will not confirm you are a patient. We do not share treatment plans, medications, dosing, or scheduling details with anyone outside the room unless you have signed a written authorization naming that person.
You can sign a release at any time naming specific people. The release can be broad or narrow. Many patients designate one person who can call with logistics questions while keeping clinical conversations private. You can revoke or modify it whenever you want.
Emergencies are different. If a clinical emergency occurs and you cannot speak for yourself, we may share information with whoever is present and acting on your behalf, in line with HIPAA’s incapacity provisions.

If you have a complicated family situation—an estranged parent who calls clinics looking for you, an ex-spouse you do not want involved, a sibling you do want involved—tell us at the consult. We will set the privacy boundary the way you want it set.

Their role on session days: driver, companion, post-session presence

Ketamine is FDA-approved as an anesthetic; its use for depression, anxiety, PTSD, and chronic pain is off-label. Regardless of the indication, the post-session safety standard is the same as for any office-based anesthesia procedure. The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology, in its 2020 AANA Standards for Office-Based Anesthesia Practice, requires that discharge be made to a responsible adult escort and that post-procedure instructions be provided in writing to both the patient and the escort.

What that means for you and your support person, in concrete terms:

A sober adult driver is required after every session. Rideshare alone does not meet the standard. Read more in our guide on driving and ketamine.
Your driver does not have to be the same person every time. Many patients rotate among partner, parent, adult child, and close friends, especially over a multi-week protocol.
The driver receives written discharge instructions alongside you. Our discharge process is described in detail in discharge criteria after ketamine therapy.
Ideally, someone is present that evening. Not for medical reasons in most cases, but because the hours after a session are often quiet, reflective, and emotionally tender. Having a familiar person around helps. Our article on after ketamine therapy describes what those hours typically feel like.

Marla Peterson, CRNA, oversees every infusion and is on-site throughout your session, providing anesthesia-level monitoring. Your support person does not need to fill that role and is not expected to. They are not a clinical observer; they are someone you trust who is there for the human part of the day.

Couples and family dynamics — when ketamine therapy comes up at home

For some patients, the hardest part of considering ketamine is not the medical decision. It is the conversation at home. Spouses worry about side effects they read about online. Adult children worry about elderly parents trying something new. Parents of adult children worry about the word “ketamine” without knowing the clinical context.

Bringing the skeptic to the consult is, in our experience, the single most useful thing you can do. We answer their questions in the same plain language we use with you. We do not minimize concerns, and we do not try to sell anyone on treatment. If they leave still uncertain, that is acceptable; the decision belongs to you. But more often than not, watching the clinic, meeting the team, and hearing the research moves a worried family member from skeptical to supportive.

For couples specifically, we sometimes hear that one partner is considering treatment for depression or PTSD while the other is unsure how to be helpful. The consult is a useful place to get that question answered together, and the first ketamine infusion walkthrough is a good resource to read together beforehand.

When bringing someone is a bad idea (and how to handle it)

Most of the time, bringing a support person helps. Occasionally it does not. We have seen a handful of situations where we would gently suggest reconsidering:

The person you would bring has strong feelings against ketamine therapy and is not open to information. If their goal is to argue you out of treatment, the consult is not the place to host that debate. Have that conversation at home first.
The relationship dynamic makes it hard for you to speak honestly about your symptoms. If you cannot tell the doctor that you have been having suicidal thoughts because your spouse will react poorly, we need to hear that without your spouse in the room.
The person tends to dominate clinical conversations. Some well-meaning family members answer questions intended for the patient. If that is a pattern, come solo or bring someone whose style is to listen.

If any of these apply, you have options. Come solo for the consult and bring someone for sessions only as your driver. Come with a friend or therapist instead of family. Or split the difference: have your support person join for the logistics portion at the end and step out for the clinical portion.

If you are attending solo: how we make sure that is safe

Plenty of patients come to the consult alone. This is fine and common. The consultation itself is not a medical procedure—it is a conversation—so no driver is required for that visit. You can drive yourself in and out.

The rules change for treatment days. Even if you come solo to consultation, you will need to arrange a driver for each infusion session. We will help you think through who that person can be. Options include a family member, a close friend, a neighbor, or a professional companion service. What does not work is rideshare alone or planning to wait several hours and drive yourself; the dissociative and sedating effects of ketamine can persist longer than they feel, and the AANA discharge standard exists for a reason.

If you genuinely have no one to ask, tell us. We have helped patients work through this before, and there are paid medical companion services in the Nashville area that meet the discharge standard. We would rather build a workable plan together than have you skip a treatment that might help.

Practical logistics for the day of the consult

A few small things that make the consultation go smoothly:

Plan for about an hour. Most consultations run 45 to 60 minutes. If your support person has another commitment, schedule with that buffer.
Bring a current medication list. Names, doses, frequency. A photo of the bottles works fine. This matters for safety and for the conversation about consent forms.
Write your questions down beforehand. You will think of more in the room, but a written list gives you a backstop.
Eat a light meal. The consult does not require fasting. (Treatment days are different and have their own pre-session guidelines.)
Park in the lot at 480 Duke Dr. Suite #100, Franklin, TN 37067. Bring your support person in with you when you check in.
If your therapist wants to join by phone, let us know in advance. We can pull a chair up to a speaker and have them dial in.

We answer questions honestly, including the ones about cost and what we will not promise. Research suggests ketamine helps a meaningful subset of patients with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and chronic pain, but it does not help everyone, and we will not tell you it will. Bringing someone with you to hear that conversation directly tends to make whatever you decide afterward feel like the right decision. You can read more about how the clinic operates on our how it works page or our about page.