Tapping in Together: A Pilot Study on Group Acupuncture for Ketamine Experience Integration

The goal of this pilot trial is to learn about using acupuncture for ketamine experience integration in adults aged 21-65 who are medically cleared for a ketamine prescription. The aim is to inform future controlled trials investigating efficacy by evaluating the success of:

* recruitment * retention * assessment procedures * implementation of group acupuncture interventions performed just after a ketamine experience

Participants will be given acupuncture in a group setting after a small-group ketamine experience. The following day, participants will be asked to complete a few brief surveys about their experience.

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Key information

Conditions

Acupuncture

Age range

21 year–65 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Cardea Ketamine Space

New York, 10013, United States

About this study

The study will solicit participants to enroll in a physician-supervised ketamine experience directly followed by group acupuncture administered in New York City, between October 1, 2023 and February 28, 2024. A group of 12-28 participants will be enrolled in the study and assigned a participant ID once screened by the researcher and medically approved by the prescribing physician.

Group acupuncture treatments will be conducted one hour after a group ketamine experience commences. The group acupuncture sessions will start with the researcher approaching each participant individually and asking to examine their pulse and tongue. The participants will be given an opportunity to share any information they would like to about specific issues they would like to address with acupuncture. If nothing is shared, the researcher will select treatment points based on their pulse, tongue, body palpation, and intake data. The general location of the points selected will be shared with the participant to gain their consent for treating those areas prior to needle insertion. While the acupuncture needles are retained, participants will rest with music playing. The needles will then be removed, one at a time, from each patient in order of treatment (unless a participant requests needle removal before then). After needle removal, the participants will be asked to sit up for a few minutes before exiting the treatment room. Both the licensed acupuncturist researcher and a psychotherapist will be in the treatment room throughout the 1-hour group acupuncture session.

Participants will be emailed a validated survey via a REDCap secure link before the group acupuncture session (if they had a previous ketamine experience), after their group acupuncture session as well as 3 months from the date of their group acupuncture session. Participants will also be sent optional feedback forms through REDCap after each acupuncture session.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

between ages 21-65
participant in a group ketamine experience between October 1, 2023 and February 28, 2024

Exclusion criteria

currently pregnant or breastfeeding
has a terminal illness
does not pass medical clearance for ketamine prescription

Treatment and study plan

Acupuncture

Procedure

The traditional East Asian methods of treating disease by inserting needles along specific pathways or meridians.

Other names: Acupuncture Therapy

Primary outcomes

Experienced Integration Scale (EIS)

Time frame: One day after experience

The scale is intended to gain a sense of the status of a participant's integration process after a psychedelic experience. Participants are asked to rate their agreement to 12 statements using a five-point Likert scale with the anchors "strongly disagree," "disagree," "neither agree nor disagree," "agree," and "strongly agree." The items are worded in a positive direction, so that higher scores indicating greater integration.
Experienced Integration Scale (EIS)

Time frame: Three months after experience

The scale is intended to gain a sense of the status of a participant's integration process after a psychedelic experience. Participants are asked to rate their agreement to 12 statements using a five-point Likert scale with the anchors "strongly disagree," "disagree," "neither agree nor disagree," "agree," and "strongly agree." The items are worded in a positive direction, so that higher scores indicating greater integration.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Academy of Oriental Medicine Austin

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start: 2023
Primary completion: 2023
Study completion: 2024
First posted: Oct 6, 2023
Registry last updated: Jun 27, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.

Completed