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Psychedelic Therapy for Mothers

This article originally appeared in the April 2022 issue of Harper’s BAZAAR by Andrea Stanley.

ELEVATEHER Ketamine Therapy in Santa Barbara is dedicated to focus on women’s mental health. Here is an article that talks about psychedelic assisted psychotherapy for mothers who struggle with their mental health.

Samantha Lau, PMHNP-BC, FNP-BC, is a licensed, dual board certified psychiatric nurse practitioner, ketamine psychedelic therapist, and the CEO of ELEVATEHER, LLC, a concierge mental health care practice that provides result-driven psychiatric care and transformation for women who are ready to unveil their vulnerable-badass selves to feel better, work better and love better.

ELEVATHER, LLC does not provide or condone the use of illegal substances. Please note ketamine is the only legal, evidence based psychedelic in the U.S.

When I arrive at Vanessa Panzella-Velez’s fifth-floor apartment in Brooklyn on a blue-sky morning in January, she’s already taken drugs: one third of a gram of magic mushrooms. A pouch of tan capsules sits on the table—like vitamins, except powdered psychedelics.

Not that you’d know. There are none of the stereotypical signs: no trippy hallucinations or bodies writhing around like you’re looking in a fun-house mirror. Instead, there’s Vanessa, 38, a freelance social-media manager, welcoming me inside with the offer of a warm drink, cacao with almond milk in a bowl-size mug. She’s used maple syrup to sweeten it, not honey. “Is that okay?” It’s been a busy morning, between trying to fix the internet and schlepping her puppy, Cookie, to the dog park in near-zero temperatures…