In this post:
- From Holistic Healing to Ketamine Coaching
- Supporting Patients Through the Ketamine Experience
- What Ketamine Integration Looks Like
- A Holistic, Human Approach
- Why Avesta Feels Different
Ketamine therapy is a deeply personal turning point for many people’s lives. At Avesta Ketamine and Wellness (Avesta), Naomi Prakash, MS, helps them move through that turning point with clarity and care. Naomi, a ketamine integration coach, holds space for emotional breakthroughs before, during, and after infusions.
She’s one of the few providers who support ketamine patients across the full arc of the experience. At Avesta, she coaches each person to engage with the process in a way that feels grounded, safe, and authentic.
From Holistic Healing to Ketamine Coaching
Naomi’s ketamine coaching approach is rooted in her own personal transformation. She spent years living with kidney disease before receiving a transplant. During that time, she began exploring nutrition, holistic healing, and her own mental health. That search eventually led her to psychedelic therapy.
“I had been on SSRIs since I was 16,” she said. “Psychedelic therapy helped me heal, get off my medications, and find clarity around my purpose.”
Naomi later trained in integration coaching at Being True to You, with a sponsorship from the Heroic Hearts Project. She began working with veterans struggling with PTSD and their spouses during psychedelic retreats. These early experiences showed her how powerful proper coaching can be for someone navigating a deep psychedelic journey.
“I realized how much healing happens when someone knows they’re not alone,” she said. “Just having another person there, providing a sense of safety, can make a huge difference.”
Supporting Patients Through the Ketamine Experience
Naomi offers three types of ketamine integration support at Avesta’s Bethesda, McLean, and Washington, DC, clinics:
- A one-hour prep call before treatment
- Sitting sessions during infusions
- Post-infusion integration session, typically 24 hours later
Some patients meet with Naomi once. Others work with her across the full course of treatment. Many continue booking her for maintenance infusions and ongoing coaching. “It depends on what they need,” she said. “I meet them where they are.”
When Naomi sits with someone during an infusion, her approach varies. Some clients remain quiet. Others (who can) speak throughout the dissociative experience and ask her to take notes. In every case, Naomi listens closely and offers gentle guidance through prompts, breathwork, or simple presence.
“I try to tailor the infusion coaching session based on their goals,” she said. “Sometimes I ask questions to help them understand what’s coming up. Other times, I remind them to return to their breath. My voice becomes a steady thread they can hold onto.”
Naomi also helps patients who feel overwhelmed by difficult emotional material. If old trauma or fear surfaces, Naomi encourages them to stay with the experience, without pushing. She reminds them they’re safe and not facing the pain alone.
“One client told me, ‘I could dive in deeper because you were there,’” she said. It’s about facilitating insight and supporting self-discovery. It’s about holding space so people can do the work they need to do.”
Curious whether integration coaching is right for you? Contact Avesta’s care team to learn more or ask about scheduling with Naomi at your next infusion.
What Ketamine Integration Looks Like
Ketamine integration begins with a question: What do I do with what I saw, felt, or realized?
Naomi helps patients unpack that question in concrete ways. During post-infusion sessions, she asks them how they feel, what they remember about the ketamine experience, and what meaning they’re making of it. Then she helps them consider small, sustainable changes.
“Sometimes people get a clear message like, ‘I need to take better care of myself,’” she said. “Ketamine coaching asks: What does that look like for you? What’s the next small step?”
Other people see blackness or emptiness and don’t know how to interpret it. In those cases, Naomi invites them to explore the discomfort. “We go over the idea of leaning into the disappointment,” she said. “There’s often meaning even in the absence of imagery.”
She tailors her tools to the individual. For some, she offers ketamine integration workbook prompts. For others, she shares recipes, recommends books, or guides them in setting healthier boundaries.
Naomi is not a licensed therapist—and she’s clear about that distinction—but she harnesses her background in child and family studies and holistic healing to help patients integrate ketamine insights into daily life.
“The answers are already inside them,” she said. “I just help them hear it more clearly.”
A Holistic, Human Approach
Naomi’s coaching style reflects her ethos. She looks at each person’s life as a whole, including their routines, relationships, and environment. Nutrition, sleep, screen time, movement, and emotional regulation all come into play.
“I try to help people connect the dots,” she said. “Sometimes, ketamine integration coaching is not just about what came up in the infusion. Sometimes it’s about examining how everything around them affects their healing.”
She brings that same care to Avesta’s ketamine integration circles, which offer space for patients to process ketamine insights alongside others. Naomi helps guide those conversations, creating a safe, supportive environment for reflection and connection.
Why Avesta Feels Different
For Naomi, Avesta’s DC-area ketamine clinics stand out not just because of their standards, but because of their culture of care.
“Everyone here really pays attention,” she said. “The nurse practitioners are thoughtful about dosing. The intake process is thorough. And behind the scenes, we’re always checking in with each other to provide the best possible care for our patients.”
She also appreciates the warmth and leadership of the Avesta team. “I feel seen and heard here,” she said. “I think patients feel that too. It’s a ketamine clinic where people genuinely care.”
To anyone considering ketamine therapy in the DMV area, Naomi offers this:
“You don’t have to do it alone. If you’re ready to explore what’s underneath the surface, ketamine integration coaching can help. You’re not broken. You’re becoming. And you deserve support on that path.”
If you’re considering ketamine therapy and want support throughout the journey, you can request integration coaching with Naomi at Avesta’s Bethesda, McLean, or Washington, DC locations.
