SPECIALIST ONLINE INTEGRATION THERAPY AND COACHING FOR PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCES
SPECIALIST ONLINE INTEGRATION THERAPY AND COACHING FOR PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCES
ABOUT PAUL GIBSON
I have spent my career alongside people in their most significant moments: in the therapy room, in the ketamine session, and in the weeks that follow. That is where I do my best work. Right there with you.
Most people who contact me are not sure what they need yet. That is exactly the right place to start.
HOW I ARRIVED HERE
A professional journey shaped by curiosity about people, a respect for the complexity of the mind and a commitment to helping meaningful change last.
I began my clinical career in nursing, spending around ten years in hospital settings. That background taught me something I still carry today: people rarely experience physical and psychological distress as separate things. I later trained as a psychotherapist and hypnotherapist, spending thirteen years working with depression, anxiety, trauma, attachment difficulties and long-standing patterns that leave people feeling stuck.
Over time, my work became increasingly focused on trauma, altered states and the question of why some people can understand themselves intellectually for years yet still struggle to feel different.
That eventually led me into ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and psychedelic integration: work that brings together many of the things I had already spent years thinking about: emotion, memory, attachment, defence, identity, meaning and change.
Psychedelic work did not replace psychotherapy for me. It gave me another way of seeing how change can happen, and how easily insight can be lost if it is not supported afterwards.
DIRECT CLINICAL KETAMINE EXPERIENCE
At The Emerge Clinic, I work with people before, during and after ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. I am involved in preparation, remain present during altered-state treatment sessions and work with people afterwards as they begin to understand what happened and what it may mean for their life.
That means my understanding of integration does not come only from training, books or conversations after the event. It comes from repeatedly seeing the whole arc: what someone brings into the room, what happens when ordinary defences loosen, what feels important during the experience, and what remains once everyday consciousness returns.
I have seen profound experiences produce little lasting change, and subtle experiences become deeply important over time. Difficult sessions eventually become understandable, and apparently uneventful sessions still shift the way someone feels or thinks afterwards.
That experience has shaped the way I work: slowly enough to understand what actually happened, carefully enough not to impose meaning, and practically enough that the work eventually returns to ordinary life.
“I know ketamine integration because I see what happens when the medicine is still in the room, and what remains when it is gone.”
— Paul Gibson
The Emerge Clinic, UK.
Preparation, altered-state support and integration.
Working alongside medical screening and prescribing.
Not historical experience or training alone.
SPECIALIST TRAINING
I undertook specialist ketamine-assisted psychotherapy training with Polaris Insight Center in San Francisco, a training organisation established by experienced clinicians working at the forefront of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy.
I also sit within the professional community of Ketamine Psychotherapy Associates, which developed out of the work of psychiatrist and psychedelic psychotherapy pioneer Dr Phil Wolfson.
Dr Wolfson was one of the early clinicians to develop and formalise ketamine-assisted psychotherapy as a psychotherapeutic model rather than viewing ketamine simply as a medication administered in isolation. That distinction, medicine held within a deliberate psychotherapeutic process, is central to the way I understand this work.
Specialist ketamine-assisted psychotherapy training, San Francisco.
Professional community and ongoing KAP learning.
Pioneer of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and founder of the KAP model that informs the wider professional community.
KAP Clinical Skills training programme providing structured education in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy practice.
WHAT EXPERIENCE HAS TAUGHT ME
A powerful or beautiful experience can feel life-changing in the moment, but insight still needs somewhere to go afterwards.
Some difficult experiences eventually become understandable, while others simply need care and perspective. Not every difficult experience carries a lesson that needs to be found.
My job is not to decide what an image, memory or thought means. It is to help you explore what it may mean to you.
Something that felt completely obvious during an altered state can become harder to access once ordinary life, relationships and habits return.
The point is not to stay psychologically inside the psychedelic experience. It is to return to your life with a clearer understanding of what matters and what you want to do differently.
A psychedelic experience can open a door. Integration is about deciding whether, when and how you want to walk through it.
— Paul Gibson
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
My work draws on more than thirteen years of psychotherapy experience, an earlier clinical background in nursing and ongoing work within ketamine-assisted psychotherapy.
I continue to work clinically, which means the ideas I bring into integration are continually tested against real people, real sessions and the complexity of real life.
Psychotherapy experience
Polaris Insight Center, San Francisco
Around 10 years working in hospital settings
Director of Psychotherapy, The Emerge Clinic
Ketamine Psychotherapy Associates
MBACP Accredited Psychotherapist
A PERSONAL NOTE
People often contact me knowing only that something from the experience still feels important, unresolved or difficult to place.
You do not need to arrive with an interpretation, a diagnosis or a perfectly formed goal. We can begin with what you remember, what stayed with you, or what still feels unfinished.
My role is to listen carefully, understand what brought you here and help you find what deserves attention next.
You do not have to have everything figured out before you begin. You just need somewhere honest enough to start.
— Paul Gibson
READY WHEN YOU ARE
If you are trying to make sense of a ketamine or psychedelic experience and want support from someone who understands both the clinical setting and the psychological work that follows, you are welcome to get in touch.
You do not need to arrive with a polished explanation. We can begin with what happened and what feels unfinished.
