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Groundbreaking clinic delivers affordable, clinically supervised psychedelic therapy while training the next generation of practitioners
May 8 brought one of those San Francisco afternoons that feels like a gift — bright, sweet, and full of promise. Trustees, faculty, students, and staff crowded into a newly renovated space on the CIIS campus for a ribbon cutting that marked the opening of the first-ever university-affiliated ketamine-assisted psychotherapy clinic. The culmination of years of work, research, and belief in the promise of deep and lasting healing, CIIS’ Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Clinic (KAP) was finally ready to receive those in need of care.
Just before the ribbon fell, CIIS President Brock Blomberg took a moment to honor everyone involved for “helping to prepare a new generation of practitioners for work that was once considered marginal but is now increasingly recognized as one of the most important frontiers in mental healthcare.”
For Blomberg, whose vision anchored the project from the beginning, the new clinic is the latest expression of something this institution has been doing for six decades.
"This institution has always been willing to stand on the edge of what is emerging in education, healing, and human transformation," he said at the ceremony. More than 50 years ago, CIIS introduced integral counseling psychology. Ten years ago, the university launched the first certificate program in psychedelic-assisted therapy. Last year, CIIS introduced the first Bachelor of Science in Psychedelic Studies in the United States. Graduates of that program will have direct opportunities to gain clinical experience at the new clinic. The KAP clinic is the latest step in something CIIS has been doing since its founding: advancing mental healthcare with the whole person in mind.
The clinic is CIIS' seventh community clinic, and the first to specialize in psychedelic-assisted therapy. Melissa Whippo, a licensed clinical social worker with 20 years of experience and a decade working specifically in ketamine research, leads a team that includes postdoctoral practitioners and trainees supervised under rigorous academic and clinical oversight. Among them at the opening was Miriam Rubino, a licensed marriage and family therapist and graduate of CIIS' Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research (CPTR) program — exactly the kind of practitioner the clinic was designed to train.
"CIIS is setting a new standard for how this treatment should be delivered," said Executive Director of CIIS Clinic Services Anna Benassi, "with proper clinical training, ethical oversight, and a genuine commitment to accessibility. Education and patient care reinforce each other here. That's what makes this model different."
This clinic offers new hope for patients who have exhausted traditional mental health treatments.
Melissa Whippo, Clinic Director, Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Clinic
The CIIS model combines structured therapeutic sessions with calibrated doses of ketamine for therapeutic efficacy. This model is carefully designed to help patients work through psychological barriers and process difficult emotions with the help of trained clinicians. All patients undergo thorough screenings prior to treatment, and licensed clinicians follow rigorous safety protocols throughout.
The clinic offers three-hour ketamine-assisted psychotherapy sessions at approximately $400, roughly one-third the cost of comparable private clinics, making it among the most accessible options of its kind in the region. That price point is intentional and, CIIS leadership firmly asserts, essential.
"The mental health crisis in San Francisco is real," said Benassi, who helped shepherd the project from concept to opening over two years alongside a dedicated working group. "We see people every day who haven't responded to conventional treatments, and this clinic gives them a credible, supervised option."
This promise of care is especially important for populations who may have exhausted other options. Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy has demonstrated rapid, meaningful results for treatment-resistant depression and PTSD. These conditions affect millions of people, including veterans, for whom standard interventions often fall short.
"Today we are not just opening a clinic," Blomberg told the crowd as he and Provost Kathy Littles joined their efforts – as they had throughout the project – and sent the final barrier fluttering to the floor. "We are opening another doorway for care, for learning, for healing, and for the future of mental health."
CIIS is setting a new standard for how this treatment should be delivered — with proper clinical training, ethical oversight, and a genuine commitment to accessibility.
Anna Benassi, Executive Director of CIIS Clinics
The CIIS Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Clinic is open and welcoming referrals. To learn more or refer a patient, visit ciis.edu/ketamine-assisted-psychotherapy-clinic.
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