More Companies Seek Psychedelic Therapy as Part of Worker Health Care Benefits
The Messenger, August 10, 2023
The popularity of psychedelic therapy is on the rise in the U.S., prompting some employers to try to respond quickly to the growing demand for these mental health treatments among their employees.
About 50 companies have already sent letters of intent to Enthea, a startup insurance company that includes psychedelic medicine in its workplace insurance plans, expressing interest in this solution, according to a representative of the insurance company. Enthea’s health insurance plans enable employers to provide this coverage to employees seeking alternative treatments, such as ketamine-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of depression, post-traumatic stress, and anxiety.
Dr. Bronner’s, a natural soap brand that launched a pilot program last year to offer psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy to its employees, recently stated that ketamine-assisted psychotherapy has greatly helped the employees who sought it out.
About 7% of the company’s 320 employees took advantage of the program to undergo ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. Following treatment, employees who had been diagnosed with the aforementioned conditions reported improvements of 85% (post-traumatic stress), 67% (depression), and 65% in generalized anxiety, according to data provided by the company.
“Although not everyone achieves such dramatic results, many of our team members say they’ve experienced an improvement in their quality of life through ketamine-assisted psychotherapy,” said David Bronner. “We hope this will encourage other companies to turn to the insurance provider to offer this benefit to their employees.”
Liz Kost, an employee at Dr. Bronner’s, posted a testimonial on her blog in September 2022 about her experience with ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. She explained that she had six therapy sessions, during which she was injected with ketamine, followed by integration sessions with a psychotherapist.
“I cried so much that my mask looked like a wet rag. I felt like I was releasing years and years of old pain and sadness that had been trapped in hidden pockets all over my body,” she said. “When the sessions were over, I was exhausted, but I felt amazing. It was as if my soul had been given a massage.”
