Veronika Gold (Polaris Insight): Creating a Ketamine Clinic

Have you ever wondered what it would take to create a psychedelic therapy clinic? Today’s guest, Veronika Gold, co-founder of Polaris Insight Center in San Francisco has done just that.

Our conversation starts with Veronika first meeting Stanislav Grof at 16 years old in the Czech Republic and we follow her journey from studying at CIIS (California Institute of Integral Studies) to founding Polaris. We cover the challenges she has faced from battling misconceptions, to therapeutic transference, to providing equal access. We also discuss the efficacy of different therapeutic modalities as well as different molecules.

Veronika is has an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from the Charles University in Prague and an M.A. in Integral Counseling Psychology CIIS. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with certificates in EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and Realization Process. She is a Sub Investigator and a co-therapist in MAPS Clinical Program for MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy and has trained in Ketamine-assisted therapy with Dr. Raquel Bennett at Kriya Institute, and Dr. Phil Wolfson, and Julane Andries at the Ketamine Training Center.

Healthy therapeutic relationships are a cornerstone of creating a good set and setting for psychedelic-assisted therapy, and Veronika clearly has what it takes to help her clients heal.

A note from Maya who presents the Psychedelic Therapy Podcast: As a practitioner with a leading psychedelic practice, Veronika has been a part of helping Maya co-create our software platform designed to help psychedelic practitioners track, measure, and illustrate the health outcomes of their clients. If you are an individual ketamine practitioner interested in being a part of the foundation of this platform, please visit our Council of Guides page on the maya website: https://www.mayahealth.com/council

LINKS

• Veronika Gold
• Polaris Insight Center

TIMESTAMPS

• :05 - Veronika’s interest in psychedelics was sparked by meeting Stanislav Grof at 16
• :10 - Veronika’s journey in starting a ketamine-assisted therapy clinic
• :15 - Challenges from combating misconceptions to transference and countertransference
• :23 - Which therapeutic modalities are most efficacious when working with psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy
• :33 - Choosing different psychedelic molecules for healing and how healing can turn into psychospiritual development.
• :43 - Helping clients get access to psychedelic therapy
• :49 - Veronika speaks to psychedelic practitioners