WITHIN Founder David Naylor and Medical Director Eric Miller
This article originally appeared in the Austonia here: https://austonia.com/within-psychedelic-center-austin
By Andrea Guzmán
A new clinic focused on guiding individuals through ceremonial psychedelic treatments has come to Austin.
WITHIN Founder David Naylor, hosted a grand opening Friday for the recently opened center, which treats those in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction as well as those with depression, anxiety, traumas, PTSD, chronic pain and those navigating life transitions.
“We know psychedelic therapy works for all kinds of ailments, and thanks to John Hopkins University and other research centers and also the veterans, they’ve been on the front lines once again to push these laws through Congress, showing the results and efficacy,” Naylor said.
The grand opening involved a series of talks from psychedelic industry leaders including Greg Fonzo, co-director of the Center for Psychedelic Research & Therapy at the University of Texas at Austin.
WITHIN says it offers a warm approach with a clinic that provides guided sessions for ketamine, which their website describes as a “dissociative anesthetic,” hypothesized to interrupt ruminative thinking and emotional suppression by inducing the anomalous state of consciousness. There are various methods of administering ketamine, but the center uses what it believes to be the most effective: intramuscular injection. After receiving it from a nurse practitioner guests are encouraged to use eye shades and headphones and practice mindful breathing. It can feel dissociative, the website says, “almost as though you were astral projecting or lucid dreaming.”
The center also offers retreat packages where guests can access ketamine treatment sessions, food, workshops, coaching and more. Prices range from a two-week stay with a shared room costing nearly $10,000 to a month-long stay with a private room going for $17,777.
Clients like Luke Carver from the first two months of its opening have given positive feedback.
“Psychedelic therapy released attachments, blocks, and got me out of behaviors I had tried to break my entire life,” Carver said.
WITHIN has raised $600,000 to launch the flagship Austin location and is currently raising a $1.5 million seed round with plans to expand to three more states by the end of 2023.