Hearts, healing and community were highlighted Saturday at a Valentine’s Day Extravaganza open house at Higher Dimensions of Healing in Carson City.
The wellness center and mental health ketamine clinic provides evidence-based compassionate ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) for patients suffering from treatment-resistant mental health conditions, empowering them to heal and achieve optimal well-being.
The event brought a steady stream of community members, clients and those curious about the wellness center’s mission to the late morning to early afternoon open house.
Complete with live music, a gourmet fondue party, selfie-booth, a scavenger hunt and an insightful ketamine therapy presentation, the open house was designed for people curious about the cutting edge of mental health.
Higher Dimensions of Healing staff on hand was led by owners Christine Salvo, a licensed and certified therapist and her husband Aaron Augustis who serves as the wellness center’s Veterans Community Liaison and Medical Director Dr. Logan Marcus. Each provided brief presentations on the benefits of ketamine therapy for treating depression, anxiety and PTSD.
Also on hand was administrative assistant Matthew Wagner, who helped guide people through the open house and played guitar, along with Sarah Gardner and Zac Salvo.
The team answered questions and discussed how these innovative treatments are changing lives in our community.
As the co-owner and full time therapist, Salvo explained how the open house was meant as a way for the community to get to know and understand what they do, which she said is to provide cutting edge mental health ketamine treatment for depression, PTSD, anxiety and trauma.
Aaron Augustis handles administration duties, and key among them include getting PTSD treatment for veterans. As an Army veteran who served and deployed to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Augustis understands the silent battles many service members face after returning home.
“As a veteran who served during Operation Iraqi Freedom, I have firsthand experience with combat-related PTSD,” says Augustis. “I know that ketamine therapy helps. I’ve seen its positive impact, and I believe it can be a valuable tool for other veterans struggling with similar challenges.”
A major step forward in veteran mental healthcare was highlighted last fall as Higher Dimensions of Healing, LLC now collaborates and contracts with the Reno VA Hospital to provide fully covered ketamine-assisted therapy treatment services for eligible veterans.
The partnership, facilitated through a Veteran Care Agreement, addresses the critical need for effective mental health solutions for our nation’s veterans, particularly for those suffering from the profound psychological effects of military service and combat like: PTSD, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation and more.
Also at the open house was Dr. Logan Marcus, MD, who serves as Higher Dimensions of Healing’s Medical Director.
As ketamine therapy has become more recognized as an FDA-approved form of therapy with high-rates of success, there remains some misconceptions about it, said Dr. Marcus.
“The most common misconception about ketamine in treatment is that it is experimental and isn’t ready for full-time clinical use. The reality is ketamine therapy is FDA approved medicine for treating mental health disorders making it a standard of care,” he said.
Another misconception that people may have is what they’ve heard about through the death of actor Matthew Perry, who died of an accidental drowning in 2023 from acute effects of ketamine.
“The difference and point to highlight is recreational and illicit ketamine use verses clinical and therapeutic use, which is what we are doing here,” Dr. Marcus said. “Ketamine is a FDA-approved medicine but it is a medicine that requires doctor supervision. Using a medicine that can also be an anesthetic used for surgeries, it is not a good idea to administer it to yourself and get in a hot tub,” he said.
“If a patient, for example, was being treated with therapeutic ketamine in a clinical setting, no physician would give somebody a therapeutic dose of ketamine and have them get in a bathtub,” he said. “Close medical supervision and clinical oversight is very important, ensuring that there aren’t drug interactions from medications given from their primary doctor as it relates to ketamine. Overseeing side-effects is very important.”
“The other important piece is that ketamine therapy for mental health purposes is a tool in our tool kit. It’s not the be-all-end-all. So treatment, for PTSD as an example, involves ketamine but also group therapy and working with ketamine assisted therapy providers that can help guide them through process,” said Dr. Marcus.
Higher Dimensions of Healing is located at 1950 E College Parkway Suite 102
Carson City, Nev. See + Google Map and the website here.
