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Human Stories of Ketamine Therapy as Czech Researchers Receive €800,000 Grant
In May 2025, a group of psychedelic clinics and researchers in Prague received an 800,000 Euro grant from European Union organizations and the Czech government, to develop a new model of care based on psychedelic-assisted therapy.
The grant was awarded to Psyon clinic and three other partners, Brno-based Podané Ruce (Helping Hands) Association, the Podané Ruce Clinic, and the Third Faculty of Medicine of Charles University. The funds came from the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Employment Plus Operational Program (OPZ+) under the auspices of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
The goal of the project is to use models of ketamine-assisted therapy, and support from social-workers, to help people in difficult social situations suffering from mental illness or addiction.
“This project aspires to help participants not just with their mental health problems, but also with their return to their productive work life,” shares the coordinator of the project, Mgr. Jan Blahůšek.
Such support from the government body does not mean that all doors are open for psychedelic research and treatment approaches — but does mean that after more than two decades of “knocking on the door” for increased access for psychedelic therapies, we are finally getting results.
No one knew me for fifty years in such lightness of being
Ketamine Therapy in the Czech Republic: The Pilot Project
In 2023 a one-year pilot project, “Destigmatization of the therapeutic use of psychedelics in psychiatry and their use in the Czech Republic to reintegrate people with long term work incapacity back into life,” was given a green light and some financial support from the European Social Fund.
The project objective was to help with public destigmatization, to conduct interviews and collect stories from 21 patients undergoing psychedelic therapy at Psyon clinic as research subjects in the National Institute of Mental Health, or elsewhere where the legal administration of ketamine is already underway.
Part of the project was also testing a new dosing model consisting of three ketamine administrations, alongside a framework of psychotherapy. Eight patients, six with psychiatric conditions and two with both psychiatric and addiction diagnoses, were selected to undergo the new treatment model. We collected their stories as well.
Therapy Options Are Out There
Malta The Patient’s Stories
I was one of the interviewers privileged to collect the stories of the research participants after they underwent treatment. We collected 29 stories from people suffering with depression, anxiety, addiction and other mental health problems — that due to their long-term resistance to standard treatment options were left without hope for relief. These stories captured not only the effectiveness of the therapy but also the difficulties and fears related to the treatment the participants were facing.
One patient commented that ketamine restored his emotions after being dull for many years. Unfortunately, he also shared his sad experience of losing this healing thread, and the disappearance of the afterglow effects within a week. This fear was shared by many of the other interviewees. Another patient that benefited strongly from the therapy simultaneously had to deal with his partner’s heavy criticism and insults, repeatedly accusing the patient of being a junkie and a drug user.
The 3-dose ascending model demonstrated its benefit strongly through the story of one patient, Tibor. Tibor had been depressed for more than 30 years with no real improvements in his emotional or mental well-being. Nothing worked, including the first two ketamine administrations. When he underwent the third administration, he had a breakthrough experience. The positive lasting effects that he experienced slowly unfolded over the weeks and months following the actual treatment. His experience can be seen in the documentary “Doctor on a Trip”.
Two other patient stories exceeded all of our expectations.
One is that of an elderly man who had suffered from depression for his entire life. Following his treatment and therapy he shared that “no one knew me for fifty years in such lightness of being”.
The other story is of a woman, a mother of two, who due to her mental health was contemplating how to end her own life. “I was already on my way to Switzerland for euthanasia, but I’m here,” she shared in the interview. This is not to say that she was suddenly blissful, happy, and healthy. However, her mental state was rapidly improving, which gave her hope. She remained unable to work but could finally take care of her kids and household, something which she wasn’t able to do for a long time.
Yet not all of the experiences were positive. Psychedelic research has repeatedly confirmed what we have already believed to be true: psychedelic therapy is not for everyone, but can greatly benefit the right patient.
For a balanced perspective, I’ll share the experience of a patient who encountered difficulties. He stated: “I received one smaller dose, then two larger doses. The first session had only minor physical effects. I felt relieved of tension, but I felt intensely that I couldn’t stop thinking. The second experience was quite challenging. I was terribly afraid that I wouldn’t be able to handle it, that I wouldn’t move forward. I’m tired of living and I don’t want to exist in this world at all. That was the conclusion of that experience, that’s where it spit me out.
“Two months ago, if I had known this, I would have done it again, because I hadn’t tried it yet. Now I feel like I wouldn’t push it anymore, we’re good here now, and I need to work on myself in other ways. I think it is good to wait, slowly and gradually settle down, and arm myself with patience.”
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The Follow Up
Out of that one year pilot project a unique idea with a clear aim of implementing a “social innovation” has evolved. That is how the researchers from the Czech Republic, a country with a longstanding history and quite a vivid presence of psychedelic research, has been prompting the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to be seriously interested in what psychedelics may offer to the people.
50 participants in the study will be given the opportunity to undergo three rounds of ketamine-assisted therapy either at the Psyon clinic or at the Center of Innovative Therapy (CIT) of Podané Ruce clinic, together with support from social workers who will provide case management assistance. “The aim of the project is to help people not only with their health needs but also with their social needs and problems. The support of social workers is also a way we want to emphasize how important it is to offer the participants help on more than just the psychological level”, shares Jan Blahůšek.
This innovative approach will then be systematically evaluated by experts from the Third Faculty of Medicine of Charles University. The project will be evaluated considering both the client-impact as well as the potential economic cost-benefit for the Czech social and healthcare system. Additionally, the project hopes to support the introduction and establishment of psychedelic-assisted therapy in the current addiction treatment model used in the Czech Republic. Finally, the project aims to prepare the Czech Republic’s psychiatric system for future systemic change regarding the use of psychedelic practices and therapy.
The Future of Ketamine Therapy, in the Czech Republic and Beyond
There is a lot of movement in the field of psychedelics in the Czech Republic. It is striking to see how innovative the dance of researchers is with the bureaucratic framework of a post-communist country. The dance has not been an easy one, and the music has not always been harmonious. Getting the dance started has taken a lot of effort and patience. The researchers have been patient, creative, persistent, and flexible enough to move according to the needs of the officers, and so there is progress.
Some might argue that using psychedelics to bring people back to productivity is an abuse and misalignment of the gifts of psychedelic experiences. Indeed, some would be inclined to guess that busy productive lives do not allow for breath, and are a contributing factor for many finding themselves in dire straits. However, perhaps the next time these research participants can return to the machinery of everyday busy life, they will be present in a different capacity. Maybe they will finally be empowered to make their own decisions, and to find a way out of mechanistic routines.
Despite the current movement and progress, or perhaps precisely because of this advancement, we are repeatedly reminded of how limited, rigid, and in many ways outdated our system truly is. There remains a prevailing reluctance to fundamentally change existing structures.
We are trying to find ways for new and unprecedented forms of therapy to exist within frameworks that were never designed to hold them. It is often described as trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. But psychedelics are not a square peg — they’re a liquid, and the system insists on using a cube, attempting to pour a fluid, multi-shaped phenomenon into a rigid, single-shaped container.
And yet, it can be done — in multiple ways, repeatedly. We are no longer knocking on a locked door; we are negotiating how the doorframe itself is being rebuilt.
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Expert Board Member
Work incapacity driven by depression, anxiety, and addiction has a serious social and economic burden, so programs that test new therapies can help people regain daily functioning and return to work are highly relevant. The article presents the topic through vivid patient stories alongside with details of the Czech pilot and its social-worker support model, while also flagging key practical issues such pilot is undergoing.
