German Ascani, MD has been a PRATI faculty member since 2021, and he currently serves as Lead Psychiatric Consultant. He has worked to develop the medical team’s protocols, processes, and approaches, and he is a vital member of our team! German does his clinical work through Evolve Mind Wellness, in Denver, where he treats patients using KAP. He also provides psychedelic harm reduction consultations and education for both patients and professionals.
As he says in this interview, “My vision for the world is one where we can be more loving, more connected and purposeful in our lives, and more compassionate with ourselves and each other.”
German, thank you for living this vision in your work and life. We are honored to have you as part of the PRATI team.
Tell us a little about your therapeutic practice and your vision for the world.
I feel fortunate to have chosen psychiatry as my specialty in medicine 15 years ago. I have been practicing since 2007 and have been in many different clinical settings, from homeless clinics and community mental health to primary care psychiatry and now private practice. I do my clinical work through Evolve Mind Wellness, in Denver, where I treat patients for a wide range of psychiatric diagnoses, and have used KAP and Ketamine treatments since 2018 for resistant conditions and psychotherapy. Since then, it has transformed my practice and the way in which I approach mental health treatment.
I provide psychedelic harm reduction consultations and education for patients and consult with many professionals and organizations on psychedelic-assisted therapy modalities and psychedelic medicine in general. I team up with many therapists and providers to deliver adjunct treatments with Ketamine and harm reduction as well, individually and in groups. I am trained through MAPS/Lykos as an MDMA-AT consultant and therapist. I had the privilege to participate in the phase 3 clinical trials through the MAPS/Lykos-sponsored clinical trials.
When I moved to Colorado in 2021, I was invited to join PRATI’s faculty and take part in creating a larger mission with this work. I currently serve as the Lead Psychiatric Consultant for PRATI and have worked to develop the medical team’s protocols, process, and approach to weave into the course curriculum for the foundational KAP trainings, EOL KAP trainings, and upcoming offerings in 2025 such as Embracing the Sacred.
I really enjoy the teaching aspects of the work and training medical and mental health professionals in therapy skills in the psychedelic-assisted paradigms with the goal of changing paradigms and increasing capacity in delivering these treatments in the field of mental health. I feel this approach has added more tools in mental health care and treatment, and it is also one I feel the most impassioned about, the most curious, and the most hopeful about because it intersects with meaning, spirituality, consciousness and the sacred aspects of humanity. While our scientific method and research is starting to gather more evidence, there is a clear signal in the data, and in my real-world practice, demonstrating that it is also safe and effective, and with careful screening protocols and risk assessments in place, it has the potential to greatly improve a person’s life and change the psychiatric landscape in the future.
My vision for the world is one where we can be more loving, more connected and purposeful in our lives, and more compassionate with ourselves and each other. I feel we have lost much of our sense of community and care for one another, and this affects our mental health and well-being to greater magnitudes than people realize. Psychedelic medicine and Ketamine can serve as a tool to connect and bridge the gaps we have in our reductionist mental and medical health care system. At a consciousness level, it is a tool to help us see past the consumer-driven lifestyles and materialism that condition us.
What do you appreciate most about using KAP/PAT as a modality with your clients?
It goes beyond the biological and reductionist paradigm of illness. It presents opportunities for connection, growth, meaning, and transformation. It is relational and involves spending time with people, building relationships which are vehicles towards healing. KAP/PAT widens the lens and invites many other dimensions of life, such as metaphysical and philosophical constructs of what it means to be… it sparks creativity and imagination transforming a battered and suffering mind into a better version of itself.
What advice would you offer to a provider interested in starting to practice KAP/PAT?
Seek training, mentorship, and supervision as you get started in a KAP/PAT practice. Doing the work in collaboration with others and in community and groups is a beautiful way to amplify the power of it and remain in consultation with others, hold each other accountable, and support each other as providers.
Remain curious and open to many possibilities and nurture a relationship with the medicine as well.
Is there anything else you would like to share with our community?
Definitely… While Ketamine has helped treat countless individuals with suicidality and treatment-resistant conditions, it is not for everyone, it is not a miracle treatment. Not every nail will need a Ketamine hammer.
