KAP Playlists
Curated music for ketamine-assisted psychotherapy sessions.
Practice details
Music plays a central role in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. It provides structure during altered states, supports emotional processing, and creates the arc of a session — from grounding into the experience, through the peak, and back to integration. The right playlist can function as what Bill Richards calls "a nonverbal support system, like a net below a trapeze artist."
For psilocybin and MDMA research playlists, see the psilocybin and MDMA pages.
Setup tip: In Spotify, go to Settings → Playback and set crossfade to 12 seconds. This eliminates silence between tracks so the music flows continuously. Download playlists for offline playback before sessions — you don't want an ad or a lost connection mid-journey.
PRATI — Sublingual Sessions
Full Spotify Profile →The Psychedelic Research and Training Institute curates the most established KAP-specific playlist series — Sublingual Sessions. Each installment is created by a different psychedelic therapist, artist, or musician — all designed specifically for oral/sublingual ketamine experiences. PRATI's musical philosophy emphasizes evocative music with emotional range, attention to the session arc (onset, peak, descent), and avoiding recognizable lyrics.
Sublingual Sessions 1
Electronic, ambient, warm. Created by KAP therapist and DJ Stephen Thomas, PRATI's music faculty lead. The original in the series.
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Sublingual Sessions 2
Minimal, ambient, electronica. Subtle and synthetic but buzzing with analog warmth. Recommended for psychospiritual exploration.
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Sublingual Sessions 3
Lush and uplifting melodic atmospheres from DJ and sound therapist Allison Soeung.
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Sublingual Sessions 4
Deep electronica and psybient. Shimmering, expansive tracks from psychiatrist and music producer Juan Pablo Galindo.
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Sublingual Sessions 6
Rich and restorative — blending immersive atmospherics, calming chords, and nourishing vocals. From psychedelic therapist and former MAPS clinical trial co-investigator Ashley Booth.
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Sublingual Sessions 7
The most recent installment in the series.
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Ketamine Research Foundation / Ketamine Training Center
Full Spotify Profile (42 playlists) →The Ketamine Research Foundation and Ketamine Training Center maintain one of the largest collections of KAP playlists on Spotify — 42 public playlists with names like "Sojourn," "Quantum Dreaming," "KAP Rose," and "Embracing the Dissonance." Rather than embed all of them here, I'm linking to their full profile. These are worth browsing — many have a distinct character and are designed for different therapeutic intentions.
Sojourn
One of the collection's standout playlists.
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KAT Journey 1 — Gentle
A gentle, grounding session playlist.
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Kaila Compton
Spotify Profile →Kaila Compton is a KAP therapist in Vermont who maintains a numbered series of ketamine playlists (currently #1 through #12), plus specialty playlists for classical and healing frequencies. Her main "Ketamine Assisted Therapy" playlist (603 tracks, 14K+ saves) is a living collection she updates regularly. The numbered playlists are individual session-length arcs.
Ketamine #6: Become Happier
Warm, grounding, emotionally open. One of the most popular purpose-built KAP playlists on Spotify.
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Ketamine Classical
Classical selections curated specifically for ketamine sessions. A good option for clients who respond to orchestral music.
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Shannon Clare Carlin
Shannon Clare Carlin, LMFT, served as co-therapist on MAPS-sponsored clinical trials researching MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD and anxiety associated with life-threatening illness, and as Associate Director of MAPS Therapist Training. She graduated from the CIIS Integral Counseling Psychology program. Her Spotify profile includes playlists broken down by session stage — Active, Returning, Inner Exploration, Joy Peace — which are especially useful for clinicians building their own session playlists and wanting to understand how music functions differently at each phase.
Heart Playlist
A full KAP session playlist. Neo-classical, ambient, and indigenous music including drumming and traditional instruments. Follows the arc of a session.
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Shannon's Spotify profile also includes stage-specific collections (Active, Returning, Inner Exploration, Joy Peace) useful for building custom session playlists.
Eric Sienknecht — A Playlist for Ketamine
Created for the Chacruna Institute by PRATI music faculty member Eric Sienknecht (also known as Jason Sienknecht). One of the few playlists designed specifically around ketamine's phenomenology rather than adapted from psilocybin protocols.
A Playlist for Ketamine
Ambient and introspective. Compact and intentional.
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More Playlists
These pages cover playlists from the major psychedelic research programs — different substances, different arcs, same attention to music as a therapeutic tool.
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