Provider Characteristics Associated with Therapeutic Support for Psychedelic Services and Ketamine-Assisted Therapy: Evidence from a Therapist Directory

Background and Purpose: Interest in psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) has grown rapidly, with multiple states pursuing legislation to expand access to psychedelics for mental health, and ketamine already in widespread clinical use for treatment-resistant depression. Despite this growth, much remains unknown about the characteristics of the workforce who might be providing PAT, the extent to which they offer culturally responsive care, and service affordability. In response, our research seeks to increase understanding of the existing practice landscape, investigating: (1) What provider characteristics distinguish therapists who mention psychedelics in their professional profiles from those who do not? (2) Do similar patterns hold for therapists who list ketamine-assisted therapy as a treatment modality?

Methods. Data came from the Psychology Today therapist directory, scraped between June and July 2025 (N = 347,464 unique provider listings across all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C.). Psychedelic mention was identified through keyword search of provider bio text (n = 1,366; 0.39%). Ketamine-assisted therapy was identified through a structured modality flag (n = 2,636; 0.76%). Generalized estimating equation (GEE) logistic regression models with exchangeable correlation structures, clustering by state, estimated adjusted odds ratios for 24 provider characteristics across seven domains: profession, clinical specialties, substance-related specialties, therapy modalities, client focus by ethnicity and sexuality, and insurance acceptance.

Results. Therapists mentioning psychedelics in their bios differed from non-mentioning therapists across multiple domains. In the adjusted models, psychedelic mention was associated with higher odds of listing somatic therapy (OR = 2.59, p < .001), IFS (OR = 2.38, p < .001), spirituality as a specialty (OR = 2.60, p < .001), trauma/PTSD (OR = 1.39, p < .001), and substance use (OR = 1.39, p < .001). These therapists had lower odds of listing CBT (OR = 0.44, p < .001) and lower odds of accepting Medicaid (OR = 0.70, p < .001) or Medicare (OR = 0.73, p < .01). Regarding client focus, psychedelic-mentioning therapists had higher odds of listing LGBTQ focus (OR = 1.50, p < .001) and Hispanic focus (OR = 1.40, p < .001), but lower odds of listing Black focus (OR = 0.78, p < .01). Ketamine-assisted therapy showed a similar but not identical pattern: somatic (OR = 2.17, p < .001), IFS (OR = 2.56, p < .001), and trauma-focused therapy (OR = 1.56, p < .001) were strongly associated, while CBT (OR = 0.57, p < .001) and Medicaid acceptance (OR = 0.68, p < .001) showed negative associations. Unlike the psychedelic-mention model, ketamine-assisted therapists showed no significant association with the psychologist title and weaker associations with ethnicity-focused variables.

Conclusions. Therapists signaling provision of psychedelics-related mental health services represent a small but distinctive subgroup of the U.S. therapist workforce. The strong associations with somatic, spiritual, and trauma-focused modalities suggest that psychedelic services and ketamine-assisted therapy providers have developed practice patterns that differ systematically from the broader therapist workforce. The lower Medicaid and Medicare acceptance rates, combined with uneven client ethnicity focus, raise questions about equitable access as psychedelic-assisted therapies move toward broader clinical availability.