Tripping at Death's Door: Psychedelics in End-of-Life Care - Rural ketamine therapy and narrative films for terminal patients

Ketamine-assisted psychedelic care is being developed for people with terminal illness through a rural California narrative medicine project. The Institute for Rural Psychedelic Care in Arcata, California is creating short films featuring patient interviews organized around themes like unfinished business and regrets, relationships and love, legacy and meaning making, and questions about what exists beyond death. The project also aims to help clinicians better engage patients in liminal medical settings and to ease anxiety for people facing death. Practitioners featured include trauma therapist and psychedelic medicine practitioner Carrie Griffin, with rural palliative care physician Michael Fratkin and photographer Justin Maxon. The discussion links ketamine effects to neurobiology and altered consciousness, argues for an individualized timing window often discussed around hospice engagement (about six months or less), and emphasizes consent, psychotherapy preparation, and community-held sessions. Success measures include end-of-life anxiety and validated quality of life scales (for example PHQ-9 and GAD-7).