This post is part of Healing Insights from the Circle, a Veteran Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Group Journal from ReNew Wellness. These reflections are shared to honor the courage, vulnerability, and resilience of veterans healing together in community.
This evening brought powerful insights around what it means to be seen and heard.
One veteran shared a story about someone performing extreme acts just to gain attention, reflecting on how unseen pain can escalate when it is ignored. Others deeply related to that image, and the group made room for the ache underneath it.
Reflection cards introduced themes of self-awareness, anger, patience, and intensity. Veterans discussed how peace can briefly emerge during ketamine journeys before defenses return, and how meaningful even those brief moments of relief can be.
Themes of death, younger parts, grief, and invalidation by professionals were shared. One veteran described walking alongside his younger self during journeys. Another called these sessions “the only break I get.”
A powerful image arose when fireworks transformed into gunshots during a journey, symbolizing the way trauma can surface through imagery and body memory.
The group held each other in quiet listening and shared resonance. Safety, connection, and collective healing were reaffirmed not through advice or fixing, but through presence.