HEALTH
Dr. Amanda Itzkoff F O U N D E R O F C U R AT E D M E N TA L H E A LT H
AT T H E F O R E F R O N T O F P Y S YC H I AT R I C T R E AT M E N T
BY LAUREN BENS
W
hen it comes to helping patients battle mental illness, psychiatrist and assistant clinical professor, Dr. Amanda Itzkoff, has made it her mission to find the most innovative treatments and techniques available. In fact, Dr. Itzkoff was doing just that back in 2014, when she set out to offer IV Ketamine and Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) to her treatment resistant patients at the time. While the benefits of using Ketamine to help treat those suffering from resistant depression, or TRD, is now widely known to be highly effective, Dr. Itzkoff was initially one of just a handful of doctors in the country to offer this treatment to patients outside of research studies. Though she was met with resistance from others in her field, this devoted doctor, who fundamentally understood the lifechanging effects that Ketmine could potentially have on those patients who were still suffering after all other treatment options had failed them, did what she does best fought for her patients. Passionate about putting her patients’ progress first, Dr. Itzkoff opened her own
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practice in New York over a decade ago, which she continues to operate. Now, Dr. Itzkoff is using her same determination and foresight to help even more patients with the recently announced opening of Curated Mental Health, where patients will not have to worry about covering the cost of their care. Though patients will still be able to see Dr. Itzkoff at her private practice location, which does not currently accept insurance, Curated Mental Health, led by a highly qualified team whom Dr. Itzkoff has assembled and will continue to oversee, will afford patients the ability to receive these transformative treatments without having to pay any of the high out of pocket costs. The team at this revolutionary new center plans to offer the latest advances in psychedelic therapies, along with standard psychiatric treatment, to patients who have previously been unable to access these groundbreaking therapies. For the first time ever, patients will be able to use their insurance benefits to receive IV Ketamine and Ketamine assisted psychotherapy. Curated Mental Health might already be a breakthrough practice, but this is
just the beginning. With the help of strategic partnerships, they are already planning a national rollout in order to make these cutting-edge psychedelic treatments available to all, regardless of financial situation. According to Dr. Itzkoff, Curated Mental Health will aim to help others through the most advanced practices available. “We are dedicated to addressing the massive barriers to care that exist in obtaining mental health treatment, especially the most cutting edge services,” she explains. “We therefore established Curated Mental Health where we are committed to treating patients with ketamine assisted psychotherapy and additional psychedelic assisted psychotherapy modalities as soon as they become available.” Dr. Itzkoff is currently completing training with MAPS, or Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, for MDMA assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, and she plans to use a similar model to the one that she has developed for ketamine treatment to allow patients who need to use their insurance benefits to access this care. For those who want to learn more about how this pioneering doctor is hoping to bring psychedelic assisted psychotherapy to practices around the country, Dr. Itzkoff will be hosting Cocktails and Conversations with special guests on December 9th at her new office located at 253 West 28th Street. Colleagues in the mental health field, as well as press and the community at large, are invited to both learn and celebrate the launch of a growing network of offices bringing psychedelic assisted psychotherapy to all patients who might benefit from these unorthodox but crucially beneficial methods. Dr. Robin Carhartt-Harris will serve as the keynote speaker on Psychedelics: Brain Mechanisms, preceding a Q and A forum with Dr. Itzkoff and gala dinner benefiting MAPS. Dr. Itzkoff is excited to share how she is at the forefront of the future of mental health by sharing Curated Mental Health’s cutting edge approach, as well as how they are attempting to make these treatments accessible to all. P curatedmentalhealth.com
