Question 1

What is precision therapy?

Accepted Answer

Precision therapy is a research field with the intention of making psychotherapy more individually adapted, effective and changeable over time. Instead of assuming that the same treatment approach suits everyone, the aim is to understand which factors are important specifically for you: your life situation, your goals, your patterns, your strengths, your difficulties, your preferences and how you actually respond to treatment. This is of course something one always wants in psychotherapy, but often does not have the opportunity to do for various reasons.

Question 2

What do you mean by “precision”?

Accepted Answer

In precision therapy, precision is about better linking people's individual characteristics to the right kind of intervention. This can involve biological factors, psychological patterns, symptom profile, lifestyle, context and treatment preferences — not just diagnoses. In precision medicine there is a striving to tailor interventions based on both biological and non-biological markers, and to adapt interventions to the individual patient's needs over time.

At Nūvai, precision therefore does not mean that we have a simple biomarker that “chooses” the right therapy. It means that we work systematically and data-driven from the start by listening, measuring, understanding patterns, following treatment response and adjusting therapy while it is ongoing. Precision therapy is a complex research field in development, and this is where Nūvai wants to contribute by scientifically evaluating both its own and others' methods.

Question 3

How does precision therapy work at Nūvai?

Accepted Answer

We combine evidence-based psychotherapy with close follow-up, qualitative feedback and relevant data over time. This can involve conversations about how you experience therapy, how change shows in your everyday life, ratings of mood and functioning, as well as data on, for example, sleep, recovery, activity and nervous system regulation.

This information is not used to reduce you to numbers, but to create a more nuanced picture of what helps, what needs adjusting and which conditions seem important for sustainable change.

Question 4

Is precision therapy evidence-based?

Accepted Answer

Precision psychotherapy is not an entirely new therapy method, but a way of working in which established psychotherapeutic evidence is combined with systematic follow-up and individual adaptation. The aim is to understand more of what affects your wellbeing by following more biopsychosocial markers than one usually does in psychotherapy. Research suggests that, for example, continuous recording of sleep and recovery can contribute to better follow-up and more informed treatment decisions. At the same time, the importance of adapting the psychotherapy method and approach to the person's needs, preferences and treatment response is emphasised. When you and your therapist can follow change over time, treatment also becomes more concrete and comprehensible. This can add a pedagogical dimension that strengthens motivation, participation and the possibility of lasting change. Precision therapy is still a field in development. Nūvai wants to help lead its academic development by working in an evidence-based way, continuously studying our methods and those of others, and at the same time adapting treatment to the person behind the data.

At the same time, precision psychiatry is still a field in development. That is why Nūvai uses precision humbly and clinically: as a way to increase accuracy, not as a promise of perfect predictions. The goal is for psychotherapy to become more relevant, more responsive and better adapted to how change actually happens for each individual.

Question 5

What are psychedelics?

Accepted Answer

Psychedelics are pharmacological substances that can temporarily alter perception, emotions, thought patterns and the experience of oneself and the surrounding world. The classic psychedelic substances are, for example, psilocybin, LSD, DMT and mescaline, but the term is sometimes used more broadly for various substances that can induce altered states of consciousness, such as ketamine and MDMA.

Question 6

What is psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy?

Accepted Answer

Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy means that a substance is used in a controlled and therapeutic context, with preparation before the session and integration afterwards. The idea is not that the substance in itself will “solve” the problem, but that it can create a temporary window of change in which emotions, memories, perspectives and habitual patterns can be processed and integrated with the support of psychotherapy. The field is under active research, and it is important that treatment takes place with a clear medical, psychological and legal foundation.

Question 7

Is ketamine a psychedelic?

Accepted Answer

Ketamine is usually not considered a classic psychedelic, as it has a different pharmacological mechanism of action than, for example, psilocybin and LSD. It is more often described as a dissociative anaesthetic, but in psychiatric doses it can produce experiences reminiscent of psychedelic states, such as an altered sense of the body, distance from habitual thought patterns and new perspectives on oneself and life. That is why ketamine is sometimes referred to as a substance with psychedelic properties, even though it does not belong to the group of classic psychedelics.

Question 8

Is Nūvai an academic research clinic?

Accepted Answer

Nūvai is a research-oriented clinic with academic grounding. We combine evidence-based psychotherapy with modern neuroscience, systematic follow-up and collaborations with researchers, companies and clinical settings to develop more individually adapted and safe treatment models.

Through our own research and external collaborations, we want to contribute to the development of precision psychotherapy, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, psychedelic research and nervous system regulation. When research is conducted, it always takes place separately from ordinary treatment, with ethical approval, informed consent and clear frameworks for privacy and safety.

You can find current studies linked to researchers at Nūvai here:

Question 9

What happens when I take ketamine as part of augmented psychotherapy?

Accepted Answer

In ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, ketamine is used deliberately to create an altered state of consciousness that supports and optimises the therapeutic process.

This state can produce powerful shifts in perspective, increase psychological flexibility and open a window for “breakthroughs” that talk therapy alone may not reach. The altered state is a deliberate therapeutic tool, not a side effect.

When this is combined with structured psychotherapy and repeated over time, research suggests that the approach can be linked to stronger and more lasting antidepressant effects.

For some, the state can:
• Create distance from rigid or repetitive thought patterns
• Reduce emotional defensiveness
• Increase psychological flexibility
• Make difficult experiences easier to explore together with a therapist

The sessions are always:
• Carefully prepared
• Led by experienced clinicians
• Followed by integration sessions that help make sense of what has come up

The experience itself matters, but it is the therapeutic integration that determines its value.

Question 10

How does ketamine help my therapy?

Accepted Answer

Research suggests that ketamine affects the brain's capacity for change, sometimes described as neuroplasticity.

When psychotherapy takes place within this window, it can become easier to:
• Create new emotional associations
• Re-evaluate entrenched beliefs
• Develop healthier ways of handling difficulties

This is why ketamine is described as an augmentation: used in the right way and responsibly, it can make psychotherapy more effective.

Question 11

Does Nūvai offer psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Some patients may be suitable for augmentation therapies that are not currently available within a clinical framework in Sweden.

In such cases, Nūvai collaborates with established medical partner clinics abroad where psilocybin is approved as a treatment for treatment-resistant depression. Always within a legal, ethical and well-defined clinical framework.

Nūvai is responsible for preparation, therapeutic continuity and integration after treatment, so that treatment remains coherent, safe and anchored in psychotherapy all the way.

Like ketamine, psilocybin is used deliberately and never as a standalone intervention. The aim is to support psychological flexibility, emotional processing and the possibility of significant therapeutic breakthroughs.

When used within a structured therapeutic framework, the psilocybin-induced state can help some people to:
• Access deeply held emotional patterns
• Experience new perspectives on long-term difficulties
• Temporarily step out of rigid self-images
• Engage with therapy on a deeper level

The treatment path is always:
• Carefully assessed and prepared through Nūvai
• Delivered by experienced clinicians at the partner clinic
• Followed by structured integration sessions with your Nūvai therapist

This is what ensures continuity, safety and clinical responsibility across borders.

As with all augmentation therapies, the experience creates opportunities. Integration determines the outcome.

Availability and suitability are assessed clinically and in accordance with applicable rules.

Question 12

Is ketamine-assisted psychotherapy legal in Sweden?

Accepted Answer

Yes, ketamine treatment can be legal in Sweden when prescribed by a licensed physician and provided within the healthcare regulatory framework. Ketamine is an approved medicine that has been used medically since the 1970s, primarily in anaesthesia.

When ketamine infusion is used for psychiatric conditions, such as treatment-resistant depression, it is done as off-label treatment. This means the medicine is used outside its approved indication, after an individual medical assessment and on the physician's responsibility.

At Nūvai, ketamine treatment is given only when it is deemed clinically justified, under controlled conditions and by qualified medical staff. The treatment is not a first- or second-line choice, but may become relevant only when established interventions such as psychotherapy, antidepressant medication or ECT have not produced sufficient and meaningful improvement, or are not deemed suitable.

Before each treatment, a careful assessment is made of benefits, risks, previous treatments, current wellbeing and level of functioning. The treatment is followed up systematically to ensure that it genuinely contributes to lasting improvement for you.

Question 13

Is psilocybin legal in Sweden?

Accepted Answer

No. Psilocybin is classified as a narcotic in Sweden and may not be used as a clinical treatment within routine Swedish healthcare. In Sweden, psilocybin can currently only be used within approved research studies.

Psilocybin-assisted treatment paths, when relevant, can therefore only be offered via medical partner clinics in countries where this takes place legally, in a regulated way and under medical responsibility. Research is developing rapidly, and internationally there are larger clinical studies and regulatory processes underway for psilocybin in, among other things, treatment-resistant depression, but the timing of any approval in the USA or Europe as a whole is not yet certain. Today psilocybin is approved for certain medical use in, for example, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, the USA and Canada.

Question 14

Is ketamine safe?

Accepted Answer

Ketamine has been used in medicine since the 1960s and is on the WHO list of essential medicines; its safety profile in medical settings is well documented. In psychiatry, ketamine is given at far lower doses than in anaesthesia, and systematic reviews and meta-analyses show that side effects of such treatment are usually mild and transient — for example temporarily raised blood pressure and heart rate, nausea, or a sense of unreality (dissociation) during and shortly after the session. These effects typically subside within a couple of hours.

Safety depends on a clinical setting: a medical assessment before treatment (including cardiovascular health, any history of psychosis and substance use), monitoring during the session, and licensed staff on site. The risks associated with frequent, uncontrolled use outside healthcare — such as bladder problems and dependence — do not carry the same relevance for infrequent, supervised treatment sessions, but they are one reason we always assess carefully before treatment.

At Nūvai, ketamine is always given after a physician’s assessment, at the clinic, with follow-up of both effect and safety throughout the treatment.

Question 15

Why does Nūvai offer certain treatments abroad?

Accepted Answer

In some cases, a patient is judged likely to benefit from treatments that are not yet available within Swedish healthcare. Nūvai then collaborates with established and regulated clinics abroad to ensure legal and safe access, while maintaining therapeutic continuity.

Question 16

Is this a form of “last resort” when nothing else has worked?

Accepted Answer

No. Treatment augmentation is not used as an escalation, but as a deliberate therapeutic choice based on clinical assessment, the individual's needs and treatment goals.

Question 17

Are ketamine or psilocybin addictive in therapeutic contexts?

Accepted Answer

The risk differs for ketamine and psilocybin. Ketamine has a documented potential for misuse and dependence, particularly with repeated or uncontrolled use, which is why careful medical screening, monitoring and follow-up are required before treatment is considered. In clinical antidepressant doses and under controlled conditions, use differs clearly from recreational use, but the risk always needs to be assessed individually.

Psilocybin, like other classic psychedelics, appears on the other hand to have low dependence potential and limited reinforcing effects when used in medical contexts with a controlled dose, preparation, support during the session and follow-up. At the same time, psilocybin is not without risk: strong emotional reactions, anxiety, confusion or deterioration in vulnerable individuals can occur, which makes screening and medical-psychological support essential.

At Nūvai we therefore regard both ketamine- and psilocybin-assisted treatment paths as potential augmentations of psychotherapy, not as standalone solutions. For all forms of medical augmentation, an individual assessment is made of benefits, risk, vulnerability to dependence and life situation, and treatment is always followed by integration and follow-up over time.

Question 18

What is meant by “integration”?

Accepted Answer

Integration means that experiences, insights and emotional material are processed together with a therapist after treatment. Research shows that a careful preparation and integration process increases the likelihood that an augmentation process can lead to lasting, meaningful change.

Question 19

Is treatment augmentation suitable for everyone?

Accepted Answer

No. These methods are not suitable for everyone and are offered only after a careful medical and psychological assessment. Safety and suitability always come before availability.

Question 20

What is breathwork according to Soma+IQ?

Accepted Answer

Soma+IQ is a somatic breathwork method from Somatic Breathwork, developed by Steven Jaggers. The method is based on the idea that the body carries important information about our patterns, emotions and reactions, and combines guided breathing, body awareness, somatic exercises and integration.

At Nūvai, Soma+IQ is used as a complement to psychotherapy. The aim is to help you connect with your body, create greater presence and support emotional processing when talk therapy alone does not go all the way. After the session, we continue working to understand and integrate what has been evoked, so that the experience can be connected to your everyday life and therapeutic process.

Research on breathwork shows promising effects on stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms, but results vary and the evidence for specific methods is still developing. That is why Soma+IQ is always offered after an individual assessment, with clear preparation, safe guidance and follow-up.

Frequently asked questions

Precision psychotherapy

Psychedelics

Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy

Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy

Laws and regulations

Treatment and safety