For people struggling with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and chronic pain, ketamine therapy is offering real hope — and Santa Cruz CORE is bringing it to our community.
If you’ve tried antidepressants, talk therapy, and every wellness routine imaginable — and you’re still struggling — you’re not alone. Millions of people live with treatment-resistant depression, persistent anxiety, PTSD, and chronic pain that simply doesn’t respond to conventional medicine. But a shift is happening, and ketamine therapy is at the center of it.
At Santa Cruz CORE Fitness + Rehab, we’ve made it our mission to bring the most advanced, evidence-based care to Santa Cruz and Watsonville — all under one roof. Ketamine-assisted therapy is one of the most powerful tools we now offer, and for many of our patients, it’s been genuinely life-changing.
Ketamine has been used safely in medical settings for decades. What’s newer is its remarkable effectiveness as a mental health treatment. Unlike traditional antidepressants, which can take weeks to build up in your system, ketamine works rapidly — often providing relief within hours or days. It works by targeting the brain’s glutamate system, helping to restore neural connections that stress, trauma, and depression have damaged over time.
At CORE, our ketamine services are supervised by Dr. Santillano, a Certified Ketamine PLUS provider trained through the Ketamine Research Institute, with additional training in Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy under Dr. Phil Wolfson — one of the field’s leading practitioners.
Ketamine therapy at CORE is used to treat depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, addiction, and chronic pain. Each treatment plan is personalized, carefully monitored, and designed to complement the other healing modalities we offer — because we believe real recovery is never one-dimensional.
What makes CORE different is that ketamine therapy doesn’t exist in a vacuum here. It’s part of a fully integrated approach to health. Our patients often pair mental health treatment with chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage therapy, and personal training — all in the same building, with providers who talk to each other. Chronic pain and mental health are deeply connected, and our regenerative medicine team — including Dr. John Grady, D.O. — offers PRP therapy, stem cell injections, and prolotherapy to address the physical side of pain that often underlies emotional suffering.
For patients working through trauma or mood disorders, we also offer nutritional IV therapy to support the nervous system, primary care for whole-health monitoring, and occupational and physical therapy for those rebuilding strength and function. Healing the mind and healing the body are not separate journeys — at CORE, they happen together.
Ketamine therapy is not for everyone, but it may be worth exploring if you’ve tried other treatments without lasting results. The best first step is a consultation with our team. We’ll talk through your history, your goals, and whether ketamine-assisted therapy fits into a broader care plan tailored specifically to you. Santa Cruz deserves access to the most forward-thinking healthcare available — and that’s exactly what we’re here to provide.
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