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Prolonged Grief Disorder

Prolonged Grief Disorder Treatment in La Crosse, WI: When the Weight of Loss Won't Lift

Prolonged grief disorder is a recognized clinical condition, not a sign that you're grieving wrong. IV ketamine therapy and Spravato offer meaningful relief for the severe depression and emotional pain that define PGD, when conventional treatment hasn't been enough.

Grief That Doesn't Move Isn't a Moral Failure. It's a Medical Condition.

Grief is a universal human experience. But for approximately 10% of bereaved people, grief doesn’t follow the expected path toward gradual integration. Instead, it persists at full intensity, interfering with daily functioning, relationships, and the ability to find meaning or pleasure in anything. In 2022, prolonged grief disorder was formally added to the DSM-5-TR as a recognized psychiatric diagnosis, validating what clinicians had observed for years: some grief is not just sadness. It’s a clinical condition that needs clinical treatment.

At Relevate Ketafusion, we offer IV ketamine therapy and FDA-approved Spravato for people experiencing prolonged grief disorder, particularly when the severe depression and emotional pain accompanying it haven’t responded to conventional treatment. Both treatments act on the brain’s glutamate system, restoring the neural connectivity that intense, sustained grief can deplete, often producing meaningful relief within hours to days.

We’re the only clinic in the Coulee Region offering both treatment options, with continuous medical supervision at every session and a team that approaches this work with the compassion it demands.

Understanding Prolonged Grief Disorder: When Loss Becomes Stuck

Normal grief, while painful, tends to evolve over time. The acute intensity of early loss gradually softens, making room for the bereaved person to re-engage with life even while continuing to miss the person they’ve lost. Prolonged grief disorder is different. The grief stays acute. The longing for the person who died doesn’t ease. Daily functioning becomes severely impaired. The bereaved person may feel that a part of themselves died along with their loved one.

PGD is diagnosed when intense grief persists for more than twelve months after the loss in adults, and is accompanied by significant distress or functional impairment. It’s distinct from major depressive disorder, though the two frequently co-occur. Standard antidepressants, while helpful for the depression component, don’t directly address the core features of PGD: the intense longing, the difficulty accepting the reality of the loss, and the inability to re-engage with life.

Neurologically, prolonged grief involves disruption in the brain’s reward and attachment systems, the same neural pathways that form and maintain our deepest bonds. Ketamine therapy’s ability to promote neural healing and plasticity makes it particularly relevant for conditions where the brain’s relational circuitry has been profoundly disrupted.

Prolonged grief disorder affects approximately 10% of bereaved individuals, according to clinical research

PGD was formally added to the DSM-5-TR in 2022, recognizing it as a distinct clinical condition separate from normal grief and depression

PGD is more common following sudden, traumatic, or unexpected loss, and among those who had a particularly close or dependent relationship with the deceased

PGD frequently co-occurs with major depressive disorder, PTSD, and anxiety

Standard antidepressants address the depression component of PGD but don’t target the core grief features directly

Hear from Those Who've Found Hope

The team here made me feel safe and supported throughout the entire process. This treatment saved my life.

The medical team monitored me closely and made me feel valued and heard. This treatment is truly life-saving.

Ketamine therapy at Relevate Ketafusion, combined with integration sessions, helped me process trauma in ways talk therapy never could.

The racing thoughts quieted, the physical symptoms of anxiety decreased, and I can now do normal activities without fear.

The team here made me feel safe and supported throughout the entire process. This treatment saved my life.

The medical team monitored me closely and made me feel valued and heard. This treatment is truly life-saving.

Ketamine therapy at Relevate Ketafusion, combined with integration sessions, helped me process trauma in ways talk therapy never could.

The racing thoughts quieted, the physical symptoms of anxiety decreased, and I can now do normal activities without fear.

Address

2309 State Road La Crosse, 
WI 54601

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Mon-Thu: 7:30 am - 7:30 pm
Fri-Sat: 7:30 am - 12:30 pm

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Types of Grief-Related Conditions We Treat

Grief takes many forms, and the clinical conditions it gives rise to vary. Ketamine therapy and Spravato are most directly relevant for the depression, PTSD, and severe emotional pain that prolonged or traumatic grief can produce.

Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD)

For people whose grief has persisted at full intensity for more than a year with significant functional impairment, ketamine therapy offers a neurologically distinct approach that may help restore the neural plasticity needed to process and integrate loss. While ketamine isn't a specific treatment for grief itself, its rapid effect on the severe depression and emotional pain that define PGD can create meaningful space for healing.

Grief-Related Depression

Prolonged grief disorder and major depression frequently co-occur and reinforce each other. The depression makes grief harder to process, and the grief keeps depression entrenched. For patients whose grief-related depression hasn't responded to antidepressants, both IV ketamine and Spravato offer evidence-based alternatives. Spravato's FDA approval for treatment-resistant depression makes it a well-validated option for this overlap. or antenatal depression develops during pregnancy and can be just as severe as PPD. Treatment during pregnancy requires careful clinical judgment, and our medical team, led by Dr. Howard Schumaker, approaches each case individually to determine the safest, most effective path forward.

Traumatic Grief

When loss is sudden, violent, unexpected, or involves witnessing death, grief frequently takes on PTSD-like characteristics alongside the features of PGD. Intrusive memories, avoidance, hypervigilance, and emotional numbing layer over the grief itself. Ketamine therapy's neural healing properties address both the trauma and the depression components of this presentation, and our team includes Lisa Knudtson, a Navy veteran and PMHNP with deep experience in trauma-related conditions.

Grief After Suicide Loss

Losing someone to suicide carries a particular burden: the shock of sudden loss combined with guilt, unanswerable questions, and a form of grief that others may struggle to understand. Suicide loss survivors face elevated rates of complicated grief, depression, and PTSD. Ketamine therapy's ability to address all three of these clinical presentations makes it particularly relevant for this population, and our team approaches this work with care and without judgment.

Grief with Suicidal Ideation

Profound, sustained grief can sometimes lead to suicidal thoughts, particularly when accompanied by severe depression and the sense that life without the person who died is not worth living. Spravato holds an FDA approval specifically for major depressive disorder with active suicidal ideation, making it a directly indicated option for this clinical picture. If you or someone you love is experiencing suicidal thoughts, please call or text 988.

Your Treatment Journey at Relevate Ketafusion

From your first conversation to your last session, we're with you at every step.

01

Initial Consultation

Your journey starts with a virtual consultation. We'll talk through your loss, your current experience, the treatments you've tried, and what you're hoping to find. There's no pressure to share more than you're comfortable with. We'll conduct a thorough mental health screening and medical clearance review, and explain clearly whether IV ketamine, Spravato, or both make the most sense for your situation.

02

Personalized Treatment Plan

We build your plan around your specific clinical picture, history, and goals. For prolonged grief, we'll also discuss how ketamine therapy fits alongside any grief-specific therapy you're receiving, since ketamine's neuroplasticity window can make therapeutic processing of loss significantly more possible. We'll walk you through the full timeline and set clear expectations from the start.

03

Treatment Sessions

Every session takes place in a private, calm treatment room with ambient lighting and soothing music. Our medical team stays present throughout, monitoring your vitals and your comfort in real time. Most patients describe the experience as peaceful and introspective. Plan to have someone drive you home afterward.

04

Integration and Ongoing Monitoring

We track your response carefully and adjust your plan as needed. The period following ketamine sessions is when the brain is most neurologically open to processing difficult experiences, which is why we encourage continued engagement with grief-specific therapy during your treatment series. After your initial series, we'll develop a maintenance approach that supports your ongoing healing.

The Science Behind Ketamine for Prolonged Grief Disorder

Grief, at its neurological core, involves disruption in the brain’s attachment and reward systems, the same pathways that govern our deepest relational bonds. When those bonds are severed by loss, the brain enters a state of profound dysregulation that can, in some people, become self-perpetuating. The neural circuits associated with yearning and seeking the lost person stay active. The capacity for positive emotion and future-oriented thinking becomes suppressed.

Ketamine acts on NMDA receptors and the glutamate system, promoting rapid synaptic growth and restoring neural plasticity. For people with prolonged grief disorder, this may help the brain regain the flexibility needed to process and integrate loss rather than remaining locked in acute grief. Research on ketamine for PGD specifically is still emerging, but the evidence base for its rapid effects on depression, PTSD, and emotional pain, all of which are central to PGD, is well-established.

Ketamine promotes rapid neural plasticity, potentially helping the brain regain the flexibility to process and integrate loss

Multiple randomized controlled trials confirm rapid antidepressant effects within 24 hours, addressing the depression component of PGD

Spravato is FDA-approved for treatment-resistant depression and MDD with suicidal ideation, both common in severe PGD

Ketamine’s neuroplasticity window enhances the effectiveness of concurrent grief-focused therapy

Why Choose Relevate Ketafusion for Prolonged Grief Disorder Treatment

01

Compassionate Care for One of Life's Hardest Experiences

Our team approaches prolonged grief disorder with the care and respect it demands. We understand that seeking treatment for grief can feel like a complicated decision, as if getting better means moving on from someone you love. Our philosophy is the opposite: treatment creates space to carry your loss forward in a way that allows you to live, without asking you to leave anyone behind.

02

The Only IV Ketamine Clinic in the Coulee Region

Relevate Ketafusion is the only provider in the La Crosse area offering IV ketamine infusions. The nearest alternative is over two hours away. We built this clinic so that people in our community could access this level of care close to home, close to their support systems.

03

Spravato Covered by Insurance

Spravato is covered by most major insurance plans for treatment-resistant depression. Our team verifies your coverage before your first session and handles prior authorization. For IV ketamine, transparent self-pay pricing is available with HSA/FSA acceptance and CareCredit financing.

04

A Team With Deep Experience in Trauma and Loss

Lisa Knudtson, our Navy veteran PMHNP, brings deep experience with trauma and grief in its most acute forms. Dr. Schumaker’s emergency medicine background means he has spent his career sitting with people in their most difficult moments. Robyn Brown’s personal experience with anxiety grounds her in genuine empathy. This is a team that has earned the right to walk alongside people in grief.

05

Continuous Medical Supervision at Every Session

Every session happens under direct medical supervision with continuous monitoring. You’re never alone, and our team stays present and attentive throughout every visit. For someone carrying profound loss, that presence matters.

06

Founded by Someone Who Understands What It Means to Search for Hope

Tina Schumaker built Relevate after her own experience with treatment-resistant depression and PTSD. She knows what it means to feel like the weight won’t lift and then find something that finally helps it move. That experience is at the center of how this clinic shows up for every patient who walks through its doors.

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