Spravato® Music Guide
The Right Music Changes Everything.
Spravato® creates a state of deep inner openness. The music you choose during treatment isn't background noise — it's an active part of the therapeutic process. This guide helps you choose wisely.
Why it matters
Why Music Selection Matters
Research in esketamine-assisted therapy consistently shows that music influences the emotional tone, depth, and integration of the experience. The wrong music can create anxiety or distraction. The right music can provide structure, safety, and a pathway into meaningful inner work.
This guide draws on music therapy principles, clinical research, and the lived experience of Spravato® patients to give you a practical framework for building your listening practice.
Foundations
Core Principles for Spravato® Music
Avoid lyrics (especially early sessions)
Lyrics engage the language-processing mind and can pull you out of the inner experience. Instrumental music — or music with minimal, non-English, or chant-like vocals — tends to support deeper states.
Choose music with emotional arc
The best session music moves through phases: gentle opening, deeper exploration, and a soft return. A single-mood playlist can feel monotonous or stuck. Look for music that breathes and evolves.
Familiar but not distracting
Music you know well can feel safe and grounding. Music that's completely unfamiliar can be disorienting. A middle path — music you've heard a few times but don't know by heart — often works best.
Match the session phase
Spravato® sessions have distinct phases: onset (first 20–30 min), peak (30–60 min), and integration (final 30 min). Different music qualities serve each phase. See our phase-by-phase guide below.
Session structure
Music by Session Phase
Onset (0–30 min)
Gentle, grounding, minimal. Help the mind settle and release resistance.
Good genres:
Avoid: Sudden tempo changes, complex rhythms, familiar pop songs
Peak (30–60 min)
Emotionally rich, expansive, supportive of deep inner exploration.
Good genres:
Avoid: Jarring transitions, aggressive dynamics, lyrics with strong narrative
Integration (60–90 min)
Gentle return. Warm, grounding, soft. Help the mind re-orient.
Good genres:
Avoid: High energy, complex arrangements, anything that demands attention
Now available
The Listening to Spravato® Book
Genre guides, session playlists, and the science of music-assisted healing — by Justin Page