For PTSD that has not fully responded to therapy and medication, PHI in Beverly Hills offers two interventional treatments with growing evidence: stellate ganglion block and ketamine infusion therapy. Board-certified physicians Dr. Faisal Lalani and Dr. Nadiv Samimi provide both alongside your existing mental health care, not as a replacement for it.
What This Page Is
If you have been searching for PTSD treatment options that go beyond what you have already tried, this page is for you. We have kept it as direct as possible. We will not ask you to describe your trauma, and we will not include detailed symptom lists that may feel like they are checking off your worst days.
PHI offers two specific treatments with growing evidence for PTSD: stellate ganglion block and ketamine infusion therapy. We provide both alongside your existing mental health care. We do not replace your therapist, psychiatrist, or trauma-focused treatment. We add specific medical interventions that may help when standard approaches have not been enough.
Where PHI Fits in PTSD Care
Standard PTSD treatment includes evidence-based therapies such as Cognitive Processing Therapy, Prolonged Exposure, EMDR, and Trauma-Focused CBT, along with medications, typically SSRIs or SNRIs. For many patients this produces meaningful improvement, sometimes substantial.
For others, standard treatment helps but does not go far enough. The hyperarousal, intrusive symptoms, sleep disruption, and impact on daily life persist despite ongoing care. Veterans, trauma survivors, and others living with treatment-resistant PTSD often spend years searching for additional options. PHI’s role is specifically for this group: patients with established PTSD, ongoing mental health care, and incomplete response to standard treatment.
Stellate Ganglion Block for PTSD
The stellate ganglion is a cluster of sympathetic nerves in the front of the neck that plays a central role in the body’s fight-or-flight response. When trauma produces persistent hyperarousal, the sympathetic nervous system can remain in a state of elevated activation that does not fully reset, even years after the original event.
Stellate ganglion block is an injection of local anesthetic near this cluster of nerves. It temporarily interrupts sympathetic activation, which appears to allow a reset of the overactive response, and for many patients the effect outlasts the local anesthetic itself, sometimes for weeks or months. The use of SGB for PTSD has accumulating evidence, including extensive work in military veteran populations. The procedure takes approximately 10 to 20 minutes and is performed in our surgical suite under image guidance. We do not perform both sides at one session; blocks are spaced out, with the option for additional blocks if response is positive but begins to diminish. For more detail, see the Stellate Ganglion Block section of our Nerve Blocks treatment page.
Ketamine Infusion Therapy for PTSD
Ketamine has growing evidence for PTSD specifically, with multiple randomized trials showing meaningful symptom reduction. Ketamine works through a different nervous system pathway than SSRIs and SNRIs, which is part of why it can help patients who have not responded adequately to standard medications.
At PHI, ketamine is administered in a clinic setting under continuous physician monitoring, not in the Surgical Suite. There is no fixed protocol. The number of sessions and their spacing vary patient to patient, and your treatment is designed individually rather than following a set series. Effects often build across treatment. For more detail, see our Ketamine Infusion Therapy treatment page.
Combining SGB and Ketamine
Some patients with PTSD pursue both SGB and ketamine, either sequentially or in coordinated combination, because the two work through different mechanisms. SGB addresses sympathetic nervous system overactivation, the persistent fight-or-flight state that maintains many PTSD symptoms. Ketamine addresses the broader nervous system pathways that maintain depression, anxiety, and intrusive symptoms.
For patients with significant hyperarousal (racing heart, hypervigilance, exaggerated startle, sleep disruption), SGB may be particularly relevant. For patients with significant mood or intrusive cognitive symptoms alongside the hyperarousal, ketamine may be particularly relevant. Many patients have both, and combined treatment can address both pathways. We discuss which path fits your specific pattern during consultation.
How PHI Approaches PTSD Treatment
The first step is a comprehensive evaluation: confirmation of your established PTSD diagnosis and current treatment, discussion of your specific symptom pattern, review of your prior treatment history, coordination with your mental health team, and an honest discussion of which treatment, or combination, may fit your situation.
We approach the consultation aware that you have likely already explained your story many times. We ask only what we need to evaluate whether our specific treatments are appropriate. We do not require you to describe traumatic events in detail; that processing happens in your therapy, not at our consultations. You may be a candidate if you have an established PTSD diagnosis, ongoing mental health care, an adequate trial of evidence-based PTSD treatment without sufficient response, and no contraindications. You are typically not a candidate if you are in active crisis, have not yet engaged with PTSD-specific treatment, or are seeking these treatments outside the framework of broader mental health care.
Why PHI for PTSD Treatment
Two board-certified physicians
Dr. Faisal Lalani and Dr. Nadiv Samimi both fellowship-trained at Cedars-Sinai, with specific experience in both SGB and ketamine administration.
Two evidence-based treatments under one roof
PHI offers both SGB and ketamine, allowing individual or combined treatment tailored to your symptom pattern. This is uncommon; most practices offer one or the other.
Image-guided SGB in our affiliated surgery center
Stellate ganglion block is performed in our surgical suite under image guidance. Ketamine is administered separately in a clinic setting under continuous monitoring.
Coordination with mental health teams
We work alongside your psychiatrist, therapist, or other mental health providers rather than separately from them.
Trauma-aware approach
We recognize PTSD patients often have complicated histories with medical settings. We make consultation as efficient and respectful as possible, asking only what we need.
Concierge, coordinated care
Single-physician continuity from consultation through treatment and return to activity. Patients receive clear guidance and transparent pricing at consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Both have accumulating evidence. SGB has been studied extensively in veteran populations with meaningful symptom reduction in multiple studies. Ketamine has growing evidence specifically for PTSD, with multiple randomized trials. Neither is yet at the level of evidence that exists for trauma-focused therapies, but both represent meaningful additional options when PTSD has not adequately responded to standard treatment.
Cure is rarely the right word for PTSD. For appropriate candidates, these treatments may produce meaningful symptom reduction that combines with your other treatment to improve overall quality of life. For some patients the response is dramatic; for others, more modest. Neither replaces the broader trauma-focused care that PTSD typically requires.
This depends on your symptom pattern. Patients with prominent hyperarousal may benefit from starting with SGB. Patients with prominent mood or intrusive cognitive symptoms may benefit from starting with ketamine. Patients with both may benefit from sequential or combined treatment. We discuss this individually.
For appropriate responders, SGB often produces noticeable effects within hours to days. Many patients report reduced hyperarousal, a calmer baseline state, and improved sleep within the first week. The duration varies, with the option for additional blocks if effects diminish.
Many patients experience meaningful symptom reduction within hours to days of an early session. Because there is no fixed protocol, your physician tailors the number and spacing of sessions to your response, and benefit often builds over the course of treatment.
Not necessarily. For SGB, some patients receive a single block or two with sustained benefit; others receive periodic blocks. For ketamine, some patients experience sustained benefit after an initial course; others receive maintenance sessions. Your trajectory depends on your individual response.
Generally no. Most patients continue their current medications during these treatments. The goal is typically improved response on the combination rather than replacement.
Yes. Both SGB and ketamine have been studied extensively in veteran populations. PHI welcomes veterans and works to make consultation as efficient as possible, recognizing that veterans often prefer minimal repetition of military and trauma history beyond what is clinically necessary.
No. We need to know that you have an established PTSD diagnosis, what treatments you have tried, and what symptoms you currently experience. We do not require you to describe specific traumatic events. Trauma-focused processing happens in your therapy.
SGB and ketamine for PTSD are cash-pay services and coverage is typically not available. All pricing is fully disclosed at consultation.
Yes. PHI regularly treats patients from outside Los Angeles, including Las Vegas, Palm Springs, London, and other international locations. Treatment can be coordinated to fit travel schedules.
Treatments We Offer for PTSD
PHI offers two physician-administered treatments with growing evidence for PTSD, alongside your continuing mental health care.
- Ketamine Infusion Therapy, administered in a clinic setting under continuous monitoring
- Stellate Ganglion Block, image-guided
Schedule Your PTSD Consultation
A 60-minute consultation will evaluate whether SGB, ketamine, or both may be appropriate for your specific situation, walk through what to expect, and coordinate with your mental health team. Call (310) 856-9488 or book online now.