Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is once again making headlines, and not for legislation or policy wins, but for how campaign money is being spent. According to newly surfaced Federal Election Commission filings, the New York congresswoman’s campaign paid nearly $19,000 in 2025 to a psychiatrist known for promoting ketamine-based treatments. And naturally, the explanation raises more questions than it answers.
The payments, totaling $18,725, went to Dr. Brian Boyle, a Boston-based psychiatrist affiliated with the Stella mental health clinic network. The expenses were labeled as “leadership training and consulting,” which sounds nice and vague until you start looking into who exactly is being paid and for what kind of expertise.
Boyle isn’t a political strategist. He isn’t a campaign consultant. He’s an “interventional psychiatrist” who specializes in treating conditions like PTSD and depression using unconventional methods, including ketamine therapy. That’s a treatment that’s been gaining traction in certain circles, particularly among wealthy clients looking for cutting-edge mental health solutions, but it’s also drawn scrutiny from medical professionals who warn about risks and lack of long-term data.
So naturally, the question becomes, what exactly does ketamine therapy have to do with “leadership training”?
The campaign hasn’t offered much clarity. Requests for comment have gone unanswered, leaving watchdog groups and critics to fill in the blanks. And they’re not exactly giving the benefit of the doubt.
Paul Kamenar of the National Legal and Policy Center didn’t mince words, suggesting that if these payments were for personal mental health services rather than legitimate campaign-related consulting, that could run afoul of federal campaign finance laws. Campaign funds aren’t supposed to double as a personal expense account, even if you dress it up with a polished label.
Now to be fair, Ocasio-Cortez has been open about her struggles with stress and trauma. She’s spoken publicly about seeking therapy after the January 6 incident and about burnout following her 2018 campaign. No one is arguing that mental health isn’t important. It absolutely is.
But that’s not really the issue here.
The issue is whether donor money, given for political purposes, is being redirected toward something that looks a lot like personal care. Calling it “leadership training” doesn’t automatically make it so, especially when the provider’s background is rooted in psychiatric treatment rather than political consulting.
This also ties into her broader advocacy for loosening restrictions on psychedelic drugs for medical research. She’s been pushing that angle for years, arguing that substances like psilocybin and MDMA should be studied and potentially integrated into treatment. That context makes the connection to a ketamine-focused psychiatrist even more interesting, and arguably more questionable in the eyes of critics.
At the end of the day, this situation highlights a recurring theme in politics. Transparency matters, especially when it comes to money. And when nearly $19,000 in campaign funds goes to a specialist in a controversial medical field under a label that doesn’t quite match the résumé, people are going to ask questions.