Spotlight: pioneer Albert Ellis on Anxiety, Sex
Ellis developed fundamental concepts of cognitive behavioral therapy in the middle of the last century
Michael DeMarco, PhD
Founding Fellow, Psychedelic Institute of Mental Health & Family Therapy— Ketamine psychedelic therapy preparation and integration via telehealth | California, New York, Utah, Vermont
Integrating Psychedelic Experiences
Lonely god? All one? Love is the fundamental force of the universe? Entity encounters? There are all sorts of ways humans understand these types of experiences. Here is some initial viewing!
Spotlight: NewScientist: "How Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Changed My Life" (2025)
from a rave drug to a potentially groundbreaking mental health therapy, used to assist talking therapy sessions, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, now clinically available, bolstered by impressive clinical trial results
Spotlight: "Common Side Effects" on Adult Swim
Animated take on psychedelic plant medicines vs big pharma
Spotlight: Ketamine for mental health - A naturalistic inventory of prescribing practices, safety, and adverse effects (Stuart, et al, 2025)
"While survey results carry limitations, it appears that safety is dependent on dose and route, and strict universal regulations for all formulations may unnecessarily limit patient access."
at home ketamine
Spotlight: On "Rare but relevant: Ketamine-induced cystitis - an in-depth review for addiction medicine" (Abdelrhamen, et Belal 2025) and psychedelic harm reduction, psychotherapy, support
Rare in ketamine use disorder. Rarer still in ketamine psychedelic assisted psychotherapy as prescribed by your medical provider with support from a mental health specialist, supportive cognitive behavioral therapy approaches to mental health, recovery and harm reduction.
mechanisms of action
Spotlight: Triple-network model-based graph theory analysis of the effectiveness of low-dose ketamine in patients with treatment-resistant depression: two resting-state functional MRI clinical trials (Lin, et al, 2025)
"These findings may support the utility of the triple-network model in elucidating ketamine's antidepressant effect. Alterations in DMN, salience and FPN function may underlie this effect."
Spotlight: Beyond the serotonin deficit hypothesis: communicating a neuroplasticity framework of major depressive disorder (Page, et al, 2024)
"The serotonin deficit hypothesis explanation for major depressive disorder (MDD) has persisted among clinicians and the general public alike despite insufficient supporting evidence."
Spotlight: Influencia de la ketamina en el abordaje y control de la ideación suicida en adultos con depresión mayor e impacto a nivel cognitivo (Gualda, et al, 2024)
"Se identifica reducción de la ansiedad, mejor estado de ánimo y mejor funcionamiento tras el tratamiento con ketamina. También se observa una reducción de la ideación suicida y de la gravedad de la sintomatología depresiva."
Spotlight: Encyclopedia Britannica-- 6 Cultures That Recognize More than Two Genders
"Throughout history, many cultures have recognized gender identities other than male and female. Nonbinary people have often occupied unique positions in their societies, serving as priests, artists, and ceremonial leaders. "
Spotlight: Chacruna-- Can Ketamine-Induced Near-Death Experiences Expedite Healing? (Sienknecht, 2020)
"The potential for ketamine to replicate NDE’s has been supported by research. A recent study published in Science Direct, looking at over 15,000 self-reports, found that the use of ketamine, over all other psychedelic compounds, most frequently led users to have NDE’s..."
Spotlight: Psychedelic Therapy: A Primer for Primary Care Clinicians-- Ketamine (Evans, et al, 2024)
"Ketamine, an arylcyclohexylamine dissociative anesthetic agent, has evolved into a versatile therapeutic. It has a rapid-onset, well-understood cardiovascular effects and a favorable safety profile in clinical use"