387: Can Psychedelics Heal Trauma? What The Research Shows | Keith Kurlander, MA, + Will Van Derveer, MD

Be Well by Kelly Leveque

Kelly Leveque

Nutrition, Education, Health & Fitness, Alternative Health, Self-improvement

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2026

⏱️ 82 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if some of the most promising tools for treating depression, PTSD, and trauma have been misunderstood for decades? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Keith Kurlander and Dr. Will Van Derveer, co-founders of the Integrative Psychiatry Institute and authors of Psychedelic Therapy, to unpack the science, risks, and potential of psychedelic-assisted therapy. We discuss MDMA, psilocybin, ketamine, trauma, healing, and why these treatments are gaining so much attention in modern mental healthcare. → ⁠Leave Us A Voice Message! Topics Discussed: → What is psychedelic-assisted therapy? → Can MDMA help treat PTSD? → How does ketamine therapy work? → Is psilocybin effective for depression? → What are the risks of psychedelics? Sponsored By: → Timeline | Timeline’s clinically proven formula is now more accessible. Mitopure starts at $99, and listeners can get 20% off at: https://timeline.com/KELLY → Be Well By Kelly Protein Powder & Essentials | Get $10 off your order with PODCAST10 at https://bewellbykelly.com. → Fatty 15 | Fatty15 is on a mission to replenish your C15 levels and restore your long-term health. You can get an additional 15% off their 90-day subscription Starter Kit by going to https://fatty15.com/KELLY15 and using code KELLY15 at checkout. Timestamps: → 00:00:00 - Introduction → 00:04:25 - From Traditional Psychiatry To Psychedelic Medicine → 00:06:20 - Root Causes Of Mental Health Conditions → 00:07:20 - MDMA Therapy For PTSD → 00:10:20 - Keith's Personal Psilocybin Experience → 00:15:40 - Why Psychedelic Experiences Can Feel Scary → 00:19:00 - Kelly's Personal Trauma Healing Story → 00:24:00 - MDMA, Ketamine & Psilocybin Explained → 00:25:40 - Ketamine Therapy For Depression → 00:27:00 - Why MDMA Works For Trauma → 00:31:40 - Lifestyle, Nutrition & Mental Health → 00:34:30 - Who Is A Good Candidate For Psychedelic Therapy? → 00:39:30 - What Trauma Actually Is → 00:42:10 - How Psychedelics Help Process Trauma → 00:47:50 - The Latest Psychedelic Research → 00:49:50 - Ibogaine, Addiction & Brain Injury Recovery → 00:51:10 - Mystical Experiences & Healing → 00:55:20 - Psychedelics For Personal Growth → 01:00:30 - Hallucinations, Memory & Reality → 01:04:40 - Risks, Integration & Challenging Experiences → 01:09:20 - Finding A Qualified Psychedelic Therapist → 01:12:30 - Psychedelics vs Antidepressants → 01:14:50 - Why DIY Psychedelics Can Be Dangerous → 01:18:30 - Final Thoughts Further Listening: → Why Achievement Never Feels Like Enough | Bill Burnett + Dave Evans Check Out: → Keith Kurlander | https://www.instagram.com/keithkurlander.ma/ → Will Van Derveer | https://www.instagram.com/will.vanderveer.md/ Check Out Kelly: → ⁠Instagram⁠ → ⁠Youtube⁠ → ⁠Facebook

Transcript

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0:00.0	three times as many vats die from suicide than war.
0:03.3	I got invited to work on a MDMA clinical trial for PTSD.
0:07.3	And my straight-age answer to that was, isn't that the stuff that rave kids die from?
0:11.8	I saw that they were getting 80% of the people well from PTSD with only three MDMA sessions.
0:17.2	I've had colleagues that have done this type of therapy and were going for a specific
0:22.4	trauma and actually had a completely different experience and remembered things they didn't think
0:27.7	they were going to do this for. I had done psilocybin for the first time when I was 19. Very quickly,
0:32.9	I got very overwhelmed and in a dark space and felt like my whole life was depression and despair
0:38.7	and was going to proceed to go to my 19th story window and I was going to jump out.
0:43.9	People were ranking a psilocybin experience in the top five most significant experiences
0:49.2	of their lives, including the birth of children.
0:55.3	You're listening to Be Well by Kelly Leveck.
1:01.4	Hey everybody, welcome back to the Be Well by Kelly podcast.
1:04.8	Today's episode, we are going to go into the 101 of psychedelic therapy.
1:10.3	And we're going to do it with two experts, Dr. Keith
1:12.4	Kurlander and Dr. Will Van Der Veer. They're the co-founders of the Integrative Psychiatry Institute
1:18.3	and the authors of psychedelic therapy, a revolutionary approach to restoring your mental health
1:23.7	and reclaiming your life. It's a New York Times bestseller. And I was telling the gentleman
1:28.4	before the show started that this podcast is really personal for me. I'm not going to try not to get
1:34.5	emotional about it. But I lost a very dear friend to suicide last year. I was a dad at our school.
1:41.0	He was my junior prom date, a good friend from high school. You know,
1:45.9	it came from an amazing family, a beautiful wife, two healthy children, and a lot of us were
	...

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