Welcome to the Therapy in a Nutshell podcast. I'm Emma McAdam, a licensed marriage and family therapist,

and I believe therapeutic education can change lives and should be easily accessible to all.

These podcast episodes are filled with a research-backed therapeutic education that you can start

applying to your life today. If you like these episodes and you want to go into more depth on specific topics like

how to process tough emotions, how to change your brain and build better relationships,

or how to help support someone you know with a mental illness,

then check out my classes at Therapy in a Nutshell.com.

Each podcast episode here comes from a corresponding video you can find on the Therapy in a Nutshell YouTube channel.

Also, these podcasts are educational and don't replace the advice or direction you may be

receiving from a therapist or other health professionals.

Okay, let's jump into this week's skill.

If you have severe depression, PTSD, or anxiety that just won't go away despite therapy and

medication, you should know about ketamine. 30 to 40% of people with depression have

treatment-resistant depression. So that means they've tried at least

two types of medication and it isn't helping. And a scientist and doctors are really excited about

the potential for ketamine as a new and effective treatment for mood disorders, PTSD, and chronic

pain. But first, story time. So let me tell you about Barbara. Barbara was a client I worked

with for about 18 months. She had experienced abuse as a child, gone through a couple of divorces.

She was on Prozac for over a decade for depression. But after retirement, her depression became

very severe. She couldn't get out of bed. She cried all day. She wanted to die.

Her husband kept the guns and the Tylenol locked up. We worked and we worked and we worked in therapy.

We worked through old trauma and we tried to build a healthier lifestyle. She ate healthy. She

...