#43 - Weight, Trauma & Healing after the LA Fires: The Role of Ketamine Therapy (with Dr. Jenn Ellice)

This episode of The Holistic GLP-1 Podcast was recorded in the Los Angeles area in mid-January 2025, while the epically destructive LA fires were still burning.

The interview subject was Dr. Jennifer Ellice, or “Dr. Jenn” as she is known at Golden Afternoon, the Ketamine clinic she owns and runs in Santa Monica—just a few miles away from where he Palisades Fire incinerated thousands of homes in one of the wealthiest zip codes in the United States.

With those fires amounting to one of the worst natural disasters in American History, the topics of trauma and PTSD were intensely at the front of the discussion.

Throughout the podcast, we explore how Ketamine works, and how people fresh from the experience of such traumas may directly benefit from this type of psychedelic therapy. We also discuss how Ketamine can produce a powerful and transformative healing effect on those suffering from more chronic issues like eating disorders, ongoing depression and anxiety.

Dr. Jenn also specifically helps us understand how Ketamine therapy acts on the same “reward pathways” of the human brain as GLP-1 agonist medications like Ozempic and Mounjaro—and how a growing number of doctors are meaningfully prescribing Ketamine in conjunction with GLP-1 treatments for weight loss and other weight release purposes.

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SHOW NOTES

[ 00:00 ] Intro

[ 02:00 ] Golden Afternoon Clinic’s proximity to the LA Fires; reminiscent of PTSD during COVID-19 pandemic

[ 05:00 ] How people with post-traumatic stress may benefit from Ketamine therapy

[ 06:25 ] How Ketamine therapy works

[ 08:00 ] In the 90s we discovered its rapid antidepressant and anxiety-breaking effects

[ 09:00 ] Dr. Jenn’s experience: “People wake up transformed”

[ 10:35 ] Ketamine therapy & neuroplasticity

[ 12:45 ] Essential for therapeutic benefit, but difficult to study the nature of “the trip” – more in the realm of philosophy, poetry and religion than science

[ 15:00 ] Benefits of Ketamine for people on a weight loss journey

[ 18:00 ] Doctors now prescribing Ketamine in conjunction with GLP-1 agonist medications — both work on the “reward pathways” of the mind

[ 19:00 ] Concept of a “minimum effective dose” less applicable to Ketamine therapy

[ 24:00 ] “If you don’t get a psychedelic experience, Ketamine therapy doesn’t work as well.”

[ 27:00 ] Micro-dosing GLP-1s as “training wheels for behavior”

[ 29:00 ] Matthew Perry’s Ketamine-related death as a cautionary tale

[ 35:00 ] In some cases, patients heal from decades of suffering

[ 36:00 ] Spiritual question: What are people learning from a Ketamine trip?

[ 40:00 ] A setback for psychedelics: MDMA not getting approved

[ 43:00 ] Importance of “integrations”

[ 45:45 ] Potential for psychedelic therapy going forward

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Learn more about Dr. Jenn Ellice and the Golden Afternoon clinic based in Santa Monica:

Website: https://www.goldenafternoon.clinic/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goldenafternoon.clinic