Join us on Thursday, September 17, for a free,live presentation by Robert Meisner, MD, to explore what is currently known about ketamine and esketamine, including how these treatments work, who may benefit from them, potential risks, and what treatment can look like in practice. Discussion will include ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, including how psychotherapy may complement medication treatment and what researchers do, and do not, know about the potential benefits of combining the two.
Looking beyond ketamine, we’ll discuss emerging psychedelic-based treatments and new therapies currently being studied for depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. Throughout the presentation, we’ll distinguish established scientific evidence from promising but unproven theories. Our goal is to separate hope from hype and provide a clear, evidence-informed look at where mental health treatment may be headed.
By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
Explain the differences between ketamine and esketamine, including how they work, potential benefits and risks, and what treatment may involve.
Describe current approaches to ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and distinguish established evidence from theories and practices that have not yet been adequately studied.
Discuss emerging psychedelic-based treatments and other novel therapies being studied for depression, anxiety, and related mental health conditions, including what is known about their potential benefits and limitations.
Robert C. Meisner, MD, is the founding Medical Director of The McLean Ketamine Service (McLean Hospital) and a Child and Adult attending psychiatrist in the Emergency Department (Acute Psychiatric Service) at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He serves on the MassGenBrigham Psychedelic Center Working Group and as Co-Chair of the National Network of Depression Center’s (NNDC) Ketamine Task Group. A co-recipient of its Momentum Grant, he serves on the Steering Committee for the Standards and Best Practices Catalyst Committee Conference, tasked with launching a year-long effort to establish granular, evidence-based, national consensus guidelines. Learn more about Robert Meisner
Please note: this public webinar is not eligible for continuing education credits.
Family of grey-handed night monkeys in Colombian Rainforest. Source: Shutterstock
Yesterday I was listening to Cal Newport’s podcast. He was outlining his ideas for measuring how well a person can think. He calls them cognitive key performance indicators (KPIs).
His criteria:
How many minutes can you stay focused on “conceptual non-fiction reading” without context switching (i.e. checking your phone, getting up to get a drink, etc.)? (He mentions Teddy Roosevelt reading a book a day in the White House, which is wild.)
How long can you maintain meditation or problem-solving when you’re on a walk?
How well can you construct a solidly written argument based on your beliefs?
It got me thinking about what the KPIs would be for emotional maturity in my relationship system?
Maybe the criteria would look like:
How long can you listen to your child/parent/spouse without telling them what to do?
How long can you talk with a family member or friend about each other before starting to focus on a third person who isn’t present?
To what degree can you speak for yourself rather than others? (I-ing vs. We-ing and You-ing)
How well can you formulate and communicate a thought when someone else is really stirred up?
Do you think working on Cal’s cognitive KPI’s would influence one’s maturity? And vice versa?
Obviously thinking differently about the relationship system helps a person engage it differently. Charging into a visit with your mother, trying to will-power your way through her quirks without snapping at her, isn’t going to work. Curiosity has to have some breathing space. The therapy office, or the quiet time with a notebook and pencil, is the thinking space.
But the relationship is the playing field. So how do you get in your reps?
My questions for you:
What do you measure or evaluate when it comes to your own cognitive functioning?
What do you measure when it comes to your own emotional maturity?
What would be the evidence, the key indicators, that growth was happening?
Reading: Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting by Lisa Genova. Definitely going to dedicate a post to this one soon.
**BONUS JOURNAL for the TRUE TO YOU paperback! I’ve created a digital bonus journal to accompany the paperback launch of True to You. Email me a copy of your receipt and I’ll send it to you.
Buy my books True to You and Everything Isn’t Terriblefor more in-depth stories of people working on their relationships and themselves. If you love them, consider giving them a review on Amazon so other folks can find them. If you haven’t gotten the free digital workbooks for them, email me.
