The following information is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice; it is provided for educational purposes only. You assume full responsibility for how you choose to use this information.

Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified healthcare provider before starting or discontinuing a new or existing treatment. Talk with your healthcare provider about any questions you have regarding a medical condition.

Books

• Lost Connections by Johann Hari

• (For clients) - Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving By Pete Walker

• (For practitioners) Healing Developmental Trauma by Laurence Heller, Ph.D., and Aline LaPierre, Psy.D. 

Plant Medicine

Psilocybin (2-5g +):
Single-dose sessions can sometimes bring remission to even treatment-resistant depression. Check out research from Imperial College London, which showed remission for up to 3 months following treatment. Read this article in Nature to learn about the various clinical trials and their results. 

Micro-dosed Psilocybin (.05 - .5g):
There are now studies looking at the efficacy of “micro-dose” amounts of psilocybin for depression. Dosages range from 1 to 5 mg of synthetic psilocybin. For reference, 5mg of synthetic psilocybin roughly equals 1 gram of dried psilocybin mushroom. So far, the results haven’t been as promising as with high-dose sessions. Microdosed psilocybin has more anecdotal evidence for reducing anxiety and PTSD symptoms. Here are a few popular protocols to check out: Microdosing Protocols 

Low-Dose Sublingual Ketamine at night:
It’s not yet studied or published, but there is mounting anecdotal evidence that dosing very low (5-12 mg sublingual—that’s one 8th-16th of a 100mg troche) at night and eventually every other night can lift heavy depression and sometimes help with anxiety. This is a “sub-perceptual dose,” but it has worked for some people who have tried everything else and then miraculously found that low-dose ketamine can help. Here is a practitioner who specializes in this approach.
***Warning: Only use prescription ketamine. “Street ketamine,” in powdered form, is sometimes cut with fentanyl or other substances and can be fatal. 

Ayahuasca Journeys:
Ayahuasca contains harmaline, a natural antidepressant, in addition to the psycho-emotional and energetic healing that ayahuasca can facilitate. Some people have tried other plant medicines over the years, only to finally find relief from depression with ayahuasca.
Check this article out. The best way to really give this a shot is to attend a retreat where you drink multiple times over 1-2 weeks and see how you feel afterward. Another option is to find a local Ayahuasca church and see if you can join a series of ceremonies.

Additional

Health

Considerations

See an Integrative Psychiatrist or Functional MD specializing in Mood:
There can be various physiological imbalances contributing to depressive states. (heavy metals, environmental toxins, undiagnosed chronic viral infections such as EBV, or an undiagnosed MTHFR mutation). This place has been recommended: medicine with heart. 

Gut-Brain Axis:
There is more and more research looking at the gut-brain axis’s connection with depression. 80% of serotonin is made in the gut. Consider a mood-boosting probiotic and probiotic-rich foods. There is a practitioner in San Rafael, Gilles Marin, who is an expert in Chinese belly massage (chi nei tsang) and has a list of practitioners he has trained. Chinese medicine says that if the belly is constricted, it can’t make serotonin. 

Supplements:
There are short-term supplements that can help people get relief from anxiety and nutritional changes that can support more calming neurotransmitters. It’s not a long-term solution, but it can provide relief. Here is a good book.

Additional supplements for anxiety are GABA, lavender oil capsules, and theanine. However, the ideal would be to find an integrative psychiatrist or naturopath who can prescribe these specifically to the patient. 

Therapy

Trauma-informed Somatic Therapy:
Especially in cases of depression stemming from developmental trauma or PTSD, I recommend finding a trauma-informed somatic/SE therapist for weekly or bi-weekly sessions.
Start with the Somatic Experiencing directory of practitioners. I suggest looking for an SE practitioner who is also trained in “touch work.” Hakomi with a trauma-informed therapist is another option. Here is the Hakomi Therapy directory of practitioners. EMDR is also great when done with a trained practitioner.

DNRS:
Applied neuroplasticity. Doing one hour of daily practice is very powerful for rewiring neural networks. This modality can help people with chronic illness, PTSD, long COVID, and some results for depression and anxiety. It teaches you how to “interrupt” closed, looping circuitry in the brain and redirect toward healthy, open neural circuitry. https://retrainingthebrain.com/

Havening:
It’s a super simple but profound practice. It is best to begin by learning it from a practitioner. 

• You can learn about Havening here.

• Or watch this video introducing the Having technique, and here is a great book.

• Watch this video showing you how to do basic Self-Havening

• Here is a list of Havening practitioners. 

Venturing Further Beyond:
Lastly, if nothing else works, I suggest venturing further “outside the box” and finding an energetic or psychic healer who specializes in depression and anxiety. In the healing systems of Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, which have been treating human ailments for thousands of years, they say first you try the gross/material medicines and treatments. If there is no response, then the symptoms may have their roots in in-utero birth trauma or past life events and may be embedded deep in the subtle body. Conventional medicine or treatments are unlikely to help. In this case, you need to find healing practitioners working on more nuanced levels of reality. Keep an open mind and ask around.