# PT 653 - Dr. Michael Alpert and Peter Alberding - ALS, Existential Distress, and Ketamine Therapy

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/psychedelics-today-777076/pt-653-dr-michael-alpert-and-peter-alberding-als-existential-distress-and-ketamine-therapy
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/psychedelics-today-777076/pt-653-dr-michael-alpert-and-peter-alberding-als-existential-distress-and-ketamine-therapy.md
Podcast: [Psychedelics Today](https://stenobird.com/podcast/psychedelics-today-777076)
Published: 2026-04-16T19:38:00+00:00
Episode link: https://psychedelicstoday.libsyn.com/pt-652-dr-michael-alpert-and-peter-alberding-als-existential-distress-and-ketamine-therapy
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/psychedelicstoday/PT_653_-_michael_albert.mp3?dest-id=381511
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/psychedelics-today-777076/episodes/pt-653-dr-michael-alpert-and-peter-alberding-als-existential-distress-and-ketamine-therapy
Duration seconds: 4767

## Resource

ALS and ketamine therapy are at the center of this conversation with psychiatrist Dr. Michael Alpert and Peter Alberding , who was diagnosed with ALS in late 2023. Alpert is a Boston-area psychiatrist with experience in MDMA-assisted therapy research for PTSD and a private practice that includes ketamine-assisted psychotherapy . Alberding shares what it has been like to face a fatal neurodegenerative illness while working with ketamine in a structured clinical setting. Alberding explains that he was not looking for a casual psychedelic experience. He wanted help facing fear, grief, loss of function, and the reality of death. Over time, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy became a tool for processing those changes more directly than talk therapy alone had allowed.

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## Transcript

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