How Ketamine Therapy Can Help Treat Chronic Pain and Trauma

David Dansky, MD, is an internal and emergency medicine physician with 40 years of experience in acute and emergency care. After training with the Ketamine Training Center in 2019, he began providing ketamine therapy at Monterey Integrated Therapies, supporting both physical and psychological healing. Dr. Dansky also lectures at conferences and experiential workshops on the medical and practical aspects of ketamine therapy.

In this episode… Chronic pain can reshape a person's life, narrowing their focus, limiting their choices, and creating a cycle of fear, inflammation, and exhaustion. When traditional treatments only offer partial relief, what else can help people alleviate their pain and begin to feel hopeful again?

With decades of experience using ketamine in acute care settings, Dr. David Dansky's answer is to approach pain through both the body and the nervous system. Ketamine can interrupt pain signals, create distance from overwhelming sensations, and support therapeutic work around trauma, anxiety, and depression. Dr. Dansky emphasizes the importance of individualized dosing, safety conversations, and distinguishing dependency from addiction when weighing risks and benefits. For chronic pain patients, he advises working with a knowledgeable provider, considering routes such as lozenges, nasal spray, or topical creams, and focusing on how treatment improves function, hope, and quality of life.

In this episode of Living Medicine, Dr. Sandy Newes sits down with internal and emergency medicine physician David Dansky, MD, to discuss ketamine therapy for chronic pain. He discusses what many people misunderstand about chronic pain, how ketamine works with pain pathways, and how combining ketamine with psychotherapy can support deeper healing.