The Wellness Revolution Podcast with Amber Shaw

382. Is Your Nervous System Still in Survival Mode? Understanding Post-Divorce Trauma with Keith Kurlander

May 29, 2025

What if your healing after divorce didn’t just come through talk therapy but through something deeper, more embodied, and even a little unconventional?

 

In this episode of The Divorce Revolution Podcast, I’m joined by Keith Kurlander, co-founder of the Integrative Psychiatry Institute and one of the country’s leading voices in integrative and psychedelic therapy. We talk about how trauma from divorce and other life ruptures gets stuck in the nervous system, why it continues to show up years later (even when you’ve “moved on”), and what to do when you feel stuck in an emotional loop you can’t talk your way out of.

 

Resources Mentioned:

 

What We Discuss:

  • Keith’s background and the connection between trauma, divorce, and mental health

  • Why trauma lives in the nervous system and resurfaces in unexpected ways

  • Grief triggers, emotional flashbacks, and how to begin shifting out of them

  • Somatic regulation, breathwork, and nervous system first aid

  • Curiosity over judgment: how to respond when trauma resurfaces

  • What psychedelic therapy is and what it isn’t

  • Who is a good candidate for psychedelic therapy

  • How to find a safe and legit practitioner 

 

Key Takeaways:

“You can’t think your way out of trauma that lives in your body.” – Keith Kurlander

 

“Psychedelic therapy isn’t about escaping—it’s about reconnecting with yourself.” – Keith Kurlander

 

“When the nervous system doesn’t feel safe, no amount of logic will move you forward.” – Keith Kurlander

 

Find more from Keith Kurlander:

Website: psychiatryinstitute.com

 

Find more from Amber:

Instagram: @msambershaw

Website: ambershaw.com 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@msambershaw