Episode Details

Could ketogenic therapy help people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders engage more successfully with CBT? A new conceptual framework explores this powerful adjunctive approach.

CBTp is considered a gold-standard treatment for schizophrenia spectrum disorders, but many patients struggle to initiate, participate in, and complete it. Cognitive deficits, sleep disturbances, low distress tolerance, and ongoing psychotic symptoms can all stand in the way. In this conversation, Dr. Bret Scher sits down with licensed clinical social worker Nicole Laurent to discuss her recently published paper in Frontiers in Psychology, exploring how ketogenic metabolic therapy could help bridge that gap.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

• Why CBTp is so cognitively demanding and where patients tend to struggle
• How ketogenic therapy may reduce key barriers like sleep issues, distress tolerance, and cognitive impairment
• What a conceptual analysis paper is and why it matters for shaping future research
• How clinicians and researchers can begin integrating these ideas into practice
• Whether this framework could extend to CBT for depression, OCD, and anxiety

This discussion opens the door to thinking about ketogenic therapy not only as a direct treatment for psychiatric symptoms, but as a powerful adjunctive tool that could help patients engage more fully with the rest of their care.

👉 Research focused on ketogenic therapy and schizophrenia continues to grow, check out the latest on our Schizophrenia Topic Page: metabolicmind.org/resources/topics/schizophrenia/

🔎 Have questions about how to apply metabolic therapies effectively? Submit them at metabolicmind.org/questions to be featured in a future Metabolic Mailbag episode.

#KetogenicTherapy #MetabolicMind #Schizophrenia

Expert Featured:

Nicole Laurent, LMHC

• https://www.instagram.com/mentalhealthketo/
• https://mentalhealthketo.com/nicole-laurent-lmhc-about-me/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/nlaurent/

Experts mentioned:

Dr. Guido Frank

• https://www.instagram.com/ucsdfranklab/
• linkedin.com/in/guido-k-w-frank-b7b42172
• https://profiles.ucsd.edu/guido.frank

Dr. Albert Danan

Shebani Sethi, MD, ABOM

• https://www.metabolicmind.org/team/shebani-sethi-md-abom/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsethi/?_l=en_US
• https://x.com/ShebaniMD

Resources Mentioned:

• https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1775511/full