Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Zac, Jen Affleck’s Ketamine Therapy Journey
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives couple Jen and Zac Affleck opened up about participating in ketamine therapy to help work through their marriage woes.
Jen Affleck’s marriage with husband Zac Affleck reached a near-breaking point during The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 1 after she enjoyed a Chippendales show with her costars in Las Vegas. Saying that Zac disapproved of Jen’s participation in the outing would be an understatement, as he questioned her as a wife for going to the male striptease performance.
Needless to say, the couple worked through their issues after the cameras stopped rolling and separated. When The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 2 premiered on May 14, 2025, Jen and Zac shared the progress they had made and revealed that ketamine therapy helped them navigate through their marital woes.
In Touch explains what ketamine therapy is and how it helped Jen and Zac’s marriage.
What Is Ketamine?
Ketamine is an FDA-approved general anesthetic either on its own or in combination with other medications, according to the National Library of Medicine. Depending on the dosage, the drug is extremely useful “in pain management, addressing treatment-resistant depression, managing suicidal ideation, and treating refractory status epilepticus.”
What Is Ketamine Therapy?
Ketamine therapy uses low dosages of the dissociative anesthetic medication “to manage various mental health conditions, such as treatment-resistant depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),” according to Pacific Neuroscience Institute.
Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ Jen Affleck and Zac Affleck’s Ketamine Therapy Experience
“Ketamine therapy is supposed to reset a lot of past traumas or habits you’ve created,” Jen said during the season 2 premiere of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. “Ketamine is in a gray area when it comes to the church.”
During the process, the couple injected ketamine into their body via IV and enjoyed the effects in a cozy setting for an hour.
The couple shared more details about choosing ketamine therapy before The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 2 premiered, and shared that their sessions last between three and four hours, unlike the one-hour session showcased in the series.
“We were already doing so much therapy, and we were looking for anything to really help us during that time with our mental health and with our marriage,” the MomTok member told Women’s Health in a story published on May 15, 2025. “If what they’re saying is true, and this can really reset my neural pathways [and] help with trauma, then let’s do it.”
Jen, who shares kids Nora and Lucas with Zac and is pregnant with baby No. 3, also revealed that ketamine therapy was her husband’s idea after he learned more about the process in medical school.
Courtesy of Jen Affleck/Instagram
Jennifer Affleck and Zac Affleck.
That said, their decision to be open about their ketamine therapy journey was a “gray area” in the Mormon church, although the drug isn’t prohibited in the guidelines.
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“It can be a party drug, and it can be abused, but I think if you have the right intention and you do it in the proper setting with a doctor, it can be super impactful,” Zac told the outlet at the time.
Although Zac and Jen are working on their marriage, they got tested once again during season 2 when Jessi Ngatikaura’s husband, Jordan Ngatikaura, and Demi Engemann’s husband, Bret Engemann, starred in their own Chippendales show during a Halloween party.
Yes, Zac was uncomfortable with the no-clothes show, and things got awkward when Jen claimed not to know about the performance, even though it was partially her idea.
“Jen had told Demi and I that she wanted to do Chippendales as exposure therapy for her and Zac, and she was like, ‘We’re in a way better place. It would be so funny,’” Jessi exclusively told In Touch in a story published on May 15, 2025. “And then to not tell him was shocking because we were like, ‘Wait, this was honestly almost your idea. You were so down for it.’ So we were just really confused.”