The Catalyst: Sparking Creative Transformation in Healthcare

You Are Not Broken: How to Re-Align Your Life and Career

“The culture needs to shift. How we're showing up and caring for others has to shift,” explains Dr. Kathy Stepien, MD, FAAP. Dr. Kathy is the founding Director of the Institute for Physician Wellness, a pediatrician, a certified physician coach, and host of the She Thrives MD Podcast. Through her physician wellness retreats, wellness training and certification program and other teachings, she has helped thousands of women physicians since 2016 to rethink their priorities and realign their lives and careers to match. 
 
People are constantly developing and changing, so the life you created for yourself at 18 or 20 might not be in alignment with the life you want for yourself now in your 30s or 40s and beyond. If you find that your priorities have shifted, it could be time to consider re-alignment. The culture in medicine unfortunately is not the kindest to physicians and encourages maladaptive behaviors. While changes have begun to be made, there is a long way to go for the culture to be healthy for both patients and everyone working in healthcare. By taking a step back and getting back into your own body, you can reassess how you are feeling and why you are feeling that way, and then make a plan for how to make improvements. When you are stressed out and just going through the motions, it is hard to think clearly and intuitively about what you want for your life. 
 
By taking the time to step back and reconnect with your body and mind, you will be able to access a higher level of thinking which will help you to make better decisions about your priorities and the life you want. We are constantly growing and changing, so periodically it can be very beneficial to take time for re-aligning your life with your current goals and values. 
 
Quotes
• “It can be really hard to believe that it's possible to love your life inside of medicine.” (20:29-20:35 | Dr. Kathy) 
• “Some of these problems can't be figured out just logically and rationally. We need to do some healing and we need to do some feeling forward, not just thinking our way forward.” (22:29-22:38 | Dr. Kathy)
• “Whatever cognitive shifts we have, whatever new knowledge and skills we develop, the brain, the limbic systems dialed down a bit and we actually can have higher order thinking and see things more intuitively and clearly about oh yeah, this is what I love to do, and this is actually what I don't want to be doing anymore. It opens the world up to new ideas and new potential.” (24:40-25:02 | Dr. Kathy)
• “The culture of medicine really shapes our behavior and reinforces some maladaptive patterns.” (29:21-29:27 | Dr. Kathy)
• “The culture needs to shift. How we're showing up and caring for others has to shift. Which is wonderful, because it allows us to be human beings, rather than just kind of robots who are running around hurriedly trying to click the boxes and close the chart and move out of the equation.” (30:28-30:48 | Dr. Kathy)
 
Links
Connect with Kathy Stepien:
Website: www.instituteforphysicianwellness.com
Instagram: @kathystepienmd 
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/physicianwellness/
 
Connect with Lara: 
Use promo code PODCAST to get 10% off a seat in the 5 day virtual Catalyst Symposium (anti-burnout bootcamp). https://drlarasalyer.com/symposium
 
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Hitting the Reset Button on Healthcare

“We all learn in different ways. And I feel like people are more likely to remember things when they're having fun and when they're engaged with the material,” shares Keshia Bradford, MPA. Keshia is a doctoral candidate in leadership at Creighton University. She joined Doctors for America in May of 2022 after spending 9 years as the Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Health Center Association of Nebraska. She is seeking to make changes in healthcare through her research and innovative learning techniques that give healthcare professionals permission and space to play and be creative.
 
With Doctors for America, Keshia is excited to use her larger platform to promote real change. On the monthly action event calls, she builds in activities and fun themes that help inspire an environment of play. These activities give people an opportunity to take what they have just learned on the call and immediately apply it. She began these creative training sessions at her prior job where she would incorporate learning and playful themes like Mission Impossible with matching music, activities, and snacks. By infusing energy, creativity, and fun into the environment, healthcare professionals have an opportunity to shake off their serious personas, learn by doing, reduce overall stress, and enter a flow state. 
 
It’s no secret that healthcare in America needs serious changes. It is very fragmented and there are so many areas for improvement that require everyone in healthcare to work together to make the necessary changes. There’s no reason that working toward this common goal can’t also be fun along the way. Learn more about how to incorporate fun into healthcare training spaces and how opening up to being a little silly can actually increase learning, reduce stress, and improve overall engagement. 
 
Quotes
• “We can all move in the same direction together and have a little fun. There's no reason why we can't have a little fun.” (18:24-18:33 | Keshia) 
• “We all learn in different ways. And I feel like people are more likely to remember things when they're having fun and when they're engaged with the material. And so during the times that I would do training, I would also build in activities that were indicative of the work that they did, but then also played on a fun theme.” (24:31-24:58 | Keshia)
• “We have monthly calls where we have action event calls. And so these are opportunities for people to join, learn about a topic, and then be able to take what they learned and apply it right away.” (27:06-27:19 | Keshia)
 
Links
 
Connect with Keshia Bradford:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ultravise
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keshia-bradford-mpa-3aa9a020/
Doctors for America: https://doctorsforamerica.org/
 
Connect with Lara: 
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

The Art Within

“Once I started dipping my toes into teaching more, that's when everything opened up and unlocked for me and was like, ‘I love teaching’. Teaching is something that I feel is for sure my purpose,” shares Jenna Rainey. Jenna is a watercolor artist, surface pattern designer, and illustrator. She has created best-selling watercolor how-to books alongside teaching online art courses and running her Youtube channel to help show others how to use art to reduce stress. Jenna grew up in a family that was very creative and always had art supplies around the house. She and her mother both were diagnosed with Hashimoto's and one of the fundamental pieces of advice across the board from their doctors was to minimize as much stress as possible. When Jenna and her husband moved to California in 2012, they happened upon an unmarked box of art supplies that the moving company did not claim. Jenna opened it up and began creating, and ultimately found her calling in teaching art.
 
The ability to be creative lies within everyone. Whether creativity comes in the form of writing, painting, music, cooking, or even problem solving, there are so many ways to tap into that side of your brain. When stress builds up, it takes a large toll on physical and mental health and can lead to full on burnout in addition to an unending list of medical problems like insomnia, digestive health issues, and weight gain. Taking time out of your day to do something creative can help reduce stress by putting your body into a flow state. And once you learn how to tap into that flow state, you can do it anytime your mind and body need a break from stress.
 
Trying to reduce stress sometimes feels like an impossible task. But by doing a repetitive, basic action like coloring or drawing, you can put your body into a natural flow state and give your mind a much needed breather from the stress of everyday life.
 
Quotes
• “The common denominator of the advice that I got from all the medical professionals that I went and saw was stress. You need to somehow minimize as much stress as you can.” (13:50-14:11 | Jenna)
• “Once I started dipping my toes into teaching more, that's when everything opened up and unlocked for me and was like, ‘I love teaching’. Teaching is something that I feel is for sure my purpose.” (16:33-16:45 | Jenna)
• “Health is a huge priority for me, and I feel like when I have that as my North Star, everything starts to just trickle into place.” (21:16-21:22 | Jenna)
• “My mission in life is to show people that if you can draw a circle, you can draw a flower. If you have the patience and the desire to want to learn how to draw, you will be able to learn how to draw. It’s just like going to the gym and developing muscles.” (24:44-25:01 | Jenna) 
• “Doing something that is maybe basic, and seems so simple, but doing it repetitively and doing it over and over again, within five minutes, you can drop into flow state.” (27:05-27:15 | Jenna)
 
Links
 
Connect with Jenna Rainey:
Website: www.jennarainey.com
Instagram: @jennarainey
Connect with Lara: 
Links: https://drlarasalyer.com/links
Flow-Infused Time Management: https://healthinnate.activehosted.com/f/49
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Integrative Medicine the EASY Way!

“The EASY Way, the focus is on weight loss. But honestly, it's about elevation of health, and weight management really is just one of the facets that is the fruit of the work,” explains Dr. Krista Coombs, IFM. 
Dr. Krista has spent 22 years in the healthcare industry with the last 10 years being in integrative medicine. Dr. Krista’s catalyst came to her when she was celebrating her 50th birthday on a beach feeling sad about not being able to kayak because it was winter. She had been seeing a lot of complex patients with autoimmune issues and feeling like there had to be an easier way to help them. She laid down in the sand and began doing EFT, and while she was tapping she came up with the foundations for her program, The EASY Way for Weight Loss with Dr. K. 
 
The EASY Way is a four phase process focusing one week on each letter. The acronym stands for eating (and all the physiological practices involved), activities (physical, mental, and spiritual), sleep, and the commitment to saying yes yesterday. Though Dr. Krista applies this program to weight management, it truly can be used for anything because it begins with the fundamentals and builds from there. By applying this process to herself, Dr. Krista was able to not only lose weight, but also regain control over her health in a way that helped her to be less burned out. As a sensitive and highly empathic person, Dr. Krista often struggled with taking on the emotions of others. But by simplifying things down to the fundamentals, she has been able to better protect herself and allow space for grounding. Physicians are primarily taught that self care is selfish and that they are there to be servants to their patients. But the truth is that to be a good physician, it is just as important to take care of your own health needs. 
 
Integrative medicine can sometimes get caught up in the weeds and seem overwhelming for new patients. With the EASY way, integrative medicine can be simple and approachable. The great thing about this method is that it’s not just applicable to weight loss. The EASY method can really be used for anything in life as a mindset shift to focus on the fundamentals and build along the way.
 
Quotes
• “The easier I make my life, the easier it is to manage my own health concerns. And so translating that over to other people, which is a big part of my calling, has been very fruitful because more people are learning that they are self empowered and can handle their own healing journey, and not need to be codependent on a practitioner for very long.” (5:49-6:10 | Dr. Krista)
• “We need to acknowledge that we need to be in a discomfort zone in order for growth to happen.” (13:06-13:10 | Dr. Krista)
• “Honestly, you could do anything the easy way because you just have to layer it. You start with the fundamentals, and then you layer with complexity as you are comfortable with learning more.” (14:02-14:15 | Dr. Krista) 
• “It's a four phase process and everybody says how easy it is once they learn the tools, and they just make this different mindset shift that food is for fuel and performance, for real. That's really, really what it is for the body.” (14:37-14:53 | Dr. Krista)
• “I think getting in the discomfort zone is the one pivotal choice that I've made on a regular daily basis that has helped me evolve at a faster rate in the last year.” (34:40-34:50 | Dr. Krista)
• “The easy way, the focus is on weight loss, but honestly it's about elevation of health, and weight management really is just one of the facets that is the fruit of the work.” (43:47-44:01 | Dr. Krista)
 
Links
 
Connect with Dr. Krista Coombs:
Website: https://www.drkristacoombs.com
AcuPlus Wellness Clinic: https://www.acupluswellness.com 
The EASY Way for Weight Loss with Dr. K: https://www.theeasyway.ca 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acupluswellnessclinic
Connect with Lara: 
Dr. Lara Salyer's Links: Premium Subscription Box: https://rightbrainrescue.com/p/medical-infographics-social-media-for-the-functional-practitioner
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Stress Less at Work: Neutralize Your Inner Judge and Saboteurs

“Part of that trauma is the fact that I am no longer playing my violin. I am no longer writing. I am no longer doing all these things that made me me before I was told that I had to be this. I had to put the glasses and the stethoscope on and I had no other identity,” explains Dr. Catherine Woodhouse, MD, BCC. Catherine is a triple board certified physician in internal medicine, pediatrics and obesity medicine. She’s also an author and co-inventor of a device that improves mobility for manual wheelchair users. Catherine began to experience burnout after realizing that she had lost parts of her identity when she put on the white coat. As she began to reintegrate those parts of herself back into her life, she realized that she was actually a better physician for it than she was when trying to be somebody else. 
 
We all have internal judges and saboteurs inside our minds that try to tell us we are not good enough. These voices develop in response to fear of failure and criticism and cause us to create personas that are a reaction to those judgements. In order to neutralize the judges, we need to get into what Catherine refers to as “sage mode”. This requires letting go of fear and showing acceptance and compassion for the judges and saboteurs. One method for this that Catherine recommends to her clients is the SOAP note technique. A SOAP note is something that is already very familiar to anyone working in healthcare, but her technique switches it up so that you are observing your own behavior verbally. Take a look in the mirror and observe yourself objectively and subjectively. What are you feeling when you look in the mirror? What do you see? Make an assessment and a plan based on these observations. Even a simple plan like taking a day off can be a fantastic first step toward regaining agency over your life. 
 
People are typically their own worst judges, but that can be countered if you know what to watch out for. We all have inner judges that are negative in our minds, sabotaging our lives out of fear of failing or being criticized by others. In order to reduce stress, it is vital to neutralize those inner judges and saboteurs and reach a place of understanding and acceptance for your true self. Learn to get beyond that fear and become comfortable with being your true self, so that you can reclaim your identity and be a better physician for it. 
Quotes
• “I found out that I was a better doctor when I integrated all of those other parts of who I am.” (10:07-10:12 | Catherine)
• “In response to fear of poverty, fear of criticism, fear of failure, we develop these personas to answer the attacks of the judge that we're not good enough.” (15:17-15:32 | Catherine)
• “I have people look in the mirror, and I have people do a SOAP note on themselves. A verbal SOAP note. So you know, subjective. What are you feeling right now? Objective. If you look at yourself in the mirror, what do you see? You see the slumped shoulders? You see the bags under your eyes? What's your assessment and then what's your plan? The plan can just be one nugget like, you know what? I need to take tomorrow off.” (22:08-22:40 | Catherine)
• “We have to create different standards of sufficiency and worth. What do I need to do to do my job well, the way that I want to do it and the way that I know I need to do it for me?” (38:32-38:46 | Catherine)
 
Links
 
Connect with Catherine Woodhouse:
Website: https://evolvedphysician.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinewoodhousemd
Connect with Lara: 
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Hormone Guru Reveals All

“First, understand that an OBGYN gets zero training in menopause,” explains Tara Scott, MD. Tara uses her 25 years of experience and board certifications in gynecology, functional medicine, and integrative medicine to help patients dealing with hormone issues like weight gain, infertility, and breast cancer. Tara first began learning about hormones due to her own difficulties with infertility from endometriosis. She attended a conference in 2003 about what was then referred to as the “root cause approach” and ultimately managed to cure her endometriosis. A few years after the conference, Tara’s brother died unexpectedly of a heart attack at only 38 years old. The loss of her brother from completely preventable means combined with Tara’s personal health journey led her to shift her focus to preventative care and women’s health, particularly in regards to the role of hormones in menopause. 
 
The majority of gynecologists do not approve of hormone therapy or understand it well enough to feel comfortable enough prescribing it. Traditional medicine does not provide any real training on how to treat menopause symptoms, and it can be difficult to separate out the facts from fiction due to there being no standard of care for hormone therapy within the industry. Hormones like estrogen play a huge role in women’s health impacting everything from acne to breast cancer risk, but most practitioners are not testing hormone levels in their patients. There are many ways to assess hormone levels including blood tests, serum tests, saliva tests, and urine tests. Each of these different testing avenues has their own benefits and there is no one right way to test. 
 
Hormones play an important role in overall health, especially in regards to women’s health. When hormones are unbalanced there can be very serious health consequences from minor inconveniences like acne and weight gain to serious medical conditions like endometriosis and breast cancer. Learn more about your options for hormone testing so that you can take an extra level of prevention.
 
Quotes
• “If you're interested, it's because you have a personal vested interest, you have hormone issues yourself, or there's a personal family member that has hormone issues, and obviously, my gynecology background kind of led me down this path of hormones anyway in my own personal journey with my hormones and infertility. So I think there are a lot of avenues to learn and it's hard to weed through because there is actually no standard of care in the industry.” (7:00-7:28 | Tara)
• “First, understand that an OBGYN gets zero training in menopause. We are not taught what to prescribe, how to prescribe, or the risks and benefits. I would say if you polled 10 gynecologists, even 100 gynecologists, 98% would say they are scared of hormone therapy, they don't prescribe it, they don't recommend it.” (8:39-8:55 | Tara) 
• “If you're getting education about hormones, and they say only do this type of testing, there is not one right test.” (13:19-13:25 | Tara)
Links
Connect with Tara Scott:
Website: drtarascott.com 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drtarascott
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hormonegurumd/?hl=en
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hormoneguru
LinkedIn: TaraScott/Hormoneguru
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TaraScottMD
 
Connect with Lara: 
Free Calendar Planning System: https://drlarasalyer.com/links
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Building Daily Rituals to Address Root Cause

“I never really say get rid of your stress. We have to find a way to manage our stress,” shares Rachel Martin, IFM Certified Practitioner and Family Nurse Practitioner of 6 years. Rachel was drawn to functional medicine when her third child was born with a rare genetic disorder called congenital central hypoventilation syndrome. Then, Rachel was under a massive amount of chronic stress from taking care of her older children, opening her practice, and managing her youngest child’s condition, and her gut health was getting worse and worse. The standard medical interventions for treating digestive problems were not helping because they weren’t addressing the root cause of the problems. As Rachel began to learn more about functional medicine, she realized that the way to really help people make long term health changes was to tackle the root cause and focus on the gut-brain connection. 
 
It is not possible to fix gut issues long term without taking into account the psychological component. The gut and the brain are intricately connected and in times of stress, people will often find their digestive problems getting worse. When people are stressed, they often aren’t eating properly or sleeping enough and all of these factors need to be considered. Some issues that many people face when starting functional medicine treatment are that they overdo it on the supplements or they get into a neverending elimination diet with no attempt to work any of the foods back in later on. Rachel helps her patients to go a step beyond the basic elimination diet and supplements by incorporating daily rituals that help reduce stress. She recommends walking, yoga, and meditation to her patients in place of more high intensity exercises to help them bring mindfulness into their day. She also focuses more on helping clients know what to eat, rather than only focusing on what to avoid. 
 
If you want to improve your health long-term, you need to address the root causes like stress, diet, and sleep. The gut and brain are very much connected and when you improve your mental health and take time for self-care, you will improve your physical health simultaneously. Tune into this week’s episode of The Catalyst to learn more about daily rituals you can add to your routine to help reduce stress and heal your gut-brain connection. 
 
Quotes
• “It's not enough to work on the gut. You have to address the gut-brain connection. And you have to address stress.” (6:08-6:14 | Rachel) 
• “I never really say get rid of your stress. We have to find a way to manage our stress.” (8:54-9:00 | Rachel)
• “You should not have a part-time job taking supplements, nor should you have to have a part-time job to afford all of your supplements because you're taking so many.” (13:56-14:04 | Rachel)
• “I've had so many people who have come to me, they're all in their 30s and they're exhausted. They're like, ‘I'm doing everything right.’ And then their quote, unquote, right is intermittent fasting, low carb diets, and high intensity interval training. And I'm like, this is just too much for you right now.” (16:46-17:06 | Rachel)
• “I want them to literally not see me for years or maybe we have the occasional maintenance. But I want my patients to stay well.” (25:00-25:09 | Rachel)
• “Stop focusing on don't eat this, don’t eat that. Tell me what to eat.” (28:34-28:38 | Rachel)
 
Links
Connect with Rachel Martin:
Website: www.rootandritualfxmed.com
Instagram: @rootandritualfxmed 
 
Functional Micropractice Checklist
 
Connect with Lara: 
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Colorful Tips to Take Control of Your Calendar and Stop Feeling Overwhelmed

“When you learn how to use your own cadence appropriately, you understand your best hours of operation, and you arrange your calendar so that your deepest work occurs at your optimum time,” shares host Dr. Lara Salyer. If you have been getting overwhelmed by your schedule and your to-do list, you could be headed for burnout. Time management can seem intimidating to broach, but there actually are ways to bend time to better fit your needs.
 
We all have the same amount of time each day, so why do some people seem to be able to get so much more accomplished? Getting the most out of your time comes down to having time management systems in place and understanding your own natural rhythm. When you sit and plan ahead while also considering how your body best operates, it is possible to gain control of your time. Add anything on your to-do list to your calendar rather than complaining that you do not have enough time for it. When you optimize how you use your time, there is more space available for creativity and play. 
 
You don’t have to be overwhelmed every time you look at your calendar or planner. When you learn to optimize your schedule to match the cadence of your body, you too can bend time. Tune into this week’s episode of The Catalyst to learn each step of Dr. Lara Salyer’s weekly planning method. 
 
Quotes
• “When you say ‘I don't have time’ that is actually a false statement. Everybody has the same amount of time. It's not that you don't have time, it's that you aren't creating a space for it. It’s no longer a priority.” (2:28-2:44 | Lara)
• “When you learn how to use your own cadence appropriately, you understand your best hours of operation, and you can arrange your calendar so that your deepest work occurs at your optimum time.” (4:09-4:22 | Lara)
• “We can bend time and become more energized and powerful if we devote snippets of daily play and creativity in our life.” (5:23-5:33 | Lara)
• “Without putting things on the calendar, it's all a wish list. Your to-do list is really a wish list until you put it down in writing that you are going to sit with that task and do your best to finish it at that time on that day.” (20:34-20:48 | Lara) 
• “It's not that we need more knowledge. It's that we need to take care of ourselves and learn how to apply our medical practices differently to  keep up with the innovation that's happening in healthcare.” (22:07-22:18 | Lara)
Links
Download the Functional Micropractice Checklist here: https://healthinnate.activehosted.com/f/47
Get the Digital Planner: https://rightbrainrescue.com/p/planner
Become a Time Wizard: https://rightbrainrescue.com/p/timewizardry
Connect with Lara: 
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

The Bias of Tech

“I just don't want people to be afraid of tech anymore. I think people are afraid of it, because they don't understand it,” shares Claire Cooper-Bodtke. Claire combined her more than a decade of experience in the private medical sector to co-found her company, Medi Cava. During her work with physicians, Claire realized that the demands placed on physicians to be the sole responsible party for their business were unsustainable and resulting in high rates of burnout. At Medi Cava, Claire assists physicians with putting technological systems in place that help to streamline their services, grow their business, and reduce the amount of extra jobs they have to do themselves so that they can focus on actually healing patients. 
 
When Claire first meets with a client, she runs a gap analysis which essentially is a full tech audit that shows what is currently missing that the client needs for their business to run better. It is often helpful to start with the basics like creating a website where patients can book their own appointments or revisiting what type of software the client is using for customer relationship management. In addition to securing the basics, it can be fun to add in interactive opportunities like visual courses about functional medicine to engage patients and help get them to fully buy into the concepts for themselves. Tech can also be used to help track the lifestyle and buying behaviors of your patients so that you can attract similar patients to your practice. 
 
When used properly, technology can really help to reduce your overall workload and make everything run much smoother. Many people are nervous about venturing into the tech space because they do not understand it, but with the right help it is very much doable and worthwhile in the long run. Tune into this week’s episode of The Catalyst to learn more about the bias of tech and how tech can help you to run your practice more effectively. 
Quotes
• “I don't know who said that practitioners have to be the judge, jury, executioner and wear all the hats and do all the things, when there's really no other business model that makes them do that.” (5:19-5:33 | Claire)
• “Think about how much less money it costs to find the same person versus an entirely new person who's never heard of you. So when I tell people about referrals, they sort of think micro, right? So mom, dad, brother, sister. I’m telling you referrals of people that are like that person. Shop where they shop, workout where they work out, live where they live, drive what they drive. These are what we call psychographics of a human and their nature and how they buy. So buying behaviors, those are all things that you all have at your fingertips. And if you're using pieces of tech correctly, you can really hone in and find that very specific subset of patient that you want to continue working with.” (12:37-13:27 | Claire) 
• “Use those visuals. Use those ways to help like you say gamify or make it more interactive. Make it something that you can actually do.” (36:28-36:37 | Claire)
• “I just don't want people to be afraid of tech anymore. I think people are afraid of it, because they don't understand it.” (16:26-16:33 | Claire)
• “You can use tech in the right way. It will not be scary, and if at any time you get scared and you don't want to do it anymore, there are people like us who can help you.” (40:01-40:10 | Claire)
 
Links
 
Connect with Claire Cooper-Bodtke:
Website: www.medicava.com
Instagram: @wearemedicava
 
Connect with Lara: 
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
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Harnessing the Power of Joy for Hormones and Health

“Joy can be so many different things. It can be very calm, it can be serene. That's what it is. It's an internal feeling. It's an internal state of being,” explains Saadia Mian, MD. Saadia works as a holistic endocrinologist, incorporating integrative and functional medicine into her practice to better serve her patients. She is an author and self-certified “joy expert”. Throughout her journey through medical school, Saadia realized that all of her time was being spent nurturing the left side of her brain and not enough time was being devoted to right brain activities like fostering creativity. During her leadership program, Saadia began to notice even more the importance of joy and listening to her heart. She started to increase joy by using mindfulness practices to slow down and appreciate the little things like enjoying a cup of tea or feeling the grass under her feet. In her books, she shares all that she has learned about the impact of joy on health and how to make joy your default state of being. 
 
Chronic stress can have very negative impacts on health outcomes, because it causes perpetually heightened cortisol levels which throw all of our hormones for a loop. When hormones are impacted, the entire body is impacted. This can lead to all sorts of medical concerns from late periods, to weight gain, to increased risk of heart attack or stroke. Embracing joy is the best way to combat stress and help bring cortisol levels back down while also increasing happiness hormones like dopamine and serotonin. It can be difficult to always find joy, depending on your personal situations, so one way to start is to begin with gratitude. It is sometimes easier to find reasons to be grateful than to be joyful. From gratitude you can begin to work toward finding reasons for joy. 
 
Joy can be a very powerful tool for combating the negative health impacts of chronic stress. By inserting more joy into our lives, we reduce cortisol levels which in turn helps even out the hormones in our bodies. Tune into this week’s episode of The Catalyst to learn more about how joy impacts hormones, the roles hormones play in overall health, and how to begin increasing joy in your own life. 
 
Quotes
• “Joy can be so many different things. It can be very calm, it can be serene. That's what it is. It's an internal feeling. It's an internal state of being.” (11:14-11:24 | Saadia)
• “Small changes can have a big impact on every cell in our body. And yet, we can be resilient. We can train our bodies to be more resilient in the face of stress.” (14:24-14:37 | Saadia)
• “One of the things that actually brings me the most joy is when I see somebody's life has changed because of something that I've supported them with.” (21:51-22:00 | Saadia)
• “Joy is not only things that we perceive as happy-go-lucky, like lying on a beach sipping a drink, or being on vacation. We can also find joy in things that are challenging.” (22:14-22:30 | Saadia)
• “Set a timer and just see how many things you can immediately think of that bring you joy. And maybe after practicing gratitude later on, try it again and see if it has increased.” (38:22-38:33 | Saadia)
 
Links
 
Connect with Saadia Mian:
Websites: www.saadiamianmd.com, https://linktr.ee/saadiamianmd, 
Instagram: @saadiamianmd
 
Connect with Lara: 
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm