The Integrative Palliative Podcast

Caring for a loved one who is aging or ill is hard. It is especially hard if you've had a challenging relationship with them. If you had a difficult childhood and now find yourself caring for a parent with cancer, a stroke, or Alzheimer's dementia, you may be experiencing extreme stress and overwhelm. Ask yourself these 3 questions and ponder these 3 truths to make a hard time less stres...

Chiropractic care is widely misunderstood by the medical community. In this interesting interview, chiropractor Brian Morrison clues us in to how we got here and the ways in which chiropractic education and clinical care have changed for the better in recent years. Dr. Morrison discusses who benefits most from chiropractic care, and which patients should not be referred. Here's to an expanded...

Our internal judge has us judging ourselves, other people, and our circumstances. This makes practicing palliative care (and any patient care) harder and generates stress for us that we certainly don't need. This week you'll learn strategies for noticing your own judge and practical techniques for calming it, so you can enjoy your practice more, have less burnout, and be a happier person...

Dr Gordon is a world-recognized authority and pioneer in mind-body medicine, and he is the founder and executive director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, DC. He is a Harvard educated psychiatrist and a clinical professor at Georgetown Medical School. He was chair of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy, and he has a recent book called Tran...

Moral distress and moral injury are common in healthcare, yet few physicians, nurses or other clinicians talk about it on a regular basis. Stuffing the shame, guilt, anger and other powerful emotions that can accompany moral injury can lead to clinician burnout, compassion fatigue, depression or even suicide. And it can also result in excellent, empathetic clinicians leaving healthcare, Let's...

The term self-care has a bad rap lately. It can seem like healthcare organizations use terms like "self-care" and "resilience" to make their doctors, nurses, and other healthcare practitioners work harder and harder. They offer free yoga, while piling on more and more work! There is truth to this scenario, yet pushing away the concepts of self-care is not the solution. This wee...

Many clinicians, especially physicians, don't learn in school what to do when a patient is crying. When we don't know what to do we feel uncomfortable, and no one likes to feel uncomfortable. I've seen many physicians sit in the presence of a crying patient, continue to work on their computer, or awkwardly shift in their seat. This gives the patient the message that their tears and...

Is Joyful Palliative Care possible? Palliative care clinicians are often kind and highly empathetic people, but uncontrolled caring can lead to compassion fatigue or even burnout. Yet approaching the care of seriously ill people with an intentional approach can indeed make palliative care joyful. Here are the steps: 1. More tools to relieve your patients' suffering (integrative symptom manage...

The 2024 Integrative Congress on Integrative Medicine and Health was held recently in Cleveland and there were so many wonderful sessions. I attended and have picked out 8 key learnings to share with you. The 8 topics are: 1. Microskills for wellness 2. Healing presence 3. Boundaries 4. Photobiomodulation 5. Vagus nerve 6. Psychedelics 7. A key values question 8. A surprise! Listen, share and subs...

Effective doctor-patient communication is crucial for effective patient care. Yet effective communication is challenging when visits are time pressured, and both clinicians and patients are often stressed. Using the tools of negotiation can help make doctor/clinician-patient communication more effective. This week I discuss an 8 step approach to negotiating effectively with patients. In support of...

Harvey Chochinov, MD, PhD is an esteemed clinician and researcher in the field of palliative care. He shares his research on dignity, dignity therapy and the Dignity Question that is vital for providing the highest quality end of life care. You will be inspired by his work and learn tools that you can bring right to the bedside. You can find Dr. Chochinov on Linked in or at: Twitter: @hmchochinov...

Michelle Pearce, PhD is a psychotherapist, coach and integrative health educator who is passionate about guiding people to well-being. She shares her insights about health coaching, both private and group. She also shares information about the integrative health and wellness certificate program that she leads at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. This program is for physicians, nurses, nurse p...

Dementia is hard on families. It is hard to watch a loved one decline, hard to provide personal care, and hard to lose the connection with the person that you once knew. One of the hardest things may be that the person loses their language, and language is often how we connect. This week I share 7 ideas for fostering connection with people with dementia. If you're a clinician, share these ide...

Behavior change is hard.  Integrative nutrition and wellbeing coaches are an important part of a healthcare team. Joel Edman, DSc, FACN is an integrative nutrition and health coach and he shares his wisdom this week about how to facilitate practical and realistic behavior change. Healthy nutrition, exercise and stress management is important for people with autoimmune disease, obesity, cardiovascu...

As clinicians it is crucial that we are aware of our blinders.  Sometimes the obvious cause of pain isn't the actual cause of pain and we need to be willing to look past our first impressions. This week I discuss the case of one of my patients (de-identified of course). He had widely metastatic cancer and a pain that I couldn't control with medication. Come find out what worked to reliev...

It is painful to watch other people suffer, whether they are your patients or your loved ones. They may suffer with illnesses, such as cancer or dementia, or may suffer with emotional pain, anxiety or depression. You want to help, but don't want to be swallowed up by their suffering. Join me this week to learn six important ways to protect your own well-being while also  being a loving caregi...

This week I share the story of one of my patients and the woman he loved. Nick was a man in his 20s with an advanced cancer and caring for him touched my heart. He had to face the difficult reality in front of him in order to create the life that he wanted. He embraced acceptance and it changed his future. Come listen to a reading from Coping Courageously: A Heart-Centered Guide for Navigating a L...

Breath is powerful. We carry it with us, it keeps us alive, and it can either increase our stress or reduce it. Slow breathing is a secret weapon for reducing the stress response, reducing anxiety and improving wellbeing. This week you'll hear from Fernando David Pinon and Nancy Estaphanous, the co-founders of BreathNote. BreathNote is a unique and effective tool that uses music to guide rela...

There is wonder in unexpected places. When you look for it you will find it, and when you find it life feels just a bit lighter.  From an Uber ride that turned into an impromptu therapy session to a conversation in a wellness store that may just save a local business, this week we'll uncover the magic hidden within everyday interactions.  How is this relevant to palliative care?  Dealing with...

Neurofeedback is a brain-based treatment that is effective and safe. It can be used to manage ADHD, anxiety, depression, insomnia, Parkinson’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, post concussive syndrome and more. This week we have Francesco Amico, PhD and Alvaro Villegas who are experts in neurofeedback, especially neurofeedback that can be administered remotely, sharing their expertise. They wor...

Guided imagery is a powerful tool to use with your patients who have generalized anxiety or are just feeling anxious about getting chemotherapy or having a procedure. It is easy to learn and every physician, nurse, nurse practitioner, PA, radiation technologist, and every other clinician should have this tool in their toolbox. In addition, I've recorded a LovingKindness meditation (Metta) tha...

Do you know the different between yoga and yoga therapy? Which one is better for people getting treatment for cancer? How about people with neurologic conditions or those who have had a stroke? What benefits can patients get from yoga therapy? What are the risks? Yoga therapy expert Kelli Bethel, PT, DPT, C-IYAT shares her wisdom about all things yoga therapy. Learn more tools to help your patient...

Family members "should" on patients. Patients "should" on themselves. And we "should" on patients too. This week I share eight "shoulds" that we can try to avoid to improve the wellbeing of the families that we care for. Also, today is book launch day! Check out Coping Courageously: A Heart-Centered Guide for Navigating a Loved One’s Illness Without Losing Y...

Acceptance is powerful.  Many people mistakenly think that acceptance is giving up. They see it as the opposite of fighting. I see it differently. Instead of being the opposite of fighting, I see acceptance as the opposite of pretending. When you stop pretending you open opportunities for deep wellbeing and connection. In this episode I read a story from my book Coping Courageously: A Heart-Center...

It is challenging enough to imagine lending a stranger your car or giving them a large sum of money. Yet, some kind souls donate their precious, living body parts to people that they don't know. Chaya Lasson, RN is just such a person. This week she shares her personal journey with living kidney donation. Her story will fascinate and inspire you. Chaya is happy to chat with anyone interested i...