July 16, 2024 • 27 mins
In this episode of "Out of the Box with Christine," host Christine Blosdale speaks with Dr. Sandra Scheinbaum, a health and wellness practitioner and educator passionate about transforming the healthcare system.
Dr. Scheinbaum shares her insights on the shortcomings of the current healthcare model, particularly in managing chronic conditions, and the critical role of health and wellness coaches in alleviating physician burnout and empowering individuals to take charge of their health.
The episode also delves into the challenges faced by people with ADHD and anxiety, emphasizing the strengths and unique qualities they bring. Dr. Scheinbaum offers valuable advice on how health coaches can assist in managing these conditions through positive reinforcement and lifestyle adjustments.
For those interested in becoming health coaches or seeking health coaching services, Dr. Scheinbaum provides information on accessing training and finding qualified professionals through the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy. Visit http://functionalmedicinecoaching.org/ for more info. Additional Links:
For info on Christine Blosdale's coaching programs visit http://www.ChristineBlosdale.com
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Music.
(00:15):
Welcome to Out of the Box with Christine. Are you willing to step into your
greatness? Are you ready to shine?
Well, get ready, Truth Seeker. You're in for an amazing ride.
And now, here's the host of the show, Christine Blosdale.
Music.
(00:38):
Welcome back to Out of the Box with Christine. I am your host,
Christine Blosdale, your expert authority business coach who helps women in
business and entrepreneurs spread the word about their business through podcasts,
social media, videos, and the like.
And this podcast, Out of the Box with Christine, is my way to bring amazing
people to you to share their wisdom and to help you be a bit more conscious
(01:03):
in your day-to-day activities.
And my guest today is a phenomenal woman.
She's a health and wellness practitioner and educator, Dr.
Sandra Scheinbaum, who is passionate about transforming our healthcare system,
preventing physician burnout and empowering people to become the CEOs of their own health.
(01:25):
Her experience is just insane. Clinical psychologist for nearly 40 years.
You never know that, Dr. Scheinbaum, looking at you. She's an expert in positive
psychology and mind-body medicine.
And she's the author of quite a few books. And this is what really caught my attention.
She's the author of the functional medicine coaching book, Stop Panic Attacks
(01:47):
in 10 Easy Steps, and How to Give Clients the Skills to Stop Panic Attacks.
She's a regular contributor to Forbes on health and wellness,
as well as the host of her own podcast, the Health Coach Talk podcast.
So welcome fellow podcaster to Out of the Box. Well, thank you for that great introduction.
It's a pleasure to be here. Absolutely. So obviously you're passionate about
(02:11):
health and fixing the health care system.
What do you see wrong with the health care system, Dr. Scheinbaum?
Oh, my gosh. Where should we start? Let's take you back when I grew up in the
1950s. You had your family doctor.
He knew you. He knew your family. He knew your pet's name.
(02:31):
And you would, for me, it was a pediatrician. My husband saw a family doctor.
And this person took the time. Now, it was very old school. We didn't have the
state-of-the-art medicine.
So where we have come, what is so wonderful
about health care today is the incredible advances in acute care.
(02:53):
So if you are having a heart attack and you go to in the best trauma center,
you will get that state-of-the-art care, which is.
Great. And where we're failing, though, are dealing with chronic conditions
because those are conditions that are not suited to be treated in acute care.
(03:14):
So that old model of the past, number one, that has disappeared.
Good luck today, at least in the United States, trying to find a primary care doctor.
By 2030, we're going to have a shortage of over 124,000 doctors in primary care.
The older doctors are retiring. The younger people coming through in medical
school are not choosing to go in to primary care.
(03:38):
In fact, I just came across a survey that was done at Stanford from their medical students.
And shockingly, only 30% of this class wanted to actually be doctors.
In other words, practice medicine.
They wanted to be entrepreneurs. They They wanted to go into high-paying medical
research positions, for example.
So we are losing that. People are dependent on going to acute care. Well, that's fine.
(04:02):
I broke my foot in the fall, and that was great.
When that happened, I got an x-ray, and acute care was perfectly fine.
But it does not suit people who need ongoing help.
And those are the conditions that are continuing to rise. We're seeing incredible
(04:22):
rates of type 2 diabetes.
It's made it one in two. In the United States, only 7% of adult Americans are
considered metabolically healthy.
So we have this aging population.
People are getting sicker and sicker. We're seeing cancer rates rising.
Autoimmune conditions are showing up in younger and younger people.
(04:42):
At the same time that we're having this crisis in healthcare,
we've got doctors retiring, not going into primary care. And if you go into
the medical system, you often feel lost.
Feel like you are a number. And what you need is what we had,
that old-fashioned system back in the 50s where you had your family doctor.
(05:04):
They actually made eye contact with you. They weren't just looking at their
computer in the medical record.
They were connecting. It's what we call bedside manner.
They don't teach that in medical school.
And people are only given seven, eight minutes to be with a doctor in an appointment.
Well, that's not enough time to really have a a relationship with someone where
(05:25):
you're going to focus on changing your lifestyle because that's what's driving
these chronic conditions.
Oh, and what you're saying is so true.
And if you think about it too, like even the physicians of today,
a lot of the stuff that, you know, when you're talking about type two diabetes
and a lot of issues that people are facing with obesity, you know, it's nutrition.
(05:48):
It's also about nutrition and what we're eating. and I think they get like an
hour of nutritional training when as you think you know as they're going through
the ranks so there's not a whole lot about about that and I'm,
I do believe too, I think that with the whole COVID thing, that there was a
bit of a brain drain where we had expert surgeons,
(06:12):
open heart surgeons, nurses of many years, where they had built up a huge knowledge base, right?
Doctors, primary care physicians, surgeons, all those.
And when that COVID happened and with the mandatory vaccines,
what happened was there was was a great number of people who left the medical
(06:33):
field who you can't replace.
You can't just, you know, in a year, let's, we're going to pop out more,
you know, open heart surgeons, you know,
that takes decades to, to become a really good surgeon or a wonderful nurse
as well. I mean, you know, exactly.
And, and I don't want anyone listening to think that I am dissing the medical
(06:58):
profession, especially during COVID times, we saw people going above and beyond.
Yes, we did. They are carrying people.
They are burnt out. They are exhausted by the system.
And what can really be so helpful are health coaches because they can be that
new primary care because primary care is lifestyle first.
(07:20):
And so cutting down on the burden of these medical doctors,
if you had a health coach who is really that person who is your ally,
who is by your side, who's going to help you feel empowered to take charge of
your health, help be that advocate for you through the medical system and help
you feel that you can get started on making some of these lifestyle changes, hold you accountable.
(07:44):
And when you do that, then ultimately your demand for medical services is decreasing.
And we have data to show that very thing. It's preventative.
Yes, it's preventative. Right. Exactly. Exactly. If we if the United States
and governments around the world sunk a little bit of money into the preventative aspect of health,
(08:08):
they would save themselves a lot of a lot of money at the other side. Right.
Because you invest, invest a little bit. It's because Because it's not hugely expensive.
It's less expensive to invest in the preventative than to deal with all of the
emergency stuff that happens if you don't deal with the preventative stuff, right? Exactly. Yeah.
(08:30):
And so you train people to become health coaches or you rise them up through
the ranks so that they can get out there in the world and help people?
Exactly. So we're a remote online school and we train people to become health and wellness coaches.
(08:51):
What is so cool, what I love so much about this profession is how accessible it is.
That means that anybody, we have people who have come from a whole variety of
careers and they are now becoming health coaches.
Either they're doing coaching on the side or they're retiring,
they're preparing for their what we call their non-retirement retirement years,
(09:12):
or they are burned out and exhausted, perhaps in their corporate position.
We've had corporate bankers, for example. We have meteorologists.
She had a really great career as a meteorologist in a major city,
and she became a health coach.
So this is a focus on doing something that is going to be fulfilling to give
(09:33):
you meaning and purpose, because when you are coaching another individual,
not only does that individual, you see their change process and it is so rewarding,
but you are personally transformed as well.
So coaching actually came from what I had studied and practiced for so many
years. It was humanistic psychology.
And that is where the client, we call them clients and not patients because
(09:57):
it's not medical, and they're in the driver's seat.
And that helps them to feel very, very empowered. So they choose what they want
to work on with their coach.
The coach is there to support them. They can provide education as needed.
And they can be that bridge of communication between that person and their doctor
and help to negotiate in terms of, let's say, more testing is needed.
(10:21):
And the coach can help people feel empowered to ask for those services.
I love that. I really, I appreciate that so much. And there's so many,
there's so much need for that right now.
And you also, one thing that you are, well, you're an expert in now,
by now, after so many years as a psychologist too, is dealing with people with anxiety and ADHD.
(10:46):
And, you know, with that anxiety and depression that is rampant right now,
also people with autism have sometimes a difficult time fitting in or feeling like they fit in.
Can you talk about that? Because I think that's something that I would,
I think an ADHD coach would be like, great.
(11:07):
You know, because I know someone very close to me who has ADHD.
PhD and it drives her crazy sometimes.
She just, oh, she gets so frustrated.
But somebody that understands it would also be very helpful to talk to, right?
So let's start there. And I want to share a story.
(11:29):
Dr. Mark Hyman, he is one of the leaders in functional medicine.
He has taught for us. He's a big proponent of health coaches,
especially functional medicine health coaches.
And he was given a major award a number of years ago. I was there.
And for his acceptance speech, he said, and he was the co-founder of the Cleveland
Clinic Center for Functional Medicine.
(11:51):
He's like, I think he's going on 20 time New York Times bestselling author.
And he said, you know, I want to thank my ADHD for getting this award,
because if I didn't have ADHD, I would still be a practicing family physician,
you know, in a small office.
And that's where I would be.
(12:12):
But because of my ADHD, because that allowed me to, in other words, I move fast.
I change what I'm doing.
I don't stay stuck in the same job. That would be so hard for people with ADHD, myself included.
I started out as a school teacher and I don't thank my ADD because if I didn't
(12:33):
have that, I would still be, I would be retired now on a pension as a school
teacher. Instead, you know, I went from there. I got a doctorate in psychology.
I was a health psychologist. I had other ventures that I did and eventually founded FMCA.
So it is a think of ADHD in terms of not what's broken, not what's wrong, but what is right.
(12:54):
And so impulsivity. No, I call it zest.
Zest is a character strength. It's full of life.
Full of energy, not being able to sit still. Well, that's great. It's great physically.
In fact, they've done studies that shows that people who are,
you know, strumming their fingers, who are tapping their foot,
who are moving around a lot, that is good for your health.
(13:17):
You want to have more movement going on throughout the day.
So you can't sit. If I'm sitting in a lecture, I always have to be getting up, standing in the back.
And so those are all ADHD traits, creativity, highly associated with ADHD.
So it's a strength focus. So
you focus on what is right. Similarly with autism, what is right with you?
(13:38):
And so coaches work on that model to show what's strong with you,
what strengths do you have? And that's what you focus on.
And you take those traits that you might think, well, this is what's doing you
in, But how can they be looked at from a different perspective?
The opposite. What are the advantages of having these traits?
(14:00):
And that's very empowering. And it lifts the depression because it's not what's
wrong with me. Why can't I do everything right?
Often using humor as a way. So I'm so bad at reading directions.
If I have to follow step-by-step directions, like in a recipe,
or I used to sew when I was younger, I always had to rip it out because I would
(14:21):
impulsively jump in and I, Uh-oh, I didn't read the directions.
So often you just learn to laugh at these foibles and say, okay,
but sometimes impulsivity...
You know, I'm good at improv, being able to think on your feet,
I don't, you know, preparing for talks.
Sometimes I just wing it and it's comes out much better than if I had spent a long time preparing.
(14:42):
So you learned to work with these, with what could be an issue and you turn
them into your, what can be your advantage.
Oh, that's, that's, but it's hard when you're in it.
That's the thing, you know, my, I, my, my wife is like, when you were talking
about skipping the things.
It's whenever, whenever just, I've got something I'm going to cook.
(15:05):
I'm going to, I'm going to make this thing and I've got the recipe.
She'll send me the recipe and she'll go get, get these ingredients.
I go and I get the ingredients.
And, and then when it comes to making it, I'll go, did you follow the recipe?
Oh, you know, I'm just doing my own thing on this.
I go, no, no, no, no. You need to follow the recipe because you're going to
(15:26):
have a certain things with the things, or I'll say, how long is it supposed to cook?
For, and she'll go, I don't know when it's done, when it's done,
it's done. And I, okay. All right.
There's, there's actually, there's a Tik TOK channel where it's a couple and
there's a, the wife is, has ADHD and the husband is, I don't know,
(15:46):
neuro, neurotypical, I guess.
I don't know what, whatever the title is, but it's so beautiful because it's, it's showing,
you know, what as a a
couple what you go through together and how
the neurotypical person
can do better to understand that person right and to understand their little
(16:09):
the quirks the things that that they that they that they need to understand
a bit more if they want to stay married you know if they want to be in a good
relationship and i think it's so beautiful it's actually and they have fun with that as well.
You know, I love that. And you brought up something that I think is really important.
And that is it's we and not I. And so you find a partner, somebody who is can support you.
(16:35):
And so that example you gave with the rest, that's perfect. Like you were the
reminder. My husband, we've been married 53 years.
There are times I remember once because I just I get mail, physical mail,
and I'll just throw it in the garbage.
I don't even open. I just think it's junk mail. It's a solicitation.
And so my husband, though, when he's cleaning out the garbage,
(16:58):
he'll sometimes like, you know, he'll look through it more carefully to make
sure that nothing valuable is being tossed away because he knows me.
And so one time he pulled out an envelope and he said, you know,
I don't think you want to throw this away. It was a rebate check.
Like I hadn't opened the envelope, throw it away. But over the years...
We balance each other because I can be more spontaneous.
(17:21):
And so I might encourage him to go out, try a new activity that he would not be up for doing.
And so the more you understand your partner.
And so it's a balance.
And one person's strengths, the other person's weaknesses, but you support.
So you become one as a couple. Then you make up a whole.
Role and that is something we see frequently
(17:43):
that that's what often what how relationships work as
opposed to because it can be the opposite where the other
person can be driving you crazy like oh he's so he's so fine you know for me
like he has to go through everything you know we get a ability has to go through
with a fine-tooth comb he's so pissed it out just more impulsively and so it
can annoy me and vice versa like you know how could you be so you know impulsive
(18:06):
in certain things and I'll do the opposite with him.
You know, it's, so you learn to.
But it's true. You, you do, you take, you take the things that are,
that are, that are good because also like with my, yeah, my wife wants to try
new things and, and likes to have lots of activities and agendas and like,
you know, itineraries, dinner,
you know, where, you know, it's like, it's the weekend and I'm, I,
(18:26):
I'm, I'm, I'm the slower paced turtle, right?
I'm like, Like if it's the weekend, I'm thinking of like how I can enjoy it and slow down.
And with her, she's like, you know, I need to know what's on my itinerary. We need to do things.
We need to plan things. We need to have, you know, goals set.
And I'm like, wait a second. But we do balance each other because I get to try
(18:50):
and I get to explore new things that I would not do before if it wasn't for
her, you know, for her going, come on, babe, let's go.
And physical activity is very, very important. I've noticed,
I think it's the golden, you know, thread through it all is that physical activity
for folks with ADHD as well, right?
(19:11):
Very, very important. Yes, that getting out and moving.
And that's where a coach can be very critical, can help you.
You can have a, we're calling that our mental health coaches.
And so rather than jumping to that conclusion, there's something wrong with
me, I have an anxiety disorder, depressed.
Well, a coach can help you. Well, what would happen if you went out and took a walk?
(19:32):
How did you feel before the walk? How do you feel after the walk?
And then you have that data to say, well, yeah, next time I'm feeling really down,
I'll go out, I'll get in the sun, I'll take a walk, even if it's winter,
that cold is going to feel good, for example,
and ways that you can be moving and ways that you can change your thought patterns
so that you are not catastrophizing and thinking it's hopeless and awful and horrible.
(19:58):
There's something about that that exercise too with
that dopamine and and feeling good I know that that's really important part
of my wife's life as well it's making sure it's five o'clock in the morning
she's going to I'm like bye it's winter here so I'm like have a good workout out, darling.
(20:19):
And you know what, the idea of having a health coach,
having a partner to be with you throughout this crazy life that we have is really comforting.
And is this something too that anybody can, how do they find a health coach?
(20:45):
Like, is this something that people can afford forward through,
through their, their lifetime?
Or is this something that at critical moments within their lives,
they can, they can maybe invest in this?
Yeah, so it can be the price point can be like having a personal trainer,
having a massage therapist, for example.
If you're paying out of pocket for a psychologist, it's probably going to be less than that.
(21:08):
And there's also a huge shortage of mental health professionals.
That is actually a big crisis now. And so health coaches can be more available.
And nine times out of 10, if a health coach, the difference is they're focusing.
They're not doing psychotherapy and they're not diagnosing you.
They're not doing 10 years of talk therapy where you're coming in and getting
stirred up by talking about how awful your childhood was.
(21:30):
But you are focusing on now, what matters most in your life and what can you
do today to get there? And you set goals.
And often those are goals in the areas of looking at the food you're eating, quality of your sleep.
How are you getting what's about your stress, your relationships,
and then getting exercise and movement during the day. And so coach can be found at our site.
(21:56):
You can go to our website, functionalmedicinecoaching.org, and there's a pull-down
menu, and you can go to find a coach.
The cool thing about coaching is it is remote.
Coaches are not licensed as mental health providers.
So in the United States, they're not bound by state licenses.
And so you can be living somewhere in Australia and you can be seeing a coach
(22:21):
who's in the UK, who might be in London.
They might be in Saudi Arabia, they might be in the United States. And it's a fit.
It's if that person is somebody who you feel comfortable with and you may have
to interview a few. And as far as making it affordable, there are many people do groups.
And that, I think, is really special where the community itself becomes the
(22:45):
medicine. You help. I love group coaching.
You are playing a part in helping somebody else in that group.
And that is so healing for you.
You feel so connected to these people. So that is often a way to go.
And a lot of you can go to your doctor often and say, I want to work with a health coach.
And if you are looking for a health coach, you choose someone who is board certified
(23:07):
and make sure that they have graduated from an appropriate training program
or an approved school for the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching,
because that's the danger.
Anybody can be out there calling themselves a coach, a life coach,
a health coach, but you want to have somebody who has gone through the proper training. Right.
And they can find those wonderful people at functionalmedicinecoaching.org, correct? Yes.
(23:29):
Okay. So we'll make sure we'll put that link in the show notes so that people can find that.
And then if they want to become a health coach, then do they do the same thing? They go to that website?
Yes. Yes, exactly. And we need it. We need coaches so badly.
And it is really catching on.
We have the research now to back up the importance and that it really works.
(23:51):
And it is such a rewarding profession.
And again, you don't need a college degree. You don't need a background in healthcare.
You need to be a good listener. And so people are really gravitating to this
as something that, you know, again, they might've been burned out.
They may be in a corporate world and they say, I've had enough.
(24:13):
I've got a few clients that I work with, women who have been in the health field,
who've been in the mental health field and they got burned out because of just how it's run, right?
Yeah. And the stress of it. Who would make wonderful functional medicine products
health coaches. So, so can people, can people, they can get training through
(24:37):
that website and do they have to just be, do they have to be based in the United
States or can they be from other parts? Okay. All right.
We have almost 5,000 graduates there from all over the world.
Okay. People and, and, and their stories that we have some, like I was a while
back, we had somebody, she was in Mumbai.
She was the only coach in Mumbai. She's only the only health coach in India.
(25:00):
And fast forward almost 10 years, she now is, she's written books. She has a podcast.
She is really, she's partnered with doctors. And this all came about because
her daughter had eczema and nobody could treat it. She heard about functional medicine.
So she started making some changes to her daughter's diet.
Daughter improved dramatically. So she said, I got to learn to learn this.
(25:24):
And she didn't want to go to medical school, you know, to be a functional medicine doctors.
So she became a health coach in this process of using functional medicine,
which is basically helping people with root causes through diet and lifestyle change.
And so she is really inspiring. We have so many stories like that. Oh, this is wonderful.
Okay. So we got, this is so good. This was twofold. We have people that need
(25:48):
health coaches that now have the information.
They're going to go to that website, functionalmedicinecoaching.org.
And then you've You've got people who want to have a change in life, change in career,
change in business, and they can also go to functionalmedicinecoaching.org and
become a health coach. Oh my goodness. Yay.
That was awesome. Thank you so much, Dr. Scheidbaum for being with me today.
(26:13):
And I also want to encourage people to take a look at some of the books that
you've also have authored. My goodness.
We've got functional medicine coaching.
That's one book. Stop Panic Attacks in 10 Easy Steps, I've got to get that.
I think that's powerful because once you're starting a panic attack,
it's pretty tough to come back
to regular land and how to give clients the skills to stop panic attacks.
(26:38):
Thank you again so much for being with us today, Dr. Scheidman.
Thank you. It was a pleasure.
Thank you. And I want to thank you wonderful listeners for being with us as well.
If you want more information about the coaching that I do, you can go to christineblosdell.com
and you can check out all the books that I've got.
There's a new, ah, I just remembered to remind you, Pod Your Way to Success,
(27:01):
which was in paperback and Kindle. I just created the audio book.
So the audio book version is available on Audible and Spotify and all those different outlets.
So if you're interested in getting the audio book, I'll have a link in the show
notes as well. And as I always say, remember to think outside that damn box. Bye for now.
Music.
Music.
(00:15):
Welcome to Out of the Box with Christine. Are you willing to step into your
greatness? Are you ready to shine?
Well, get ready, Truth Seeker. You're in for an amazing ride.
And now, here's the host of the show, Christine Blosdale.
Music.
(00:38):
Welcome back to Out of the Box with Christine. I am your host,
Christine Blosdale, your expert authority business coach who helps women in
business and entrepreneurs spread the word about their business through podcasts,
social media, videos, and the like.
And this podcast, Out of the Box with Christine, is my way to bring amazing
people to you to share their wisdom and to help you be a bit more conscious
(01:03):
in your day-to-day activities.
And my guest today is a phenomenal woman.
She's a health and wellness practitioner and educator, Dr.
Sandra Scheinbaum, who is passionate about transforming our healthcare system,
preventing physician burnout and empowering people to become the CEOs of their own health.
(01:25):
Her experience is just insane. Clinical psychologist for nearly 40 years.
You never know that, Dr. Scheinbaum, looking at you. She's an expert in positive
psychology and mind-body medicine.
And she's the author of quite a few books. And this is what really caught my attention.
She's the author of the functional medicine coaching book, Stop Panic Attacks
(01:47):
in 10 Easy Steps, and How to Give Clients the Skills to Stop Panic Attacks.
She's a regular contributor to Forbes on health and wellness,
as well as the host of her own podcast, the Health Coach Talk podcast.
So welcome fellow podcaster to Out of the Box. Well, thank you for that great introduction.
It's a pleasure to be here. Absolutely. So obviously you're passionate about
(02:11):
health and fixing the health care system.
What do you see wrong with the health care system, Dr. Scheinbaum?
Oh, my gosh. Where should we start? Let's take you back when I grew up in the
1950s. You had your family doctor.
He knew you. He knew your family. He knew your pet's name.
(02:31):
And you would, for me, it was a pediatrician. My husband saw a family doctor.
And this person took the time. Now, it was very old school. We didn't have the
state-of-the-art medicine.
So where we have come, what is so wonderful
about health care today is the incredible advances in acute care.
(02:53):
So if you are having a heart attack and you go to in the best trauma center,
you will get that state-of-the-art care, which is.
Great. And where we're failing, though, are dealing with chronic conditions
because those are conditions that are not suited to be treated in acute care.
(03:14):
So that old model of the past, number one, that has disappeared.
Good luck today, at least in the United States, trying to find a primary care doctor.
By 2030, we're going to have a shortage of over 124,000 doctors in primary care.
The older doctors are retiring. The younger people coming through in medical
school are not choosing to go in to primary care.
(03:38):
In fact, I just came across a survey that was done at Stanford from their medical students.
And shockingly, only 30% of this class wanted to actually be doctors.
In other words, practice medicine.
They wanted to be entrepreneurs. They They wanted to go into high-paying medical
research positions, for example.
So we are losing that. People are dependent on going to acute care. Well, that's fine.
(04:02):
I broke my foot in the fall, and that was great.
When that happened, I got an x-ray, and acute care was perfectly fine.
But it does not suit people who need ongoing help.
And those are the conditions that are continuing to rise. We're seeing incredible
(04:22):
rates of type 2 diabetes.
It's made it one in two. In the United States, only 7% of adult Americans are
considered metabolically healthy.
So we have this aging population.
People are getting sicker and sicker. We're seeing cancer rates rising.
Autoimmune conditions are showing up in younger and younger people.
(04:42):
At the same time that we're having this crisis in healthcare,
we've got doctors retiring, not going into primary care. And if you go into
the medical system, you often feel lost.
Feel like you are a number. And what you need is what we had,
that old-fashioned system back in the 50s where you had your family doctor.
(05:04):
They actually made eye contact with you. They weren't just looking at their
computer in the medical record.
They were connecting. It's what we call bedside manner.
They don't teach that in medical school.
And people are only given seven, eight minutes to be with a doctor in an appointment.
Well, that's not enough time to really have a a relationship with someone where
(05:25):
you're going to focus on changing your lifestyle because that's what's driving
these chronic conditions.
Oh, and what you're saying is so true.
And if you think about it too, like even the physicians of today,
a lot of the stuff that, you know, when you're talking about type two diabetes
and a lot of issues that people are facing with obesity, you know, it's nutrition.
(05:48):
It's also about nutrition and what we're eating. and I think they get like an
hour of nutritional training when as you think you know as they're going through
the ranks so there's not a whole lot about about that and I'm,
I do believe too, I think that with the whole COVID thing, that there was a
bit of a brain drain where we had expert surgeons,
(06:12):
open heart surgeons, nurses of many years, where they had built up a huge knowledge base, right?
Doctors, primary care physicians, surgeons, all those.
And when that COVID happened and with the mandatory vaccines,
what happened was there was was a great number of people who left the medical
(06:33):
field who you can't replace.
You can't just, you know, in a year, let's, we're going to pop out more,
you know, open heart surgeons, you know,
that takes decades to, to become a really good surgeon or a wonderful nurse
as well. I mean, you know, exactly.
And, and I don't want anyone listening to think that I am dissing the medical
(06:58):
profession, especially during COVID times, we saw people going above and beyond.
Yes, we did. They are carrying people.
They are burnt out. They are exhausted by the system.
And what can really be so helpful are health coaches because they can be that
new primary care because primary care is lifestyle first.
(07:20):
And so cutting down on the burden of these medical doctors,
if you had a health coach who is really that person who is your ally,
who is by your side, who's going to help you feel empowered to take charge of
your health, help be that advocate for you through the medical system and help
you feel that you can get started on making some of these lifestyle changes, hold you accountable.
(07:44):
And when you do that, then ultimately your demand for medical services is decreasing.
And we have data to show that very thing. It's preventative.
Yes, it's preventative. Right. Exactly. Exactly. If we if the United States
and governments around the world sunk a little bit of money into the preventative aspect of health,
(08:08):
they would save themselves a lot of a lot of money at the other side. Right.
Because you invest, invest a little bit. It's because Because it's not hugely expensive.
It's less expensive to invest in the preventative than to deal with all of the
emergency stuff that happens if you don't deal with the preventative stuff, right? Exactly. Yeah.
(08:30):
And so you train people to become health coaches or you rise them up through
the ranks so that they can get out there in the world and help people?
Exactly. So we're a remote online school and we train people to become health and wellness coaches.
(08:51):
What is so cool, what I love so much about this profession is how accessible it is.
That means that anybody, we have people who have come from a whole variety of
careers and they are now becoming health coaches.
Either they're doing coaching on the side or they're retiring,
they're preparing for their what we call their non-retirement retirement years,
(09:12):
or they are burned out and exhausted, perhaps in their corporate position.
We've had corporate bankers, for example. We have meteorologists.
She had a really great career as a meteorologist in a major city,
and she became a health coach.
So this is a focus on doing something that is going to be fulfilling to give
(09:33):
you meaning and purpose, because when you are coaching another individual,
not only does that individual, you see their change process and it is so rewarding,
but you are personally transformed as well.
So coaching actually came from what I had studied and practiced for so many
years. It was humanistic psychology.
And that is where the client, we call them clients and not patients because
(09:57):
it's not medical, and they're in the driver's seat.
And that helps them to feel very, very empowered. So they choose what they want
to work on with their coach.
The coach is there to support them. They can provide education as needed.
And they can be that bridge of communication between that person and their doctor
and help to negotiate in terms of, let's say, more testing is needed.
(10:21):
And the coach can help people feel empowered to ask for those services.
I love that. I really, I appreciate that so much. And there's so many,
there's so much need for that right now.
And you also, one thing that you are, well, you're an expert in now,
by now, after so many years as a psychologist too, is dealing with people with anxiety and ADHD.
(10:46):
And, you know, with that anxiety and depression that is rampant right now,
also people with autism have sometimes a difficult time fitting in or feeling like they fit in.
Can you talk about that? Because I think that's something that I would,
I think an ADHD coach would be like, great.
(11:07):
You know, because I know someone very close to me who has ADHD.
PhD and it drives her crazy sometimes.
She just, oh, she gets so frustrated.
But somebody that understands it would also be very helpful to talk to, right?
So let's start there. And I want to share a story.
(11:29):
Dr. Mark Hyman, he is one of the leaders in functional medicine.
He has taught for us. He's a big proponent of health coaches,
especially functional medicine health coaches.
And he was given a major award a number of years ago. I was there.
And for his acceptance speech, he said, and he was the co-founder of the Cleveland
Clinic Center for Functional Medicine.
(11:51):
He's like, I think he's going on 20 time New York Times bestselling author.
And he said, you know, I want to thank my ADHD for getting this award,
because if I didn't have ADHD, I would still be a practicing family physician,
you know, in a small office.
And that's where I would be.
(12:12):
But because of my ADHD, because that allowed me to, in other words, I move fast.
I change what I'm doing.
I don't stay stuck in the same job. That would be so hard for people with ADHD, myself included.
I started out as a school teacher and I don't thank my ADD because if I didn't
(12:33):
have that, I would still be, I would be retired now on a pension as a school
teacher. Instead, you know, I went from there. I got a doctorate in psychology.
I was a health psychologist. I had other ventures that I did and eventually founded FMCA.
So it is a think of ADHD in terms of not what's broken, not what's wrong, but what is right.
(12:54):
And so impulsivity. No, I call it zest.
Zest is a character strength. It's full of life.
Full of energy, not being able to sit still. Well, that's great. It's great physically.
In fact, they've done studies that shows that people who are,
you know, strumming their fingers, who are tapping their foot,
who are moving around a lot, that is good for your health.
(13:17):
You want to have more movement going on throughout the day.
So you can't sit. If I'm sitting in a lecture, I always have to be getting up, standing in the back.
And so those are all ADHD traits, creativity, highly associated with ADHD.
So it's a strength focus. So
you focus on what is right. Similarly with autism, what is right with you?
(13:38):
And so coaches work on that model to show what's strong with you,
what strengths do you have? And that's what you focus on.
And you take those traits that you might think, well, this is what's doing you
in, But how can they be looked at from a different perspective?
The opposite. What are the advantages of having these traits?
(14:00):
And that's very empowering. And it lifts the depression because it's not what's
wrong with me. Why can't I do everything right?
Often using humor as a way. So I'm so bad at reading directions.
If I have to follow step-by-step directions, like in a recipe,
or I used to sew when I was younger, I always had to rip it out because I would
(14:21):
impulsively jump in and I, Uh-oh, I didn't read the directions.
So often you just learn to laugh at these foibles and say, okay,
but sometimes impulsivity...
You know, I'm good at improv, being able to think on your feet,
I don't, you know, preparing for talks.
Sometimes I just wing it and it's comes out much better than if I had spent a long time preparing.
(14:42):
So you learned to work with these, with what could be an issue and you turn
them into your, what can be your advantage.
Oh, that's, that's, but it's hard when you're in it.
That's the thing, you know, my, I, my, my wife is like, when you were talking
about skipping the things.
It's whenever, whenever just, I've got something I'm going to cook.
(15:05):
I'm going to, I'm going to make this thing and I've got the recipe.
She'll send me the recipe and she'll go get, get these ingredients.
I go and I get the ingredients.
And, and then when it comes to making it, I'll go, did you follow the recipe?
Oh, you know, I'm just doing my own thing on this.
I go, no, no, no, no. You need to follow the recipe because you're going to
(15:26):
have a certain things with the things, or I'll say, how long is it supposed to cook?
For, and she'll go, I don't know when it's done, when it's done,
it's done. And I, okay. All right.
There's, there's actually, there's a Tik TOK channel where it's a couple and
there's a, the wife is, has ADHD and the husband is, I don't know,
(15:46):
neuro, neurotypical, I guess.
I don't know what, whatever the title is, but it's so beautiful because it's, it's showing,
you know, what as a a
couple what you go through together and how
the neurotypical person
can do better to understand that person right and to understand their little
(16:09):
the quirks the things that that they that they that they need to understand
a bit more if they want to stay married you know if they want to be in a good
relationship and i think it's so beautiful it's actually and they have fun with that as well.
You know, I love that. And you brought up something that I think is really important.
And that is it's we and not I. And so you find a partner, somebody who is can support you.
(16:35):
And so that example you gave with the rest, that's perfect. Like you were the
reminder. My husband, we've been married 53 years.
There are times I remember once because I just I get mail, physical mail,
and I'll just throw it in the garbage.
I don't even open. I just think it's junk mail. It's a solicitation.
And so my husband, though, when he's cleaning out the garbage,
(16:58):
he'll sometimes like, you know, he'll look through it more carefully to make
sure that nothing valuable is being tossed away because he knows me.
And so one time he pulled out an envelope and he said, you know,
I don't think you want to throw this away. It was a rebate check.
Like I hadn't opened the envelope, throw it away. But over the years...
We balance each other because I can be more spontaneous.
(17:21):
And so I might encourage him to go out, try a new activity that he would not be up for doing.
And so the more you understand your partner.
And so it's a balance.
And one person's strengths, the other person's weaknesses, but you support.
So you become one as a couple. Then you make up a whole.
Role and that is something we see frequently
(17:43):
that that's what often what how relationships work as
opposed to because it can be the opposite where the other
person can be driving you crazy like oh he's so he's so fine you know for me
like he has to go through everything you know we get a ability has to go through
with a fine-tooth comb he's so pissed it out just more impulsively and so it
can annoy me and vice versa like you know how could you be so you know impulsive
(18:06):
in certain things and I'll do the opposite with him.
You know, it's, so you learn to.
But it's true. You, you do, you take, you take the things that are,
that are, that are good because also like with my, yeah, my wife wants to try
new things and, and likes to have lots of activities and agendas and like,
you know, itineraries, dinner,
you know, where, you know, it's like, it's the weekend and I'm, I,
(18:26):
I'm, I'm, I'm the slower paced turtle, right?
I'm like, Like if it's the weekend, I'm thinking of like how I can enjoy it and slow down.
And with her, she's like, you know, I need to know what's on my itinerary. We need to do things.
We need to plan things. We need to have, you know, goals set.
And I'm like, wait a second. But we do balance each other because I get to try
(18:50):
and I get to explore new things that I would not do before if it wasn't for
her, you know, for her going, come on, babe, let's go.
And physical activity is very, very important. I've noticed,
I think it's the golden, you know, thread through it all is that physical activity
for folks with ADHD as well, right?
(19:11):
Very, very important. Yes, that getting out and moving.
And that's where a coach can be very critical, can help you.
You can have a, we're calling that our mental health coaches.
And so rather than jumping to that conclusion, there's something wrong with
me, I have an anxiety disorder, depressed.
Well, a coach can help you. Well, what would happen if you went out and took a walk?
(19:32):
How did you feel before the walk? How do you feel after the walk?
And then you have that data to say, well, yeah, next time I'm feeling really down,
I'll go out, I'll get in the sun, I'll take a walk, even if it's winter,
that cold is going to feel good, for example,
and ways that you can be moving and ways that you can change your thought patterns
so that you are not catastrophizing and thinking it's hopeless and awful and horrible.
(19:58):
There's something about that that exercise too with
that dopamine and and feeling good I know that that's really important part
of my wife's life as well it's making sure it's five o'clock in the morning
she's going to I'm like bye it's winter here so I'm like have a good workout out, darling.
(20:19):
And you know what, the idea of having a health coach,
having a partner to be with you throughout this crazy life that we have is really comforting.
And is this something too that anybody can, how do they find a health coach?
(20:45):
Like, is this something that people can afford forward through,
through their, their lifetime?
Or is this something that at critical moments within their lives,
they can, they can maybe invest in this?
Yeah, so it can be the price point can be like having a personal trainer,
having a massage therapist, for example.
If you're paying out of pocket for a psychologist, it's probably going to be less than that.
(21:08):
And there's also a huge shortage of mental health professionals.
That is actually a big crisis now. And so health coaches can be more available.
And nine times out of 10, if a health coach, the difference is they're focusing.
They're not doing psychotherapy and they're not diagnosing you.
They're not doing 10 years of talk therapy where you're coming in and getting
stirred up by talking about how awful your childhood was.
(21:30):
But you are focusing on now, what matters most in your life and what can you
do today to get there? And you set goals.
And often those are goals in the areas of looking at the food you're eating, quality of your sleep.
How are you getting what's about your stress, your relationships,
and then getting exercise and movement during the day. And so coach can be found at our site.
(21:56):
You can go to our website, functionalmedicinecoaching.org, and there's a pull-down
menu, and you can go to find a coach.
The cool thing about coaching is it is remote.
Coaches are not licensed as mental health providers.
So in the United States, they're not bound by state licenses.
And so you can be living somewhere in Australia and you can be seeing a coach
(22:21):
who's in the UK, who might be in London.
They might be in Saudi Arabia, they might be in the United States. And it's a fit.
It's if that person is somebody who you feel comfortable with and you may have
to interview a few. And as far as making it affordable, there are many people do groups.
And that, I think, is really special where the community itself becomes the
(22:45):
medicine. You help. I love group coaching.
You are playing a part in helping somebody else in that group.
And that is so healing for you.
You feel so connected to these people. So that is often a way to go.
And a lot of you can go to your doctor often and say, I want to work with a health coach.
And if you are looking for a health coach, you choose someone who is board certified
(23:07):
and make sure that they have graduated from an appropriate training program
or an approved school for the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching,
because that's the danger.
Anybody can be out there calling themselves a coach, a life coach,
a health coach, but you want to have somebody who has gone through the proper training. Right.
And they can find those wonderful people at functionalmedicinecoaching.org, correct? Yes.
(23:29):
Okay. So we'll make sure we'll put that link in the show notes so that people can find that.
And then if they want to become a health coach, then do they do the same thing? They go to that website?
Yes. Yes, exactly. And we need it. We need coaches so badly.
And it is really catching on.
We have the research now to back up the importance and that it really works.
(23:51):
And it is such a rewarding profession.
And again, you don't need a college degree. You don't need a background in healthcare.
You need to be a good listener. And so people are really gravitating to this
as something that, you know, again, they might've been burned out.
They may be in a corporate world and they say, I've had enough.
(24:13):
I've got a few clients that I work with, women who have been in the health field,
who've been in the mental health field and they got burned out because of just how it's run, right?
Yeah. And the stress of it. Who would make wonderful functional medicine products
health coaches. So, so can people, can people, they can get training through
(24:37):
that website and do they have to just be, do they have to be based in the United
States or can they be from other parts? Okay. All right.
We have almost 5,000 graduates there from all over the world.
Okay. People and, and, and their stories that we have some, like I was a while
back, we had somebody, she was in Mumbai.
She was the only coach in Mumbai. She's only the only health coach in India.
(25:00):
And fast forward almost 10 years, she now is, she's written books. She has a podcast.
She is really, she's partnered with doctors. And this all came about because
her daughter had eczema and nobody could treat it. She heard about functional medicine.
So she started making some changes to her daughter's diet.
Daughter improved dramatically. So she said, I got to learn to learn this.
(25:24):
And she didn't want to go to medical school, you know, to be a functional medicine doctors.
So she became a health coach in this process of using functional medicine,
which is basically helping people with root causes through diet and lifestyle change.
And so she is really inspiring. We have so many stories like that. Oh, this is wonderful.
Okay. So we got, this is so good. This was twofold. We have people that need
(25:48):
health coaches that now have the information.
They're going to go to that website, functionalmedicinecoaching.org.
And then you've You've got people who want to have a change in life, change in career,
change in business, and they can also go to functionalmedicinecoaching.org and
become a health coach. Oh my goodness. Yay.
That was awesome. Thank you so much, Dr. Scheidbaum for being with me today.
(26:13):
And I also want to encourage people to take a look at some of the books that
you've also have authored. My goodness.
We've got functional medicine coaching.
That's one book. Stop Panic Attacks in 10 Easy Steps, I've got to get that.
I think that's powerful because once you're starting a panic attack,
it's pretty tough to come back
to regular land and how to give clients the skills to stop panic attacks.
(26:38):
Thank you again so much for being with us today, Dr. Scheidman.
Thank you. It was a pleasure.
Thank you. And I want to thank you wonderful listeners for being with us as well.
If you want more information about the coaching that I do, you can go to christineblosdell.com
and you can check out all the books that I've got.
There's a new, ah, I just remembered to remind you, Pod Your Way to Success,
(27:01):
which was in paperback and Kindle. I just created the audio book.
So the audio book version is available on Audible and Spotify and all those different outlets.
So if you're interested in getting the audio book, I'll have a link in the show
notes as well. And as I always say, remember to think outside that damn box. Bye for now.
Music.
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