April 1, 2025 • 56 mins
What if what you’re calling a “mental health issue” is actually your body crying out for help? In this transformative conversation, we sit down with Integrative and Functional Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Dr. Tiffany M. Smith as she shares how her husband’s painful battle with PTSD and depression changed everything ultimately for the better and greater good. She exposes the deeper truth behind many diagnoses, from mold toxicity showing up as psychosis to detox issues mimicking ADHD. This episode will leave you rethinking everything you thought you knew about healing and inspired to reclaim your wellness from the inside out.
Connect with Dr. Smith:
Episode 134's Affirmation:
I embrace a lifestyle that supports my well-being, knowing that every conscious decision leads to a healthier me.
I invite you to leave a positive message with your insights, feedback, or uplifting message.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Alethea Felton (00:07):
The power of love is absolutely remarkable
and, yes, that is how I want tointroduce this guest is that the
power of love brought herhusband back to health, but also
through her holistic principles.
And the guest today is noneother than Dr Tiffany M Smith.
(00:29):
She is your holistic root causetreating psychiatric nurse
practitioner.
And Dr Tiffany is a trailblazerwho found her calling by
helping her combat veteranhusband recover from chronic
pain, ptsd, depression andanxiety.
And this interview is sopowerful because she talks about
(00:52):
how your mental wellness, howyour holistic health matters and
how you can take control of it.
And, more importantly, shediscusses how she nursed her
husband back to health throughdedication, patience, love and
so much more.
And welcome to the PowerTransformation Podcast.
(01:15):
I am your host, alethea Felton,and it is a joy to have you
here today.
If you are new to our show,welcome.
I am so glad to have you heretoday.
If you are new to our show,welcome, I am so glad to have
you here.
And if you are a longtimesubscriber, thank you so much.
It is because of you that thisshow continues to be a success.
And guess what?
If you have not yet subscribedor follow the Power
(01:38):
Transformation Podcast, what areyou waiting on?
Come on and join us, because weare more than just a podcast.
We are a movement, and it isbecause of you that we are
continuing to reach the world,and so let's go ahead and jump
right into this episode.
Oh, we also have a YouTubechannel.
(01:59):
I am gradually uploadinginterviews on the YouTube
channel, the PowerTransformation Podcast.
Go ahead and subscribe,subscribe and share our YouTube
channel, as well as from yourfavorite audio platform.
Let's go ahead and dive intothis interview here on our show.
We always begin with a positiveaffirmation on our audio
(02:22):
platforms, and it is because weare speaking things into
existence.
We are resilient.
We do not only bounce back, butwe bounce ahead, we move
forward and we thrive,regardless of what obstacles may
attempt to come our way.
So we are speaking those thingsas if they are.
I'm going to say thisaffirmation once, and then you
(02:44):
repeat it.
I embrace a lifestyle thatsupports my well-being, knowing
that every conscious decisionleads to a healthier me.
As I said, I am so excitedtoday to have Dr Tiffany Smith
(03:04):
here on the Power TransformationPodcast.
Welcome, dr Smith.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (03:10):
Thank you for having me.
I'm so excited to be here today, looking forward to having some
fun and give us some education,hopefully helping some people.
Alethea Felton (03:16):
Yes, indeed, and you are going to help a lot of
people and you yourself havesuch a story and I want to dive
right on into this.
But let's start with somethingfun, lighthearted.
Just a random icebreakerquestion, okay, random, off of
the top of my head, just want todig into your brain more.
(03:37):
Okay, my question for you is is, dr Smith, do you believe in
the possibility of paralleluniverses?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (03:49):
Oh gosh yes, interesting.
Alethea Felton (03:53):
Tell us more.
I don't know.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (03:56):
We don't know.
You know, and things are morecomplex and sophisticated than
it seems.
It's simple to say yes, but Ithink we just don't know and you
got to be open to what can beout there to actually discover
it and find it.
You know, if the scientistsaren't open to what they see,
(04:17):
they won't see it.
You know they'll only see whatthey expect to see.
So I think it very well couldbe.
I mean, I'm not.
I am waiting on the day to runinto my doppelganger.
Yes, it's so much talk about it.
It makes you lean intobelieving it's true, it really
does.
Alethea Felton (04:35):
Or I've seen the images taken throughout history
where it's a person who livedyears ago and they look exactly
like someone now.
That is so mind-blowing to meso it's absolutely amazing.
So anyway, thank you for that.
It's just something fun andzany.
(04:56):
But I guess the million-dollarquestion here, and getting into
the heart and the core, is howwould you describe yourself?
Who is Dr Tiffany?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (05:08):
Smith.
I think Dr Tiffany Smith isawesome sauce.
I believe that Dr Tiffany Smithis just a genuine human being
that, through her experiencesand who she is as a person, can
help to guide other people tobetter health.
She is a leader.
(05:29):
She is just genuine andauthentic.
So what you see is what you get,and you know I mean in the
challenge, like and I'm going todive off of me the challenge
with a lot of people is we haveto put on masks and I've always
worked hard to just be who I am,because that's too much work,
you know, but sometimes you haveto do it to fit in to society
(05:52):
for other reasons.
I have a genuine.
I feel like all of my needs aredivinely met and so because I'm
not worried about meeting myneeds meaning I'm not selfish it
allows me to open up and helpothers.
I know I'll be okay as long asI'm doing what I'm divinely
(06:14):
supposed to do in this world andto help others.
So I'm very spiritual, verygrateful, very open to things
and people and understanding.
I try not to be biased, youknow, or bring that in.
I know there's unconscious bias, but I really openly accept
(06:37):
people with open arms and helpyou get from where you are to
where you want to be and whatworks best for you, not what Dr
Tiffany says works best.
Alethea Felton (06:45):
Exactly.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (06:47):
And I'm a problem.
I think my number one thing isI'm a problem solver and I'm an
authentic listener.
Those are my superpowers.
Alethea Felton (06:55):
And with the line of work you're in.
That is needed.
And what I appreciate aboutyour answer is you didn't
describe yourself by the workyou do.
You really described theessence of who you are and I
think that that's a huge premiseof this podcast is that it can
be very easy especially those ofus who are entrepreneurs or
(07:18):
professionals or just anybody toidentify ourselves by our work.
And while the work is importantand titles are cool, at the end
of the day it's the core of whowe are.
And I want to shift this intojust give us a brief definition,
without going into the deep end, because I'll have questions
(07:41):
later talking about this.
But if you could put into yourown words what functional
medicine is, could you explainthat to us?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (07:53):
Yeah, Functional medicine is about
finding the dysfunction withinthe body and fixing that.
That is what functionalmedicine is making sure the body
is functioning properly andbeing able to identify
dysfunction thank you.
Alethea Felton (08:08):
That's very simply put, and when I described
you at the intro I used thatterm, but I wanted you to go
into that a little more, and sothank you for that, and that
leads me to kind of going backto your origin story.
Is that your journey into thatroute actually did begin with
(08:31):
some deeply personal experiencesthat helped to lead you down
that road.
So what aspects of yourpersonal life, or even your
career life, actually led you toembrace a more holistic
approach when it came to mentalhealth, and how did that help to
(08:51):
shape who you are today?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (08:53):
Okay.
So I was always interested inmental health, going through
nursing school and as a nurse,so there was that.
But I kind of got caught up inmedical surgical nursing and all
kinds of other nursing and whenI worked in a crisis
stabilization unit for geriatricpatients, it all came back to
me that I was so interested inthe brain and went to nurse
(09:15):
practitioner school.
He is the reason that actuallyput mental health and holistic
health together, because he washaving some issues with chronic
pain and it leads to otheremotional stress because you
can't live your life, just allthese things.
(09:40):
And we were leaning into thehealth care system but our
quality of life was notimproving.
And we're talking like almosttwo decades of leaning into the
health care system.
And we're talking like almosttwo decades of leaning into the
health care system and it's justpotions and pills and they
weren't.
While he could be in pain, hemight be knocked out of sleep
and that's being not in pain.
You know medications can makeyou groggy or there's invasive
procedures and it's just apossibility of hope, no
(10:01):
guarantees.
So you have all of this, thesehopes, and you know, maybe this
will work.
And after so manydisappointments, we just got to
a point he was almost bed boundand really couldn't stay up for
long, disengaged with the familybecause of it, and he just said
no more, no more Westernmedicine.
(10:22):
We got to find some other kindof way to do this and that put
us on a journey to try to figureout what that is.
We knew we both come from ahealthy family, so we really
(10:44):
personally hadn't engaged in thehealth care system and felt
that the health care system wasthere if you had any issues with
your health.
But a lot became known to usabout how to use the healthcare
system and what it's for, and sothe healthcare system was there
.
When you have that acute,chronic need, something emerging
, I mean it's beautiful and it'sgreat.
However, your wellness, thatday-to-day is up to you and how
you live your life, and I got todivert.
(11:07):
I always talk about the 90sbecause I love the 90s because,
it's an example of when wellnesswas built in.
Wellness was built in our dailysociety life.
You know Sundays the storeswere closed.
Families got together onSundays, remember.
We had to go outside.
You couldn't sit around inside,so you were in nature.
(11:30):
Yes, indeed, the girls had thejournals with the locks on the
diaries.
I mean, yes, diaries, yeah, wewere journaling.
Then we had family time, wecooked at home, we had community
.
You know, and now think abouttoday.
It's totally different.
Most people don't have thatneighborhood they grew up in and
(11:50):
everybody grew up together allthe way through and stay in the
same neighborhood.
The families are more dispersed.
You got notifications andpeople on your phone and trying
to reach you all the time.
The barrier and boundariesaren't there, everything's 24
seven.
You know and I'm.
Boundaries aren't there,everything's 24-7,.
You know, and I'm in Las Vegasnow, so you know it's really
24-7.
There are some places that holdto still some.
(12:11):
I went to a place in Arizona.
They still had some stores thatwere closed on Sunday.
So some of it's there sparsely,but for the majority of the
population, these boundaries, wekind of lost them.
Alethea Felton (12:23):
And.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (12:24):
I think that's the biggest struggle in
what we have, and so, anyhow,just wanted to interject that
because I love talking about the90s.
Alethea Felton (12:31):
Yeah, let me just comment here really quickly
.
I thank you for that comparison, because wellness is my thing,
as you know, but I never I canconfess I never paused to really
think about.
In the nineties, we did do somany wellness-based practices in
(12:55):
just everyday life and wedidn't think of it as that.
It was just normal living.
I never considered that.
You're right, though.
Everything you said resonatesexactly with me, because that's
what we were doing.
Wow, that's amazing.
Tell me about when your husbandwas experiencing these
(13:19):
challenges and let me firstcommend you even for saying that
both of you came from healthyfamilies, because that even
breaks some of well, talkingabout you.
I don't know your husband, butin terms of you as a Black woman
, that even breaks stereotypesof how Blacks, latinos, et
(13:45):
cetera we have more healthconditions, chronic health
problems, and for you to say youactually came from a healthy
family.
Take us back briefly to that.
In terms of coming from ahealthy family, was it based on
the way you ate growing up?
Was it based on the lack of nothaving chronic sickness in your
(14:08):
family?
Talk about that with us.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (14:12):
That's good, you know.
So, to talk about the health ofmy family, my family lives up
over to 100.
You know, they reach that age.
My grandmas I have greatgrandmas because they live to
100 and such, I have greatgrandmas because they live to
100 and such and it's not thatthey didn't have all of the
challenges that we have, thatthat emotional daily weathering
that we suffer as being blackindividuals and my husband is
(14:35):
black as well, so having thosedaily struggles, it's not that
they didn't have it, but I thinkthat they put.
I can say, for, like my grandmawho lived to 101, she had
emotional boundaries around her.
Certain things just didn't, shedidn't let certain things
penetrate her.
I never saw the penetration ofthat that daily racial
(14:56):
weathering on her.
She was just a strongindividual that lived her life
on her terms and did her thing.
I think that, yes, they, myfamily, they cooked, you know,
at home, you gosh not a lot ofdrugs and alcohol, not to say
(15:17):
nobody's without.
But I'm just saying it wasn'tsomething that was really a lot
in our family and it was thatcommunity, you know, we all got
together, we all was togetherand so we had a place of
belonging.
So I think that the community,the belonging, those sorts of
(15:38):
wellness things we just talkedabout it were the protective
barriers that helped them tolive the life that they lived
for so long.
Alethea Felton (15:46):
Oh, that's beautiful.
That is so beautiful.
And thank you for evenmentioning that because it's so
important, because even with thequality of food was just
different then the quality ofhow food was.
I remember when nutritionlabels started popping up on
(16:08):
food items.
I want to say throughout the80s they weren't there, but
maybe the late 80s, early 90sthey started being put on food
and it seemed like prior to then.
I'm all for nutrition facts,don't get me wrong, but it just
seemed that pre that time foodin terms of fresh produce and
(16:30):
things I remember growing up,especially as a Southerner,
going in grocery stores youdidn't have to worry about if it
was an organic section becauseall of the produce was organic
and so you didn't think about ifthis was organic or
conventional.
You just went in and knew youwere getting quality food.
(16:52):
And I want to just comment on afact, with your grandmother
living to be 101.
My great grandmother she wasactually a cousin that raised my
grandma.
That's the only great grandma Iknew.
She lived to be 104.
And one thing that I regret tothis day she died when I was 16.
(17:14):
And I remember her when I was asmall girl telling me about
different herbs and differentthings that you put together.
Dr Smith, I will admit to you, Iheard a few things, but as a
preteen, as a teenager, I wasn'tinterested.
And now fast forward all theseyears later.
that's all people are talkingabout, and I had a woman at my
(17:36):
fingertips who learned this fromher mother and grandmother and
I was like why didn't I listen?
And so the fact that when yourhusband got sick, something
triggered in you to say I wantto do more.
Take me through how it wasbeing a wife, having to
(17:59):
experience being of support toyour husband.
What kind of toll did thatemotionally take on you, seeing
him like this?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (18:09):
Well, it takes a lot of emotional toll
but, this is the thing I had tostay focused and keep working
for us, so so.
Alethea Felton (18:15):
I working for us , so right.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (18:17):
So I'm focused on the end, I'm focused
on the goal of getting throughthis.
So I'm not like sitting withthe emotions that could be
present during that, if thatmakes sense.
I'm not allowing a pity ordespair or frustration.
It's like, okay, I'm just doingwhat I need to do so we can get
(18:37):
through this.
A term that I use is like notputting nothing on it, don't
want to put no extra emotions onit, nothing else, because you
don't want to reach a breakingpoint or something that would
affect me and break me down.
Now the whole, the whole,everybody breaks down.
So I have that staying strong.
I had my self-care in there.
(18:59):
I had my time, you know, to dowhatever I wanted to do for me
as well as taking care of thefamily.
We had, uh, two boys at home,then at a, then I had a baby, so
then we had three and then theoldest one always had at least
two kids at home during all ofthis and it was just, you know,
keeping everything going.
I took care of myself and I tookcare of everybody else.
(19:21):
Emotionally, I have, as Ireflect, I can't say anything
negative.
All I know is the answer isthere.
We're going to get through this.
I'm always I see myself assomeone who goes through their
situations and their problems.
We're gonna, like they say.
This too, shall end so.
Alethea Felton (19:41):
I'm not stuck with how it is today.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (19:44):
We kept working through it, staying open
, giving gratitude and justdoing the best we could through
the situation, and we know thatwe'll figure it out.
And the figuring out part wasthe one thing that just started
was when someone introduced me,just going to a craft fair
essential oils oh, try this,what's this?
(20:07):
I'm like.
Oh, because he didn't wantanything invasive, he don't want
no pills, you know, and he wasvery.
He didn't think that this oilcould bring down his pain better
than a pill, but he's open towhatever it is I present and we
did it and it worked and that'swhat started the wellness
(20:28):
journey and getting us movingfrom that significant pain and
emotional distress.
Alethea Felton (20:34):
That is absolutely incredible and thank
you for saying that, becausewhat I want listeners to
understand is that you know, asyou know, this podcast focuses
on times when people overcameobstacles, adversity, and the
fact that you are making itclear you can go through a
(20:54):
challenging time, but you don'thave to be in despair, you don't
have to feel hopeless.
You can use that as the fuel toreally catapult you and to get
you to that next, and you'redoing that totally exceeded your
expectations, because you endedup founding Aroma, functional
(21:18):
Nutrition and all of that.
So, prior to this just briefly,because I want to shift but
what was your perception, say,of Western medicine prior to you
going all out with holistictreatments?
Prior to you going all out withholistic treatment?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (21:36):
Okay, well , you know, I thought that
everything related to health youfound in health care you know
the wellness and the goodnessand how to be the best you can
be and live your you know yourmost fabulous life.
I thought the health caresystem would teach us that, but
what I learned was that you knowthe health care system is there
and they call it the sick caresystem, and it fits because it
(22:00):
is best when you are sick.
So even if you go to yourdoctor and you do your yearly
exams and they say, well, youneed to eat a low sodium diet
and decrease your fat, it stopsthere, right.
And that's where now wellnessmust take in, and you got to
bring in wellness practitionersto help you figure out.
What does that mean for me?
What does low salt, low fat, nosugar?
(22:22):
What does all that mean?
How do I fit that into my life?
And that's where there's a stopand start with wellness, health
care and wellness, health careand wellness.
And they'll only bring you sofar.
We're now in the thing.
The problem is there isn't aconnection between the health
care system and your overallwellness.
(22:43):
We have to create the next step.
So, like I worked as a casemanager in the hospital, so I
help people that were leavingthe hospital and going back into
the community and the protocolis that you have their doctor's
appointment set up, you knowthey have the equipment that
they need, that sort of thing.
But it's not making sure thatthey're eating properly, getting
(23:06):
the proper nutrients, makingsure that for their wellness,
that emotionally they're sound,they might be scared to death to
go back home.
Maybe it's not as if, just allthese things.
So it's not a holisticperspective, it's just you're
okay, you're okay to not be here.
You know now you go out andgood luck with that.
(23:29):
You're healthy enough to figureit out, and so we want, I think
what is ideal is if the healthcare system could refer to more
holistic and wellnesspractitioners when people are
out in the community for thetransition, so that they can get
a holistic approach to theirlife and how to be better.
And that's, I think, where theshortcoming is and what I found,
(23:51):
and so I'm trying to say, hey,I'm here, I can help put the
whole pieces to all the piecestogether for you.
Alethea Felton (23:59):
I may be mental health, but the mind and the
body are connected that's right,because we are going to talk
about that and that's what Iwanted to point out.
But what?
What I will say is the workyou're doing is so important and
that I have found, having beena person born with autoimmune
illness and, like I said, sincebirth, the holistic principles
(24:22):
were a game changer for me.
They really were.
And I have Western medicine andI have a naturopathic doctor.
The benefit of my naturopathicdoctor and she's a Black woman
from Greenbelt, maryland, but abenefit with her, why I love her
so much.
She first started in Westernmedicine, so she has a totally
(24:46):
different perception, so sheknows how it both works.
What I just want to briefly sayis that you're right, I think
that our healthcare system doescater to the sick and what I
have found in certain supportgroups it's not everybody, so
y'all listeners, I want to putit out there it's not everybody,
but I do find in certainsupport groups I'm a part of it
(25:11):
is a huge pushback to anythingnaturopathic, a huge pushback.
Until a person gets to know me.
Then they become a bit moreinquisitive, like, wait a minute
, you what, you do this and thatand I'm not anti-Western, I
think it has its place.
(25:31):
It definitely has its place.
But it's just so interestinghow I think sometimes not all
people, but I think some peoplewho are sick are so used to
being sick that the possibilityof being healed and whole or at
least have a better quality oflife is not necessarily
something in their mind.
(25:52):
Because I don't.
I acknowledge the conditions Ihave, I'm not ignoring that, but
they don't have to make myexistence.
And that goes back to themindset.
And so you brought up somethingso pivotal and I want people to
really understand this thebrain is an organ, just like our
(26:13):
lungs, our heart, our skin, etcetera.
So as a psychiatric nursepractitioner, you've
transitioned from a conventionalapproach to a more functional
holistic practice, and thatinvolves some significant shifts
.
So did you have any challengesin making that transition and
(26:35):
how did those challenges, if any, actually deepen your
understanding of wellness?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (26:42):
Did I have any challenges making that
transition?
I want to say yes, ok, becausein the information and what's
taught as far as holistic care,functional medicine and all of
these, these other modalities,it was mainly focused on the
primary care physician, thegeneral practitioner, and it
(27:06):
wasn't specific to psychiatry.
So I'm sounding like everybodyelse, you know, saying the same
things and those same things areimportant.
But I had to find and dig in toget the psychiatry piece.
So I did end up finding some acouple, just a couple of
organizations that did teach onthe mental health perspective.
(27:29):
But I learned.
But the great thing was Ilearned about the whole
functional body first.
Then I dug deeper into thebrain and how they were teaching
and can put them both together,all of that knowledge.
But I was.
It took me time to find my voicebecause I was.
You know, I'm not trying to saybe a PCP.
(27:51):
I want you to understand thesemental health conditions and how
things going on in the body canreflect here and vice versa
what's going on in the mind canreflect in the body.
It's not a silo and so bylooking at yourself holistically
, looking at your nutrition andeverything in your life, you'll
be affecting your mental health.
(28:11):
So I often say mental health iseverything and everything is
mental health, everything ismental health and we have to
accept that.
I still have people when I sayI'm a psychiatric nurse
practitioner, they'll be likethey'll back away from me and
shut me.
Yeah, they don't want to beassociated with crazy.
(28:31):
That's you know.
So I'm, I'm.
I'm trying to help to breakdown that stigma and say it's
about mental health.
It's about you every day, howyou think, how you feel, what's
around you, what's supportingyou and how you're getting
through life.
It's not about only hearingvoices and seeing things and
talking to yourself and allthese sorts of images.
(28:53):
It's not that.
Psychiatry and mental health isall about just daily living and
getting through.
Alethea Felton (29:01):
What actually?
I'm just curious what actuallysparked your interest in mental
health.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (29:08):
Okay, In school they said that mental
health, psychiatry was arevolving door that you never
got out of it.
You just you come intotreatment, you know, and you're
going to go back in thecommunity and you're going to
come back again.
Alethea Felton (29:24):
It's just this circle.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (29:25):
What that meant to me was there was no
resolution, there was nosolution.
They're just.
You're just on a hamster wheelgoing in a circle and I couldn't
accept that.
And I'm seeing these beautifulpeople with the psychosis and
they're talking to themselvesand how they're responding to
different things, and I'm likewhat is going on in your brain?
(29:50):
To find the answer?
To help you live your best life, you have to stay
institutionalized, and so Iwanted to know more.
It was just the most curiousthing to me, profound thing.
I just wanted to know what wasgoing on in there, and that's
what led me to this.
Alethea Felton (30:09):
That is so honorable.
That is very honorable and Iask that from a personal
standpoint.
With my immediate family.
We're very open in terms ofmental health.
My father was a psychiatriccounselor for many years and
he's had mental healthchallenges.
(30:31):
Ironically enough, he alwayslistens to the podcast.
It's no secret of how brilliant,practically genius, he is when
it comes to that.
You know psychiatric field, butyet he's had his own challenges
.
And then over the years, I'vehad certain challenges with
(30:51):
anxiety, anxiety.
But I'd like the fact you saidabout a revolving door, because
I had therapy for many yearsuntil I got to a point where I
graduated from it, where now Ionly see her on an as needed
basis because I have the copingskills.
And I think that is a key partis that if you can get to that
(31:12):
point, you don't have to staytrapped in what has you bound.
You know what I mean.
And so when it comes to say,for example, in certain people
using medication as atransformation aspect of, say, I
had to have medicine, Do youthink that medication should be
(31:48):
an immediate go-to or could itpossibly even be considered as a
last resort?
How do you trust a patient toreally start to believe in or
trust their body's own naturalhealing abilities.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (32:04):
Yes, and so the first thing is that
everybody's individual you knowand so it's.
The level of severity is thebiggest thing you know.
So if you're in extremedistress, the medications are
going to help you to to get outof that distress sooner.
Then we can bring in thehealing and other things that
(32:25):
are needed.
If it's not as that extremedistress, then we can bring in
more holistic lifestyle things.
So it's going to be reallyindividual to that person, so
someone who may say, okay, Ihave, I'm, I'm ready.
Well, I got a couple ofexamples.
Alethea Felton (32:44):
I guess you know .
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (32:46):
I had someone come to me and they had
said you know, I think I haveADHD.
I I can't sleep, I can't stayon task, my dad just got
diagnosed with ADHD.
I'm restless, I'm ready to takemedication.
So you come in, they're goingto.
You know Adderall, you knowhere, try this.
I'll see you in a couple ofweeks see how it works.
(33:09):
But what I did I said, beforewe get on the medication, let me
run some functional tests, andone of the tests I started with
was a DNA test.
And especially with the factthat he said his dad was
diagnosed Genius.
Yes, he had no mental healthissues in his genes.
His issue was detoxification.
(33:31):
His body wasn't detoxifyingproperly and therefore he had
the symptoms of ADHD.
Once the liver and gut gotsquared away, the symptoms go
away.
Now think about the life ofthis person on Adderall.
That don't work, so youincrease it.
You increase from two times aday to four times a day.
(33:53):
Now you can't sleep, so now yougot to get something to help
you sleep.
You lost your appetite, so nowyou also need an appetite
stimulant.
And then those medicationsaren't working, so now you
switch to other medications, andthis would have gone on for the
rest of his life.
But by getting to the root causewe were able to address what
was really going on.
(34:13):
So if someone has that spacefrom the stress, even if they
are on medication, we can get tothat root cause and then we
start to shift and addresswhat's really going on there so
they can get the propertreatment.
So that was the case.
I had another person who wasseverely mental ill from tons of
trauma and everything onmedications, came to me and said
(34:37):
I am not feeling well, thingsare getting worse and I want to
increase my medication, and shewas getting ready to pay like
many, many hundreds of thousandsof dollars to do some other
treatment, and I'm like, well,let's find out what your body is
saying, what's going on?
So the first this was this was adifferent test I did with her
(34:58):
going on.
So the first this was this wasa different test I did with her
and what we found out was shewas off the charts with mold
toxicity, and so once we addressthat, then now we optimize her
health and if she needs to be onmedications, it would be the
absolute lowest doses ifnecessary.
Um, and you eliminate thosesorts.
(35:20):
So it's so.
That's what I said.
Mental health is everything andso hers.
Alethea Felton (35:26):
So hers was directly connected to her
environment dealing with mold,right?
So how, so how did you come tothe conclusion it was mold?
Was it in her blood work?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (35:38):
yeah, it was in the blood it was a
specific functional test I usedto find that dysfunction and she
had off the chart markers formold unbelievable and she said
it.
She was like, yeah, I got thisdog.
The air conditioner's beenleaking dot dot, dot, dot dot,
so it right in.
But I wouldn't have known that.
You know, if she came to myoffice we did telehealth, I
(36:01):
didn't see anything but a prettybackground, but then right.
But then when we did the test,it correlated with what she was
actually living in in herenvironment and so she got out
of that place you know and so soI just wanted to share some of
those things.
As far as the power of gettingto that functional place, it
(36:22):
depends on each individualclient.
Those are two different tests,but we got to the root cause,
depending on how they present it.
But I have to say, the majorityof the people that I see I
would say about 80% are peoplewho are just struggling with day
to day life.
And you know, it's like, youknow, life just got its foot on
your neck and you feel like youare going to explode.
(36:44):
So, yes, you feel, feel likeyou have depression, like you
have bipolar, you can't sleep,you have all of these things,
but it doesn't mean that you gotto live with that diagnosis for
the rest of your life.
It's the symptoms that arebeing presented from the
circumstances.
So, as we talk because I toldyou one of my super skills is
listening as we're talking, I'mhearing it, I'm presenting it
(37:09):
and we're talking it through,and they don't have to get on
medication Now.
They feel better and empoweredand can move forward.
And so, instead of just saying,oh, you feel sick, let me give
you the anti-sad pill.
You got anxiety, let me giveyou the anti-anxiety pill.
Now it's like okay, I canapproach my shift and approach
my situation differently andlook at it differently, and I
(37:30):
don't feel that pressure anymoreand now I can think so I get a
majority of that.
Yeah, I thank, get a majorityof that, yeah.
Alethea Felton (37:40):
I thank you for even answering that B, because I
was going to ask you if you hadany general examples of
transformative breakthroughspatients have made and you
shared instantly.
And this is why, when I firstlearned about you, you know, I
said, oh my gosh, because I amsuch a proponent of holistic
(38:03):
health and functional medicine.
Being a recipient of it, I knowwhat it does and my heart just
breaks sometimes for people whoare such critics of it and, as I
said, I don't necessarily thinkit's the end-all be-all, do you
?
But at the end of the day, Iknow, speaking for me, that it
(38:25):
is medical proof thatincorporating certain natural
remedies and self-regulating hasworked wonders.
Even my Western medicinedoctors tell me that behind the
scenes they don't knock any ofthe natural treatments that I'm
doing, and my doctor alwaysmakes certain that none of the
(38:48):
supplements or the treatment sheis giving me is going to
counteract with what I'm taking.
And if more people could reallyunderstand this, what a
healthier world this would be.
But of course, we know that thehealthcare industry is big
business, and so, wow, how doyou also help?
(39:10):
And I don't know how smooth ofa transition this will be.
But I want to also talk aboutthe fact you not only focus with
mental health, but also youalso can tap on specifically
mental health in pregnancy andpostpartum.
(39:31):
And so what can families, drSmith, do better in order to
foster mental well-being duringthose critical times for a woman
who's just had a baby?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (39:45):
Yeah, such a beautiful, beautiful question
.
I think the number one thing isconversations.
We assume a lot when it comesto kids and stuff.
We assume that the pregnancywas wanted.
We assume that the baby will behealthy.
We assume that they're in agood relationship with their
partner.
(40:05):
We assume all of these things,that the mom is happy about this
, and what we have to do is takethe assumptions out and just
ask some open-ended questionsand let us be told what the
situation is, instead of comingin assuming it's all good
because it's a baby.
So we have to open up thequestions.
(40:27):
And how are you feeling aboutI'm starting from the pregnancy,
not just the baby, but how areyou feeling about being pregnant
?
How do you feel your life isgoing to change with this?
You know, after the pregnancy,have you been eating and
sleeping?
Okay, no, because I got a baby,you know.
But they're still excited,they're still happy.
(40:47):
You know you're looking.
So I'm going to jump into somesymptoms that you want to look
for.
So postpartum blues is normallyjust two weeks after delivery.
If you're working with a mom,your family member, and it's
longer than that.
It's more likely postpartumdepression, postpartum
(41:08):
depression.
So let me see I don't know howto say this verbally I have an
infographic I could actuallyprovide that shows the different
symptoms of postpartum bluesand postpartum depression.
But postpartum depression makesyou have suicide, not makes you
, but you can have suicidalthoughts.
You feel down every day.
(41:28):
You have a low self-esteem, youdon't have any interest in
things that used to interest you.
You don't have joy and thathappiness, any interest in
things that used to interest you.
You don't have joy and thathappiness.
That's what postpartumdepression looks like.
If you have baby blues, you'restill excited about life.
You're just exhausted.
(41:49):
You can have your mood swings,but you still have a good
self-esteem about yourself.
You're not suicidal or wantingto harm anything that type of
thing.
But it's very important.
Pregnant moms have an increasedrate of mental health conditions
(42:10):
and they can presentdifferently.
Sometimes we brush it off asjust being a parent.
For example, maybe the momdoesn't go in the kitchen with
the newborn because they don'twant anything, you know, grease
to pop on them or a knife to flyout the knife container and cut
them, and you might just brushthat off, but it might be a huge
anxiety complex.
So you want to ask questionsand lean into that a little bit
(42:30):
more.
As far as the behavior, is itover the top or is it within
reason?
You know, I just want to checkin with you and make sure you're
OK.
Those are the kind of questionsand things you want to look for
.
Follow your gut with those thatyou love, what you feel and
just ask questions.
Alethea Felton (42:49):
Wow, thank you for that.
I don't think that there'salways enough talk around that,
that there's always enough talkaround that, and I think
sometimes people don't reallyunderstand exactly what a mom
goes through during those times.
So, thank you, thank you forthat and with you educating even
(43:11):
in that aspect of it, assomeone who advocates for
alternative medicine, you are onthis path to helping to shift
mindsets in the way that peopleapproach mental health treatment
and how can people begin toadopt this mindset now to lead
(43:35):
towards a more holistic approach.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (43:47):
I think that the conversations are being
had.
You know people.
I think society and in everyarea is pressing us to be more
open to individuality.
Mental health day what was thatin the 90s?
Non-existent, right.
So now you can talk, havemental health days and people
(44:08):
give you a little bit more gracewhen you say something about
mental health.
So I think that's the start.
And so once there's an openingthat mental health is understood
, that it can happen, then itopens up the possibilities and
ways of how you may want to betreated People are.
It opens up the curiosity andthe discovery and the search for
(44:31):
more than what's been offeredin the past.
I get requests where people aresaying I want to look for
something more holistic and notjust be put on meds.
And that's the number one reasonI get consultations, for I need
something else.
I need to be sure this is thething I need to be on.
(44:52):
So I think that discovery,knowing that there is something
else out there, is making theshift.
We, as the people, are makingthe shift to more holistic
options.
I have people they're alreadytaking Valerian Rudin, st John's
Wharton.
They're already doing things,but my goal is that I want you
(45:14):
to do those things that areimportant to you.
I've also had people who saidthey spent $600 on supplements.
Well, let me tell you if youneed that or not.
You can do so much more withyour money.
Let me run some tests and I'lltell you exactly what you need,
and then I can actually have asupplement made that fits you
and your DNA.
(45:34):
You know just for you, fits youand your DNA.
You know just for you, not justall of these random things, and
that's where the potential forinjury comes in when you try to
self-treat in that way.
So you need providers that canguide you holistically in that.
So I think that people will.
(45:55):
So I think that mental health,first aid are doing a lot of
things that we used to do in the90s.
It's about taking some time foryourself, getting out in nature
.
These are your first steps, andI think people know that and
and I think that it's just thatpush you know you can know what
you need to do and don't do it.
I think it's going to be justthem implementing some of those
(46:16):
things more need to do and don'tdo it.
I think it's going to be justthem implementing some of those
things more.
So you see more support groupsaround it, more people embracing
journaling and community.
It's out there and I thinkwe're going to take the more
people are going to take thatfirst step, which means by
meeting those needs, you'lldecrease the need for mental
health psychiatric care.
(46:37):
Let's say psychiatric care perse, because you're being fed and
it allows your body to heal.
So if you're not makingserotonin or melatonin because
you're so stressed and then youget into a community where you
feel safe, you are decreasingthe stress response and
naturally increasing yourserotonin and melatonin.
(46:58):
Now you can start to eat again,feel joy and be happy and sleep
, and so that's us allowing ourbodies to heal.
So I think we're in thatparadigm and shift.
Right now I don't see us goingbackwards.
Alethea Felton (47:12):
Yeah, I don't either.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (47:14):
Going forward.
Now I see the push harder formedications and staying in the
health care system.
I mean, I can't recall no timewe had this many medication
commercials.
Alethea Felton (47:25):
So we have.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (47:26):
We have to stay true to ourselves and what
we need and really askourselves.
We need to seek the care.
You know you do want to getchecked out and not Skip it.
You know you need to knowwhat's going on, but you need to
have to have a conversationabout the ways and choices and
addressing what's going on withyou, and so what you want to do
(47:47):
is have a shared partnership,the shared decision-making, with
your current healthcareproviders.
If they're not willing to have aconversation with you, then you
need to find another providerthat will.
Alethea Felton (48:00):
Yes, because, at the end of the day, it's your
life.
This is your life that you'retalking about and audience
please understand that it isyour life and so therefore, yes,
listen and take heed to whatdoctors say, but if you have
questions, come prepared withthe questions.
(48:22):
Just about everybody now haspatient portals.
Figure out how to use them.
Communicate with your doctors,use your voice to advocate.
I cannot tell you the amount oftimes with me living with
Crohn's and also PSC, but everyyear I have to go in for my
annual colonoscopy, and theamount of people that I can hear
(48:45):
behind a curtain where nurseswho are prepping them ask them
okay, do you know what you'regetting?
Today?
They can answer that, but thequestion about why are you
getting it?
Because my doctor said I haveto Like what?
Because your doctor said youhave to.
You doctor, but especially anaturopath who really practices
(49:07):
what they preach.
And you said that you are big oneven implementing your own
self-care, so you take on a lotwhen it comes to mental health
(49:32):
and helping people.
So what are a few things you dofor your wellness?
What are some practices thatyou incorporate regularly?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (49:43):
It's so funny.
I'm very vague with this answerbecause I'm fluid and flexible
in what self-care means to me.
But the number one thing is Ispend time with my husband so
that would translate into peoplespending time with people that
support them and care about them.
That's what I do.
He makes me laugh, he brings mejoy If I'm feeling any kind of
(50:07):
way, he gets me where I need tobe, help me stay focused, and we
go out and we have fun together.
And so he's created all ofthese different activities and
things you know for gifts andstuff.
So I got all these differenttoys I can play with and learn
how to do something new, and sowe do that.
We have our RV, we go taketrips you know and get out.
(50:29):
We have.
We have a home that's rural,where we primarily live.
So we're out of the city andwe're in nature.
You know, I get to hear thebirds, chickens, you know, and
all of that in the morning.
So I'm fluid in what I mightspecifically do with him.
You know, we may get up and wemay take a walk or take a drive,
(50:52):
we may do this, we may do that,but he is the cornerstone of my
health and well-being may dothat, but he is the cornerstone
of my health and wellbeing.
Alethea Felton (51:01):
You better talk about your husband.
I love it and God bless yourmarriage for many, many more
years of a joy, feel, happy,content, just a fun marriage
where you'll always just notlove each other but actually
like each other, and that isbeautiful.
I love hearing that.
I love love hearing that.
Now I know that there's a lotmore you could say, but with you
(51:26):
being a psychiatric nursepractitioner focusing on
holistic health, I'm not surehow it works in your state, but
I know that some holisticpractitioners can see patients
cross country.
How does it work for you?
Are you only licensed in Nevada?
(51:46):
Are you?
So?
How can people contact you andcan you see anyone anywhere, or
does it have to be from yourstate?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (51:56):
So I could do a consultation and it
doesn't.
I'm not.
It's not going to be a doctorpatient relationship Got you.
So I can give myrecommendations and not doctor,
patient, but also in like mywellness programs.
I'm not functioning as thedoctor, I am a coach, you know.
So that goes across all lines.
(52:20):
I am licensed in Nevada, Arizona, Washington and Idaho right now
, and then with the DNA testthat I do, I have affiliations
with providers all over the US,with providers all over the US.
(52:41):
So if I'm not in the state Ican still coordinate, do a
consultation and get the testsordered, and then a provider
licensed in the state would givethe result.
But we still have aconsultation together and then
you know.
So I can still make it work.
Alethea Felton (52:54):
And how can people contact you?
Do you have a website or socialmedia?
What?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (53:00):
I think social media is really good.
Instagram in particular.
It's drtiffanymsmithcom.
I put Dr Tiffany M Smith oneverything I had the period on
the Instagram.
So that's why I had to say thatperiod on the Instagram, so
(53:20):
that's why I had to say that andI like to educate, so I'm doing
webinars.
You can find more informationout about those things there.
You can Google me and all thedifferent things I'm doing and
have been in will pop up DrTiffany M Smith and there's lots
of Dr Tiffany's.
So that's why I say M Smith,that'll help.
And then website wellnessvegas.
(53:43):
That's easy to say.
It's also AFN psych, butwellnessvegas is easy to
remember.
Alethea Felton (53:53):
But just in case a person's listening or singing
, they don't have it readilyavailable.
Ok, yeah, so go ahead.
I'm sorry.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (54:13):
My goal in 2025 and the holidays in 2024
is doing more webinars, givingmore education, and so I think
that that's a great way to startto pick up on some of these
nuggets and how you can start toimplement some holistic
well-being in your life.
picking up on those nuggets inthe different webinars that I
may do little lunch and learn,type things, so there's more to
that to come, that people canhear more from me.
And then also I've been on alot of podcasts and answer a lot
(54:39):
of questions, and so you canget a lot of nuggets out of that
as well.
Alethea Felton (54:43):
And your episode will probably not be released
until 2025.
But what I'll do is do my duediligence in contacting you
directly just to ask you if youhave any webinars or something
like that, and then what I'll dois I can say that in the
(55:04):
earlier part so that people canget to that, and I'll put links
as well.
But as a closing question, drSmith, this is my question for
you is what makes you mostexcited about the work that you
do to help people?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (55:25):
Their transformation, their
transformation, you know,getting back in line with
themselves, discovering thingsabout them.
I think it's just.
Our living is such a beautifuljourney, you know, and when you
can combat some of the obstaclesthat come and stay in that
(55:46):
divine lane of what your lifeshould be, it's a beautiful
thing.
Alethea Felton (55:52):
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the
Power Transformation Podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode, besure to follow or subscribe,
leave a five-star rating andwrite a review.
It helps us inspire even morelisteners.
And don't keep it to yourself.
Share it with someone who coulduse a little power in their
(56:14):
transformation.
Little power in theirtransformation.
Until next time, keep bouncingback, keep rising and be good to
yourself and to others.
The power of love is absolutely remarkable
and, yes, that is how I want tointroduce this guest is that the
power of love brought herhusband back to health, but also
through her holistic principles.
And the guest today is noneother than Dr Tiffany M Smith.
(00:29):
She is your holistic root causetreating psychiatric nurse
practitioner.
And Dr Tiffany is a trailblazerwho found her calling by
helping her combat veteranhusband recover from chronic
pain, ptsd, depression andanxiety.
And this interview is sopowerful because she talks about
(00:52):
how your mental wellness, howyour holistic health matters and
how you can take control of it.
And, more importantly, shediscusses how she nursed her
husband back to health throughdedication, patience, love and
so much more.
And welcome to the PowerTransformation Podcast.
(01:15):
I am your host, alethea Felton,and it is a joy to have you
here today.
If you are new to our show,welcome.
I am so glad to have you heretoday.
If you are new to our show,welcome, I am so glad to have
you here.
And if you are a longtimesubscriber, thank you so much.
It is because of you that thisshow continues to be a success.
And guess what?
If you have not yet subscribedor follow the Power
(01:38):
Transformation Podcast, what areyou waiting on?
Come on and join us, because weare more than just a podcast.
We are a movement, and it isbecause of you that we are
continuing to reach the world,and so let's go ahead and jump
right into this episode.
Oh, we also have a YouTubechannel.
(01:59):
I am gradually uploadinginterviews on the YouTube
channel, the PowerTransformation Podcast.
Go ahead and subscribe,subscribe and share our YouTube
channel, as well as from yourfavorite audio platform.
Let's go ahead and dive intothis interview here on our show.
We always begin with a positiveaffirmation on our audio
(02:22):
platforms, and it is because weare speaking things into
existence.
We are resilient.
We do not only bounce back, butwe bounce ahead, we move
forward and we thrive,regardless of what obstacles may
attempt to come our way.
So we are speaking those thingsas if they are.
I'm going to say thisaffirmation once, and then you
(02:44):
repeat it.
I embrace a lifestyle thatsupports my well-being, knowing
that every conscious decisionleads to a healthier me.
As I said, I am so excitedtoday to have Dr Tiffany Smith
(03:04):
here on the Power TransformationPodcast.
Welcome, dr Smith.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (03:10):
Thank you for having me.
I'm so excited to be here today, looking forward to having some
fun and give us some education,hopefully helping some people.
Alethea Felton (03:16):
Yes, indeed, and you are going to help a lot of
people and you yourself havesuch a story and I want to dive
right on into this.
But let's start with somethingfun, lighthearted.
Just a random icebreakerquestion, okay, random, off of
the top of my head, just want todig into your brain more.
(03:37):
Okay, my question for you is is, dr Smith, do you believe in
the possibility of paralleluniverses?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (03:49):
Oh gosh yes, interesting.
Alethea Felton (03:53):
Tell us more.
I don't know.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (03:56):
We don't know.
You know, and things are morecomplex and sophisticated than
it seems.
It's simple to say yes, but Ithink we just don't know and you
got to be open to what can beout there to actually discover
it and find it.
You know, if the scientistsaren't open to what they see,
(04:17):
they won't see it.
You know they'll only see whatthey expect to see.
So I think it very well couldbe.
I mean, I'm not.
I am waiting on the day to runinto my doppelganger.
Yes, it's so much talk about it.
It makes you lean intobelieving it's true, it really
does.
Alethea Felton (04:35):
Or I've seen the images taken throughout history
where it's a person who livedyears ago and they look exactly
like someone now.
That is so mind-blowing to meso it's absolutely amazing.
So anyway, thank you for that.
It's just something fun andzany.
(04:56):
But I guess the million-dollarquestion here, and getting into
the heart and the core, is howwould you describe yourself?
Who is Dr Tiffany?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (05:08):
Smith.
I think Dr Tiffany Smith isawesome sauce.
I believe that Dr Tiffany Smithis just a genuine human being
that, through her experiencesand who she is as a person, can
help to guide other people tobetter health.
She is a leader.
(05:29):
She is just genuine andauthentic.
So what you see is what you get,and you know I mean in the
challenge, like and I'm going todive off of me the challenge
with a lot of people is we haveto put on masks and I've always
worked hard to just be who I am,because that's too much work,
you know, but sometimes you haveto do it to fit in to society
(05:52):
for other reasons.
I have a genuine.
I feel like all of my needs aredivinely met and so because I'm
not worried about meeting myneeds meaning I'm not selfish it
allows me to open up and helpothers.
I know I'll be okay as long asI'm doing what I'm divinely
(06:14):
supposed to do in this world andto help others.
So I'm very spiritual, verygrateful, very open to things
and people and understanding.
I try not to be biased, youknow, or bring that in.
I know there's unconscious bias, but I really openly accept
(06:37):
people with open arms and helpyou get from where you are to
where you want to be and whatworks best for you, not what Dr
Tiffany says works best.
Alethea Felton (06:45):
Exactly.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (06:47):
And I'm a problem.
I think my number one thing isI'm a problem solver and I'm an
authentic listener.
Those are my superpowers.
Alethea Felton (06:55):
And with the line of work you're in.
That is needed.
And what I appreciate aboutyour answer is you didn't
describe yourself by the workyou do.
You really described theessence of who you are and I
think that that's a huge premiseof this podcast is that it can
be very easy especially those ofus who are entrepreneurs or
(07:18):
professionals or just anybody toidentify ourselves by our work.
And while the work is importantand titles are cool, at the end
of the day it's the core of whowe are.
And I want to shift this intojust give us a brief definition,
without going into the deep end, because I'll have questions
(07:41):
later talking about this.
But if you could put into yourown words what functional
medicine is, could you explainthat to us?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (07:53):
Yeah, Functional medicine is about
finding the dysfunction withinthe body and fixing that.
That is what functionalmedicine is making sure the body
is functioning properly andbeing able to identify
dysfunction thank you.
Alethea Felton (08:08):
That's very simply put, and when I described
you at the intro I used thatterm, but I wanted you to go
into that a little more, and sothank you for that, and that
leads me to kind of going backto your origin story.
Is that your journey into thatroute actually did begin with
(08:31):
some deeply personal experiencesthat helped to lead you down
that road.
So what aspects of yourpersonal life, or even your
career life, actually led you toembrace a more holistic
approach when it came to mentalhealth, and how did that help to
(08:51):
shape who you are today?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (08:53):
Okay.
So I was always interested inmental health, going through
nursing school and as a nurse,so there was that.
But I kind of got caught up inmedical surgical nursing and all
kinds of other nursing and whenI worked in a crisis
stabilization unit for geriatricpatients, it all came back to
me that I was so interested inthe brain and went to nurse
(09:15):
practitioner school.
He is the reason that actuallyput mental health and holistic
health together, because he washaving some issues with chronic
pain and it leads to otheremotional stress because you
can't live your life, just allthese things.
(09:40):
And we were leaning into thehealth care system but our
quality of life was notimproving.
And we're talking like almosttwo decades of leaning into the
health care system.
And we're talking like almosttwo decades of leaning into the
health care system and it's justpotions and pills and they
weren't.
While he could be in pain, hemight be knocked out of sleep
and that's being not in pain.
You know medications can makeyou groggy or there's invasive
procedures and it's just apossibility of hope, no
(10:01):
guarantees.
So you have all of this, thesehopes, and you know, maybe this
will work.
And after so manydisappointments, we just got to
a point he was almost bed boundand really couldn't stay up for
long, disengaged with the familybecause of it, and he just said
no more, no more Westernmedicine.
(10:22):
We got to find some other kindof way to do this and that put
us on a journey to try to figureout what that is.
We knew we both come from ahealthy family, so we really
(10:44):
personally hadn't engaged in thehealth care system and felt
that the health care system wasthere if you had any issues with
your health.
But a lot became known to usabout how to use the healthcare
system and what it's for, and sothe healthcare system was there
.
When you have that acute,chronic need, something emerging
, I mean it's beautiful and it'sgreat.
However, your wellness, thatday-to-day is up to you and how
you live your life, and I got todivert.
(11:07):
I always talk about the 90sbecause I love the 90s because,
it's an example of when wellnesswas built in.
Wellness was built in our dailysociety life.
You know Sundays the storeswere closed.
Families got together onSundays, remember.
We had to go outside.
You couldn't sit around inside,so you were in nature.
(11:30):
Yes, indeed, the girls had thejournals with the locks on the
diaries.
I mean, yes, diaries, yeah, wewere journaling.
Then we had family time, wecooked at home, we had community
.
You know, and now think abouttoday.
It's totally different.
Most people don't have thatneighborhood they grew up in and
(11:50):
everybody grew up together allthe way through and stay in the
same neighborhood.
The families are more dispersed.
You got notifications andpeople on your phone and trying
to reach you all the time.
The barrier and boundariesaren't there, everything's 24
seven.
You know and I'm.
Boundaries aren't there,everything's 24-7,.
You know, and I'm in Las Vegasnow, so you know it's really
24-7.
There are some places that holdto still some.
(12:11):
I went to a place in Arizona.
They still had some stores thatwere closed on Sunday.
So some of it's there sparsely,but for the majority of the
population, these boundaries, wekind of lost them.
Alethea Felton (12:23):
And.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (12:24):
I think that's the biggest struggle in
what we have, and so, anyhow,just wanted to interject that
because I love talking about the90s.
Alethea Felton (12:31):
Yeah, let me just comment here really quickly
.
I thank you for that comparison, because wellness is my thing,
as you know, but I never I canconfess I never paused to really
think about.
In the nineties, we did do somany wellness-based practices in
(12:55):
just everyday life and wedidn't think of it as that.
It was just normal living.
I never considered that.
You're right, though.
Everything you said resonatesexactly with me, because that's
what we were doing.
Wow, that's amazing.
Tell me about when your husbandwas experiencing these
(13:19):
challenges and let me firstcommend you even for saying that
both of you came from healthyfamilies, because that even
breaks some of well, talkingabout you.
I don't know your husband, butin terms of you as a Black woman
, that even breaks stereotypesof how Blacks, latinos, et
(13:45):
cetera we have more healthconditions, chronic health
problems, and for you to say youactually came from a healthy
family.
Take us back briefly to that.
In terms of coming from ahealthy family, was it based on
the way you ate growing up?
Was it based on the lack of nothaving chronic sickness in your
(14:08):
family?
Talk about that with us.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (14:12):
That's good, you know.
So, to talk about the health ofmy family, my family lives up
over to 100.
You know, they reach that age.
My grandmas I have greatgrandmas because they live to
100 and such, I have greatgrandmas because they live to
100 and such and it's not thatthey didn't have all of the
challenges that we have, thatthat emotional daily weathering
that we suffer as being blackindividuals and my husband is
(14:35):
black as well, so having thosedaily struggles, it's not that
they didn't have it, but I thinkthat they put.
I can say, for, like my grandmawho lived to 101, she had
emotional boundaries around her.
Certain things just didn't, shedidn't let certain things
penetrate her.
I never saw the penetration ofthat that daily racial
(14:56):
weathering on her.
She was just a strongindividual that lived her life
on her terms and did her thing.
I think that, yes, they, myfamily, they cooked, you know,
at home, you gosh not a lot ofdrugs and alcohol, not to say
(15:17):
nobody's without.
But I'm just saying it wasn'tsomething that was really a lot
in our family and it was thatcommunity, you know, we all got
together, we all was togetherand so we had a place of
belonging.
So I think that the community,the belonging, those sorts of
(15:38):
wellness things we just talkedabout it were the protective
barriers that helped them tolive the life that they lived
for so long.
Alethea Felton (15:46):
Oh, that's beautiful.
That is so beautiful.
And thank you for evenmentioning that because it's so
important, because even with thequality of food was just
different then the quality ofhow food was.
I remember when nutritionlabels started popping up on
(16:08):
food items.
I want to say throughout the80s they weren't there, but
maybe the late 80s, early 90sthey started being put on food
and it seemed like prior to then.
I'm all for nutrition facts,don't get me wrong, but it just
seemed that pre that time foodin terms of fresh produce and
(16:30):
things I remember growing up,especially as a Southerner,
going in grocery stores youdidn't have to worry about if it
was an organic section becauseall of the produce was organic
and so you didn't think about ifthis was organic or
conventional.
You just went in and knew youwere getting quality food.
(16:52):
And I want to just comment on afact, with your grandmother
living to be 101.
My great grandmother she wasactually a cousin that raised my
grandma.
That's the only great grandma Iknew.
She lived to be 104.
And one thing that I regret tothis day she died when I was 16.
(17:14):
And I remember her when I was asmall girl telling me about
different herbs and differentthings that you put together.
Dr Smith, I will admit to you, Iheard a few things, but as a
preteen, as a teenager, I wasn'tinterested.
And now fast forward all theseyears later.
that's all people are talkingabout, and I had a woman at my
(17:36):
fingertips who learned this fromher mother and grandmother and
I was like why didn't I listen?
And so the fact that when yourhusband got sick, something
triggered in you to say I wantto do more.
Take me through how it wasbeing a wife, having to
(17:59):
experience being of support toyour husband.
What kind of toll did thatemotionally take on you, seeing
him like this?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (18:09):
Well, it takes a lot of emotional toll
but, this is the thing I had tostay focused and keep working
for us, so so.
Alethea Felton (18:15):
I working for us , so right.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (18:17):
So I'm focused on the end, I'm focused
on the goal of getting throughthis.
So I'm not like sitting withthe emotions that could be
present during that, if thatmakes sense.
I'm not allowing a pity ordespair or frustration.
It's like, okay, I'm just doingwhat I need to do so we can get
(18:37):
through this.
A term that I use is like notputting nothing on it, don't
want to put no extra emotions onit, nothing else, because you
don't want to reach a breakingpoint or something that would
affect me and break me down.
Now the whole, the whole,everybody breaks down.
So I have that staying strong.
I had my self-care in there.
(18:59):
I had my time, you know, to dowhatever I wanted to do for me
as well as taking care of thefamily.
We had, uh, two boys at home,then at a, then I had a baby, so
then we had three and then theoldest one always had at least
two kids at home during all ofthis and it was just, you know,
keeping everything going.
I took care of myself and I tookcare of everybody else.
(19:21):
Emotionally, I have, as Ireflect, I can't say anything
negative.
All I know is the answer isthere.
We're going to get through this.
I'm always I see myself assomeone who goes through their
situations and their problems.
We're gonna, like they say.
This too, shall end so.
Alethea Felton (19:41):
I'm not stuck with how it is today.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (19:44):
We kept working through it, staying open
, giving gratitude and justdoing the best we could through
the situation, and we know thatwe'll figure it out.
And the figuring out part wasthe one thing that just started
was when someone introduced me,just going to a craft fair
essential oils oh, try this,what's this?
(20:07):
I'm like.
Oh, because he didn't wantanything invasive, he don't want
no pills, you know, and he wasvery.
He didn't think that this oilcould bring down his pain better
than a pill, but he's open towhatever it is I present and we
did it and it worked and that'swhat started the wellness
(20:28):
journey and getting us movingfrom that significant pain and
emotional distress.
Alethea Felton (20:34):
That is absolutely incredible and thank
you for saying that, becausewhat I want listeners to
understand is that you know, asyou know, this podcast focuses
on times when people overcameobstacles, adversity, and the
fact that you are making itclear you can go through a
(20:54):
challenging time, but you don'thave to be in despair, you don't
have to feel hopeless.
You can use that as the fuel toreally catapult you and to get
you to that next, and you'redoing that totally exceeded your
expectations, because you endedup founding Aroma, functional
(21:18):
Nutrition and all of that.
So, prior to this just briefly,because I want to shift but
what was your perception, say,of Western medicine prior to you
going all out with holistictreatments?
Prior to you going all out withholistic treatment?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (21:36):
Okay, well , you know, I thought that
everything related to health youfound in health care you know
the wellness and the goodnessand how to be the best you can
be and live your you know yourmost fabulous life.
I thought the health caresystem would teach us that, but
what I learned was that you knowthe health care system is there
and they call it the sick caresystem, and it fits because it
(22:00):
is best when you are sick.
So even if you go to yourdoctor and you do your yearly
exams and they say, well, youneed to eat a low sodium diet
and decrease your fat, it stopsthere, right.
And that's where now wellnessmust take in, and you got to
bring in wellness practitionersto help you figure out.
What does that mean for me?
What does low salt, low fat, nosugar?
(22:22):
What does all that mean?
How do I fit that into my life?
And that's where there's a stopand start with wellness, health
care and wellness, health careand wellness.
And they'll only bring you sofar.
We're now in the thing.
The problem is there isn't aconnection between the health
care system and your overallwellness.
(22:43):
We have to create the next step.
So, like I worked as a casemanager in the hospital, so I
help people that were leavingthe hospital and going back into
the community and the protocolis that you have their doctor's
appointment set up, you knowthey have the equipment that
they need, that sort of thing.
But it's not making sure thatthey're eating properly, getting
(23:06):
the proper nutrients, makingsure that for their wellness,
that emotionally they're sound,they might be scared to death to
go back home.
Maybe it's not as if, just allthese things.
So it's not a holisticperspective, it's just you're
okay, you're okay to not be here.
You know now you go out andgood luck with that.
(23:29):
You're healthy enough to figureit out, and so we want, I think
what is ideal is if the healthcare system could refer to more
holistic and wellnesspractitioners when people are
out in the community for thetransition, so that they can get
a holistic approach to theirlife and how to be better.
And that's, I think, where theshortcoming is and what I found,
(23:51):
and so I'm trying to say, hey,I'm here, I can help put the
whole pieces to all the piecestogether for you.
Alethea Felton (23:59):
I may be mental health, but the mind and the
body are connected that's right,because we are going to talk
about that and that's what Iwanted to point out.
But what?
What I will say is the workyou're doing is so important and
that I have found, having beena person born with autoimmune
illness and, like I said, sincebirth, the holistic principles
(24:22):
were a game changer for me.
They really were.
And I have Western medicine andI have a naturopathic doctor.
The benefit of my naturopathicdoctor and she's a Black woman
from Greenbelt, maryland, but abenefit with her, why I love her
so much.
She first started in Westernmedicine, so she has a totally
(24:46):
different perception, so sheknows how it both works.
What I just want to briefly sayis that you're right, I think
that our healthcare system doescater to the sick and what I
have found in certain supportgroups it's not everybody, so
y'all listeners, I want to putit out there it's not everybody,
but I do find in certainsupport groups I'm a part of it
(25:11):
is a huge pushback to anythingnaturopathic, a huge pushback.
Until a person gets to know me.
Then they become a bit moreinquisitive, like, wait a minute
, you what, you do this and thatand I'm not anti-Western, I
think it has its place.
(25:31):
It definitely has its place.
But it's just so interestinghow I think sometimes not all
people, but I think some peoplewho are sick are so used to
being sick that the possibilityof being healed and whole or at
least have a better quality oflife is not necessarily
something in their mind.
(25:52):
Because I don't.
I acknowledge the conditions Ihave, I'm not ignoring that, but
they don't have to make myexistence.
And that goes back to themindset.
And so you brought up somethingso pivotal and I want people to
really understand this thebrain is an organ, just like our
(26:13):
lungs, our heart, our skin, etcetera.
So as a psychiatric nursepractitioner, you've
transitioned from a conventionalapproach to a more functional
holistic practice, and thatinvolves some significant shifts
.
So did you have any challengesin making that transition and
(26:35):
how did those challenges, if any, actually deepen your
understanding of wellness?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (26:42):
Did I have any challenges making that
transition?
I want to say yes, ok, becausein the information and what's
taught as far as holistic care,functional medicine and all of
these, these other modalities,it was mainly focused on the
primary care physician, thegeneral practitioner, and it
(27:06):
wasn't specific to psychiatry.
So I'm sounding like everybodyelse, you know, saying the same
things and those same things areimportant.
But I had to find and dig in toget the psychiatry piece.
So I did end up finding some acouple, just a couple of
organizations that did teach onthe mental health perspective.
(27:29):
But I learned.
But the great thing was Ilearned about the whole
functional body first.
Then I dug deeper into thebrain and how they were teaching
and can put them both together,all of that knowledge.
But I was.
It took me time to find my voicebecause I was.
You know, I'm not trying to saybe a PCP.
(27:51):
I want you to understand thesemental health conditions and how
things going on in the body canreflect here and vice versa
what's going on in the mind canreflect in the body.
It's not a silo and so bylooking at yourself holistically
, looking at your nutrition andeverything in your life, you'll
be affecting your mental health.
(28:11):
So I often say mental health iseverything and everything is
mental health, everything ismental health and we have to
accept that.
I still have people when I sayI'm a psychiatric nurse
practitioner, they'll be likethey'll back away from me and
shut me.
Yeah, they don't want to beassociated with crazy.
(28:31):
That's you know.
So I'm, I'm.
I'm trying to help to breakdown that stigma and say it's
about mental health.
It's about you every day, howyou think, how you feel, what's
around you, what's supportingyou and how you're getting
through life.
It's not about only hearingvoices and seeing things and
talking to yourself and allthese sorts of images.
(28:53):
It's not that.
Psychiatry and mental health isall about just daily living and
getting through.
Alethea Felton (29:01):
What actually?
I'm just curious what actuallysparked your interest in mental
health.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (29:08):
Okay, In school they said that mental
health, psychiatry was arevolving door that you never
got out of it.
You just you come intotreatment, you know, and you're
going to go back in thecommunity and you're going to
come back again.
Alethea Felton (29:24):
It's just this circle.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (29:25):
What that meant to me was there was no
resolution, there was nosolution.
They're just.
You're just on a hamster wheelgoing in a circle and I couldn't
accept that.
And I'm seeing these beautifulpeople with the psychosis and
they're talking to themselvesand how they're responding to
different things, and I'm likewhat is going on in your brain?
(29:50):
To find the answer?
To help you live your best life, you have to stay
institutionalized, and so Iwanted to know more.
It was just the most curiousthing to me, profound thing.
I just wanted to know what wasgoing on in there, and that's
what led me to this.
Alethea Felton (30:09):
That is so honorable.
That is very honorable and Iask that from a personal
standpoint.
With my immediate family.
We're very open in terms ofmental health.
My father was a psychiatriccounselor for many years and
he's had mental healthchallenges.
(30:31):
Ironically enough, he alwayslistens to the podcast.
It's no secret of how brilliant,practically genius, he is when
it comes to that.
You know psychiatric field, butyet he's had his own challenges
.
And then over the years, I'vehad certain challenges with
(30:51):
anxiety, anxiety.
But I'd like the fact you saidabout a revolving door, because
I had therapy for many yearsuntil I got to a point where I
graduated from it, where now Ionly see her on an as needed
basis because I have the copingskills.
And I think that is a key partis that if you can get to that
(31:12):
point, you don't have to staytrapped in what has you bound.
You know what I mean.
And so when it comes to say,for example, in certain people
using medication as atransformation aspect of, say, I
had to have medicine, Do youthink that medication should be
(31:48):
an immediate go-to or could itpossibly even be considered as a
last resort?
How do you trust a patient toreally start to believe in or
trust their body's own naturalhealing abilities.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (32:04):
Yes, and so the first thing is that
everybody's individual you knowand so it's.
The level of severity is thebiggest thing you know.
So if you're in extremedistress, the medications are
going to help you to to get outof that distress sooner.
Then we can bring in thehealing and other things that
(32:25):
are needed.
If it's not as that extremedistress, then we can bring in
more holistic lifestyle things.
So it's going to be reallyindividual to that person, so
someone who may say, okay, Ihave, I'm, I'm ready.
Well, I got a couple ofexamples.
Alethea Felton (32:44):
I guess you know .
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (32:46):
I had someone come to me and they had
said you know, I think I haveADHD.
I I can't sleep, I can't stayon task, my dad just got
diagnosed with ADHD.
I'm restless, I'm ready to takemedication.
So you come in, they're goingto.
You know Adderall, you knowhere, try this.
I'll see you in a couple ofweeks see how it works.
(33:09):
But what I did I said, beforewe get on the medication, let me
run some functional tests, andone of the tests I started with
was a DNA test.
And especially with the factthat he said his dad was
diagnosed Genius.
Yes, he had no mental healthissues in his genes.
His issue was detoxification.
(33:31):
His body wasn't detoxifyingproperly and therefore he had
the symptoms of ADHD.
Once the liver and gut gotsquared away, the symptoms go
away.
Now think about the life ofthis person on Adderall.
That don't work, so youincrease it.
You increase from two times aday to four times a day.
(33:53):
Now you can't sleep, so now yougot to get something to help
you sleep.
You lost your appetite, so nowyou also need an appetite
stimulant.
And then those medicationsaren't working, so now you
switch to other medications, andthis would have gone on for the
rest of his life.
But by getting to the root causewe were able to address what
was really going on.
(34:13):
So if someone has that spacefrom the stress, even if they
are on medication, we can get tothat root cause and then we
start to shift and addresswhat's really going on there so
they can get the propertreatment.
So that was the case.
I had another person who wasseverely mental ill from tons of
trauma and everything onmedications, came to me and said
(34:37):
I am not feeling well, thingsare getting worse and I want to
increase my medication, and shewas getting ready to pay like
many, many hundreds of thousandsof dollars to do some other
treatment, and I'm like, well,let's find out what your body is
saying, what's going on?
So the first this was this was adifferent test I did with her
(34:58):
going on.
So the first this was this wasa different test I did with her
and what we found out was shewas off the charts with mold
toxicity, and so once we addressthat, then now we optimize her
health and if she needs to be onmedications, it would be the
absolute lowest doses ifnecessary.
Um, and you eliminate thosesorts.
(35:20):
So it's so.
That's what I said.
Mental health is everything andso hers.
Alethea Felton (35:26):
So hers was directly connected to her
environment dealing with mold,right?
So how, so how did you come tothe conclusion it was mold?
Was it in her blood work?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (35:38):
yeah, it was in the blood it was a
specific functional test I usedto find that dysfunction and she
had off the chart markers formold unbelievable and she said
it.
She was like, yeah, I got thisdog.
The air conditioner's beenleaking dot dot, dot, dot dot,
so it right in.
But I wouldn't have known that.
You know, if she came to myoffice we did telehealth, I
(36:01):
didn't see anything but a prettybackground, but then right.
But then when we did the test,it correlated with what she was
actually living in in herenvironment and so she got out
of that place you know and so soI just wanted to share some of
those things.
As far as the power of gettingto that functional place, it
(36:22):
depends on each individualclient.
Those are two different tests,but we got to the root cause,
depending on how they present it.
But I have to say, the majorityof the people that I see I
would say about 80% are peoplewho are just struggling with day
to day life.
And you know, it's like, youknow, life just got its foot on
your neck and you feel like youare going to explode.
(36:44):
So, yes, you feel, feel likeyou have depression, like you
have bipolar, you can't sleep,you have all of these things,
but it doesn't mean that you gotto live with that diagnosis for
the rest of your life.
It's the symptoms that arebeing presented from the
circumstances.
So, as we talk because I toldyou one of my super skills is
listening as we're talking, I'mhearing it, I'm presenting it
(37:09):
and we're talking it through,and they don't have to get on
medication Now.
They feel better and empoweredand can move forward.
And so, instead of just saying,oh, you feel sick, let me give
you the anti-sad pill.
You got anxiety, let me giveyou the anti-anxiety pill.
Now it's like okay, I canapproach my shift and approach
my situation differently andlook at it differently, and I
(37:30):
don't feel that pressure anymoreand now I can think so I get a
majority of that.
Yeah, I thank, get a majorityof that, yeah.
Alethea Felton (37:40):
I thank you for even answering that B, because I
was going to ask you if you hadany general examples of
transformative breakthroughspatients have made and you
shared instantly.
And this is why, when I firstlearned about you, you know, I
said, oh my gosh, because I amsuch a proponent of holistic
(38:03):
health and functional medicine.
Being a recipient of it, I knowwhat it does and my heart just
breaks sometimes for people whoare such critics of it and, as I
said, I don't necessarily thinkit's the end-all be-all, do you
?
But at the end of the day, Iknow, speaking for me, that it
(38:25):
is medical proof thatincorporating certain natural
remedies and self-regulating hasworked wonders.
Even my Western medicinedoctors tell me that behind the
scenes they don't knock any ofthe natural treatments that I'm
doing, and my doctor alwaysmakes certain that none of the
(38:48):
supplements or the treatment sheis giving me is going to
counteract with what I'm taking.
And if more people could reallyunderstand this, what a
healthier world this would be.
But of course, we know that thehealthcare industry is big
business, and so, wow, how doyou also help?
(39:10):
And I don't know how smooth ofa transition this will be.
But I want to also talk aboutthe fact you not only focus with
mental health, but also youalso can tap on specifically
mental health in pregnancy andpostpartum.
(39:31):
And so what can families, drSmith, do better in order to
foster mental well-being duringthose critical times for a woman
who's just had a baby?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (39:45):
Yeah, such a beautiful, beautiful question
.
I think the number one thing isconversations.
We assume a lot when it comesto kids and stuff.
We assume that the pregnancywas wanted.
We assume that the baby will behealthy.
We assume that they're in agood relationship with their
partner.
(40:05):
We assume all of these things,that the mom is happy about this
, and what we have to do is takethe assumptions out and just
ask some open-ended questionsand let us be told what the
situation is, instead of comingin assuming it's all good
because it's a baby.
So we have to open up thequestions.
(40:27):
And how are you feeling aboutI'm starting from the pregnancy,
not just the baby, but how areyou feeling about being pregnant
?
How do you feel your life isgoing to change with this?
You know, after the pregnancy,have you been eating and
sleeping?
Okay, no, because I got a baby,you know.
But they're still excited,they're still happy.
(40:47):
You know you're looking.
So I'm going to jump into somesymptoms that you want to look
for.
So postpartum blues is normallyjust two weeks after delivery.
If you're working with a mom,your family member, and it's
longer than that.
It's more likely postpartumdepression, postpartum
(41:08):
depression.
So let me see I don't know howto say this verbally I have an
infographic I could actuallyprovide that shows the different
symptoms of postpartum bluesand postpartum depression.
But postpartum depression makesyou have suicide, not makes you
, but you can have suicidalthoughts.
You feel down every day.
(41:28):
You have a low self-esteem, youdon't have any interest in
things that used to interest you.
You don't have joy and thathappiness, any interest in
things that used to interest you.
You don't have joy and thathappiness.
That's what postpartumdepression looks like.
If you have baby blues, you'restill excited about life.
You're just exhausted.
(41:49):
You can have your mood swings,but you still have a good
self-esteem about yourself.
You're not suicidal or wantingto harm anything that type of
thing.
But it's very important.
Pregnant moms have an increasedrate of mental health conditions
(42:10):
and they can presentdifferently.
Sometimes we brush it off asjust being a parent.
For example, maybe the momdoesn't go in the kitchen with
the newborn because they don'twant anything, you know, grease
to pop on them or a knife to flyout the knife container and cut
them, and you might just brushthat off, but it might be a huge
anxiety complex.
So you want to ask questionsand lean into that a little bit
(42:30):
more.
As far as the behavior, is itover the top or is it within
reason?
You know, I just want to checkin with you and make sure you're
OK.
Those are the kind of questionsand things you want to look for
.
Follow your gut with those thatyou love, what you feel and
just ask questions.
Alethea Felton (42:49):
Wow, thank you for that.
I don't think that there'salways enough talk around that,
that there's always enough talkaround that, and I think
sometimes people don't reallyunderstand exactly what a mom
goes through during those times.
So, thank you, thank you forthat and with you educating even
(43:11):
in that aspect of it, assomeone who advocates for
alternative medicine, you are onthis path to helping to shift
mindsets in the way that peopleapproach mental health treatment
and how can people begin toadopt this mindset now to lead
(43:35):
towards a more holistic approach.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (43:47):
I think that the conversations are being
had.
You know people.
I think society and in everyarea is pressing us to be more
open to individuality.
Mental health day what was thatin the 90s?
Non-existent, right.
So now you can talk, havemental health days and people
(44:08):
give you a little bit more gracewhen you say something about
mental health.
So I think that's the start.
And so once there's an openingthat mental health is understood
, that it can happen, then itopens up the possibilities and
ways of how you may want to betreated People are.
It opens up the curiosity andthe discovery and the search for
(44:31):
more than what's been offeredin the past.
I get requests where people aresaying I want to look for
something more holistic and notjust be put on meds.
And that's the number one reasonI get consultations, for I need
something else.
I need to be sure this is thething I need to be on.
(44:52):
So I think that discovery,knowing that there is something
else out there, is making theshift.
We, as the people, are makingthe shift to more holistic
options.
I have people they're alreadytaking Valerian Rudin, st John's
Wharton.
They're already doing things,but my goal is that I want you
(45:14):
to do those things that areimportant to you.
I've also had people who saidthey spent $600 on supplements.
Well, let me tell you if youneed that or not.
You can do so much more withyour money.
Let me run some tests and I'lltell you exactly what you need,
and then I can actually have asupplement made that fits you
and your DNA.
(45:34):
You know just for you, fits youand your DNA.
You know just for you, not justall of these random things, and
that's where the potential forinjury comes in when you try to
self-treat in that way.
So you need providers that canguide you holistically in that.
So I think that people will.
(45:55):
So I think that mental health,first aid are doing a lot of
things that we used to do in the90s.
It's about taking some time foryourself, getting out in nature
.
These are your first steps, andI think people know that and
and I think that it's just thatpush you know you can know what
you need to do and don't do it.
I think it's going to be justthem implementing some of those
(46:16):
things more need to do and don'tdo it.
I think it's going to be justthem implementing some of those
things more.
So you see more support groupsaround it, more people embracing
journaling and community.
It's out there and I thinkwe're going to take the more
people are going to take thatfirst step, which means by
meeting those needs, you'lldecrease the need for mental
health psychiatric care.
(46:37):
Let's say psychiatric care perse, because you're being fed and
it allows your body to heal.
So if you're not makingserotonin or melatonin because
you're so stressed and then youget into a community where you
feel safe, you are decreasingthe stress response and
naturally increasing yourserotonin and melatonin.
(46:58):
Now you can start to eat again,feel joy and be happy and sleep
, and so that's us allowing ourbodies to heal.
So I think we're in thatparadigm and shift.
Right now I don't see us goingbackwards.
Alethea Felton (47:12):
Yeah, I don't either.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (47:14):
Going forward.
Now I see the push harder formedications and staying in the
health care system.
I mean, I can't recall no timewe had this many medication
commercials.
Alethea Felton (47:25):
So we have.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (47:26):
We have to stay true to ourselves and what
we need and really askourselves.
We need to seek the care.
You know you do want to getchecked out and not Skip it.
You know you need to knowwhat's going on, but you need to
have to have a conversationabout the ways and choices and
addressing what's going on withyou, and so what you want to do
(47:47):
is have a shared partnership,the shared decision-making, with
your current healthcareproviders.
If they're not willing to have aconversation with you, then you
need to find another providerthat will.
Alethea Felton (48:00):
Yes, because, at the end of the day, it's your
life.
This is your life that you'retalking about and audience
please understand that it isyour life and so therefore, yes,
listen and take heed to whatdoctors say, but if you have
questions, come prepared withthe questions.
(48:22):
Just about everybody now haspatient portals.
Figure out how to use them.
Communicate with your doctors,use your voice to advocate.
I cannot tell you the amount oftimes with me living with
Crohn's and also PSC, but everyyear I have to go in for my
annual colonoscopy, and theamount of people that I can hear
(48:45):
behind a curtain where nurseswho are prepping them ask them
okay, do you know what you'regetting?
Today?
They can answer that, but thequestion about why are you
getting it?
Because my doctor said I haveto Like what?
Because your doctor said youhave to.
You doctor, but especially anaturopath who really practices
(49:07):
what they preach.
And you said that you are big oneven implementing your own
self-care, so you take on a lotwhen it comes to mental health
(49:32):
and helping people.
So what are a few things you dofor your wellness?
What are some practices thatyou incorporate regularly?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (49:43):
It's so funny.
I'm very vague with this answerbecause I'm fluid and flexible
in what self-care means to me.
But the number one thing is Ispend time with my husband so
that would translate into peoplespending time with people that
support them and care about them.
That's what I do.
He makes me laugh, he brings mejoy If I'm feeling any kind of
(50:07):
way, he gets me where I need tobe, help me stay focused, and we
go out and we have fun together.
And so he's created all ofthese different activities and
things you know for gifts andstuff.
So I got all these differenttoys I can play with and learn
how to do something new, and sowe do that.
We have our RV, we go taketrips you know and get out.
(50:29):
We have.
We have a home that's rural,where we primarily live.
So we're out of the city andwe're in nature.
You know, I get to hear thebirds, chickens, you know, and
all of that in the morning.
So I'm fluid in what I mightspecifically do with him.
You know, we may get up and wemay take a walk or take a drive,
(50:52):
we may do this, we may do that,but he is the cornerstone of my
health and well-being may dothat, but he is the cornerstone
of my health and wellbeing.
Alethea Felton (51:01):
You better talk about your husband.
I love it and God bless yourmarriage for many, many more
years of a joy, feel, happy,content, just a fun marriage
where you'll always just notlove each other but actually
like each other, and that isbeautiful.
I love hearing that.
I love love hearing that.
Now I know that there's a lotmore you could say, but with you
(51:26):
being a psychiatric nursepractitioner focusing on
holistic health, I'm not surehow it works in your state, but
I know that some holisticpractitioners can see patients
cross country.
How does it work for you?
Are you only licensed in Nevada?
(51:46):
Are you?
So?
How can people contact you andcan you see anyone anywhere, or
does it have to be from yourstate?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (51:56):
So I could do a consultation and it
doesn't.
I'm not.
It's not going to be a doctorpatient relationship Got you.
So I can give myrecommendations and not doctor,
patient, but also in like mywellness programs.
I'm not functioning as thedoctor, I am a coach, you know.
So that goes across all lines.
(52:20):
I am licensed in Nevada, Arizona, Washington and Idaho right now
, and then with the DNA testthat I do, I have affiliations
with providers all over the US,with providers all over the US.
(52:41):
So if I'm not in the state Ican still coordinate, do a
consultation and get the testsordered, and then a provider
licensed in the state would givethe result.
But we still have aconsultation together and then
you know.
So I can still make it work.
Alethea Felton (52:54):
And how can people contact you?
Do you have a website or socialmedia?
What?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (53:00):
I think social media is really good.
Instagram in particular.
It's drtiffanymsmithcom.
I put Dr Tiffany M Smith oneverything I had the period on
the Instagram.
So that's why I had to say thatperiod on the Instagram, so
(53:20):
that's why I had to say that andI like to educate, so I'm doing
webinars.
You can find more informationout about those things there.
You can Google me and all thedifferent things I'm doing and
have been in will pop up DrTiffany M Smith and there's lots
of Dr Tiffany's.
So that's why I say M Smith,that'll help.
And then website wellnessvegas.
(53:43):
That's easy to say.
It's also AFN psych, butwellnessvegas is easy to
remember.
Alethea Felton (53:53):
But just in case a person's listening or singing
, they don't have it readilyavailable.
Ok, yeah, so go ahead.
I'm sorry.
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (54:13):
My goal in 2025 and the holidays in 2024
is doing more webinars, givingmore education, and so I think
that that's a great way to startto pick up on some of these
nuggets and how you can start toimplement some holistic
well-being in your life.
picking up on those nuggets inthe different webinars that I
may do little lunch and learn,type things, so there's more to
that to come, that people canhear more from me.
And then also I've been on alot of podcasts and answer a lot
(54:39):
of questions, and so you canget a lot of nuggets out of that
as well.
Alethea Felton (54:43):
And your episode will probably not be released
until 2025.
But what I'll do is do my duediligence in contacting you
directly just to ask you if youhave any webinars or something
like that, and then what I'll dois I can say that in the
(55:04):
earlier part so that people canget to that, and I'll put links
as well.
But as a closing question, drSmith, this is my question for
you is what makes you mostexcited about the work that you
do to help people?
Dr. Tiffany M. Smith (55:25):
Their transformation, their
transformation, you know,getting back in line with
themselves, discovering thingsabout them.
I think it's just.
Our living is such a beautifuljourney, you know, and when you
can combat some of the obstaclesthat come and stay in that
(55:46):
divine lane of what your lifeshould be, it's a beautiful
thing.
Alethea Felton (55:52):
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the
Power Transformation Podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode, besure to follow or subscribe,
leave a five-star rating andwrite a review.
It helps us inspire even morelisteners.
And don't keep it to yourself.
Share it with someone who coulduse a little power in their
(56:14):
transformation.
Little power in theirtransformation.
Until next time, keep bouncingback, keep rising and be good to
yourself and to others.
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