November 25, 2025 • 49 mins
Tune into this episode of M.A.Y.A. and meet Dr. Hector Rodriguez. Dr. Hector has an unique and powerful journey that led him to psychiatry .His core values are rooted in believing in the transformative power of self discovery and personal growth. Dr. Hector helps client tap into their unique set of strengths, experiences, and aspirations waiting to be discovered!
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Youtube, Facebook, IG & X @MayaSpeaks2U
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
The information shared on this podcast is for informational and
educational purposes only and is not intended to be a
substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. While we
discuss topics related to mental health, well being and emotional support,
we are not providing therapy or medical services. Always seek
(01:27):
the advice of your physician, psychologist, psychiatrist, or other qualified
mental health provider with any questions you may have regarding
a mental health condition. If you are in crisis, feeling unsafe,
or need immediate support, please contact the mental health professional
or emergency services in your area. The views expressed by
(01:48):
guests and hosts are their own and do not necessarily
reflect those of any affiliated organizations or institutions.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Fire Get Motivated with Maya a Kai and the Maya
My Ambition Your Ambition Podcast.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Something that I take pride and is trying to be
forward thinking, thinking outside the box, challenging myself and as
I challenge myself, hopefully I challenge you.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Find Maya on Twitter and Instagram at Maya Underscore a
Kai on Facebook at Maya Akai Presents.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
We're going to talk health, wealth, fitness, mental health, financial,
lots of different things that can empower you as you
seek out the ambition that you're pursuing or get everything.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Maya at Maya Akai dot Com.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
To the eighty one episode of Maya My Ambition, Your Ambition.
And I'm excited because every guest leading up to this
has been absolutely amazing and it doesn't get any less
surprising and benefit and amazing today. So of course, as
you know my podcast, I like to embrace mental wellness
(03:05):
as a salient topic so we can stop being like
so worried about what people think about how we're doing
with our mental health because it's something It's no different
than having diabetes, high clusterraw or anything else. So you know,
with mental health we're always working on it. So here
we pull back that veil of self doubt and self
sabotage that plagues so many of us in our everyday life.
And I want to help you to identify the ambition
(03:28):
to harness the motivation to help you to yield satisfaction
and success in your everyday life, not just life. So
if you are a first time listener or viewer, welcome.
I always say just buckle up for safety because there's
a possibility that something is going to be said here
that's going to make you go hm. So you know
I have a thing for all my people in my
age demographic. I like to say things that make you
(03:48):
go and you will only know that if you're my
age and you'll know CNC Music Factory. But occasionally you'll
get the aha moment.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Now.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Of course, if you are a returning listener reviewer, then
you know how we do things. You cover all the
time to be here, I say, grab a piece of paper,
a pen. You might jot down something that you will say.
I need to go back and revisit this because something
that was said that was powerful and I definitely want
to think more about this, but I want to stay
tuned into the episode. If you've missed any of the
other episodes, don't worry. You can always find them on iTunes,
(04:17):
Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Amazon Audibles pretty much if it's
a podcast platform, you can find me there to search
Maya my ambition, your ambition. The easy way would be
just to subscribe to my YouTube page. Maya speaks to
you and you can always share, subscribe, like, and you'll
be notified when new episodes are coming up. And of
course I've gotten with it finally, so all of my
(04:38):
social medias have the same handle. Maya speaks to You,
so you can find me on Facebook, Instagram or X.
Of course, make sure that you subscribe and share my
web page because there's two things there I really really
am super proud about. One. I do a weekly inspirational blog,
just one blog a week on Wednesdays, something that gave
you to chew on to think about as you're working
(04:58):
on getting to that best version of your And the
other piece of my website that I really take personal.
Everyone who knows me, I am the poster child for
being in a phase of menopause. So I created a
menopause blog because there's a lot about menopause right now.
It's such a trendy topic. Everybody's talking about it, and
I still feel a lot of women still don't understand it.
(05:18):
My blog seeks to help you understand it. It's called
Me on Pause. So on Wednesdays, I post something new
every week and you can go and learn and grow
through your menopause. Jersey. That's Maya speaks to you, as
well as how you can find it. So before we
jump into our next guest, I have to recap what
we did on Saturday. Another amazing guest we had on
Simone Canego, who is a best selling author. She's also
(05:43):
a ted X speaker, and she is more importantly I
love this about her. She podcasts, and she podcasts with
her daughter, who is twenty two years old, Olivia. They
kind of do a generational podcast where they share stories.
The thing about her that makes her so powerful is
she's a mother, a wife, a daughter. But she also
climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. That's not an easy feed, so to speak,
(06:04):
but that journey was something that really changed her life.
That when she wrote her first book, but now she's
on her second book that will be released actually in February.
So if you want to go on the order list,
you can now it's real confidence, a simple guide to
go from on shore to Unshakeable. So if you order now,
it comes with a lot of perks to kind of
lead you up to the launch of the book in February.
(06:26):
Fantastic guests, So make sure if you happen to have
miss that episode, those are ways that you can go
back and you can check in with all the guests
that I've had so Simon also, you can find her
on her website. Simonecanego dot com and then you can
find everything about her. Something else I've been doing to
help you out is I've been creating keyr codes. So
in the upper corner of the screen you'll see a
(06:47):
QR code. If you scan that at any point when
it reappears in the podcast, it will take you directly
to Simone's website and you can find her books and
all the different things and projects that she's working on.
But without further ado, we gotta get ready to jump
into our next guest on the Ambition stage, psychiatrist a
doctor Hector Rodriguez, and he's going to discuss with us
(07:08):
the holistic healing side of mental health. I know, holistic
and mental health are two words that often seem very
foreign to people, but there is a place because doctor
Hector's going to talk to you about functional psychiatry, emotional wellness,
and lifestyle medicine. And I believe once you sit through
this episode, if you're struggling with your mental health or
have a condition, or know someone, some things are going
(07:28):
to be said here that are going to make you think,
maybe once or twice about the treatment you might be receiving.
And what do I always tell you here on the podcast,
it's okay to ask questions. If you are not sure
about what you're going through, or if you don't know
about a medication or something, don't be shy. It is
your mental health. So, without further ado, here he is
doctor Hector Rodriguez. Welcome to the Maya Podcast. How are you?
Speaker 4 (07:50):
And I'm doing good? Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Of course, you know, I have really been looking forward
to this episode. And I'm not just saying that. I
don't just say that to everyone, Doctor Hector, I squear
I don't, because this is something that's really passional, passionate
to me about the holistic side of psychiatry, because if
you know, that's two words that most people would never
put into the same kind of sentence because everything about
(08:13):
psychiatry is thought to be you know, medication, you know
what I mean. So you say holistic and people go,
I just never saw it that way. So I can't
wait to talk about that. But before we jump into that,
you have a unique journey. You went from being a
photographer to a psychiatrist, and most people will say, well,
that creativity, how does that flow into being a psychiatrist?
Tell us more about your journey.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Well, I mean to me now, in hindsight, it all
makes like perfect sense. You know, when I was a
fashion photographer, I spent a lot of time getting to
know the person that I was going to photoshoot photograph
that day, usually during hair and makeup. That's when I
would sit down and get to know them. I mean,
without knowing at that time I was in my early twenties.
(08:56):
I didn't think that that was going to lead to
even how I do psychiatry today. But in that process,
I also did my master's in theology, and that to
me kind of ties in puts the final bow on
what I do today. And you know, when I look
(09:18):
at the worst psychiatry, and that's the thing too, I
mean when you say that people don't see holistic with
the wors psychiatrist, because the perception or the understanding of
what a psychiatrist does today is very different than I
think how it even began. So I look at the
worst psychiatry, and the worst psychiatry comes from the Greek
for psyche, and the rest of it is basically the
(09:38):
medical treatment of so Psyche means the soul. So when
I look at the meaning of the word psychiatry. I'm like, well,
this is it, right, and we think the psychiatrists are
just giving out a medication. I think our healthcare system
has driven us and has molded us into being that
kind of doctor. Were missing the big picture, which is
(10:02):
taking care of the soul.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Thank you for that. Sorry. See, this is the impromptu
thing when you do things from your house. My cat
was trying to break into the room and so I
had to take care of that real quick. It was
only going to get like banging on the door. And
I'm like, okay, this is the first guest we've elicited
that response. Okay, yes, and even the nature of that,
(10:26):
And you're right, So you go from for theology, see
even that. See now again someone's gonna say, wait a minute,
so photographer for theology and you wanted to go into
psychiatry because again, people don't see psychiatry from that standpoint.
I think it's kind of that old school mentality, the
old you know, the one flus over the cuckoo's nest
mentality about what psychiatry really.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
Is, right, right, and and when we start explaining that,
and that's you know, we tend to see psychiatrists through
the lens of movies, the lens of you know TV
that you get put in a straight jacket and you
get to get locked away, and that evil psychiatrist is
scheming to control your brain. We don't do that. We
(11:11):
don't have time to scheme. So it's like, you know,
if anything, I'll tell patients like, if anything, my plan
is to change how we're doing psychiatry. So if you're
thinking of me as this, like what is this? What
am I scheming? What I'm scheming, and what I'm trying
to change is how we view psychiatry and we have
to educate. It starts with creating awareness, educating where where
(11:35):
I think mental health should be leading in that direction.
So that's that's my goal to change that.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
And hence comes the idea of obviously it being holistic.
So there are some dimensions to what you do that
I feel like obviously an encompass when you say holistic
when you talk about functional psychiatry, emotional wellness, and then
lifestyle medicine. So talk about those dimensions as an within
your practice.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Well, I mean, we see the white butterfly as a
whole wellness approach, whole person, right, So when I look
at the whole person. Then I start paying attention to
their biology. I start paying attention to what is going
on in their psyche, Right, what were the stressors that
this person has experienced. So when I look at the
whole person, it's a lot more complex than here, take
(12:24):
a pill. I wish it was that easy. I wish
I could just literally give you a pill and everything,
all the trauma, all the stressor just goes away. No,
we got to look at the entire thing. And when
I look at someone's life and I try to change
their lifestyle, that's one of the major things that I
use to get them to a place of healing. Right,
So I got to look at your diet. I got
(12:45):
a good look at your movements. What are you doing
in these areas? So that goes towards healing because your
brain is also hurt. And if your brain is hurt,
what do you think is going to happen? Is going
to produce all these crazy symptoms that we all experience
that we're like, we have a the heck is going
on here? Why am I losing my hair? Why do
I have a random rash? Every time I face this
(13:05):
stressor when I go to work, I'm like well, this
is your body communicating to us, is letting us know
that there's something here going on that you don't like it.
And maybe your your thoughts are not going there, but
your body is definitely communicating. So then I got to
pay attention to that. So that's the whole person. You know,
we use the word holistic, but I almost see it
(13:26):
as sometimes people think that if you if you're a
holistic psychiatrist, you only do this. I'm like, no, it's whole.
You know, I have my training using pharmacology, and I
can't just throw that aside. Right, there's science and many
years of research backing up that science. But I can't
just do that only either. I gotta do the whole thing.
(13:47):
So that's why lifestyle psychiatry comes into play where I'm like, okay,
let's stop, time out, pause, What are you eating? You know,
what are you putting in your body? You know? What
messages are you receiving through the social media that you're watching.
All of that we talked about, we pay attention to it,
and then little by little we have to modify because
(14:09):
that's what we get to heal.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
And the and you're right, whole holistic and you're right,
people kind of can take those words and not pull
them apart and look at the way that they should.
You said something that a lot of people like one.
Just working with people from being a therapist can always
be its challenge because anytime you ask someone about a
lifestyle change, it's all it feels like twisting their arm,
because like when you talk to people about mindfulness, instantly
(14:33):
they think that means oh, meditation. I'm like, not always
as it can include that, right, But the idea of
mindfulness is being aware of things and creating discipline and
consistency that can allow you to heal. So talk to
a bit about when you kind of you talked about
like the like your diet. If I was to say
the word diet of people within therapy, they're like, why
(14:55):
are we talking about diet? It's like, well, you do
know gut health is directly connect to mental health, and
a lot of people don't get like, how is that
even possible? Can you kind of speak to it? How
is gut health connected to mental health?
Speaker 4 (15:08):
Well, let's start with something simple, and is I pay
attention to the inner bully. Our inner bully is basically
this little voice always telling me I'm stupid, I'm dumb
and blah blah blah. Right, Well, the inner bully is
part of the system called the singular gyers where we
get stuck on a thought pattern whatever it is. It's
just that the one in the back that post to
(15:29):
your singular gyrs. We get stuck on things about ourselves.
So that's that inner bully. Right. So if I get
stuck with the idea that I'm stupid, it doesn't it's
hard for me to just you know, think of something else,
you know, snap out of it. You know when people
tell us that, hey, stop think, think about something else. No,
the brain can't. This person's brain can't. Well, that responds
(15:50):
very well to carbohydrates. So then I got to see, well,
what's your carbohydrate intake? What kinds of carbohydrates are you consuming?
Because we got to up your serotonin in a different way.
So if I'm using medications and supplements, now I got
to look at how are you getting serotonin to your
gut where serotonin most of the serotonin is made. So
(16:13):
if your gut flora, which is basically bacteria in your
gut that is, by the way, supposed to be there.
Just like there's some parasites that are supposed to be there.
I'm just saying that there's a trend now with everyone
getting parasitic cleanses. Careful because you might be killing good
parasites and good bacteria. So that's an another topic probably,
(16:33):
but because it's connected. So if your flora is giving
or you're giving it the wrong type of sugar, the
wrong type of carbohydrate, it's not gonna pump up the
serotonin that your brain needs to quiet that bully. It won't.
I mean, you can take all the antithe presence that
increase serotonin in the world and that if you don't
(16:55):
change that, it won't connect. It won't do it right,
you know, when we're I use to be a chem major,
So it's like this is a chemistry chemical reaction, right,
I have the precursor and I have the final product.
I can't get to the precursor. I can't get from
the precursor to fund a product. If there's no precursor,
there's no thing to turn into, right, And then I
go and I try to teach them like, well, that
thing turns into this other thing with vitamins. So those vitamins,
(17:20):
those B vitamins that are for your brain, right, B
vitamins for your brain B six, B twelve, B nine falling.
All those are B vitamins. Are you consuming B vitamins?
And I recommend in your diet, especially anything that is green,
eat a lot of green. There's so much B vitamins
in those. And then let's pay attention to how and
(17:45):
what time of your day are you consuming those? And
I think today everyone is like, well, maybe for a
long time, we don't like vegetables. Vegetables, it's like I
don't like vestmans. We are lacking in so many vitamins
that a lot of these reactions and all this stuff
that I'm just talking about is not going to happen.
It's just won't if you're deficient in these. So that's
(18:05):
that lifestyle change. And yeah, all this stuff takes timely.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Well, absolutely, and there you have it. And so you
just probably gave one of the best examples about when
we talk about the good and mental health connection, because
if you would have quizzed people and ask, and I'll
be honest, I did not even recently know that about
there being like how serotowin is produced like in this,
I didn't know any of that until recently. Until I
started kind of attending some of these different functional medicine
(18:32):
things that were geared towards mental health, and I was like, well,
look at that, that's the bigger connection. So even what
you just described it would even sound like Hence, this
is why people should reach out to you and talk
to you if they're struggling, because this is not going
to be a one size fits all because it sounds
like you have to look at where deficiency actually sits
for people to probably tailor that diet for that.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
And also you know, mapping of you know, what is
your brain doing, because maybe you don't need all the
serotonin that you know, Rob might need just different demands. Right,
So if your brain doesn't need it, but Rob does,
I'm using Rob as an example, Right, Rob does, well,
he needs to load up on serotonin, but maybe he
needs more dopamine than you. And I got to see
(19:18):
how your body is producing dopamine. So it's like all
these things that we're trying to get to, well, it's
part of what you're feeding yourself, right, And this is
just nutrition. And these are just a few things that
I try to tell my patients to learn, you know,
but there's a lot more than that. But you got
to trust your clinician. You got to trust the clinician
(19:41):
knows this knowledge. And those clinicians out there that don't, dude,
go learn it. That's what it's tell a lot of
my colleagues. Listen, go learn it.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Go learn it.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
You're a lot smarter than that. I mean, you already
went through medical school. But this is an ongoing learning
process for us as clinician. So if you don't know it,
go learn it. Because the beautiful thing of what's happening
today with you know, social media is creating awareness within
the general population of like, wait, a lot of us
are struggling with the same thing. So the medical community
(20:11):
has to start stepping up, has to be learning to
modify the way we've been doing things. So you got
to learn it.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
And that's collaboration is one of the things that we
so push forward, but it just sometimes can be a
difficult connection to make with people about if we work
collectively together. Imagine what we could achieve with the clients
that we work with, because each of us definitely have
something different that we bring to the table. But something
that when I first met and talked to you that
really just jumped out at me is when we talked
(20:40):
about the idea of we are within the one profession
that people often do not directly not everyone because this
is a shift and it's changing, does not look at
the organ retreat, which is the brain. And we talked
a bit about and you know, the more we talked
about the gut health thing and even made me say
to myself and like, you know, it's almost instant that
you go see someone and they'll determine what your diagnosis,
(21:02):
what they think it is. Okay, so let's just say
it's depression. Chances are they're going to maybe pick out
a medication they think that's going to be best for
you based on probably more of what has been used
and worked. But it might be an SSRI or you know,
I think I feel like that's the number one go
to when you talk about antidepressants. It feels like most
people prescribe SSRIs occasionally they'll be mil. But now, in
(21:24):
saying that, does it make sense to prescribe someone something
if there really aren't that deficient in it? Like, how
would a person who know that somebody is serotonin deficient
to be able to say this is probably the best
medication for you.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
Well, that's where I turned to what are the tools
that we have today? And for me, spec scans has
been a huge change in how I do psychiatry. So
it gives me a little bit of a roadmap of
what part of your brain is overworked and needs more
of that serotonin support. Right, So we got to start
(22:00):
with that. We got to start in the way that
we're diagnosing people. You know, I think the way we
do psychiatry and assessing needs to radically change. We need
to use other modalities to do that and combine them
all so you can get to a better thing. But
one of the things that I noticed in a lot
of my colleagues, and I don't want to speak, you know,
(22:22):
on their behalf, but the main thing I get is
I don't have enough time. How do you do it?
I don't have enough time? Right. And our mental this
is a much bigger talk. I think our mental health
or our healthcare system in general, needs to change. It
needs to change in the way that the doctors can
be doctors. And I say that because they spend a
(22:43):
lot of the time just documenting and they're just drowning
and paperwork, and none of us went into this field
to be filling off forms all the time, Like I've
never forget this one patient where I had to I
probably spend like forty forty five minutes trying to convince
their their insurance to pay for our treatment. I could
spend those forty five minutes with my patient. So when
(23:04):
we think of someone going to see a doctor and
expect something change in one visit, this is a brain.
We are a lot more complex than one time. But
our healthcare system has pushed us to be this way.
And let's not forget either, that other person also just
wants a pill. They want that one visit to get
(23:25):
the full diagnostic picture of this extremely complex organ in
thirty minutes and spit out something at the end, and
usually it's a prescription. So that process needs to change
because it's you know till this day. I'm like, I
have a suspicion that this is going on, and I
obviously I tell my patient, I'm like, this is where
I'm heading. But more likely than not, it might change
(23:48):
because you change every single minute of the day, and
as a clinician, I can't make the assumption that this
plan is going to be it right. So you mentioned
SSRIs CISSI. The reason why we go to them all
the time is because they have the most studies to
cover most of the symptoms. But that we all know
that's not the same for everyone. But if the brain
(24:09):
we're not looking at the brain activity, how is that
clinician going to know, Well, they've been trained to use
that group of medication first because it tends to cover
eighty percent of the symptoms and then a relatively good
amount of time without risks. Right, we talk about side
effects and all that wonderful stuff, But I think the
bigger conversation is we got to change how we're doing
(24:32):
a healthcare system is operating.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
How would you say when you come across and I
have worked with people who will say I am medication resistant,
I have been on a matter of fact, people will
tell me the list of things they've been on along
with the list of things they've been diagnosed with, and
they'll say, none of these things work for me. And
I mean, to me, that can be you know, very perplexing.
(24:55):
Like I mean, I've known people who have even gone
as far to say they've used an ECT and it
did not work as kind to me. You know, just
what are often those types of modalities that insurance has
to even approve. You have to show that you've done
the diligence to try the other things first. But kind
of what's your approach if someone like walks into your office. So,
like doctor Hector, I'm frustrated at this point. I have
(25:16):
been on all kinds of medication. My depression has not broken.
Matter of fact, I feel like it's getting worse. I
just feel like nothing is going to help me. How
do you proceed with working with that person.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
We need to assess the person correctly, because chances are
it's not that right. If you have a broken arm
and you're bleeding, okay, most likely came from that broken arm.
But if you don't find blood, it's not the broken arm,
it's something else. So the same thing as someone comes
with depression, I'm like, and you've taken all these and
(25:46):
done this and then this and not Okay, it's something else.
It's not depression. So your assessment, your diagnostic process was
probably done incorrectly. Most of the time. For that type
of patient is a hormone problem, so I gotta check hormones.
So when that patient comes to me, I'm like, uh,
most likely it's not that, so we got to look
(26:07):
at the entire thing. That's what the whole whole wellness,
whole person approach that I try to do. But I
tell them, like, we have to find out what's happening,
what really is happening. And a lot of the times
it's also trauma that is being manifested as a mood
disorder or is being manifested as an anxiety disorder because
(26:29):
they've been given the medications for it, they're supposed to
heal with that and they're not, then most likely that's
not it. Another component could be how your body metabolizes medications.
Not every medication is for everyone. We have our own genes,
we metabolize medications at different rates, and some we don't
metabolize at all, So I got to order that too.
(26:49):
So these are things that are not instant, are definitely
not in a first time visit. So I tell my patients,
you gotta give me time because I got to figure
out this puzzle.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
That makes sense. But if someone is coming to you
with the with the complaints and the distress of I've
tried everything and it's not working well, then we cannot
keep repeating the same problems being the same thing.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
Yeah, I'm not going to re describe the same medications
that are not working.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
Right, I go to be like, Okay.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
We got to sit down and reassess this. So I
spend a lot more time with my patient to get
to that root. Cause now most of the time out
of come we finished that first encounter. I didn't get
to the root cause I sent you to get more data,
get lab works done, get a spec scan, bring me
all your imaging that you've done, bring me all the
studies that you've done. What have they done? And then
(27:38):
when you sit down and look at them, like, wait,
there's no hormone panels, there's no inflammatory markers because maybe
you went to that provider with inflammatory responses, but you're
what you said was not gearing them to think that.
But you are not a clinician, So it's it's you
know that history taking is important, but at the end
of the day, if it's missing, then it's not that.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
So let me ask you this. In the amount of
people that you have seen, how many people have really
truly sat in front of you and walked in with
this wonderful box of stuff and said, okay, doctor Hector,
here is my spec scan. Here are my labs from
last year. Here's my list of medications, like they can
really lay things out, like they have really come across.
And again, this is not a scathing indictment of all clinicians, because,
(28:25):
like you said, no time and time is pushing how
healthcare is moving, so to speak. But have you ever
really come across a person you could say that you
felt like the providers really poured that much into it
to kind of get to the root cause of what
was going on with them.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
I would probably say that a big chunk of my
patients are because I meet with those providers and then
that's what they tell me and they're like, yeah, no,
I can't think of anything else. I'm like, you know,
we've done this, We've done that. She hasn't responded. We've
looked in this you know, we looked under this rock.
There was nothing there. I'm like, yeah, but we're missing
something else. And in those kind of patients, I said,
(29:01):
without other provider, So I consult other psychiatrists or I
become a psychologic consultant psychiatrist. And a lot of those cases,
especially my international cases or cases where I'm not you know,
I only see patients in Florida and in California where
I'm licensed, but anywhere outside of that, I become a
consultant psychiatrist, so I work alongside their psychiatry team. So
(29:22):
usually those patients when they come those those psychiatrists and
those other doctors have done their due diligence. But it's
also how they were trained to do their due diligence.
That's where my creativity comes in. And we think we
sometimes in medicine see creativity as a big no no,
like gets lapped in the face, like you know, you're
not supposed to be creative. We got to slow science, Yeah,
but I got to look into other science areas, yes, yes,
(29:45):
to apply it over here because it just hasn't happened.
Hen See, tapping into my creativity is.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Key, and that makes sense. Hence you look at your
background and photography and theology, and now if anyone's been
listening closely, they can see how all these things have
float into shape the kind of psychiatrists that you have
become that wants to look at the entirety of the
person to see the root cause. Tell me how many
times have you seen this? Because I know I have
seen this only from a therapist standpoint, a person will
(30:13):
come in the door. They're struggling with anxiety depression, but
they were referred in from a medical provider, and they're
insisting at that point, after maybe doing a few labs
and say, I think it's in your head, you need
to go talk to someone. Even though because you know
a lot of you know, psychiatric system symptoms can very
much look very medical based as well, you know, they can.
(30:33):
They can share some similarities and things, and a lot
of times, especially when I worked in the er in
that capacity, they would instally just say I'm going to
send you over to the psychpod because I kind of
feel like what you're saying is more psychiatric than medical.
Speaker 4 (30:48):
I tell them, yes, it is in your head. It's
called your brain.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
I like that it is.
Speaker 4 (30:54):
You know, the computer is malfunctioning, so you might get
a all over your body and you're like, wait, what
the heck, there's no And I don't like to use
the word medical reason to prove it. Of course, it's
just that that person didn't know how to prove it
that it came from your brain, that's all. So when
all my patients are coming in and in psychiatry, we
(31:15):
use the word somatic symptoms, right, somatic meaning physical symptoms
are manifesting because of your brain, because of your your depression,
anxiety or whatever. But it's not made up. I think
that's the part where it gets disconnected is because people
think that if this is happening, then people might believe
that I'm making it up, that I'm making up all
these symptoms. Well, you can't make up a rash, no,
(31:38):
And you can't make up your hair falling, you know.
You can't make up that you're not sleeping, you're having
restless legs. You can't make that up, right. So when
someone says it's in your head, I'm gonna say, yeah,
it is. It is. There are one hundred percent right.
It is in your head, and it is your brain,
and no one really knows how to see what is
(31:59):
doing and not because they just don't know. That's okay,
let's find out what's going on in your brain, because
that's all coming from your brain. There you go literally
what I tell them.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
But the thing is you've come. They've come to the
right place with someone who's willing to listen and be
open and let them be seen and heard and not
make them so feel crazy. Because people be like, I've
been through all these things and literally they were making
me feel like I was crazy, crazy, you know, and
it's like, no, it's it's and I love And that's
the thing I like so much when people want to
be look at more things from the entirety of something
(32:32):
versus just you know, a symptom means this. This is
why I'm like really a fan of holistic doctors, because
I like the fact that they want to find the
root of the problem and not just treat the symptom.
That's the thing that's so appealing to that side of medicine,
which a lot of people think, oh, that's like a
lot of interesting hocus pocus. I'm like, actually, no, there's
science behind it. Just let there's science behind the doctor
(32:53):
that you go see. No one who's doing anything magically
behind closed.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
Doors, you know.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
No, so great, I'm glad you because one of the
things I know people would ask is that, Okay, if
you're in Florida and California, that means oh, well, I'm
sitting here in Illinois, which means, well, how is that
going to help me? Because I can't you know, obviously,
you know, I can't just relocate to those states to
see you. So when you kind of step into that
role of being a consulting psychiatrist, what does that look
(33:19):
like should a person should they reach out to you
themselves or kind of what does that kind of referral
piece look like.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
Yeah, most of the time they reach out to me themselves.
And then I have to tell them, listen, we got
to get your team on board. Okay, and if that individual,
that therapist, that psychiatrist, that doctor does not want to collaborate,
but this is something you want to do, we got
to find another one, right, We have to because we
got to work as a team. We got to work
(33:47):
as a collaboration. I have no problem and I've done
it many times where the psychiatrist calls me and they
just want to consult, Right, and I consult. That's no problem.
But the most common thing scenario that occurs is the
patient calls calls us and like, hey, I have a
you know, I don't think what's being done is working
and I need a different set of eyes. And that's
(34:09):
our first thing. I'm like, well where are you living?
You know, the doctor's not licens in those days. So
your team has to be willing to collaborate with us.
Most of the time it works fine. It's just if
we have a provider, there's like absolutely no, I Am
not gonna talk to anybody else. And you're like, okay,
well that's your answer. We got to work with someone
else because you know, in medicine we were taught to collaborate.
(34:32):
I don't know what happened in the minute we graduated,
that went out of the window. You know. I'm like, no,
you gotta you gotta work together, you know, clearly, And
it's nothing nothing against because the main thing that happens
is that the psychiatrist, So the doctor feels personally attacked
like I'm not good enough. Immediately that goes there because
it's not a trauma therapist, trauma expert, not therapist. I'm like, hmmm,
(34:55):
that person is struggling with their own thing. You know,
we gotta talk about that psychiatrist inner bully. I'm like,
who's telling you that you're not good?
Speaker 3 (35:03):
But I'm so happy like that that term, like the
inner bully. I think that is something that people could
probably truly relate to because you know, when you have
those internal conversations in your own mind, you don't see
it as I'm bullying myself. This is ridiculous. It makes
no sense. Whereas we can totally understand the idea of
bullying from the outside, it's just not bullying from the inside.
Speaker 4 (35:26):
And we all have a bully. Listen, we all have
a bully. It's all there. It's always there. Is when
how is it that some people listen to it and
some people don't. That's always what I try to go towards,
you know, Can we let that singular gyrs rest and
not get so fixated on us, right and especially the
(35:46):
negative view of us. And that's where I got to
work hand in hand with their therapists. I'm like, who's
your therapist? You know? Are we working on the same
page here?
Speaker 1 (35:55):
You know?
Speaker 4 (35:55):
Are they on board with collaborating? This morning, I had
one of my collaboration calls with a therapist. She lives
in Tampa, and the patient lives in Tampa, in Florida,
and I'm here in Miami. And she's a great therapist.
But when I showed her the spec scans of the patient,
she was like, oh, and I've already worked with her
(36:15):
in the past and she knows spec scans. She's like, oh, Okay,
I need to change gears. I totally see what you're
talking about. Now, Okay, now you know, and she does
really good trauma work. She was doing GAMDR with my
patient and she's responding positively. But now they hit a wall.
They're kind of stuck. So I told her, like, let's
meet so I can show you the patient scans and
(36:37):
let's put together a new treatment plan. Let's reevaluate what
we're doing. That's all. So when I collaborate with another
doctor too, I'm like, let's just reevaluate, you know, let's
put all the cards out on the table and see
what what are we missing? And many times even like
I always like, God, what am I missing? What am
(36:57):
I not seeing that you are clearly saying mm hm.
Speaker 3 (37:01):
And you know, it's interesting when you talk about that
collaboration piece. Those are some of I feel like the
patients that are doing the best is when I have
that ability to collaborate with, whether it's the nurse practitioner
that's prescribing, whether it's a psychiatrist. An Illinois psychologists can
be prescribers to if they go that extra step. I
feel like those are the best relationships because when something's
(37:22):
not working, I can say, well, let's go back and
talk to so and so about this, Whereas I've worked
with other people, for instance, where their prescriber is outside
and I can't get them to call me back, they
will not respond, but yet they've made a medication change,
and my client is telling me all these other things,
you know. So I think the one piece that I
often say to people is if you can find a
(37:44):
prescriber and a you know, a therapist that are willing
to collaborate together, that is going to be the best
thing for your for your treatment overall, because now you
have a team of people, as you said, that are
working together and your best interest to get you to
where you're trying to get you to be. So that
is something that I wish more people would just embrace openly.
Speaker 4 (38:04):
Yeah, and from experience and the more I do it, it's
an ego thing, right. The clinician has to put the ego.
You got to leave the ego out the door, you know,
like if that and I also also tell them to
him like if that was your sister or your brother
or your mom, or wouldn't you do anything that includes
moving out of the way, meaning you move your ego
(38:26):
out of the way, and let's work with these other people.
We're all smart. None of us went into mental health
because we're stupid, none of us because this is a
very hard profession. Okay, so none of us are stupid,
and we all have a different way of looking at it.
And I recently saw Wicked Part two, not you know,
(38:48):
promoting the movie, but I freaking love Wicked because there's
so much mental health in that movie and both Yeah,
and this message of like, I'm just looking at it
in a different way. She says it many times in
the movie, and I'm like, yes, like you just need
to have it the ability to look at it from
a different way. And sometimes if you can't meet without
(39:11):
other provider that is looking at it from a different perspective,
so you can really pain the full person.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
And that's the thing I think people don't realize that
when I sit down with the punt, with the prescribers
of my clients, we exactly we go through what's happening,
We talk about what I'm seeing, what they're hearting, We
work through all these things and we bounce ideas and
exactly what you said. To all of those people I
work with, I feel they are some of the most
humble and acceptally good at their job though, But I
(39:38):
also feel they had that empathy and that kindness and
that warmth that you really want in a provider. All Right,
so we've got people, let's say, who see this and
they go, Okay, I definitely I want this collaboration piece,
so they I would instruct them to reach out to
you first. I think that conversation with you first probably
makes a lot more sense because you never know how
(39:58):
their prescribers go think on this. Yeah, what about the
spec scan because I know that's the one thing some
people would probably say, well, why even have access? Because
I guarantee you most people will be like, I would
love to see what's happening inside my brain. One person
said to me, my brain feels like it's on fire,
like it just never shuts down. I just can't. They're
struggling right now big time, and the medication piece we
(40:19):
have struggled with FI is something coming your way. But anyways,
but I mean if a person, I mean, our spec
scans readily available, that kind of thing. I mean, I
know in Illinois they're actually I did find one location
in the area. It's doctor Amen's clinic and Bannickburn. I
do believe it's up north. So in Illinois. Okay, we
have something, but let's say someone doesn't. Do you feel
(40:42):
like that's something like we could still work without it,
but it's a tool to half of we can.
Speaker 4 (40:46):
Yeah, So when I have patients that really just can't, right,
they can get to one of the clinics to get
the spec scanned. I I've done this already for so
long that I'm like, I can draw your spec scan,
but we want to do something else. There's also q
EEG that could be done, and qegs are really red
than available pretty much anywhere, right, So I'm like, let's
(41:08):
look at the q EEG because that's electrical activity. A
SPECS scan is blood flow. But they give us the
same information. So then I'm like, if they give the
same information and your clinician knows how to use that
to change your treatment, great, right, so let's do it. Right.
So that's that's one of the things with using different tools.
But a specscan, I mean I know them because of
(41:29):
Aiming clinics. We have a Florida office, but there's one
in Atlanta, there's one in Illinois near Chicago. They're pretty
much in most most states. Not in every state for sure,
but I've had patients that are like, oh, I'm in California,
but I'm going on a work trip to Dallas. I'm
like a scan in Dallas. He did you guys cat
(41:49):
in Dallas, the scans, we review them, went back home
to California and we're there, you know, but there's still
other things. It's just that your clinician to have that
knowledge of how to use them. It's not necessarily how
to read them, but how to use them in clinical practice.
So that's what I would probably say when it comes
(42:10):
to you know, someone can't doesn't have access to as
a spec.
Speaker 3 (42:13):
Scan, Okay, all right, but again it's not the only
thing that can be used to kind of help kind
of navigate the process everyone. Just like my other guys.
On the top of the screen, there is a QR
code that is made just for doctor Hector, So scan
it and it takes you to his website. I try
to make things easy for people here, like just you know,
we live in a world where it's like scan this,
looking that, trying to make it so. Of course you
(42:35):
can scan the QR code. Of course you can go
to his website. As well as pretty straightforward www dot
doctor hector dot com. That's easy. You probably can remember that.
I always say too, get social with people. For everybody
who's been coming on the show, I feel like following
people opens that door to learning more So Instagram for
you at doctor Underscore Hector, Facebook at Hector Eduardo Rodriguez
(42:57):
and LinkedIn if you're a linked in person at doctor Hector.
Pretty straightforward, you're easy to find. I encourage it easy
like follow get familiar because most people, if you think
about it in the past, when most people have found
their providers and it was maybe like they just found
it because it was an insurance, they didn't get a
chance to really maybe learn more about the person they're
going to be working with. Here, it is an opportunity
(43:17):
to learn more about you, your journey and what you do.
I encourage people if you want to change the directory
of where you're going in your life or your mental health,
then there has to be that due diligence to really
find the people that are going to see and hear you.
And I'll be honest. In healthcare, especially as a plate,
it doesn't always feel that easy to find someone that
you can connect to. You seem very easily connectable. I'm
(43:39):
pretty sure you've heard this before.
Speaker 4 (43:42):
Well, I value human connection, so to me, that's one
of the one of our pillars. Actually, it's also the
theme of our of our magazine these two months of
November and December, because we also have a magazine. It's
also free, and it's on our website.
Speaker 3 (43:57):
I saw connection issue, Yes, I think I saw because
there was a blog on your website and I think, yeah, well,
if you subscribe, there was something. So it's the magazine.
When people the.
Speaker 4 (44:04):
Magazine and it's free, Yeah, it's free.
Speaker 3 (44:06):
Okay, So there you go. Start with that. Subscribe to
the to the you know, to the website, the magazine,
learn more about doctor Hector, and step back. If you're
a person who's not helped, will happy with your mental
health care, then guess what this could be that first
step in a direction that could change what you're doing.
Because I always say this, and I know you know this,
mental health is not one size fits all. So when
(44:26):
people get super discouraged, I tell them, don't give up.
I said, this isn't as simple as just take a
pill or wave a magic Wand I said, because if
it was, don't you think everybody would be healed at
this point, and I'm like, oh, yeah, I didn't. I
didn't think of it that way. I'm like, exactly, you're
a unique individual, which means you require to be looked
at through a microscope that is for you, not just
(44:47):
for everyone. And it sounds like that is what you do.
Speaker 4 (44:50):
Yeah. I always use the analogy of a puzzle. I'm like, listen,
we're all complex puzzles. And if your doctor is seeing
a piece of the puzzle and not the rest, but
guess what happens We put a piece of the puzzle together,
you know how sometimes when we're putting a puzzle, we
put some areas these kind of go together. Yes, yes,
but every day you go back and reshuffle it. So
(45:11):
it's like you're working in a puzzle that is constantly reshuffling.
So you're like, okay, we got to start, you know.
So this is a very complex thing, but we can
do tangible, everyday things to get to that finished puzzle,
which is what I am always loving to get to.
Speaker 3 (45:27):
And let's be honest, puzzles are not easy, you know.
So when you get to those, like, you know, five
hundred piece puzzles, people should begin to see themselves that
way because we are intricate and unique that way. And
as you're going through your life and you're learning things,
guess what, every time you learn something new about you,
you're putting a piece into that puzzle and completing your picture.
(45:48):
So that's definitely a good way to look at it.
Any parting thoughts for my listeners before we go.
Speaker 4 (45:54):
Very easy. Love your brain. This is the most important organ. Obviously,
I think is the most important organ. But love it.
There's no transplant, it's yours. This is it, So love
on it, take care of it, feed it well, exercise
it well, and we're gonna.
Speaker 3 (46:10):
Be good, fantastic. Well, thank you doctor Hector for being here.
We appreciate be hearing everything.
Speaker 4 (46:17):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 3 (46:18):
Yes, everyone, so make sure you get social with doctor Hector.
Of course, go to the website. It's pretty straightforward, you know,
www dot Doctorhector dot com. But make life easy for
yourself and just scan the QR code at the top
and vola all things. Doctor Hector is right there for you.
All right, everyone, So again another amazing guest, and guess what,
(46:40):
it just keeps getting better. We're steamrolling through November, right
in December, and so our next guest, as you was remember,
part of what we look to do here is I
want to show you those people who took their passion
and their purpose and they were able to combine them
together and they're doing very altersic things to help you well.
Another person on the Ambition stage is going to be
(47:03):
Justin Artists, who is a speaker and musician, but he
specializes in teaching leadership through music, and that's just the
tip of the iceberg. People. He does so much more
so if you again are creative and you feel your
energy is not moving forward and you love music, he
has created some amazing tools and processes that are helping
people to take what they're passionate about to the next level.
(47:26):
And by the way, he had a very unique journey
himself put him on the path to be able to
help others. So he's going to be next on the
stage episode eighty two, So make sure you tune in
when we have Jasin Artists on the show as well.
Of course, if you've missed any of the other shows,
don't panic. Just go to Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, all
those places and search MAYA my Ambition, your ambition and
(47:48):
you can find me there. Of course, you can listen
to episodes via my website. Just go to Maya Dasspeaks
dot com and you can find episodes, or just subscribe
to YouTube make your life easy and you will be
notified when episodes are coming up. So whether you're like
watching my show on YouTube or Facebook or Instagram or x,
the handle is always Maya speaks to you and that's
(48:10):
how you can connect with the show. Remember too, on
the website, you got to check out my inspiration blog
as well as the Me on Pause blog that is
dedicated to menopause and it's podcast centerl right there on
the website. All right, everyone, So until next time, remember
your present becomes your past and your future is no
(48:31):
more so to all of my consistent listeners, you know,
those are the worlds of Pearl Jam, not me, but
I love it because I want you to think about
what being present really means. So everyone, be well, stay safe,
but more important, just keep being amazing.
Speaker 5 (48:48):
Whether you're on the go or listening on your cell phone,
tablet or laptop, you can find the show and the iTunes,
Google an iHeartRadio platforms a new respect.
Speaker 4 (48:57):
I believe this is going to be our finest hour Jamaia.
Speaker 5 (49:00):
My ambition, your ambition, and get ready to be inspired
and motivated to harness your ambition.
Speaker 4 (49:12):
H
The information shared on this podcast is for informational and
educational purposes only and is not intended to be a
substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. While we
discuss topics related to mental health, well being and emotional support,
we are not providing therapy or medical services. Always seek
(01:27):
the advice of your physician, psychologist, psychiatrist, or other qualified
mental health provider with any questions you may have regarding
a mental health condition. If you are in crisis, feeling unsafe,
or need immediate support, please contact the mental health professional
or emergency services in your area. The views expressed by
(01:48):
guests and hosts are their own and do not necessarily
reflect those of any affiliated organizations or institutions.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Fire Get Motivated with Maya a Kai and the Maya
My Ambition Your Ambition Podcast.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Something that I take pride and is trying to be
forward thinking, thinking outside the box, challenging myself and as
I challenge myself, hopefully I challenge you.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Find Maya on Twitter and Instagram at Maya Underscore a
Kai on Facebook at Maya Akai Presents.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
We're going to talk health, wealth, fitness, mental health, financial,
lots of different things that can empower you as you
seek out the ambition that you're pursuing or get everything.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Maya at Maya Akai dot Com.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
To the eighty one episode of Maya My Ambition, Your Ambition.
And I'm excited because every guest leading up to this
has been absolutely amazing and it doesn't get any less
surprising and benefit and amazing today. So of course, as
you know my podcast, I like to embrace mental wellness
(03:05):
as a salient topic so we can stop being like
so worried about what people think about how we're doing
with our mental health because it's something It's no different
than having diabetes, high clusterraw or anything else. So you know,
with mental health we're always working on it. So here
we pull back that veil of self doubt and self
sabotage that plagues so many of us in our everyday life.
And I want to help you to identify the ambition
(03:28):
to harness the motivation to help you to yield satisfaction
and success in your everyday life, not just life. So
if you are a first time listener or viewer, welcome.
I always say just buckle up for safety because there's
a possibility that something is going to be said here
that's going to make you go hm. So you know
I have a thing for all my people in my
age demographic. I like to say things that make you
(03:48):
go and you will only know that if you're my
age and you'll know CNC Music Factory. But occasionally you'll
get the aha moment.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Now.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Of course, if you are a returning listener reviewer, then
you know how we do things. You cover all the
time to be here, I say, grab a piece of paper,
a pen. You might jot down something that you will say.
I need to go back and revisit this because something
that was said that was powerful and I definitely want
to think more about this, but I want to stay
tuned into the episode. If you've missed any of the
other episodes, don't worry. You can always find them on iTunes,
(04:17):
Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Amazon Audibles pretty much if it's
a podcast platform, you can find me there to search
Maya my ambition, your ambition. The easy way would be
just to subscribe to my YouTube page. Maya speaks to
you and you can always share, subscribe, like, and you'll
be notified when new episodes are coming up. And of
course I've gotten with it finally, so all of my
(04:38):
social medias have the same handle. Maya speaks to You,
so you can find me on Facebook, Instagram or X.
Of course, make sure that you subscribe and share my
web page because there's two things there I really really
am super proud about. One. I do a weekly inspirational blog,
just one blog a week on Wednesdays, something that gave
you to chew on to think about as you're working
(04:58):
on getting to that best version of your And the
other piece of my website that I really take personal.
Everyone who knows me, I am the poster child for
being in a phase of menopause. So I created a
menopause blog because there's a lot about menopause right now.
It's such a trendy topic. Everybody's talking about it, and
I still feel a lot of women still don't understand it.
(05:18):
My blog seeks to help you understand it. It's called
Me on Pause. So on Wednesdays, I post something new
every week and you can go and learn and grow
through your menopause. Jersey. That's Maya speaks to you, as
well as how you can find it. So before we
jump into our next guest, I have to recap what
we did on Saturday. Another amazing guest we had on
Simone Canego, who is a best selling author. She's also
(05:43):
a ted X speaker, and she is more importantly I
love this about her. She podcasts, and she podcasts with
her daughter, who is twenty two years old, Olivia. They
kind of do a generational podcast where they share stories.
The thing about her that makes her so powerful is
she's a mother, a wife, a daughter. But she also
climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. That's not an easy feed, so to speak,
(06:04):
but that journey was something that really changed her life.
That when she wrote her first book, but now she's
on her second book that will be released actually in February.
So if you want to go on the order list,
you can now it's real confidence, a simple guide to
go from on shore to Unshakeable. So if you order now,
it comes with a lot of perks to kind of
lead you up to the launch of the book in February.
(06:26):
Fantastic guests, So make sure if you happen to have
miss that episode, those are ways that you can go
back and you can check in with all the guests
that I've had so Simon also, you can find her
on her website. Simonecanego dot com and then you can
find everything about her. Something else I've been doing to
help you out is I've been creating keyr codes. So
in the upper corner of the screen you'll see a
(06:47):
QR code. If you scan that at any point when
it reappears in the podcast, it will take you directly
to Simone's website and you can find her books and
all the different things and projects that she's working on.
But without further ado, we gotta get ready to jump
into our next guest on the Ambition stage, psychiatrist a
doctor Hector Rodriguez, and he's going to discuss with us
(07:08):
the holistic healing side of mental health. I know, holistic
and mental health are two words that often seem very
foreign to people, but there is a place because doctor
Hector's going to talk to you about functional psychiatry, emotional wellness,
and lifestyle medicine. And I believe once you sit through
this episode, if you're struggling with your mental health or
have a condition, or know someone, some things are going
(07:28):
to be said here that are going to make you think,
maybe once or twice about the treatment you might be receiving.
And what do I always tell you here on the podcast,
it's okay to ask questions. If you are not sure
about what you're going through, or if you don't know
about a medication or something, don't be shy. It is
your mental health. So, without further ado, here he is
doctor Hector Rodriguez. Welcome to the Maya Podcast. How are you?
Speaker 4 (07:50):
And I'm doing good? Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Of course, you know, I have really been looking forward
to this episode. And I'm not just saying that. I
don't just say that to everyone, Doctor Hector, I squear
I don't, because this is something that's really passional, passionate
to me about the holistic side of psychiatry, because if
you know, that's two words that most people would never
put into the same kind of sentence because everything about
(08:13):
psychiatry is thought to be you know, medication, you know
what I mean. So you say holistic and people go,
I just never saw it that way. So I can't
wait to talk about that. But before we jump into that,
you have a unique journey. You went from being a
photographer to a psychiatrist, and most people will say, well,
that creativity, how does that flow into being a psychiatrist?
Tell us more about your journey.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Well, I mean to me now, in hindsight, it all
makes like perfect sense. You know, when I was a
fashion photographer, I spent a lot of time getting to
know the person that I was going to photoshoot photograph
that day, usually during hair and makeup. That's when I
would sit down and get to know them. I mean,
without knowing at that time I was in my early twenties.
(08:56):
I didn't think that that was going to lead to
even how I do psychiatry today. But in that process,
I also did my master's in theology, and that to
me kind of ties in puts the final bow on
what I do today. And you know, when I look
(09:18):
at the worst psychiatry, and that's the thing too, I
mean when you say that people don't see holistic with
the wors psychiatrist, because the perception or the understanding of
what a psychiatrist does today is very different than I
think how it even began. So I look at the
worst psychiatry, and the worst psychiatry comes from the Greek
for psyche, and the rest of it is basically the
(09:38):
medical treatment of so Psyche means the soul. So when
I look at the meaning of the word psychiatry. I'm like, well,
this is it, right, and we think the psychiatrists are
just giving out a medication. I think our healthcare system
has driven us and has molded us into being that
kind of doctor. Were missing the big picture, which is
(10:02):
taking care of the soul.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Thank you for that. Sorry. See, this is the impromptu
thing when you do things from your house. My cat
was trying to break into the room and so I
had to take care of that real quick. It was
only going to get like banging on the door. And
I'm like, okay, this is the first guest we've elicited
that response. Okay, yes, and even the nature of that,
(10:26):
And you're right, So you go from for theology, see
even that. See now again someone's gonna say, wait a minute,
so photographer for theology and you wanted to go into
psychiatry because again, people don't see psychiatry from that standpoint.
I think it's kind of that old school mentality, the
old you know, the one flus over the cuckoo's nest
mentality about what psychiatry really.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
Is, right, right, and and when we start explaining that,
and that's you know, we tend to see psychiatrists through
the lens of movies, the lens of you know TV
that you get put in a straight jacket and you
get to get locked away, and that evil psychiatrist is
scheming to control your brain. We don't do that. We
(11:11):
don't have time to scheme. So it's like, you know,
if anything, I'll tell patients like, if anything, my plan
is to change how we're doing psychiatry. So if you're
thinking of me as this, like what is this? What
am I scheming? What I'm scheming, and what I'm trying
to change is how we view psychiatry and we have
to educate. It starts with creating awareness, educating where where
(11:35):
I think mental health should be leading in that direction.
So that's that's my goal to change that.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
And hence comes the idea of obviously it being holistic.
So there are some dimensions to what you do that
I feel like obviously an encompass when you say holistic
when you talk about functional psychiatry, emotional wellness, and then
lifestyle medicine. So talk about those dimensions as an within
your practice.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Well, I mean, we see the white butterfly as a
whole wellness approach, whole person, right, So when I look
at the whole person. Then I start paying attention to
their biology. I start paying attention to what is going
on in their psyche, Right, what were the stressors that
this person has experienced. So when I look at the
whole person, it's a lot more complex than here, take
(12:24):
a pill. I wish it was that easy. I wish
I could just literally give you a pill and everything,
all the trauma, all the stressor just goes away. No,
we got to look at the entire thing. And when
I look at someone's life and I try to change
their lifestyle, that's one of the major things that I
use to get them to a place of healing. Right,
So I got to look at your diet. I got
(12:45):
a good look at your movements. What are you doing
in these areas? So that goes towards healing because your
brain is also hurt. And if your brain is hurt,
what do you think is going to happen? Is going
to produce all these crazy symptoms that we all experience
that we're like, we have a the heck is going
on here? Why am I losing my hair? Why do
I have a random rash? Every time I face this
(13:05):
stressor when I go to work, I'm like well, this
is your body communicating to us, is letting us know
that there's something here going on that you don't like it.
And maybe your your thoughts are not going there, but
your body is definitely communicating. So then I got to
pay attention to that. So that's the whole person. You know,
we use the word holistic, but I almost see it
(13:26):
as sometimes people think that if you if you're a
holistic psychiatrist, you only do this. I'm like, no, it's whole.
You know, I have my training using pharmacology, and I
can't just throw that aside. Right, there's science and many
years of research backing up that science. But I can't
just do that only either. I gotta do the whole thing.
(13:47):
So that's why lifestyle psychiatry comes into play where I'm like, okay,
let's stop, time out, pause, What are you eating? You know,
what are you putting in your body? You know? What
messages are you receiving through the social media that you're watching.
All of that we talked about, we pay attention to it,
and then little by little we have to modify because
(14:09):
that's what we get to heal.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
And the and you're right, whole holistic and you're right,
people kind of can take those words and not pull
them apart and look at the way that they should.
You said something that a lot of people like one.
Just working with people from being a therapist can always
be its challenge because anytime you ask someone about a
lifestyle change, it's all it feels like twisting their arm,
because like when you talk to people about mindfulness, instantly
(14:33):
they think that means oh, meditation. I'm like, not always
as it can include that, right, But the idea of
mindfulness is being aware of things and creating discipline and
consistency that can allow you to heal. So talk to
a bit about when you kind of you talked about
like the like your diet. If I was to say
the word diet of people within therapy, they're like, why
(14:55):
are we talking about diet? It's like, well, you do
know gut health is directly connect to mental health, and
a lot of people don't get like, how is that
even possible? Can you kind of speak to it? How
is gut health connected to mental health?
Speaker 4 (15:08):
Well, let's start with something simple, and is I pay
attention to the inner bully. Our inner bully is basically
this little voice always telling me I'm stupid, I'm dumb
and blah blah blah. Right, Well, the inner bully is
part of the system called the singular gyers where we
get stuck on a thought pattern whatever it is. It's
just that the one in the back that post to
(15:29):
your singular gyrs. We get stuck on things about ourselves.
So that's that inner bully. Right. So if I get
stuck with the idea that I'm stupid, it doesn't it's
hard for me to just you know, think of something else,
you know, snap out of it. You know when people
tell us that, hey, stop think, think about something else. No,
the brain can't. This person's brain can't. Well, that responds
(15:50):
very well to carbohydrates. So then I got to see, well,
what's your carbohydrate intake? What kinds of carbohydrates are you consuming?
Because we got to up your serotonin in a different way.
So if I'm using medications and supplements, now I got
to look at how are you getting serotonin to your
gut where serotonin most of the serotonin is made. So
(16:13):
if your gut flora, which is basically bacteria in your
gut that is, by the way, supposed to be there.
Just like there's some parasites that are supposed to be there.
I'm just saying that there's a trend now with everyone
getting parasitic cleanses. Careful because you might be killing good
parasites and good bacteria. So that's an another topic probably,
(16:33):
but because it's connected. So if your flora is giving
or you're giving it the wrong type of sugar, the
wrong type of carbohydrate, it's not gonna pump up the
serotonin that your brain needs to quiet that bully. It won't.
I mean, you can take all the antithe presence that
increase serotonin in the world and that if you don't
(16:55):
change that, it won't connect. It won't do it right,
you know, when we're I use to be a chem major,
So it's like this is a chemistry chemical reaction, right,
I have the precursor and I have the final product.
I can't get to the precursor. I can't get from
the precursor to fund a product. If there's no precursor,
there's no thing to turn into, right, And then I
go and I try to teach them like, well, that
thing turns into this other thing with vitamins. So those vitamins,
(17:20):
those B vitamins that are for your brain, right, B
vitamins for your brain B six, B twelve, B nine falling.
All those are B vitamins. Are you consuming B vitamins?
And I recommend in your diet, especially anything that is green,
eat a lot of green. There's so much B vitamins
in those. And then let's pay attention to how and
(17:45):
what time of your day are you consuming those? And
I think today everyone is like, well, maybe for a
long time, we don't like vegetables. Vegetables, it's like I
don't like vestmans. We are lacking in so many vitamins
that a lot of these reactions and all this stuff
that I'm just talking about is not going to happen.
It's just won't if you're deficient in these. So that's
(18:05):
that lifestyle change. And yeah, all this stuff takes timely.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Well, absolutely, and there you have it. And so you
just probably gave one of the best examples about when
we talk about the good and mental health connection, because
if you would have quizzed people and ask, and I'll
be honest, I did not even recently know that about
there being like how serotowin is produced like in this,
I didn't know any of that until recently. Until I
started kind of attending some of these different functional medicine
(18:32):
things that were geared towards mental health, and I was like, well,
look at that, that's the bigger connection. So even what
you just described it would even sound like Hence, this
is why people should reach out to you and talk
to you if they're struggling, because this is not going
to be a one size fits all because it sounds
like you have to look at where deficiency actually sits
for people to probably tailor that diet for that.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
And also you know, mapping of you know, what is
your brain doing, because maybe you don't need all the
serotonin that you know, Rob might need just different demands. Right,
So if your brain doesn't need it, but Rob does,
I'm using Rob as an example, Right, Rob does, well,
he needs to load up on serotonin, but maybe he
needs more dopamine than you. And I got to see
(19:18):
how your body is producing dopamine. So it's like all
these things that we're trying to get to, well, it's
part of what you're feeding yourself, right, And this is
just nutrition. And these are just a few things that
I try to tell my patients to learn, you know,
but there's a lot more than that. But you got
to trust your clinician. You got to trust the clinician
(19:41):
knows this knowledge. And those clinicians out there that don't, dude,
go learn it. That's what it's tell a lot of
my colleagues. Listen, go learn it.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Go learn it.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
You're a lot smarter than that. I mean, you already
went through medical school. But this is an ongoing learning
process for us as clinician. So if you don't know it,
go learn it. Because the beautiful thing of what's happening
today with you know, social media is creating awareness within
the general population of like, wait, a lot of us
are struggling with the same thing. So the medical community
(20:11):
has to start stepping up, has to be learning to
modify the way we've been doing things. So you got
to learn it.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
And that's collaboration is one of the things that we
so push forward, but it just sometimes can be a
difficult connection to make with people about if we work
collectively together. Imagine what we could achieve with the clients
that we work with, because each of us definitely have
something different that we bring to the table. But something
that when I first met and talked to you that
really just jumped out at me is when we talked
(20:40):
about the idea of we are within the one profession
that people often do not directly not everyone because this
is a shift and it's changing, does not look at
the organ retreat, which is the brain. And we talked
a bit about and you know, the more we talked
about the gut health thing and even made me say
to myself and like, you know, it's almost instant that
you go see someone and they'll determine what your diagnosis,
(21:02):
what they think it is. Okay, so let's just say
it's depression. Chances are they're going to maybe pick out
a medication they think that's going to be best for
you based on probably more of what has been used
and worked. But it might be an SSRI or you know,
I think I feel like that's the number one go
to when you talk about antidepressants. It feels like most
people prescribe SSRIs occasionally they'll be mil. But now, in
(21:24):
saying that, does it make sense to prescribe someone something
if there really aren't that deficient in it? Like, how
would a person who know that somebody is serotonin deficient
to be able to say this is probably the best
medication for you.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
Well, that's where I turned to what are the tools
that we have today? And for me, spec scans has
been a huge change in how I do psychiatry. So
it gives me a little bit of a roadmap of
what part of your brain is overworked and needs more
of that serotonin support. Right, So we got to start
(22:00):
with that. We got to start in the way that
we're diagnosing people. You know, I think the way we
do psychiatry and assessing needs to radically change. We need
to use other modalities to do that and combine them
all so you can get to a better thing. But
one of the things that I noticed in a lot
of my colleagues, and I don't want to speak, you know,
(22:22):
on their behalf, but the main thing I get is
I don't have enough time. How do you do it?
I don't have enough time? Right. And our mental this
is a much bigger talk. I think our mental health
or our healthcare system in general, needs to change. It
needs to change in the way that the doctors can
be doctors. And I say that because they spend a
(22:43):
lot of the time just documenting and they're just drowning
and paperwork, and none of us went into this field
to be filling off forms all the time, Like I've
never forget this one patient where I had to I
probably spend like forty forty five minutes trying to convince
their their insurance to pay for our treatment. I could
spend those forty five minutes with my patient. So when
(23:04):
we think of someone going to see a doctor and
expect something change in one visit, this is a brain.
We are a lot more complex than one time. But
our healthcare system has pushed us to be this way.
And let's not forget either, that other person also just
wants a pill. They want that one visit to get
(23:25):
the full diagnostic picture of this extremely complex organ in
thirty minutes and spit out something at the end, and
usually it's a prescription. So that process needs to change
because it's you know till this day. I'm like, I
have a suspicion that this is going on, and I
obviously I tell my patient, I'm like, this is where
I'm heading. But more likely than not, it might change
(23:48):
because you change every single minute of the day, and
as a clinician, I can't make the assumption that this
plan is going to be it right. So you mentioned
SSRIs CISSI. The reason why we go to them all
the time is because they have the most studies to
cover most of the symptoms. But that we all know
that's not the same for everyone. But if the brain
(24:09):
we're not looking at the brain activity, how is that
clinician going to know, Well, they've been trained to use
that group of medication first because it tends to cover
eighty percent of the symptoms and then a relatively good
amount of time without risks. Right, we talk about side
effects and all that wonderful stuff, But I think the
bigger conversation is we got to change how we're doing
(24:32):
a healthcare system is operating.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
How would you say when you come across and I
have worked with people who will say I am medication resistant,
I have been on a matter of fact, people will
tell me the list of things they've been on along
with the list of things they've been diagnosed with, and
they'll say, none of these things work for me. And
I mean, to me, that can be you know, very perplexing.
(24:55):
Like I mean, I've known people who have even gone
as far to say they've used an ECT and it
did not work as kind to me. You know, just
what are often those types of modalities that insurance has
to even approve. You have to show that you've done
the diligence to try the other things first. But kind
of what's your approach if someone like walks into your office. So,
like doctor Hector, I'm frustrated at this point. I have
(25:16):
been on all kinds of medication. My depression has not broken.
Matter of fact, I feel like it's getting worse. I
just feel like nothing is going to help me. How
do you proceed with working with that person.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
We need to assess the person correctly, because chances are
it's not that right. If you have a broken arm
and you're bleeding, okay, most likely came from that broken arm.
But if you don't find blood, it's not the broken arm,
it's something else. So the same thing as someone comes
with depression, I'm like, and you've taken all these and
(25:46):
done this and then this and not Okay, it's something else.
It's not depression. So your assessment, your diagnostic process was
probably done incorrectly. Most of the time. For that type
of patient is a hormone problem, so I gotta check hormones.
So when that patient comes to me, I'm like, uh,
most likely it's not that, so we got to look
(26:07):
at the entire thing. That's what the whole whole wellness,
whole person approach that I try to do. But I
tell them, like, we have to find out what's happening,
what really is happening. And a lot of the times
it's also trauma that is being manifested as a mood
disorder or is being manifested as an anxiety disorder because
(26:29):
they've been given the medications for it, they're supposed to
heal with that and they're not, then most likely that's
not it. Another component could be how your body metabolizes medications.
Not every medication is for everyone. We have our own genes,
we metabolize medications at different rates, and some we don't
metabolize at all, So I got to order that too.
(26:49):
So these are things that are not instant, are definitely
not in a first time visit. So I tell my patients,
you gotta give me time because I got to figure
out this puzzle.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
That makes sense. But if someone is coming to you
with the with the complaints and the distress of I've
tried everything and it's not working well, then we cannot
keep repeating the same problems being the same thing.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
Yeah, I'm not going to re describe the same medications
that are not working.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
Right, I go to be like, Okay.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
We got to sit down and reassess this. So I
spend a lot more time with my patient to get
to that root. Cause now most of the time out
of come we finished that first encounter. I didn't get
to the root cause I sent you to get more data,
get lab works done, get a spec scan, bring me
all your imaging that you've done, bring me all the
studies that you've done. What have they done? And then
(27:38):
when you sit down and look at them, like, wait,
there's no hormone panels, there's no inflammatory markers because maybe
you went to that provider with inflammatory responses, but you're
what you said was not gearing them to think that.
But you are not a clinician, So it's it's you
know that history taking is important, but at the end
of the day, if it's missing, then it's not that.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
So let me ask you this. In the amount of
people that you have seen, how many people have really
truly sat in front of you and walked in with
this wonderful box of stuff and said, okay, doctor Hector,
here is my spec scan. Here are my labs from
last year. Here's my list of medications, like they can
really lay things out, like they have really come across.
And again, this is not a scathing indictment of all clinicians, because,
(28:25):
like you said, no time and time is pushing how
healthcare is moving, so to speak. But have you ever
really come across a person you could say that you
felt like the providers really poured that much into it
to kind of get to the root cause of what
was going on with them.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
I would probably say that a big chunk of my
patients are because I meet with those providers and then
that's what they tell me and they're like, yeah, no,
I can't think of anything else. I'm like, you know,
we've done this, We've done that. She hasn't responded. We've
looked in this you know, we looked under this rock.
There was nothing there. I'm like, yeah, but we're missing
something else. And in those kind of patients, I said,
(29:01):
without other provider, So I consult other psychiatrists or I
become a psychologic consultant psychiatrist. And a lot of those cases,
especially my international cases or cases where I'm not you know,
I only see patients in Florida and in California where
I'm licensed, but anywhere outside of that, I become a
consultant psychiatrist, so I work alongside their psychiatry team. So
(29:22):
usually those patients when they come those those psychiatrists and
those other doctors have done their due diligence. But it's
also how they were trained to do their due diligence.
That's where my creativity comes in. And we think we
sometimes in medicine see creativity as a big no no,
like gets lapped in the face, like you know, you're
not supposed to be creative. We got to slow science, Yeah,
but I got to look into other science areas, yes, yes,
(29:45):
to apply it over here because it just hasn't happened.
Hen See, tapping into my creativity is.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Key, and that makes sense. Hence you look at your
background and photography and theology, and now if anyone's been
listening closely, they can see how all these things have
float into shape the kind of psychiatrists that you have
become that wants to look at the entirety of the
person to see the root cause. Tell me how many
times have you seen this? Because I know I have
seen this only from a therapist standpoint, a person will
(30:13):
come in the door. They're struggling with anxiety depression, but
they were referred in from a medical provider, and they're
insisting at that point, after maybe doing a few labs
and say, I think it's in your head, you need
to go talk to someone. Even though because you know
a lot of you know, psychiatric system symptoms can very
much look very medical based as well, you know, they can.
(30:33):
They can share some similarities and things, and a lot
of times, especially when I worked in the er in
that capacity, they would instally just say I'm going to
send you over to the psychpod because I kind of
feel like what you're saying is more psychiatric than medical.
Speaker 4 (30:48):
I tell them, yes, it is in your head. It's
called your brain.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
I like that it is.
Speaker 4 (30:54):
You know, the computer is malfunctioning, so you might get
a all over your body and you're like, wait, what
the heck, there's no And I don't like to use
the word medical reason to prove it. Of course, it's
just that that person didn't know how to prove it
that it came from your brain, that's all. So when
all my patients are coming in and in psychiatry, we
(31:15):
use the word somatic symptoms, right, somatic meaning physical symptoms
are manifesting because of your brain, because of your your depression,
anxiety or whatever. But it's not made up. I think
that's the part where it gets disconnected is because people
think that if this is happening, then people might believe
that I'm making it up, that I'm making up all
these symptoms. Well, you can't make up a rash, no,
(31:38):
And you can't make up your hair falling, you know.
You can't make up that you're not sleeping, you're having
restless legs. You can't make that up, right. So when
someone says it's in your head, I'm gonna say, yeah,
it is. It is. There are one hundred percent right.
It is in your head, and it is your brain,
and no one really knows how to see what is
(31:59):
doing and not because they just don't know. That's okay,
let's find out what's going on in your brain, because
that's all coming from your brain. There you go literally
what I tell them.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
But the thing is you've come. They've come to the
right place with someone who's willing to listen and be
open and let them be seen and heard and not
make them so feel crazy. Because people be like, I've
been through all these things and literally they were making
me feel like I was crazy, crazy, you know, and
it's like, no, it's it's and I love And that's
the thing I like so much when people want to
be look at more things from the entirety of something
(32:32):
versus just you know, a symptom means this. This is
why I'm like really a fan of holistic doctors, because
I like the fact that they want to find the
root of the problem and not just treat the symptom.
That's the thing that's so appealing to that side of medicine,
which a lot of people think, oh, that's like a
lot of interesting hocus pocus. I'm like, actually, no, there's
science behind it. Just let there's science behind the doctor
(32:53):
that you go see. No one who's doing anything magically
behind closed.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
Doors, you know.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
No, so great, I'm glad you because one of the
things I know people would ask is that, Okay, if
you're in Florida and California, that means oh, well, I'm
sitting here in Illinois, which means, well, how is that
going to help me? Because I can't you know, obviously,
you know, I can't just relocate to those states to
see you. So when you kind of step into that
role of being a consulting psychiatrist, what does that look
(33:19):
like should a person should they reach out to you
themselves or kind of what does that kind of referral
piece look like.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
Yeah, most of the time they reach out to me themselves.
And then I have to tell them, listen, we got
to get your team on board. Okay, and if that individual,
that therapist, that psychiatrist, that doctor does not want to collaborate,
but this is something you want to do, we got
to find another one, right, We have to because we
got to work as a team. We got to work
(33:47):
as a collaboration. I have no problem and I've done
it many times where the psychiatrist calls me and they
just want to consult, Right, and I consult. That's no problem.
But the most common thing scenario that occurs is the
patient calls calls us and like, hey, I have a
you know, I don't think what's being done is working
and I need a different set of eyes. And that's
(34:09):
our first thing. I'm like, well where are you living?
You know, the doctor's not licens in those days. So
your team has to be willing to collaborate with us.
Most of the time it works fine. It's just if
we have a provider, there's like absolutely no, I Am
not gonna talk to anybody else. And you're like, okay,
well that's your answer. We got to work with someone
else because you know, in medicine we were taught to collaborate.
(34:32):
I don't know what happened in the minute we graduated,
that went out of the window. You know. I'm like, no,
you gotta you gotta work together, you know, clearly, And
it's nothing nothing against because the main thing that happens
is that the psychiatrist, So the doctor feels personally attacked
like I'm not good enough. Immediately that goes there because
it's not a trauma therapist, trauma expert, not therapist. I'm like, hmmm,
(34:55):
that person is struggling with their own thing. You know,
we gotta talk about that psychiatrist inner bully. I'm like,
who's telling you that you're not good?
Speaker 3 (35:03):
But I'm so happy like that that term, like the
inner bully. I think that is something that people could
probably truly relate to because you know, when you have
those internal conversations in your own mind, you don't see
it as I'm bullying myself. This is ridiculous. It makes
no sense. Whereas we can totally understand the idea of
bullying from the outside, it's just not bullying from the inside.
Speaker 4 (35:26):
And we all have a bully. Listen, we all have
a bully. It's all there. It's always there. Is when
how is it that some people listen to it and
some people don't. That's always what I try to go towards,
you know, Can we let that singular gyrs rest and
not get so fixated on us, right and especially the
(35:46):
negative view of us. And that's where I got to
work hand in hand with their therapists. I'm like, who's
your therapist? You know? Are we working on the same
page here?
Speaker 1 (35:55):
You know?
Speaker 4 (35:55):
Are they on board with collaborating? This morning, I had
one of my collaboration calls with a therapist. She lives
in Tampa, and the patient lives in Tampa, in Florida,
and I'm here in Miami. And she's a great therapist.
But when I showed her the spec scans of the patient,
she was like, oh, and I've already worked with her
(36:15):
in the past and she knows spec scans. She's like, oh, Okay,
I need to change gears. I totally see what you're
talking about. Now, Okay, now you know, and she does
really good trauma work. She was doing GAMDR with my
patient and she's responding positively. But now they hit a wall.
They're kind of stuck. So I told her, like, let's
meet so I can show you the patient scans and
(36:37):
let's put together a new treatment plan. Let's reevaluate what
we're doing. That's all. So when I collaborate with another
doctor too, I'm like, let's just reevaluate, you know, let's
put all the cards out on the table and see
what what are we missing? And many times even like
I always like, God, what am I missing? What am
(36:57):
I not seeing that you are clearly saying mm hm.
Speaker 3 (37:01):
And you know, it's interesting when you talk about that
collaboration piece. Those are some of I feel like the
patients that are doing the best is when I have
that ability to collaborate with, whether it's the nurse practitioner
that's prescribing, whether it's a psychiatrist. An Illinois psychologists can
be prescribers to if they go that extra step. I
feel like those are the best relationships because when something's
(37:22):
not working, I can say, well, let's go back and
talk to so and so about this, Whereas I've worked
with other people, for instance, where their prescriber is outside
and I can't get them to call me back, they
will not respond, but yet they've made a medication change,
and my client is telling me all these other things,
you know. So I think the one piece that I
often say to people is if you can find a
(37:44):
prescriber and a you know, a therapist that are willing
to collaborate together, that is going to be the best
thing for your for your treatment overall, because now you
have a team of people, as you said, that are
working together and your best interest to get you to
where you're trying to get you to be. So that
is something that I wish more people would just embrace openly.
Speaker 4 (38:04):
Yeah, and from experience and the more I do it, it's
an ego thing, right. The clinician has to put the ego.
You got to leave the ego out the door, you know,
like if that and I also also tell them to
him like if that was your sister or your brother
or your mom, or wouldn't you do anything that includes
moving out of the way, meaning you move your ego
(38:26):
out of the way, and let's work with these other people.
We're all smart. None of us went into mental health
because we're stupid, none of us because this is a
very hard profession. Okay, so none of us are stupid,
and we all have a different way of looking at it.
And I recently saw Wicked Part two, not you know,
(38:48):
promoting the movie, but I freaking love Wicked because there's
so much mental health in that movie and both Yeah,
and this message of like, I'm just looking at it
in a different way. She says it many times in
the movie, and I'm like, yes, like you just need
to have it the ability to look at it from
a different way. And sometimes if you can't meet without
(39:11):
other provider that is looking at it from a different perspective,
so you can really pain the full person.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
And that's the thing I think people don't realize that
when I sit down with the punt, with the prescribers
of my clients, we exactly we go through what's happening,
We talk about what I'm seeing, what they're hearting, We
work through all these things and we bounce ideas and
exactly what you said. To all of those people I
work with, I feel they are some of the most
humble and acceptally good at their job though, But I
(39:38):
also feel they had that empathy and that kindness and
that warmth that you really want in a provider. All Right,
so we've got people, let's say, who see this and
they go, Okay, I definitely I want this collaboration piece,
so they I would instruct them to reach out to
you first. I think that conversation with you first probably
makes a lot more sense because you never know how
(39:58):
their prescribers go think on this. Yeah, what about the
spec scan because I know that's the one thing some
people would probably say, well, why even have access? Because
I guarantee you most people will be like, I would
love to see what's happening inside my brain. One person
said to me, my brain feels like it's on fire,
like it just never shuts down. I just can't. They're
struggling right now big time, and the medication piece we
(40:19):
have struggled with FI is something coming your way. But anyways,
but I mean if a person, I mean, our spec
scans readily available, that kind of thing. I mean, I
know in Illinois they're actually I did find one location
in the area. It's doctor Amen's clinic and Bannickburn. I
do believe it's up north. So in Illinois. Okay, we
have something, but let's say someone doesn't. Do you feel
(40:42):
like that's something like we could still work without it,
but it's a tool to half of we can.
Speaker 4 (40:46):
Yeah, So when I have patients that really just can't, right,
they can get to one of the clinics to get
the spec scanned. I I've done this already for so
long that I'm like, I can draw your spec scan,
but we want to do something else. There's also q
EEG that could be done, and qegs are really red
than available pretty much anywhere, right, So I'm like, let's
(41:08):
look at the q EEG because that's electrical activity. A
SPECS scan is blood flow. But they give us the
same information. So then I'm like, if they give the
same information and your clinician knows how to use that
to change your treatment, great, right, so let's do it. Right.
So that's that's one of the things with using different tools.
But a specscan, I mean I know them because of
(41:29):
Aiming clinics. We have a Florida office, but there's one
in Atlanta, there's one in Illinois near Chicago. They're pretty
much in most most states. Not in every state for sure,
but I've had patients that are like, oh, I'm in California,
but I'm going on a work trip to Dallas. I'm
like a scan in Dallas. He did you guys cat
(41:49):
in Dallas, the scans, we review them, went back home
to California and we're there, you know, but there's still
other things. It's just that your clinician to have that
knowledge of how to use them. It's not necessarily how
to read them, but how to use them in clinical practice.
So that's what I would probably say when it comes
(42:10):
to you know, someone can't doesn't have access to as
a spec.
Speaker 3 (42:13):
Scan, Okay, all right, but again it's not the only
thing that can be used to kind of help kind
of navigate the process everyone. Just like my other guys.
On the top of the screen, there is a QR
code that is made just for doctor Hector, So scan
it and it takes you to his website. I try
to make things easy for people here, like just you know,
we live in a world where it's like scan this,
looking that, trying to make it so. Of course you
(42:35):
can scan the QR code. Of course you can go
to his website. As well as pretty straightforward www dot
doctor hector dot com. That's easy. You probably can remember that.
I always say too, get social with people. For everybody
who's been coming on the show, I feel like following
people opens that door to learning more So Instagram for
you at doctor Underscore Hector, Facebook at Hector Eduardo Rodriguez
(42:57):
and LinkedIn if you're a linked in person at doctor Hector.
Pretty straightforward, you're easy to find. I encourage it easy
like follow get familiar because most people, if you think
about it in the past, when most people have found
their providers and it was maybe like they just found
it because it was an insurance, they didn't get a
chance to really maybe learn more about the person they're
going to be working with. Here, it is an opportunity
(43:17):
to learn more about you, your journey and what you do.
I encourage people if you want to change the directory
of where you're going in your life or your mental health,
then there has to be that due diligence to really
find the people that are going to see and hear you.
And I'll be honest. In healthcare, especially as a plate,
it doesn't always feel that easy to find someone that
you can connect to. You seem very easily connectable. I'm
(43:39):
pretty sure you've heard this before.
Speaker 4 (43:42):
Well, I value human connection, so to me, that's one
of the one of our pillars. Actually, it's also the
theme of our of our magazine these two months of
November and December, because we also have a magazine. It's
also free, and it's on our website.
Speaker 3 (43:57):
I saw connection issue, Yes, I think I saw because
there was a blog on your website and I think, yeah, well,
if you subscribe, there was something. So it's the magazine.
When people the.
Speaker 4 (44:04):
Magazine and it's free, Yeah, it's free.
Speaker 3 (44:06):
Okay, So there you go. Start with that. Subscribe to
the to the you know, to the website, the magazine,
learn more about doctor Hector, and step back. If you're
a person who's not helped, will happy with your mental
health care, then guess what this could be that first
step in a direction that could change what you're doing.
Because I always say this, and I know you know this,
mental health is not one size fits all. So when
(44:26):
people get super discouraged, I tell them, don't give up.
I said, this isn't as simple as just take a
pill or wave a magic Wand I said, because if
it was, don't you think everybody would be healed at
this point, and I'm like, oh, yeah, I didn't. I
didn't think of it that way. I'm like, exactly, you're
a unique individual, which means you require to be looked
at through a microscope that is for you, not just
(44:47):
for everyone. And it sounds like that is what you do.
Speaker 4 (44:50):
Yeah. I always use the analogy of a puzzle. I'm like, listen,
we're all complex puzzles. And if your doctor is seeing
a piece of the puzzle and not the rest, but
guess what happens We put a piece of the puzzle together,
you know how sometimes when we're putting a puzzle, we
put some areas these kind of go together. Yes, yes,
but every day you go back and reshuffle it. So
(45:11):
it's like you're working in a puzzle that is constantly reshuffling.
So you're like, okay, we got to start, you know.
So this is a very complex thing, but we can
do tangible, everyday things to get to that finished puzzle,
which is what I am always loving to get to.
Speaker 3 (45:27):
And let's be honest, puzzles are not easy, you know.
So when you get to those, like, you know, five
hundred piece puzzles, people should begin to see themselves that
way because we are intricate and unique that way. And
as you're going through your life and you're learning things,
guess what, every time you learn something new about you,
you're putting a piece into that puzzle and completing your picture.
(45:48):
So that's definitely a good way to look at it.
Any parting thoughts for my listeners before we go.
Speaker 4 (45:54):
Very easy. Love your brain. This is the most important organ. Obviously,
I think is the most important organ. But love it.
There's no transplant, it's yours. This is it, So love
on it, take care of it, feed it well, exercise
it well, and we're gonna.
Speaker 3 (46:10):
Be good, fantastic. Well, thank you doctor Hector for being here.
We appreciate be hearing everything.
Speaker 4 (46:17):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 3 (46:18):
Yes, everyone, so make sure you get social with doctor Hector.
Of course, go to the website. It's pretty straightforward, you know,
www dot Doctorhector dot com. But make life easy for
yourself and just scan the QR code at the top
and vola all things. Doctor Hector is right there for you.
All right, everyone, So again another amazing guest, and guess what,
(46:40):
it just keeps getting better. We're steamrolling through November, right
in December, and so our next guest, as you was remember,
part of what we look to do here is I
want to show you those people who took their passion
and their purpose and they were able to combine them
together and they're doing very altersic things to help you well.
Another person on the Ambition stage is going to be
(47:03):
Justin Artists, who is a speaker and musician, but he
specializes in teaching leadership through music, and that's just the
tip of the iceberg. People. He does so much more
so if you again are creative and you feel your
energy is not moving forward and you love music, he
has created some amazing tools and processes that are helping
people to take what they're passionate about to the next level.
(47:26):
And by the way, he had a very unique journey
himself put him on the path to be able to
help others. So he's going to be next on the
stage episode eighty two, So make sure you tune in
when we have Jasin Artists on the show as well.
Of course, if you've missed any of the other shows,
don't panic. Just go to Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, all
those places and search MAYA my Ambition, your ambition and
(47:48):
you can find me there. Of course, you can listen
to episodes via my website. Just go to Maya Dasspeaks
dot com and you can find episodes, or just subscribe
to YouTube make your life easy and you will be
notified when episodes are coming up. So whether you're like
watching my show on YouTube or Facebook or Instagram or x,
the handle is always Maya speaks to you and that's
(48:10):
how you can connect with the show. Remember too, on
the website, you got to check out my inspiration blog
as well as the Me on Pause blog that is
dedicated to menopause and it's podcast centerl right there on
the website. All right, everyone, So until next time, remember
your present becomes your past and your future is no
(48:31):
more so to all of my consistent listeners, you know,
those are the worlds of Pearl Jam, not me, but
I love it because I want you to think about
what being present really means. So everyone, be well, stay safe,
but more important, just keep being amazing.
Speaker 5 (48:48):
Whether you're on the go or listening on your cell phone,
tablet or laptop, you can find the show and the iTunes,
Google an iHeartRadio platforms a new respect.
Speaker 4 (48:57):
I believe this is going to be our finest hour Jamaia.
Speaker 5 (49:00):
My ambition, your ambition, and get ready to be inspired
and motivated to harness your ambition.
Speaker 4 (49:12):
H
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