Welcome to 2020! I'm feeling super inspired by this new year, new decade, and, I'll be honest, the now-impending nature of my own 40th birthday! This year, I want to make it my most well year ever. I want to meet my own best self, finally!
After a lifetime of struggling to accept my body, a total of seven years of college education trying to understand how my body works, and a rollercoaster of visits to various healthcare providers trying to improve my own personal wellness and overcome the pain of daily headaches and then an avalanche of mis- and missed diagnosis, I feel like I finally have the tools I need to make that dream a reality -- not just for myself, but for my clients and patients as well.
I don't think that it should be this hard for an average person to take charge of their own health and wellness. I definitely don't think it's reasonable to expect folks to go out and get a doctorate like I did in an effort to put it all together! But I do think there are a whole lot of people out there who, like me, did not get the whole tool set of wellness knowledge that some folks -- including most healthcare professionals -- grow up learning to use. I do understand on a deeply personal level how hard it is to make changes to support a healthy lifestyle and the seemingly endless obstacles, big and small, that stand in the way. I've been there. I'm still there. But I'm on my way out, and I want you to join me.
I've been hard at work on Wellness Wednesday, a free discussion group intended to help take all the "why" out of wellness concepts like exercise, nutrition, primary care, and posture.
With Wellness Wednesday, I am taking my first shot at helping to break down the barriers that separate mutually frustrated healthcare providers and patients. I want to do this so I can get patients the best chance of best-practice medical care they can get even if they aren't my patients.
While I freely admit that the more people I talk to about my approach to healthcare, the more people come to my clinic and pay me for my expertise, my clients don't come in because I talked them into it. My clients come in because when they talk to me they can see that I understand their struggles with pain and exercise and wellness. They can see that I'm not judging them and that I really do want to help. Wellness Wednesday is the same way, and unlike individualized care at my clinic, it is and will always be free and open to the public.
The introductory series of discussions centers on the underlying principles of wellness, such as nutrition, movement, hydration, and so forth. The next series will center on successfully navigating the healthcare system, with topics such as getting the most out of a primary care appointment and understanding what type of expertise different providers offer (i.e., physician assistant vs nurse practitioner, MD vs DO). When I run out of topics to talk about, I'll start taking requests and inviting guest speakers (assuming I can get more than two or three people to show up on a regular basis!)
I see my understanding of how the human body works and what truly contributes to disease and dependence as a great gift, and one that I want to share with the world.
I'm doing this -- all of this -- because I see a healthcare system that is devastated by professionals who are restricted by insurance regulations and profit motives that make it harder to provide quality care. On the other side, I see an ocean of devastated patients who have seen their trust in medicine eroded by years of feeling ignored and as though their genuine suffering falls on cold hearts and deaf ears.
I don't care if you ever come to my clinic as a paying client, or if you never send me a single referral, or even if you secretly hope I fail for some weird reason of your own -- I want you to GET why our healthcare system is so messed up and what you can do about it to feel better every single day.
I want you to know that I will give you your PT for free if you can't afford it and you're suffering with daily pain. I want you to know that there is hope even if someone (even someone with a lot of education and experience and confidence) told you that you would never feel better again or that a scary, invasive surgery is your only hope. I live to work with people who, like me, suffered for years without ever finding a doctor, counselor, PT or even a family member who took their problem seriously. I listen a lot and explain everything because I think everyone should have the luxury of an empathetic, knowledgeable healthcare provider to unpack the conflicting and dangerous misinformation that is rampant today.
In light of all this, I have also begun to offer a wellness membership to Patient PT. If you are on your own wellness journey and, like me, recognize that it is a long road, this one is for you. 2020 Vision of Wellness is a monthly wellness coaching program that offers those who don't have a need for formal / supervised physical therapy an opportunity to come in for monthly wellness consultations at a discounted rate, in exchange for committing to 3, 6, or 12 months of coaching. If you'd like to learn more about 2020 Vision of Wellness, Pain MAP, or Wellness Wednesday, please email or call today, and feel better!