A series of podcasts featuring Dr Karen Lindsay and invited guests.

Episode 1 – “When the drugs don’t work”

In this our first podcast I interview Dr Brian Broom, immunologist, and psychotherapist. I play the devil’s advocate – “what exactly is a Mindbody Whole Person approach for someone with no idea?” – and I bring in some pointed questions about the feasibility of this in a hospital setting in medicine; ways which I have been challenged myself by medical peers; lack of skills; lack of time; or the clinicians having a dualistic paradigm.

• 21:00 he discusses a patients meaningful story with chronic migraine. We discuss how taking a whole person approach can improve chronic symptoms whether they are responsive to drug treatments or not;
• 27:00 we discuss the place of researching stories in medicine.
• 29:00 is it unethical not to ask what’s the story
• 32:00 peer pressure; do clinicians who see whole persons feel like they even belong in biomedicine
• 33:00 another case of severe asthma with a shifting severity related to story factors
• 36:00 it’s not either / or it’s both biomedicine and treating the whole person
• 38:00 another case discussed of management of chronic urticaria that improved with a whole person approach
• 42:00 the absolute need for doctors to ‘do something’ may preclude the healing potential of the situation
• 44:00 what is it that makes us slide past the obvious story factors when meeting a patient? Both doctors and patients seem able to avoid emotional pain.
• 48:00 The relational dimension of healing in whole person healthcare. When we say whole person healthcare, we mean much much more.

Episode 2 – “Why a Whole Person approach is a good thing”

• 0-5 minutes: Brian and Karen talk again about why using a whole person approach is a good thing for patient, or client and practitioner. Because it works, when the story is included, to open up, make connections between the onset of symptoms and once you start working in the way it’s hard to go back and not help people heal.
• 5-10 minutes: How Healing is part of doing your biomedical day job, we are nourished and by doing it well, it can be enriching, fascinating and stimulating.
• 15-20 minutes: A clinical example from this week, where the story is a doorway which opens up the potential in the relationship. The uniqueness and richness of the experience is real but some clinicians may fear being it being too intense and overwhelming. Changing to work in a whole person way is a gradual experience, and the benefits are not one sided.
• 20-25 minutes: Persons are always in relationship. Healing relationships can lead to profound change in individuals and beyond. Wholeness itself which emerges in the person, expands and reaches out further and further for years hence.
• 25-30 minutes: The way experience is embodied is aphilosophical question which fascinates and drives Brian.
• 30-40 minutes: How do we research the benefits of the kind of phenomena we are talking about, and how does it compare to biomedical research. Hopefully a new generation of clinicians are inspired to work in this way as well.

Episode 3 – “How to practise a Whole Person approach”

Here we get into the nuts and bolts of using a Whole Person approach in a healthcare setting.