Sandra Scheinbaum, PhD is the founder and CEO of Functional Medicine Coaching Academy. As a leader in the field of integrative psychiatry, she joins James to speak about the advantages of leveraging a group coaching model for mental health services.

For many reasons—from the current shortage of licensed clinical psychologists to improved patient compliance—mental health group coaching offers compelling advantages. Patients often feel more comfortable being honest and open with coaches they can relate to more as peers. Because traditional therapy still carries a cultural stigma, shame is a common barrier that prevents people from seeking support. Coaches, on the other hand, can be more approachable and provide a friendly dynamic that builds trust with patients.

There is also a strong economic rationale behind practitioners adopting a coaching model: demand for mental health care is increasing, while the supply of licensed therapists is limited. Dr. Scheinbaum shares ample evidence of the benefits group coaching offers both patients and mental health practitioners. We also encourage more people who are interested in supporting their community to either employ coaches or consider becoming a coach via the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy.

Listen to the full episode to learn more about:

• The data on the effectiveness of health coaching
• Conditions that often co-occur with mental health challenges
• The downsides to patients over-identifying with mental health diagnoses
• Issues with and opportunities for billing coaching sessions to insurance

We are all familiar with functional medicine and perhaps even functional fitness, but have you heard of functional joy? Our guest for this podcast episode is Radha Agrawal, a successful entrepreneur and the author of the book Belong. Radha joins us to discuss her organization, Daybreaker, which spans 28 cities and five continents with a mission to foster joy and community.

Daybreaker’s very first events in 2013 were community dance meetups held early in the morning that aimed to replicate the positive aspects of nightlife while excluding alcohol. The scope of their work continues to expand nine years on, but dance is still their primary tool. Radha is now writing another book and developing a curriculum to teach clinicians and others to systematically foster joy in their communities. Community is a factor critical to chronic disease prevention and reversal, so we invited Radha to share her extensive experience with this powerful predictor of health outcomes often overlooked by healthcare institutions.

Download the episode to learn about:

• Consciously building communities
• How to foster joy for yourself and your patients
• The importance of hospitality and designing welcoming spaces in medicine
• The biochemistry of joy (D.O.S.E.)
• And much more!

If this episode uplifts and inspires you, we encourage you to share it with your friends, colleagues and community.

EvoMed listeners have access to a 25% discount off the Dose membership with code "EVOMED."  http://dose.daybreaker.com?code=evomed