Friends,

Holy smokes, have I got news for you. I’ve officially launched a provider-centric, incredible community gathering space to address burnout for you and build resilience for your patients. It’s called The Provider Lounge: A Community to Build Resilience. It’s part content, part community and it’s going to be fantastic and I don’t want you to miss out!

Here’s what I know for sure – you’ll change inside this community. You’re probably already reading these newsletters because you’ve worked with me, attended a workshop, come to a lunch & learn, or been part of my retreat. And what everyone leaves with, after working with me, is wanting more. Attendees have literally said, “Where do I get my own, personal Dr. Amy?” Well, this is your chance! My skills of creating community, script-building, practical interventions, and easy-to-learn tools that will build buffering sources for you and your patients are all wrapped up in this opportunity – monthly content AND community in The Provider Lounge.

I know you want to feel less overwhelmed and more purposeful in your work. I know you feel burnout at times. And I know your goal is to connect more meaningfully with patients and respond to their stress, trauma, and adversity with actionable next steps. But, that takes time and implementation.

Let me help you. We’ll work together, in community, and over time you’ll feel like a resilience ninja! Come to monthly meetings, ask questions and dive into content. It’s all here for you in The Lounge.

Would you like to:

• Engage with a community of like-minded peers
• Reduce your own professional burnout
• Learn point-of-care resilience building tools that can be used in 2-5 minutes?
• Gain access to a growing library of resources for facilitation of this work
• Have access to a seasoned developmental psychologist?

If so, The Provider Lounge is for YOU!

If you sign up by Friday, November 19, you’re in at the founding member’s price AND I’m going to give you access to my transformational parenting course, The Art of Imperfect Parenting. The founding member’s price is yours forever. As The Provider Lounge grows in resources, number and authority, your price stays the same! And, if you don’t love it, you can cancel at any time.

Join us – come for the content, stay for the community. Find a soft place to land in The Provider Lounge.

With kindness,

Dr. Amy

Hey friends,

Have you heard of the term “pacesetter?” If you’ve entered running races, swimming events, biking races, or the like, you’ve probably heard about pacesetters in that context. A pacesetter is a person who does exactly that: sets the pace for others. In a moment, I’m going to make the argument that I can be your pacesetter for navigating stress and decreasing burnout, but more on that later. In a large race, you’ll find a person holding a sign or leading a group with a paced time on it. Before high-tech gear, a pacesetter would have one of those sandwich board that said “10 min mile” and would encourage others who aspired to run a 10-minute mile to run with them, assuring a finishing time that met their goals. See where I’m going here? And, by the way, don’t judge me for running a 10-minute mile as a reference point. 10 minute miles get the job done! But I digress…

What we’re all going through as helpers during the middle of the pandemic is nothing short of an ultra-marathon. Not a 5K or 10K as we initially thought. Heck, this pandemic isn’t even a marathon…but an ultra-marathon. We’re going to need more than good sneakers, Gu and some inspirational beats to get through all of this. We need a pacesetter. May I be your pacesetter?

You see, as medical providers, you’re trained to put on a brave face and help others, even during the most trying times. But the last year and a half have been exhausting. Am I right? And it’s difficult to find respite, purpose, and sift through all of the messages of self-care. How are you supposed to do that while running a clinic, seeing patients, taking care of your staff, and rolling out vaccines? I’m here to help.

I am hosting a workshop this week– to give you practical tools to feel less burned out so you can practice meaningful medicine. As soon as the pandemic hit, I began reaching out to medical providers, clinics, and hospitals about how I might help. I spoke with medical directors in tears, providers in panic, and distraught colleagues. I knew we had to focus on practical tools to mitigate the effects of the pandemic and see this as an ultra-marathon if we were going to make it through intact.

Earlier in this newsletter series, we began with acknowledgment. Acknowledgment begins a healing process. Then we moved into support and resources. And now, as we begin to reconcile with what we’ve been through (and still have curveballs thrown at us) and what we continue to go through, we need ways to navigate the uncertainty of primary care. We need practical tools and actionable next steps to make sense of what’s happening and clear the way for a meaningful path forward.

Here’s exactly what we’ll be covering in the webinar if you join me:

• Recognizing the signs of burnout
• Understanding compounding stress and its effect on us
• Practical tools to address overwhelm
• Actionable tools to deal with uncertainty
• Ways to find purpose
• Moving into community

The workshop will take place this Wednesday, November 10th at 6:00 pm PST. Register at https://doctoramyllc.mykajabi.com/registration-page

Come and run a 10-minute mile with me! Or just come, drink wine and listen. It’s better in company!

With compassion,

Dr. Amy

Friends and Colleagues,

If you read last week’s newsletter, you know that burnout is a critical theme to address in primary care. And yet, it’s quite complicated and multi-layered as well. If you haven’t read it, you can do so here.

You may be asking yourself, “If I’ve identified that I’m burned out and overwhelmed, now what? What can I do? Is there even hope? Or, do I just put my head down and keep forging on with no end in sight?” Please don’t do that – do not continue to forge ahead in isolation. I want to offer a few key insights into what addresses burnout and what we can begin to do.

First, know that it’s not entirely on you. Too many well-intentioned consultants, therapists and coaches suggest that the key to burnout is self-care. While addressing self-care is important, it’s only ONE PART of addressing burnout. In fact, I’ve consulted with hundreds of health care professionals who are doing ALL.OF.THE.RIGHT.THINGS when it comes to self-care – eating, sleeping and exercising – and they’re still overwhelmed and burned out. No amount of healthy eating can address things like organizational stress or marginalization, poor work environments or an ongoing pandemic. Recognizing that addressing burnout is bigger than you represents a critical step.

Second, you have to name it – the burn out. The overwhelm. The feeling of hopelessness and resignation. That pit in your stomach that realizes you are lacking purpose or passion in your practice. I know it seems terrifying, right? Naming the overwhelm? But I’ve actually never seen a time where acknowledging hurt made it worse in the long-term. It’s painful, sure. And it can be scary. You might worry you’re all alone and that no one else can relate. Or worse, that others will judge you as incompetent. But, only if we name it can we begin to address the chronic fatigue and burden we’re experiencing.

Finally, we need to embrace a bit of vulnerability. We need to find a person (or many people). Next week, we’ll discuss finding your pacesetter. If you’re not sure what that is, stay tuned. But in the meantime, I want you to try something. Acknowledge overwhelm to one other person – maybe it’s a colleague, your partner, your life coach, a friend, or your dog. Find the courage to say, “I’m not sure how long I can go on like this…” Or, recognize overwhelm or fatigue in a friend or colleague and say, “I see you.” Then watch. Watch what happens when we say it out loud.

Perfection is not what people need from us. They need to know we’re entirely human. Humanness builds connection. It heals loneliness and isolation. Connection builds a bridge to others that says, “I’m with you, you’re not alone in this.” 

The only way to begin to “cure” burnout is to recognize 1. It’s not entirely on you. 2. You must name it. 3. Embrace being vulnerable for a bit with one other person – for yourself and for the other person.

Join me next week as we talk about how to continue to build those bridges of connection by recognizing your pacesetter.

Until then, hopefully I’ll see you in The Provider Lounge – A Community Build Resilience. It’s a special group just for providers that meets the first Thursday of every month at 12:30 PST via zoom. Here’s the link to join us. And just a week after the Provider Lounge meets, I’m hosting a FREE workshop on burnout – here’s the link for you to grab a friend and join us!

With compassion for all you do,

Dr. Amy