Powerful True Story Inspires Others to Seek Adventure, Turn Each Day into a Gift
Fort Wayne, IN, February 3, 2021 — Brittany Moser’s short life was not defined by how she died, but rather, by how she lived each day to the fullest and the profound impact she had on those around her. Brittany died from a rare condition, Addison’s disease, in 2017 at the age of 32. She had been a happy-go-lucky flight attendant, soaring high above reality, when her diagnosis suddenly brought her down to earth.
Rather than buckle under the weight of fear, she chose to be fearless and embarked upon the adventure of a lifetime with her best friend — her father. Free and Fearless: The Amazing Impact of One Precious Lifeis Brittany’s unforgettable story as told by her father, Philip Moser.
“This book is not about the grief of losing a child, but about making the most out of what we are given and living our lives positively and not out of fear,” Moser writes. “Brittany inspired me, an ordinary farm boy, to explore life, to climb mountains and to write a book.”
Free and Fearless is an honest, poignant account of Brittany’s legacy and the ripple effect that her outlook on life had on everyone who knew her. Philip hopes that by hearing her story, readers will be inspired by Brittany’s contagious spirit and unwavering desire for new adventures and experiences — even in the shadow of an incurable illness.
Among Brittany’s valuable life lessons that Philip shares with readers are:
1. How precious life is and how we can affect the people around us; 2. How an open mind and a positive attitude can inspire us to do things we never thought possible; 3. How to move out of our comfort zones and into a challenging existence that can turn each day into an exciting gift to be explored; 4. How to not let fear control us, and to use our abilities to seek unique, positive and inspiring adventures; 5. To embrace change as a natural part of life; 6. And finally, that we won’t be remembered by our things or our savings accounts, but by how we made other people feel.
“I want to share the same inspiration that I received for 32 years,” Philip added. “In the end, love truly does conquer all, and Brittany wanted us to know that.”
Author Philip Moser grew up on a farm in Angola, Indiana. After high school, he began working in different aspects of the grocery business, a career that continues to this day. He and his wife, Marilyn Wells, raised two incredible daughters, Camille and Brittany.
New Book Empowers, Challenges Gay Men to Own their Truths
Seattle, WA, February 3, 2020 — Acceptance of homosexuality and same-sex marriage has increased dramatically over the past two decades, but this expanding approval from society at large does nothing to negate the internal struggles that most gay men face — particularly young gay men — in response to familial and societal expectations. Their road toward self-discovery is long and arduous, pockmarked by generational biases and homophobic messaging. An introspective tug-of-war wages each time a new milestone approaches, and with no clear path in sight, many gay men simply find themselves in a proverbial roundabout, trapped in an endless loop of no-win situations.
“If we don’t live honestly and openly, we won’t have the skills, wisdom, or relationships necessary to manifest our dreams,” says Britt East, author of A Gay Man's Guide to Life: Get Real, Stand Tall, and Take Your Place. “But when we do come out, we must confront the full force of societal homophobia, and consider a variety of questions.”
Among those uncertainties are how to create a family without mimicking the norms of a straight society; how to overcome internalized homophobia and cultivate sustainable gay friendships; and, in a world of hook-up apps and disposable relationships, how to find lasting love.
AGay Man’s Guide to Life, which ispart memoir and part inspirational guidebook, addresses these crucial topics and many others, through the lens of a gay man, for gay men everywhere.
Britt candidly and vividly shares his own traumatic, personal journey, and uses his experiences and insights to inform an approachable, no-nonsense path to help gay men set down excuses and get to the business of improving the most important facets of their lives, including body, mind, spirit, career, family and more. He offers hope and support, giving readers the sense of family that perhaps they never had. AGay Man’s Guide to Life is not comprised ofnew-age mumbo jumbo or wishy-washy self-help jargon. It is about real work focused on real results to help members of the gay community.
At its core, AGay Man’s Guide to Life is a manual for personal growth and development, with plenty of pragmatic advice to challenge and inspire gay men to uncover their true selves and live their best lives.
Britt East is an author and speaker who uses his experience, strength and hope to challenge and inspire change-oriented gay men to get down to the business of improving their lives. With over two decades of personal growth and development experience in a variety of modalities, such as the 12 Steps, Nonviolent Communication, yoga, meditation, talk therapy and the Hoffman Process, Britt is committed to building a personal practice of self-discovery that he can then share with gay men everywhere. He lives in Seattle with his husband and their crazy dog.
For more insights from the author, please visit www.britteast.com, or follow him on Instagram (@britteast); Twitter (@britteast); or Facebook (@brittdawsoneast).
A Gay Man's Guide to Life: Get Real, Stand Tall, and Take Your Place
Publisher: Houndstooth Press
ISBN-10: 1544509227
ISBN-13: 978-1544509228
Available from Amazon.com, BN.com, Apple Books and many online outlets
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Doctors emphasize need to follow science, evidence to curb the pandemic
TORONTO, Feb. 3, 2021 /CNW/ - Ontario's doctors today stressed the importance of using science and proven public health measures as the basis for decisions on how to curb the pandemic, despite the alarming amount of misinformation still being spread about COVID-19.
The Ontario Medical Association released exclusive new data today showing that more than 100,000 Ontarians are actively engaged in social media conversations about whether the COVID-19 pandemic is a hoax and whether they should get the vaccine.
About three-quarters of people taking part in those conversations are supporting or promoting the misinformation, while the others are questioning or trying to refute these allegations. Slightly more men than women are participating.
"As Ontarians continue to make hard choices and suffer the consequences of this pandemic, it is discouraging and even dangerous to have such a disproportionate amount of misinformation," said Dr. Samantha Hill, president of the Ontario Medical Association. "Flagrant misinformation puts us all at risk and the best way to get the most correct and up-to-date answers to your personalized questions in your community is to ask your family doctor or public health expert."
The OMA is holding a media briefing today on the Three Vs of this stage of the pandemic: virus variants, vaccine hesitancy and verification of the facts (how physician researchers are using science and big data to combat continuing misinformation.)
According to data collected by Advanced Symbolics Inc. between late December 2020 and Jan. 24, 2021, an astonishing 105,000 Ontarians are discussing COVID hoax and misinformation on social media. ASI uses artificial intelligence methodology to build a representative sample of Ontarians from publicly available social media information and obtain insights into public discussions about vaccine hesitancy.
Past surveys by ASI have found that people over the age of 45 tend to talk more about the politics and policies around pandemic restrictions and vaccine rollout, suggesting the hoax and misinformation chatter is taking place among those under 45.
One of the physicians on the OMA panel, Dr. Fahad Razak, will present new data showing the shocking drop in the number of people admitted to Toronto hospitals during the pandemic for heart attacks, strokes, congestive heart failure and the breathing difficulties from COPD. He said the drop was partly due to patients being afraid to seek urgent care at hospital for fear of contracting COVID-19 there. He noted it took more than a year for people to get over similar fears after SARS, and that we could be building an even bigger pandemic deficit of delayed care than happened during SARS. At the same time, recent data shows that hospital capacity has become a much bigger worry during the latest wave of the pandemic.
Dr. Razak co-leads the General Medicine Inpatient Initiative (GEMINI), the largest hospital-based big data network in Canada, covering about 70 per cent of Ontario's hospitalized medical patients. It extracts data generated as part of routine medical care and uses it to improve hospital processes and patient outcomes. He and colleagues recently received a large grant from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research to study how hospitals can reorganize their model of care during pandemics and better preserve scarce resources such as ventilators and personal protective equipment.
The OMA has been active in combatting misinformation online about topics such as vaccination since 2019. For more factual answers to COVID vaccine questions, click here.
By the numbers:
Number of people talking about COVID hoaxes and lies: 105,071
About 26 per cent of people engaged in this conversation are reinforcing the facts of COVID-19
Proportionately, men are more engaged than women on this topic -- 1,029 men per 100,000 Ontarians compared to 846 women
Up to 50 per cent fewer patients seeking acute care for stroke, heart and lung conditions during one month in pandemic
"Ontario's doctors have been working around the clock to provide the best possible front-line patient care. They are making evidence-based decisions, getting patients the care they need and helping to vaccinate the public, said OMA CEO Allan O' Dette "Do your part. Stick to the facts, follow expert public health guidelines and when in doubt, ask your doctor."
About the OMA
The Ontario Medical Association represents Ontario's 43,000-plus physicians, medical students and retired physicians, advocating for and supporting doctors while strengthening the leadership role of doctors in caring for patients. Our vision is to be the trusted voice in transforming Ontario's health-care system.
SOURCE Ontario Medical Association
Vegan Life Nutrition Introduces Synergistically Vegan: the Supplemental Superhero
San Diego-based nutrition company releases groundbreaking calcium supplement that’s scientifically designed to be one of the most efficient at building stronger bones
(Vista, CA) January 13, 2021: Vegan Life Nutrition, part of The GHT Companies’ family of brands, has announced the debut of Synergistically Vegan, a game-changer in the realm of vegan supplements that combines the power of D3, K2, and calcium into one comprehensive nutraceutical that magnifies the body’s natural absorption and promotes density-health in bone and teeth.
Synergistically Vegan is a breakthrough in vegan calcium supplements. It’s designed to work in tandem with the body’s natural processes to streamline the absorption of calcium precisely where it’s needed most: the skeletal system. The key lies in the pairing of three critical ingredients: calcium plus vitamins D3 and K2. Just as the supplement name suggests, these three active ingredients work synergistically to help build and maintain healthy density in bones and teeth.
“We’re not just throwing vegan calcium into a supplement and calling it a day,” said Jim Rex, President of The GHT Companies. “What our science team designed is a product that contains precise ingredients that work in sync with your body’s natural chemistry to help effectively build and maintain stronger bones,” Rex added.
While 100% vegan calcium is the star of the show in Synergistically Vegan, the other active ingredients in this groundbreaking product shine, too. Vitamin K2 redirects the calcium away from other organs and towards the bones, while vitamin D3 facilitates the skeletal system’s calcium absorption process. These two ingredients also help improve overall heart health and immune system function, respectively.
“Research routinely shows that vegans are at much higher risk for being deficient in all of these nutrients,” said Rex. “What we have formulated in Synergistically Vegan really is a boon for vegans and vegetarians interested not only in maintaining their bone health but their overall health as well.”
Vegan Life Nutrition prides itself on offering pure and potent nutritional solutions for vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike. Their other products include vegan vitamin D3 in multiple formulations like sprays, softgels, gummies, and chewable tablets, as well as a wide range of other vegan supplements including, vitamin B12, vitamin C, and an innovative Marine Phytoplankton Line.
Synergistically Vegan is a prime example of how Vegan Life Nutrition’s parent company, The GHT Companies, work with founding scientist partners to deliver leading products to the market. Two of their most prominent global partners’ discoveries are featured in this product: Vitashine™vegan D3 from ESB Developments and vegan K2 from Kappa Bioscience.
“The science team at The GHT Companies is constantly innovating for the good health of our consumers and our community,” says Rex. “Our goal is always to be on the cutting edge, producing products that truly have a lasting impact on the health of our customers. Synergistically Vegan is just the beginning of what we have planned for the Vegan Life Nutrition line.”
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About Vegan Life Nutrition
Vegan Life Nutrition offers a complete line of nutritional products for vegans and non-vegans alike, using nothing but the cleanest, highest quality plant-based ingredients to support healthy lifestyles.
Backed by the groundbreaking knowledge developed through exclusive global partnerships, Vegan Life Nutrition’s breakthroughs push the boundaries of plant-based nutrition to bridge the gap between the most cutting-edge nutritional science and good personal health.
About The GHT Companies
The GHT Companies is one of the most trusted names in the nutritional supplement field since 1996. The group is structured to collaborate with founding scientists to develop their unique ingredient/product discoveries and to deliver industry-leading, high-quality consumer products and ingredients on a global basis.
The GHT Companies uses its unique business structure of 5 diverse subsidiaries that touch on all facets of the nutraceutical industry in order to provide products and services to customers in the most effective way possible.
Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Information and statements made are for educational purposes and are not intended to replace the advice of your health care professional.
Finding Our Niche Delivers Hopeful Exploration of Humanity’s Place in the Natural World
New York City, NY, and Toronto, CAN, February 2, 2021 — Imagine a world where humanity isn’t destined to cause harm to the natural world, where win-win scenarios—people and nature thriving together—are possible. In reality, of course, we’re facing numerous environmental challenges, from climate change to an ocean full of plastic and global declines in biodiversity—all of which have led many people to assume that humanity is fundamentally flawed, that these problems are inevitable, and the story of our species is destined to be nasty, brutish and short. But what if this narrative could be dismantled?
In Finding Our Niche: Toward a Restorative Human Ecology, Philip A. Loring explores the tragedies and myths of Western society and offers fascinating and hopeful examples that can guide us toward reconciling our damaging settler-colonial histories and tremendous environmental missteps so that we might realign our lives with the rest of the natural world.
“The volume of problems that we hear about on the news every day make it easy to feel fatalistic about our future. I believe that people are hungry for good news and optimism to fuel their own actions and ambitions,” Loring says. “With this book, my focus is on stories of healing, growth and transformation—stories that make real and durable change seem both tangible and achievable.”
Drawing upon numerous examples from around the world, from cattle ranchers on the Burren in Ireland, to clam gardeners in British Columbia and protectors of an accidental wetland in northwest Mexico, Loring offers a set of ecological metaphors, including keystone, engineer and sentinel, which collectively contribute to a more optimistic vision for our future, one where people and nature thrive together. Interwoven are stories of Loring’s personal struggles to reconcile his identity as a white settler living and working on stolen Indigenous lands.
In a moment when our world is hanging in the balance, Finding Our Niche is a hopeful exploration of humanity’s place in the natural world, one that focuses on how we can heal and reconcile our unique human ecologies to achieve more sustainable and just societies.
Dr. Philip Loring is a widely respected anthropologist, ecologist and writer. His work focuses on the intersection of sustainability, food systems and social justice, and he is particularly interested in solutions where people and ecosystems thrive together. He studied at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and his research has taken him to such diverse places as the temperate rainforests of British Columbia, the prairies of Saskatchewan, the highlands of Guatemala and the Sonoran Desert in Mexico. An avid science communicator, Loring emphasizes writing, film and other forms of storytelling to reach diverse audiences. He has published over 50 academic papers, multiple book chapters and reports, and numerous essays for popular online magazines including Ensia.com. He has also produced several short films and given presentations in numerous international venues, including for the OECD, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and TEDx. He is also a regular contributor to CBC Radio Syndication. Finding Our Niche is his first book.
For more information, please visit www.conservationofchange.org, or connect with the author on Twitter (@conservechange) or on Facebook (FindingOurNicheBook).
Finding Our Niche: Toward a Restorative Human Ecology
Publisher: Fernwood Publishing
ISBN-10: 1773632876
ISBN-13: 978-1773632872
Available from Amazon.com and wherever books are sold
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Make ‘Go on a Diet’ Resolutions Obsolete with the Whole Person Integrative Eating Program
San Francisco, CA, February 2, 2021 — What if you never again need to make a New Year’s resolution to lose weight or “go on a diet” because your most-of-the-time way of eating empowers you to eat and weigh less? Original, pioneering research by holistic nutrition researcher Deborah Kesten, M.P.H., and behavioral scientist Larry Scherwitz, Ph.D.—authors of the award-winning Whole Person Integrative Eating: A Breakthrough Dietary Lifestyle to Treat the Root Causes of Overeating, Overweight, and Obesity—reveals that replacing the complex reasons you overeat— called “overeating styles”—with the scientifically sound Whole Person Integrative Eating (WPIE) dietary lifestyle (meaning, WPIE is a way of life; it’s not a traditional diet) may make weight-loss resolutions obsolete.
“Now is the time to ‘reset’ and rethink what and how we eat; to replace traditional dieting with a scientifically sound way of eating that lessens overeating and that leads naturally to weight loss, health and healing,” says Kesten.
Kesten and Scherwitz share a simple yet powerful premise: Identify the reasons you overeat (your overeating styles) and gain weight—with the illuminating self-assessment quiz—then overcome overeating and lose weight by replacing your overeating styles with the antidotes: the elements of the Whole Person Integrative Eating program.
By shedding light on the root causes of overeating, Kesten and Scherwitz present a program that empowers readers with a personalized plan, and in turn new hope and new choices to help them reduce overeating, lose weight and keep it off.
WPIE is not a diet that a person goes on … then off. It is a scientifically sound, dietary lifestyle designed to be practiced for a lifetime.
"If people follow the revolutionary program outlined in this game-changing, insightful book, it may be the most helpful step they can take toward losing weight and keeping it off," says bestselling author Kenneth Pelletier, M.D., Ph.D., clinical professor of medicine at University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco.
The authors’ paradigm-shifting message is that food influences not only the physical dimensions of health, but also our emotional, spiritual and social well-being. Their dietary lifestyle can build bridges between the millions who struggle with overeating and weight issues and the medical community. And it can inspire us all to re-envision our relationships with food, eating and weight, so that each time we eat, we are nourished … for life.
Deborah Kesten, M.P.H.,is an international nutrition researcher, award-winning author and health journalist, with a specialty in preventing and reversing obesity and heart disease. She is also an experienced, expert speaker and presenter—from TV and podcast interviews to large conferences and small-group workshops.
Kesten served as Nutritionist on Dean Ornish, M.D.’s first clinical trial for reversing heart disease through lifestyle changes, the results of which were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. She was Director of Nutrition at cardiovascular clinics in Europe and on the Board of Directors of the American Heart Association, San Francisco.
Kesten has published more than 400 nutrition and health articles. Her first book, Feeding the Body, Nourishing the Soul, received the first-place gold award in the Spirituality category from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. Whole Person Integrative Eating has been honored with the No.1 gold, best-book award in the Health category by Book Excellence Awards and is a No. 1 Amazon best seller. Kesten is a VIP Contributor at Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global, and is married to behavioral scientist and co-author of Whole Person Integrative Eating, Larry Scherwitz, Ph.D.
PEER-REVIEWED STUDY SHOWS THAT CORDANT HEALTH SOLUTIONS’ PHARMACY PROGRAM INTEGRATED WITH ADDICTION TREATMENT CLINICS IS ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER PATIENT RETENTION IN CARE AND BETTER HEALTH OUTCOMES A study reveals that Cordant’s managed medication-assisted program is having a significant impact on patients with opioid use disorder through its unique pharmacy solution.
Cordant Health Solutions®, a national leader in providing innovative tools for providers and patients in addiction treatment programs, in a recently published study in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, demonstrates that patients using Cordant’s managed medication-assisted treatment (MAT) pharmacy program had a 52% higher retention in treatment, 46% fewer opiate-positive lab tests and 41% fewer drug-related emergency department visits than those who previously received their buprenorphine from traditional retail pharmacies. Also noted in the study, 100% of the respondents reported they would recommend Cordant’s pharmacy program.
The study examined data from patients within their first 90 days of treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) at Northwest Integrated Health (NWIH) in Tacoma, Washington, before and after implementation of Cordant’s pharmacy program. The objective of this study was to determine if there was a difference in treatment retention, medication adherence, return to illicit drug use, and health outcomes for 154 patients who used Cordant’s pharmacy program compared with a randomly selected, equally sized subset of patients who did not.
“Historically, the concept of access to treatment for OUD primarily focused on a patient’s access to a provider who can treat and prescribe without considering obstacles to receiving the medication itself from retail pharmacies,” said Dr. Asif Khan, CEO and chairman of NWIH and co-author of the study. “Barriers like transportation can be challenging for this patient group, so to ask them to go to another location after their clinic visit adds an additional hurdle they have to overcome. Then they need to find a pharmacy that regularly stocks addiction treatment medication and doesn’t treat them like a drug addict. Unfortunately, this poses a real threat to their sobriety, and that’s why I believe these study outcomes are so meaningful.”
Despite the strong evidence for the efficacy of medications like buprenorphine for OUD in reducing mortality, retaining patients in care can be challenging, with many patients discontinuing treatment prematurely, sometimes within a few days or weeks after initiation. However, the study findings show that using Cordant’s pharmacy program may significantly improve patient retention in treatment as well as medication adherence.
“It’s easy to see the difference Cordant’s pharmacy program has on your patients when you experience it firsthand,” said Khan. “But to put it through a test, as we did with this study, and to see numbers like 52% higher retention in treatment and 41% fewer drug-related emergency department visits during a very vulnerable stage of treatment, the first 90 days, means we are saving lives, just by removing a big barrier—the barrier to receiving medication in a stigma-free and convenient way.”
The study also included a patient experience survey to provide critical insights into how removing the need to find pharmacies to fill buprenorphine prescriptions directly impacted participating patients. The study highlighted some patients’ experience in Cordant’s pharmacy program. Below are a couple of quotes from the study:
“I love the privacy of it. Not having a long line of people hearing or judging.”
“This study provides further validation of the impact Cordant’s pharmacy program has on patient lives and serves as important information for clinicians and treatment organizations when evaluating how to improve patient care,” said Sue Sommer, CEO and president of Cordant. “Being able to show a meaningful decrease in both drug-related emergency department utilization and opiate use with our program means patients are more adherent to their treatment plan, and with improved adherence comes decreased risk for relapse and reduced cost of care.”
In this 3-minute video co-author Elizabeth Kolb walks through the impressive results ofthe study.
About Cordant Health Solutions® Cordant Health Solutions® (cordantsolutions.com) provides innovative tools for monitoring behavioral health, chronic pain and criminal justice cases. Cordant’s unique pharmacy and drug testing programs provide accurate, actionable results to protect prescribers, hold patients accountable and optimize quality of life.
A leader in quality standards, Cordant provides solutions for payers, clinicians and organizations involved with substance use disorder, pain management and criminal justice agencies. Cordant is one of the only healthcare companies that offers monitoring and risk assessment tools through its innovative drug testing options and full-service, high-touch pharmacies, which specialize in the management and dispensing of addiction treatment medications. Cordant’s testing protocols and digital case-management tools help clients become more efficient and effective in using drug testing programs to monitor patient adherence, reduce risk and improve patient outcomes.
New YouTube - Current Supplements and What's In My Gym Bag
Let God Transform Your Brokenness into Something Beautiful
Seattle, WA, February 2, 2021 — The next time you experience failure, feel insecure or sense that you’re in over your head, embrace that moment — because it can be the turning point you need to learn and grow in wonderful new directions.
“We’re going to fail. The truth is, that’s exactly where God wants us to be so that He can grow us,” writes Christine Soule in her inspirational story, Broken and Beautiful. “The key is discovering who you are in Christ — your true identify. And that’s especially significant if you, like me, have a past of brokenness.”
Soule’s life was a jumbled pile of broken pieces. Her father was married seven times; her mother four times. Between her parents’ divorce when she was 5 years old and the day she allowed the power and presence of God into her heart, she watched her sister have an affair with her adoptive father; met 15 siblings she never knew at her biological father’s funeral; turned to drugs and alcohol; got pregnant at 17; had twins less than two years later; and became a victim of human trafficking. She had to break the cycle for the sake of her children. With nowhere else to turn, she dropped to her knees and prayed. And that’s when everything changed.
Broken and Beautiful is Soule’s remarkable story of how God took the pieces of her broken, astonishingly dysfunctional life and transformed it all into a breathtaking mosaic of joy and purpose.
“The places where you feel hopeless are exactly what He wants to redeem and fill with beauty, dignity and strength. He has a plan for your pain. A wonderful intention for your failures. A purpose for your hardest, darkest stories,” Soule writes.
Told with honesty and surprising touches of humor, Soule shares her journey from drug-addicted stripper to exuberant Jesus lover with a passion for helping others embrace God’s love. Broken and Beautiful is a raw, authentic story of hope, from a place of experience.
Author Christine Soule lives with the love of her life, Mitch Soule, in Seattle. They have five kids and three wonderful grandchildren. She is the founder and CEO of Providence Heights (www.providenceheights.org), a nonprofit created to house women and children in need and to provide counseling, education and jobs.
When Anxiety Strikes at Work, Here Are Seven Ways to Calm Yourself Down Working in healthcare is a recipe for stress and burnout these days—one that can trigger anxiety, despair, and even panic. These seven tactics can help you a grip on your emotions and get back to work.
Nashville, TN (January 2021)—We all have those moments when work is just too much. And if you’re working on the frontlines in healthcare right now, it may be happening more than ever. Maybe another patient just died, or a family member is hysterical and there’s nothing you can do, or your supervisor just announced that the COVID unit is now full. Whatever the reason, you suddenly feel triggered, overwhelmed, and on the verge of panic. You know you need to keep it together, but frankly, you feel you’re about to fall apart.
Diana Hendel, PharmD says everyone in healthcare needs an action plan for handling those triggering moments.
“Fighting as hard as you can for your patients 24/7 takes a toll, especially after enduring nearly a year of COVID-related traumatic stress,” says Dr. Hendel, coauthor along with Dr. Mark Goulston of Why Cope When You Can Heal?: How Healthcare Heroes of COVID-19 Can Recover from PTSD (Harper Horizon, December 2020, ISBN: 978-0-7852-4462-2, $17.99). “But when you are armed with the resources to recenter yourself during periods of distress, you can deal with those triggering moments, recover, and get back to work.”
Why Cope When You Can Heal? shares therapeutic approaches that are currently used to effectively treat traumatic stress and introduces powerful exercises to help you move through the trauma and further your healing. Read on for some tools and resources you can turn to anytime you feel triggered at work by traumatic stress.
Take a few minutes to get grounded. Grounding is a great way to reduce anxiety and arrive in the here and now. Use it anytime you feel carried away by anxious thoughts or feelings, or triggered by upsetting memories and flashbacks.
Find a comfortable place to sit (or stand). If sitting, rest your hands on your legs. Feel the fabric of your clothing. Notice its color and texture.
Next, bring your awareness to your body. Stretch your neck from side to side. Relax your shoulders. Tense and relax your calves. Stomp your feet.
Look around and notice the sights, sounds, and scents around you for a few moments.
Name fifteen to twenty things you can see. For example, the floor, a light, a desk, a sink.
As you keep looking around, remind yourself that “The flashback or emotion I felt is in the past. Right now, in this moment, I’m safe.”
Harness the power of deep breathing. We tend to hold our breath whenever we are stressed, but this only exacerbates feelings of anxiety and panic. Instead use “box breathing” to calm yourself and heighten your concentration. Box breathing is the technique of taking slow, deep, full breaths. Here’s a tutorial for when you’re feeling triggered.
Slowly exhale your breath through your mouth. Consciously focus on clearing all the oxygen from your lungs. Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose for four slow counts. Hold your breath for four more slow counts. On the next four counts, exhale again through your mouth until your lungs are empty. Hold your breath again for a final slow count of four beats.
Reach for an amulet to help anchor you…Carry a small reminder of what you love about your life and focus on it if you feel triggered and need to center yourself. It might be a photo of your kids or pet, a small rock you picked up on a scenic nature hike, or a special necklace. Think of the gratitude you feel for your life whenever you look at this token.
…Or grab a human lifeline. Make sure there’s at least one person you can reach out to when feeling triggered. Ideally, your workplace will have a formal support group to help you deal with the stressors of the pandemic. But if not, consider forming your own informal “fire team” consisting of the colleagues fighting by your side. Not only can this team meet a few times a week to talk through the challenges of the crisis, but you can also reach out to a member anytime you need support. And if you are feeling truly overwhelmed or desperate, don’t hesitate to seek professional help. Reach out to your company’s EAP or contact a mental health professional.
Let your feelings out (when possible). At times you may find you need to step away from your duties for a few minutes and give those intense emotions some “breathing room.” Try to move to a different room so you can cry or discreetly express your feelings. Sometimes you need to release the stress that’s built up in your body, and finding a private place to let the tears fall or vent for a few minutes can lighten your stress and enable you to get back to work.
Play a mind game. “If there is no way to speak to someone else and you need comfort in the moment, imagine talking to someone who loves you,” says Dr. Goulston. “Imagine that they are listening and lovingly holding and encouraging you. As you hear them talking and walking you through it, you will feel their love and belief in you. This kind of mental pep talk can be a bridge until you are able to speak your feelings to somebody in person.”
Get out of the building for a few minutes. If at all possible, try to get outside for a few minutes of fresh air. Take deep breaths, stretch your arms and legs, and take in the gifts of nature around you. And if possible find someone else who is on a break and invite them for a ten-minute walk so the two of you can blow off steam.
“It’s important to acknowledge your feelings—no matter how inconvenient they may be—when you are in crisis,” concludes Dr. Hendel. “When you are triggered, there’s no benefit in suppressing your emotions because they will only intensify and surface again and again until you deal with them. And if you are not okay, there’s no way you can be there for your patients. Face and release what’s bothering you, and then you will be able to keep going.”
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About the Authors: Mark Goulston, MD, FAPA Dr. Mark Goulston is the coauthor of Why Cope When You Can Heal?: How Healthcare Heroes of COVID-19 Can Recover from PTSD (Harper Horizon, December 2020) and Trauma to Triumph: A Roadmap for Leading Through Disruption and Thriving on the Other Side (HarperCollins Leadership, Spring 2021). He is a board-certified psychiatrist, fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, former assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA NPI, and a former FBI and police hostage negotiation trainer. He is the creator of Theory Y Executive Coaching—which he provides to CEOs, presidents, founders, and entrepreneurs—and is a TEDx and international keynote speaker.
He is the creator and developer of Surgical Empathy, a process to help people recover and heal from PTSD, prevent suicide in teenagers and young adults, and help organizations overcome implicit bias.
Dr. Goulston is the author or principal author of seven prior books, including PTSD for Dummies, Get Out of Your Own Way: Overcoming Self-Defeating Behavior, Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone, Real Influence: Persuade Without Pushing and Gain Without Giving In, and Talking to Crazy: How to Deal with the Irrational and Impossible People in Your Life. He hosts the My Wakeup Call podcast, where he speaks with influencers about their purpose in life and the wakeup calls that led them there. He also is the co-creator and moderator of the multi-honored documentary Stay Alive: An Intimate Conversation About Suicide Prevention.
He appears frequently as a human psychology and behavior subject-area expert across all media, including news outlets ABC, NBC, CBS, and BBC News, as well as CNN, Today, Oprah, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune,Harvard Business Review, Business Insider, Fast Company, Huffington Post, and Westwood One. He was also featured in the PBS special “Just Listen.”
Diana Hendel, PharmD Dr. Diana Hendel is the coauthor of Why Cope When You Can Heal?: How Healthcare Heroes of COVID-19 Can Recover from PTSD (Harper Horizon, December 2020) and Trauma to Triumph: A Roadmap for Leading Through Disruption and Thriving on the Other Side (HarperCollins Leadership, Spring 2021). She is an executive coach and leadership consultant, former hospital CEO, and author of Responsible: A Memoir, a riveting and deeply personal account of leading during and through the aftermath of a deadly workplace trauma.
As the CEO of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital, Hendel led one of the largest acute care, trauma, and teaching hospital complexes on the West Coast. She has served in leadership roles in numerous community organizations and professional associations, including chair of the California Children’s Hospital Association, executive committee member of the Hospital Association of Southern California, vice chair of the Southern California Leadership Council, chair of the Greater Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, board member of the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and leader-in-residence of the Ukleja Center for Ethical Leadership at California State University Long Beach.
She earned a BS in biological sciences from UC Irvine and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from UC San Francisco. She has spoken about healthcare and leadership at regional and national conferences and at TEDx SoCal on the topic of “Childhood Obesity: Small Steps, Big Change.”
About the Book: Why Cope When You Can Heal?: How Healthcare Heroes of COVID-19 Can Recover from PTSD (Harper Horizon, December 2020, ISBN: 978-0-7852-4462-2, $17.99) is available in bookstores nationwide and from major online booksellers.
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