How Health Coaching Can Reduce Burnout and Improve Outcomes with Pelvic Physical Therapist and Women’s Health Coach Graduate Silvana Yee

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:00:03 Hi and welcome to the Integrative Women’s Health Podcast. I’m your host, Doctor Jessica Drummond, and I am so thrilled to have you here as we dive into today’s episode. As always, innovating and integrating in the world of women’s health. And just as a reminder, the content in this podcast episode is no substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment from your medical or licensed health care team. While myself and many of my guests are licensed healthcare professionals, we are not your licensed healthcare professionals, so you want to get advice on your unique circumstances. Diagnostic recommendations treatment recommendations from your home medical team. Enjoy the episode. Let’s innovate and integrate together. Hi there, and welcome back to the Integrative Women’s Health Podcast. I’m your host, doctor Jessica Drummond, founder and CEO of the Integrative Women’s Health Institute. Today, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Silvana Yi. She’s a pelvic physical therapist from Canada. Physio, as they say. And she had a child and had that lovely postpartum period at the same time as perimenopause.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:01:31 She was a later in life mom. And this program, she’s going to talk to you about how navigating the Women’s Health Coach certification while she was postpartum and perimenopausal has strongly inspired her and given her the tools now to take care of herself for decades to come, and has given her a completely different perspective Effective on her pelvic health career as a physiotherapist. She’s going to share with you some of the highlights, some of the challenges, some of the tough love she got from her master coach. One of the hardest things that all of our clinicians who are transferring to coaching. She talks a bit about my book back there, clinician to coach. If you are a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, a nutritionist, gynecologist, physician, nurse practitioner, acupuncturist, chiropractor, naturopath, this episode will really strongly resonate with you because you have been trained to tell your patients and clients what to do, and sometimes they don’t do it. And this is the episode that’s going to show you the magic of how we actually help our clients be so empowered that They are the ones leading their healing journeys.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:03:01 No longer are we dragging people like, come on, do this. It’s good for you. You know it’ll help you. And that is really helpful for eliminating clinician burnout and also turning the mirrors on ourselves as clinicians to understand exactly what we need to do to take care of our own health and longevity in our careers while having much, much better work life balance. So enjoy this episode. I’ll chat with you on the other side, where I’m going to give you 1 or 2 key things that I want you to start doing to shift your mindset and your practice to make it much easier for me, for you, starting tomorrow at work. See you on the other side. Welcome back, everyone to the Integrative Women’s Health Podcast. I’m your host, Doctor Jessica Drummond, and I’m here with Silvana Yi, who is a sort of recent graduate of our Women’s Health Coach certification earlier this year. And we’re going to get into her journey as a professional, because I think more than even just her experience transitioning into learning the skill set of women’s health coaching and what she’s doing with that now, there’s a lot to learn from her whole career journey if you’re looking to work in more integrative women’s health.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:04:34 So welcome, Silvana.

Silvana Yee 00:04:36 Hi, Jessica.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:04:37 Hi. So if you can think back to, say, early 2022 before you ever opened your first module of the Women’s Health Coach certification, what was going on in your work and life that inspired you? that. You know what? Now’s the time.

Silvana Yee 00:04:56 Well, I actually was on mat leave at the time, and I remember very clearly I was on vacation on the East Coast, and I was reflecting a lot about my life in general and my career, and I felt like I needed a change. I felt like this needed this change. For a long time. I kind of hummed and hard about things, and then I finally kind of said, you know what? I need to make a change, and I need to make a step. And on the trip, actually, I brought the e-book that you had clinician to health coach, and it kind of gave me a little bit more insight on making that transition. And then, yeah, while I was on my trip, I had a call, I think, with Alexis, and after I had that call, I was like, okay, this is even better.

Silvana Yee 00:05:41 I think this is what I want to dive into next. Yeah, professionally.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:05:45 That’s great. And so you before that, we’re already practicing as a pelvic health PT right.

Silvana Yee 00:05:51 Yes. So I started my career the first ten years of orthopedic PT. Since 2011, I’ve been doing pelvic PT. So yeah, it’s been over 23 years. I can’t believe that.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:06:02 I know, I know. And so personally, you said you were on maternity leave, so you also had now had more of an in-depth personal experience, perhaps, of where there were some gaps in support for perinatal women, women with pelvic health recovery issues. What were some of those gaps you were seeing personally and professionally?

Silvana Yee 00:06:26 Well, in terms of just work wise, I felt that I got a patient up to a certain point, and then I just didn’t have any more tools in the toolbox to offer, or the barrier of the patient being their own worst enemy. And, you know, I was like, okay, what am I going to do now?

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:06:44 Yeah.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:06:44 You’re like, okay, they know exactly what to do. They get it. They understand that it will help them And they’re not doing it. Why? Right.

Silvana Yee 00:06:53 Well, that’s the thing with being, you know, the person giving the recommendations all the time. It’s like, okay, as opposed to, you know what, the health coaching. Oh, the self-revelation kicks in, right? So it’s like, okay. It’s like a very magical tool.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:07:07 It is. And that’s why I love that you started your kind of transition into health coaching by reading clinician to coach. Because in that book, I really detail why it’s so different to be a clinician leading with a clinician mindset, which is like you’re looking at the challenges, you have some tool solutions, but there are many, many, many cases in our experiences as clinicians where the client knows exactly what to do. They’ve even done it a little bit. They’ve seen good results, but they don’t continue. They need that self awareness. That’s the magical fairy dust of health coaching.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:07:47 That’s kind of hard to do explain.

Silvana Yee 00:07:49 Yeah. Like that’s the thing. I was like, oh, what’s happening? Why is this client not being as compliant anymore? You know, why did they self discharge themselves. So yeah. Like it was just huge gap in professional wise. And then you mentioned from a personal perspective. Yeah. Like I would say that I would be in terms of a barrier, I would be my own bearer myself because prior to having my child, I was filling in gaps by keeping busy. So I wasn’t really accountable to anybody but myself. So it’s like, oh, okay, you know, traveled, came and go as I please. You know, I was single at the time. And then I realized, oh, I’m in my 40s. I’m like, okay, you know, maybe I want to have a baby. You know, it’s like, okay, let’s think about this. And I was my own worst enemy at the time. And then I was like, okay, I gotta slow down a little bit and reflect, okay, what do you want to do now and how are you going to do it? You can’t keep up this go, go, go lifestyle anymore.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:08:41 Yeah, I think that’s a very common issue with a lot of our students who have very successful lives and careers in general and on paper, like you’re very productive, your high achieving, but you actually struggle with downtime and even self-assessment. How did that feel for you? Did it feel uncomfortable to just have space in your life?

Silvana Yee 00:09:07 Yeah it did. It felt very uncomfortable at once because I’m a person that doesn’t stay still. My husband nicknames me the tornado, if that gives you any indication.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:09:21 Absolutely. And so all of a sudden, you find yourself kind of having to slow down to take care of a newborn and take care of your own recovery. And that felt really hard.

Silvana Yee 00:09:32 It was hard at first, but then it’s like, okay, the world still moves on. It’s like, I don’t know, I guess I have a bit of FOMO. I don’t want to miss out on things. But you know what? After having a child that changes everything and having a child and getting married later in life definitely brought the awareness of the need for me to stay healthy and lead a healthier lifestyle, because whatever I do now is going to dictate what’s going to happen later on in life.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:10:00 Yeah, I think that’s really interesting because I was talking with some of my friends the other night, and several of them had have had their children in their 40s, and now they’re in their 50s or 60 or kids are either teenagers or like college or recent college graduates, and they’re realizing that to be able to really be around and active and engaged with their kind of kids, from the teens to the 20s, there’s work to do there from a health standpoint, definitely.

Silvana Yee 00:10:30 And it’s ongoing, like you put yourself in the client shoes, but then it has to reflect on yourself, too. So it’s like practicing what you preach.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:10:39 Yeah. So going into the program, there were certain things that you then applied to your own life. Are there any kind of clinical pearls that you can share with us? Because we do start the program that way. Kind of turning the mirror on yourself. Like, what little things can you help support yourself with?

Silvana Yee 00:10:57 Yeah. You know what? Actually I think it resonated.

Silvana Yee 00:11:00 Module one and the first retreat was the Holistic women’s health assessment, which was like, it’s a great tool because it covers so many domains of your life, and not everyone’s going to be perfect. And all the domains, you know, some of them will be high, some will be moderate, some of them will be low, and that will change throughout the life spectrum. It’s never going to be the same which such as life, you got to kind of navigate the bumps and bruises, right. So the other thing that really resonated with me was holding space that that’s a really powerful tool and learning how to do that, because being 23 years of the pelvic physio who’s like recommending this and that and that and constantly talking. And, you know, it’s like always talking to the client. Yes. And of course, you know, you get the feedback from the client, but it’s like just holding that space so that the client can talk it through themselves. And then you’re giving those nice little nudges to help them come to the optimal outcome.

Silvana Yee 00:11:59 Right. So that is probably the most powerful thing that I learned. And then the other thing that I really found very informative was just the motivational interviewing skills, which definitely here I’m seeing it more in physio clinics in Canada now, not only in pelvic physio but orthopedics using these kind of skills. I guess across the realm of the healthcare professionals like it would apply to all.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:12:21 Yeah, because that’s really the key to overcoming those self-imposed barriers that you were talking about earlier. Yeah. So okay, so you’re in this transition with your pelvic PT career and you know that you need some more expansive tools and you’re recovering yourself from having your first baby, you’re realizing that it’s important to optimize your own health at this stage so you can be healthy for your daughter for years and decades to come. And then you realize there are some secret sauce kind of tricks in health coaching communication skills that do help your physical therapy clients improve. Now, once you’re inside the program, what are some of the things that surprised you about what you learned? Or what are the things that you enjoyed most about the actual process of going through the program?

Silvana Yee 00:13:12 Well, a huge reason why I joined the program too.

Silvana Yee 00:13:15 And I just kept looking at it and I’m like, oh, it’s not the time yet. It’s not the time yet. The big reason that really attracted me to the program was that you had a section on functional nutritional medicine, and that is definitely a top of of interest for me, and learning more about it and gaining more knowledge about that area in terms of that. Yeah, it’s definitely helped me in my own life, but then actually has helped me to be able to, you know, provide resources for my clients, but also at the same time. And it has allowed me to network with other health care professionals that are involved in the women’s health community, in my local community. And yeah, it’s been amazing. And the dialogue and the networking has been great. It’s opened up a few doors, which is great.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:13:58 Yeah, I think that expansiveness of, you know, taking the tools that you already had and then layering it with health coaching with functional nutrition, lifestyle medicine brings you that you start to think more broadly and collaboratively.

Silvana Yee 00:14:14 Yeah, it’s more of a holistic and kind of like a full circle type of thinking versus my thinking prior to that was just very narrow minded. But now it’s definitely expansive and really looking outside the box and seeing the big picture.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:14:28 That’s really cool. So before you joined the program, what hesitations did you have?

Silvana Yee 00:14:34 Well, yeah, the big hesitation was, can I do this? You know, because my son at the time was two year old. And then, you know, I got to think about returning to work and that whole work life balance. Can I do this course? You know, can I do this at the same time? But I said, yeah, I could do this, I don’t know, I was ready and, you know, just doing a lot of research into the course. And I loved how it was a self-paced course, and I love the fact that I didn’t know what to expect with the retreats, but I loved how the retreats were remote. Do. Hey, you know what? I would have loved to come to wherever in the States because I am in Canada, so I’m just like, oh sure, why not? I’m like, I’m up for a retreat.

Silvana Yee 00:15:14 Yeah, but to have it in my own house then, especially with the family situation and then Covid was still on at the time. Right. So, you know, I felt safe. Yeah, the retreats were amazing. I learned so much. And then you meet so many great people, other students from and it connects all their parts of the country. Right. There’s people from Europe, there’s people from the States. But it was interesting of all the disciplines that have joined the program, which is fantastic.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:15:41 Yeah, yeah, again, kind of emphasizing that very expansive and multidisciplinary and holistic thinking. It’s so funny because so often when people think about joining this program, they’re a little hesitant. It’s like, oh, I have to commit like three weekends in the next year to doing this. And yet, I think without fail, absolutely everyone I’ve ever talked to as they graduate the program, everyone loves the retreats. Can you share a little bit about why you did?

Silvana Yee 00:16:11 You know what? It just makes you reflect about yourself and it gives the opportunity to flex your coaching muscles, but then also work on yourself.

Silvana Yee 00:16:19 Because technically you’re getting some coaching yourself. So it’s like, oh, it makes you take a step back because it’s like, okay, I’m going to do this, I’m going to do this. And like at the time I was like trying to balance being a mom. And then, you know, I got to transition back to work and what was left on the wayside. Yeah. My health. It’s like, what am I going to do? You know, when I go back, I got to plan ahead. I got to do meal prep, you know, how are you going to fit the exercise in? When are you going to fit the exercise in? So helping myself and then learning the skills at the same time was actually really good. It was very beneficial. And the best part was at each retreat I had three different people, three different master coaches that led retreat, and then the secondary person that was helping out would a couple of them were the same, but I got to meet the different master coaches in their styles, which was great to get exposure to too.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:17:08 Yeah, I love that because sometimes when people start this program, especially if they’ve come from another program where they’ve sort of learned the skill set of coaching, right? As you said, like more and more physical therapists are taking a weekend course and things like motivational interviewing or something like that, but they rarely feel very confident to use it in their practice because it’s like it feels mushy, Especially with a clinical training. And yet then when you get to actually practice it with multiple people who have been coaching, all of our master coaches, I think have at least ten years experience, and you see that there are different skillful ways to do it. So I think it brings that confidence to actually use it in your practice. Do you feel that way?

Silvana Yee 00:17:57 Yeah, definitely. Like I just feel fortunate that I do work in the field of women’s health. So as soon as the first retreat was done and I was a little bit more confident with what I’ve learned in the modules, right? Because it’s like, oh, I’ve done, you know, 5 or 6 modules.

Silvana Yee 00:18:10 I’m taking the first retreat, you know, to read it is one thing, but then when you actually go to the retreats and put things into play, like learning the art of holding space right and helping the patient, you know, see their vision, helping them to build those little stepping stones to get to their optimal goal, like to put those into play Interplay and get the feedback from others and get, you know, little tips and pearls and tips from the master coaches was great. And the way my master coach coached me throughout the process, I really appreciated it. She challenged me at times. She did, and I really appreciate it. And it made me see oh, okay. Yeah. Like she would give me feedback and said, try this, try this. So yeah, it was very, very valuable, the experience.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:18:57 That’s great. So then you have the confidence to be able to take it right back to your practice essentially the next day.

Silvana Yee 00:19:04 Yeah, exactly. So like after the retreats.

Silvana Yee 00:19:06 Yeah I could use those skills right away. And then when I started using them I’m like, wow, I wish that I took this earlier. I wish I knew about this earlier, but I was at a different stage in my life. Right? So, you know, I am a lifelong learner. I love taking courses, but it’s like I gotta stop myself sometimes because it’s like, if you take too many courses, then you got to play catch up. So with this course, I was like, okay, I think I had a couple courses on the go, but I kind of put those on the back burner. But this one, I was like, okay, I knew I wanted to do it because it was like I dove right in. And as I kept going, I wanted more and more and more and more and it was great. And yeah, after that I was like, oh, I was having a little bit of withdrawal from the IUI courses. So I picked up the longevity women’s and longevity course.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:19:54 Nice, nice. So yeah.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:19:56 Yeah that’s.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:19:57 Lovely. I need my.

Silvana Yee 00:19:57 Fix of Jessica. I need my Jessica fix. I was missing her.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:20:01 That’s so sweet. That was so sweet.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:20:03 You know, and so many of our students stay engaged. I have many, many students who started in 2012 who still actively participate in our alumni association calls. And, you know, take our continuing education specialty courses, because it’s not, I would say, as much as I’d like to take the compliment, it’s not all about me. It’s really about the fact that it’s such an engaging community. Can you talk a little bit about the community?

Silvana Yee 00:20:33 You know what? I felt very supported from all ends. Like after I got the certification, my master coach recommended that you could use a couple of business consults from, had a business consult with Amy Rampell and Susan Clinton, and they were very helpful. They’re also but they’re also coaches and two different practices and two different mindset. So I really appreciated their input because it’s like, okay, I have this health coaching certification.

Silvana Yee 00:21:02 Now, you know, you need to decide what you’re going to do with it because there is so much you can do with it. Like the sky is really the limit once you get it, it’s it’s what you decide to do with it.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:21:12 Yes, absolutely. Along that vein, by the way, we have our quarterly Vision and Goals workshop for everyone, and maybe you should hop in and join us. It’s at the end of the month.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:21:24 Yes. No, I do.

Silvana Yee 00:21:26 And I appreciate it. And I appreciate the recordings because sometimes it’s during my work hours, so it’s like, but no, yeah, I appreciate those workshops. I think what was the one I did? I think I actually was sick that day. So I was able to participate.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:21:38 Oh good. Good. Yeah. Yeah. Oh I forget.

Silvana Yee 00:21:42 Which one was it.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:21:43 The the vision work.

Silvana Yee 00:21:44 It wasn’t the vision workshop. It was one prior to that. Sorry I can’t.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:21:47 Remember. That’s okay, that’s okay.

Silvana Yee 00:21:49 But yeah. No. Yeah I appreciate those workshops. I appreciate the resources that you have there. And then the mock health coaching calls, which was very helpful at the beginning to watch. Right. Because it’s like what is that call involved? Because like, you know, it was kind of nerve wracking and scary at the same time before the first retreat. It’s like, how do you put this all together?

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:22:09 Yeah, I think that’s visual helpful. Yeah. The visual is sometimes helpful to give people a little bit, like, what does it look like inside of a coaching session. And then as you said, we do record all the workshops for our alumni and our current students because yes, everyone’s time zones are different, and everyone has kids and aging parents and jobs and, you know, so it’s not always that you’re there live, but you at least always have access to kind of take that breath in the same way that you did when before you even started the program to be like, okay, what’s the next step now? What’s the next step now? And so where are you now in terms of your career journey and what you’re thinking about doing now and next.

Silvana Yee 00:22:54 Now and next? So, right now I’m in the midst of I’ve collaborated with a few local health care professionals in my community, and prior to becoming a health coach, I did a promo event for like post-natal care and pelvic PT, and I collaborated with like a midwife and a doula and a personal trainer that specializes in postpartum fitness. And I kind of want to do the same lines, but be a little bit more expansive where, you know, I can bring the whole health coaching aspect and raise the awareness of what health coaching is. Everybody here in Myra knows about life coaching, but health coaching, it needs to be brought to the forefront. And I think, you know, the best way is to raise awareness and educate. So I want to kind of do like a series like every quarter do kind of like educational mini retreat and, you know, collaborate with these professionals and talk about post-natal care and postpartum care. And then another educational session would focus on hormone health, another educational session, focus on perimenopause and menopause.

Silvana Yee 00:24:03 So just, you know, high topics of interest that would affect some people, most people depending on the age span, to target the different ages. So that’s what I’m working on right now. Right now. Yeah. I’m aiming to do one of those mini retreats this fall. Oh that’s.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:24:18 Great. And I think that’s where it really begins. I hear this a lot and we work on this both in our alumni association and in our business coaching programs. Starting with that building of a local collaborative community is really the seed for fast growth, because then people start to have this synergistic referrals and more women in the community even understand, as you said, like how health coaching can help them, what it is, how to access it. And then when we integrate that with things like physical therapy and fitness and, you know, other movement practices and nutrition and other health care angles, it amplifies, I think, so much when we build that community in that level of collaboration.

Silvana Yee 00:25:08 And that’s the thing.

Silvana Yee 00:25:09 It’s a great way to reach more people and, you know, spread the word. And, you know, being in women’s health care, you know, you hear the same thing. You know, it’s like, oh, well, I thought it was normal to, you know, leak when I jump sneeze, or I thought it was normal to, you know, look for months pregnant when I’m not pregnant, you know, like, I thought it was normal that, you know, I just suffer through my hot flashes, right? So it’s the whole putting up with things mentality and that we need to change that narrative.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:25:36 Yeah, absolutely. And in a way, your experience of the program that those retreats as you were just talking about and that deciding to take some space for your own needs because as you said, it was like work and your husband and your son and then like, oh, wait, where am I? And that’s exactly what your clients are. And your potential clients and the women in your community are struggling with.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:26:02 Right?

Silvana Yee 00:26:02 Definitely, definitely. And it’s just like to be able to empathize with their struggle and be able to relate. I think we’ll hit home to women more so whatever age across the lifespan.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:26:14 Yeah.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:26:15 And I think you’re really uniquely positioned to help women who are kind of in the postpartum Perimenopause at the same time.

Silvana Yee 00:26:22 So yeah, that’s exactly what I’m in right now. And it’s like, okay, this is very unique. But at the same time, you know, once you talk with someone, then it’s like, oh, I’m in this same boat or I’m in this same boat, right? So it’s really nice to feel that you’re not the only one.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:26:39 Yeah.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:26:39 And that’s the beauty of doing it in community like that, pulling together women together in the community for these local retreats. Because that’s the first thing people need to feel is like, oh, I’m not the only one.

Silvana Yee 00:26:52 Yeah, no, because that way, once they know they’re not the only one, you just see the relief and it’s like, you know, a weight has been lifted off their shoulders.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:27:00 Nice.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:27:01 So if you were in the shoes of someone who is considering doing this program but is like, I don’t know if I have the time, I don’t know if it’s the right time. I don’t know if, you know, I should spend this money. I don’t know if I can do this. As you said, you were like, I don’t know if I can even do this. What would you say to them now.

Silvana Yee 00:27:19 Everything we do in life is a risk. Let’s just say this is a very good risk because not only is it going to benefit your future clients, it’s going to definitely benefit yourself.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:27:29 Yeah, thank you for that. So where can people find you if they want to work with you or join one of these retreats or collaborate with you in any way?

Silvana Yee 00:27:40 Yeah. So I have a website I’m in the midst of. I’m not really tech savvy, but social media is being worked on right now. But if people want to DM me on my Instagram account, they can.

Silvana Yee 00:27:50 But it’s not really directed towards the business yet. But I do have a website and if they want to reach me, my website is at s y pelvic health aka and my handle on Instagram is silly. Silly underscore 1202.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:28:08 Okay, great. So s y pelvic health.ca and your Instagram handle. We will make sure we list all of these in the show notes so it’s easy for people to find you and work with you, especially if they’re in what part of Canada exactly?

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:28:24 Oh, so.

Silvana Yee 00:28:25 I’m in Hamilton, Ontario. So it’s like basically halfway between Toronto and Niagara Falls to give you a little bit of a location perspective. So I’m right in the middle okay.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:28:34 That’s lovely. That’s lovely. Excellent. Well, it’s so great to get to talk to you about your whole journey, your professional journey, the expansion of your career. And, you know, congratulations on your son. And I’m so glad that this program kind of showed up at the right time for you and really allowed you to take some space to assess your own health and your own life and your own career.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:29:02 Because now, as you said, sky’s the limit.

Silvana Yee 00:29:06 Thank you so much, Jessica. I’ve really enjoyed taking the Women’s Health Coaching certification. I’m glad I took the plunge. And thank you so much for creating the other courses. I’ve taken your endo course and your chronic pelvic pain course. So I’ve had a relationship with you since 2018. That’s great.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:29:24 That’s great. That’s great. It was so great to talk to you, and.

Silvana Yee 00:29:28 I appreciate.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:29:29 You.

Silvana Yee 00:29:29 Taking the time to talk. I really love the program and enjoyed it.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:29:33 Thank you so much for being here. Have a great rest of your day.

Silvana Yee 00:29:36 Yes. You too.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:29:41 That was such a great conversation. I loved getting to talk in more depth with Silvana about her experience as a professional, as a mom, as a woman, just kind of reevaluating her life as so many of us do in our 40s, 50s and 60s like, what do we really want? What do we really need to take care of our health? And if we’re working in a clinical practice, in women’s health, in healthcare in general, what does it mean to go from, as I say in the book back here, Clinician to coach, and how does that make your work better? So here’s your homework.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:30:21 First of all, before I give you that, I just want to give a quick shout out to our amazing master Coach faculty. All of our coaches are so unique and they bring such a unique perspective when you work with them. And as Silvana had the experience of working with multiple of our master coaches, which you will as you navigate through the retreats, and then you have your one on one sessions with our master coaches. You get to see health coaching in action. It’s not a cookie cutter skill, it’s a science and an art. And so getting to work with many, many different faculty that have different experiences and different personalities, it gives you the confidence to take these skills and use them immediately in your practice. So we talked a lot in this episode about holding space. And for those of us who were trained clinically in any discipline, fitness, like I said, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nutrition, medicine, PA, chiropractors, nurses, nurse practitioners, anyone who’s been trained to kind of give recommendations, you know, whether they’re herbal medicine or conventional medicine, if you’ve been taught to sort of tell people what to do, I want you to practice this one skill this week and that is slowing down.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:31:51 Breathe slowly yourself and listen to each client as they come into that first session with you, or that next session with you for a minimum of 3 to 5 minutes without interrupting them, and see how hard that might be for you. Slow your breathing. Settle your body. Listen to your clients for 3 to 5 minutes without interrupting them in your head. Without interrupting them with your voice. How challenging is it for you? And let’s see what insights they figure out for themselves. When you hold the space, or you start learning how to hold the space because it’s not just about silence and listening. Holding space is a bit of a complex skill, but the first step you’ll learn is to slow it down and fully, mindfully listen without interruption, without getting ready to what you’re going to say next. Just open curiosity. What can you learn from them as they talk with you now? What will they self discover when you don’t do any talking or any even in your mind? Interruption for 3 to 5 minutes.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:33:09 See how challenging that is for you. And then let me know in the comments. Send us a message, let us know in the comments and our support email anywhere you can find us DM. I want to hear what feels challenging and what insights you learn from just listening mindfully to your clients for a minimum of 3 to 5 minutes. All right, have a great week. I’ll see you next week. Thank you so much for joining me today for this episode of the Integrative Women’s Health Podcast. Please share this episode with a colleague and if you loved it, hit that subscribe or follow button on your favorite podcast streaming service so that we can do even more to make this podcast better for you and your clients. Let’s innovate and integrate in the world of women’s health.