DRIVE TIME DEBRIEF: A Physician Wellness Podcast with The Whole Physician

By Drs. Cazier, Dinsmore and MorrisonBusiness Medicine Health & Fitness Mental Health Careers

DRIVE TIME DEBRIEF: A Physician Wellness Podcast with The Whole Physician episodes

July 21, 2022#19: Self Confidence
In this episode we discuss the difference between confidence, self-confidence, and arrogance.
Confidence is what you gain from past experience, whereas self-confidence is trusting that you have what it takes for your future.
Self-confidence is different from arrogance in that arrogance comes from a place of lack, whereas self-confidence comes from a place of abundance.
Some of our favorite moments:
"Self-confidence is...being secure i yourself and your abilities, your ability to trust yourself, knowing that you can experience any emotion, including failure without being harmed."
"Self-confidence is...your overall opinion of yourself."
"Self-confidence is...knowing that you're gonna show up for yourself, that you're gonna have your own back. No matter what happens, you are not gonna tear yourself apart."
"Self-confidence is...giving yourself unconditional love and encouragement."
"Self-doubt is the opposite of self confidence. That's where we question our abilities." We question our value as a person. When we mess up, we criticize ourselves."
"When we have self-confidence, we know that we can try hard things- even things that have a risk of failure- because we're not afraid of how we're going to feel. And we're not afraid of how we're gonna treat ourselves in the aftermath."
"Most of the worst things that ever happened to us are just in our heads."
"You can be self-confident to have the courage to do something a little bit fearful because you're willing to feel that feeling."
"Arrogance is...the opposite of self-confidence. It's FALSE self-confidence, trying to make yourself seem bigger than somebody. Self-confidence isn't in a comparison trap."
"People who are coming from a place of abundance and wholeness and love, they don't hurt people."
"If you're coming from a place of arrogance, you're so petrified that you're going to be judged."
"Self-confidence comes from a place of abundance and safety and knowing that we aren't going to judge ourselves negatively."
"What you are today is not fixed....you have control over where you're going."
"We have to be willing to experience discomfort consistently to start building on our self-confidence...we have to be able to be comfortable in that place of discomfort, feeling those negative feelings in order to grow."
"Failure earns success...worry only pretends to be necessary."
"Bottom line is: love who you are."
"You can believe that you're doing the best you can with the knowledge you have now."
If you want to work with us, visit our website: www.thewholephysician.com. We have private coaching and CME courses available. Additionally, we're happy to lecture for your institution. Sign up for our Weekly Well Check by clicking the link. The Weekly Well Check is your weekly dose of encouragement and your only access to secret insider sales on our products.
If you'd like something you can use today, download our free Top 10 Mindset Hacks for Doctors here.

For a free quote on Own-Occupation Insurance, you're welcome to use our affiliate link: patternlife.com/drivetime
21 min
July 14, 2022#18: "You Are Not Broken" with Kelly Casperson, MD
On this episode we host, Dr Kelly Casperson. Dr Casperson has a number one, best selling Amazon book that just released on June 28th. She is a urologist wife, mom, sex educator, and top international podcaster, whose mission is empowering women to live their best lives. We have such a candid, real and transparent conversation about her new book and how women can stop "should-ing" all over their sex lives!! Hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did!
Some of our favorite moments:
Dr Kelly Casperson's quotables,
We've got like Hollywood and religion and our parents and the school system, that's giving us a sex education. It's mostly like a disease and pregnancy prevention plan, but like a truly adult education is totally lacking.
“Oh, well you're not broken, 70% of women don't.” You know, so it's just like part of the normalization of these people's experience. Because where are they supposed to go?
But it's like even trying to get out medically accurate stuff is very, very difficult. Like on Instagram I have to, I have to say intimacy a lot. Like intimacy is my code word for sex. But I mean, intimacy is so much bigger than sex, but I don't feel comfortable saying sex cuz I don't wanna get blocked.
You know, don't turn sex into like, four hours of cardiovascular exercise and eight fruits and vegetables and eight hours of sleep and like, you know, two sexual things a week. It's like the whole point of this is adult play. Like it's supposed to be playful. It's supposed to be fun. It's supposed to be, you know, bring added pleasure to your life. And it's like all that shame and "shoulds" we put on ourselves.
I always like to normalize responsive desire. And what we see is again, stereotyping, which is easy to do, but it's helpful sometimes. Is that women tend more towards responsive desire than spontaneous
And if you can learn to communicate and if you can learn to like, be on somebody's team. Like at the end of the day, you're on their team and you're just trying to solve a problem. And, and what I've found in the sex coach thing that I do is like, is actually rarely about the sex. It's usually, there's usually something else going on.
To find Dr Kelly Casperson, go to:
https://www.kellycaspersonmd.com
@kellycaspersonmd (Instagram)
Podcast: "You Are Not Broken" with Kelly Casperson
Book Just Released:
You Are Not Broken: Stop "Should-ing" All Over Your Sex Life, Dr KJ Casperson, June 28, 2022.

If you want to work with us, visit our website: www.thewholephysician.com. We have private coaching and CME courses available. Additionally, we're happy to lecture for your institution. Sign up for our Weekly Well Check by clicking the link. The Weekly Well Check is your weekly dose of encouragement and your only access to secret insider sales on our products.
If you'd like something you can use today, download our free Top 10 Mindset Hacks for Doctors here.

For a free quote on Own-Occupation Insurance, you're welcome to use our affiliate link: patternlife.com/drivetime
49 min
July 07, 2022#17: Feeling Feelings
In this episode, we talk about processing feelings, something that many doctors tend to avoid. It makes sense when you consider our training. The problem is that not being proficient at allowing emotions can lead to negative consequences.
Four options when a feeling arises:
Resist
React
Distract
Allow
In order to process an emotion:
Notice it - notice the physician manifestations
Name it - can start with mad, sad, glad, afraid, ashamed/disgust if having a hard time
Allow it
Decide what to do now - change what you can, accept what you can't, and/or decide to leave
RESOURCES:
Feelings Wheel
https://www.shondaland.com/live/body/a32601217/what-does-processing-your-feelings-even-mean/
https://www.artofwellbeing.com/2016/06/21/processyouremotions/
Carla Marie Manly: Joy From Fear

If you want to work with us, visit our website: www.thewholephysician.com. We have private coaching and CME courses available. Additionally, we're happy to lecture for your institution. Sign up for our Weekly Well Check by clicking the link. The Weekly Well Check is your weekly dose of encouragement and your only access to secret insider sales on our products.
If you'd like something you can use today, download our free Top 10 Mindset Hacks for Doctors here.

For a free quote on Own-Occupation Insurance, you're welcome to use our affiliate link: patternlife.com/drivetime
31 min
June 30, 2022#16: Perfectionism
In this episode, we unpack Perfectionism! The good, the bad and the ugly!! We use real life examples to explain how maladaptive perfectionistic tendencies can be and the directions we can take towards a more healthy, high achieving model for our behavior. Enjoy this candid but real look into why physicians develop the former and have to LEARN the latter!!
Perfectionism:
rejects failure
rejects negative emotion
expects endless positive emotions
sets unrealistic goals and then brushes them off when achieved
expects reality to be perfect, when reality is actually messy
High Achiever:
accepts failure as unavoidable and an opportunity for growth
accepts, feels, allows negative emotions
sets challenging goals based on reality and celebrates achievements
accepts reality as it is and optimizes every opportunity to improve
Publications discussed:
Tal Ben-Shahar (2009). “The Pursuit of Perfect: How to Stop Chasing Perfection and Start Living a Richer, Happier Life”, McGraw Hill Professional.
Also check out our article on perfectionism in Emergency Medicine News:
https://journals.lww.com/em-news/fulltext/2022/05000/wellness_911_the_price_of_perfection.22.aspx

If you want to work with us, visit our website: www.thewholephysician.com. We have private coaching and CME courses available. Additionally, we're happy to lecture for your institution. Sign up for our Weekly Well Check by clicking the link. The Weekly Well Check is your weekly dose of encouragement and your only access to secret insider sales on our products.
If you'd like something you can use today, download our free Top 10 Mindset Hacks for Doctors here.

For a free quote on Own-Occupation Insurance, you're welcome to use our affiliate link: patternlife.com/drivetime
17 min
June 23, 2022#15: Unconditional Love
This episode we discuss Unconditional Love, both for ourselves and other people in our lives.
Unconditional Love:
assumes people are doing the best they can
drops unrealistic expectations
is a choice
gives grace
is for the benefit of the GIVER of unconditional love
choosing the feeling of love (in spite of human imperfection) feels so much better in our bodies than the alternatives
starts with unconditional love for ourselves. It’s hard to do something that you’ve never experienced yourself
doesn’t mean you diminish yourself. You can still choose to love someone and leave, out of love for yourself
absolutely includes healthy boundaries and consequences
isn’t people pleasing. It comes from a place without expectations of appreciation and reciprocation, and isn’t in exchange for being liked.
isn’t the norm- many of us have only experienced conditional love

Quotables:
“But the truth is unconditional love feels so good and so amazing. And we can choose it any time.”
“That feeling that you’re experiencing, when you’re judging and loathing somebody, that person’s not feeling it, only you are.”
“You’re only punishing yourself, carrying these judgemental, loathsome attitudes.”
“Humans are humans. They get to act however they are going to act. You cannot control them, but you can still choose unconditional love.”
“What is love anyway…it is the sincere and earnest desire for the wellbeing of someone.”
“I first need to allow myself to experience unconditional love, which means I have grace for myself.”
“There’s a lot of forgiveness. There's a lot of grace, and it actually is truly very freeing.”
“I love being able to look at myself and see all my own faults, idiosyncrasies, shortcomings, and still be my own cheerleader.”

References:
Lifehack.Org Unconditional Love Article

If you want to work with us, visit our website: www.thewholephysician.com. We have private coaching and CME courses available. Additionally, we're happy to lecture for your institution. Sign up for our Weekly Well Check by clicking the link. The Weekly Well Check is your weekly dose of encouragement and your only access to secret insider sales on our products.
If you'd like something you can use today, download our free Top 10 Mindset Hacks for Doctors here.

For a free quote on Own-Occupation Insurance, you're welcome to use our affiliate link: patternlife.com/drivetime
19 min
June 16, 2022#14: Self Integrity
In this episode, we introduce the idea of self-integrity. Which is identifying the values that we have and keeping the internal and external self in alignment with those values. The most important relationship we have is the one we have with ourselves. The way we honor and build this relationship is by showing up for ourselves consistently. This can be in the goals we set, the plans we make or in the way we talk to ourselves. This concept of integrity is essential to creating a steady foundation for which we build the best version of ourselves and that "self" can show up everywhere we are and in everything we do.
Take home points:
You have all the components on the inside you need to run efficiently and effectively and they match everything the way you perform on the outside.
When we're not living in alignment and not doing what we say, then we lose credibility. Most importantly, with ourselves. We stop believing anything that we say that we're going to do.
The first thing you need to do is to define your values.
The second thing we need to do is be mindful of our thoughts, and we know that our thoughts really are the source of everything that happens in our lives.
The goals that you set for yourself, do it out of love for yourself. Not as a comparison to somebody else or somebody else's expectations for you.
It's important to set yourself up for small wins. Set realistic and obtainable goals.
Use your prefrontal cortex, the planning part of your brain!

Quoted articles, books and websites:
"The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self" book by Martha Beck
https://crossfitmilescity.com/5-strategies-for-rebuilding-self-integrity
"Losing 100 pounds with Corinne Crabtree"

If you want to work with us, visit our website: www.thewholephysician.com. We have private coaching and CME courses available. Additionally, we're happy to lecture for your institution. Sign up for our Weekly Well Check by clicking the link. The Weekly Well Check is your weekly dose of encouragement and your only access to secret insider sales on our products.
If you'd like something you can use today, download our free Top 10 Mindset Hacks for Doctors here.

For a free quote on Own-Occupation Insurance, you're welcome to use our affiliate link: patternlife.com/drivetime
20 min
June 09, 2022#13: Relationship with Yourself with Richa Thapa, MD
TRIGGER WARNING: In the episode we briefly discuss abusive relationships. This is NOT meant to victim-shame. This does not apply to children. This is more a discussion of adults, with resources, who willingly choose to stay in relationships with no resemblance to anything they’d wish for another person they love.
If you are currently in an abusive relationship, please work directly with a local mental health professional specializing in abuse, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233), or text SMART to 88788.
As always, this podcast does not establish a doctor-patient relationship. It is for general educational purposes only.

In this episode, we again speak again with our favorite psychiatrist, Dr. Richa Thapa, about our most important relationship: the relationship we have with ourselves. It is the foundation for all of our other relationships.
You’ll hear:
How your relationship with yourself determines how you treat yourself, how you allow others to treat you, what you tolerate, what you keep going back to…and many times this is unconscious
Options for uncomfortable interactions with consultants, etc.
Setting and enforcing boundaries
How Dr. Thapa’s relationship with herself changed after a devastating diagnosis
Encouragement for others who have recently received bad news

Quotables:
“You want to fix your marriage. You want to fix your relationship with your children. You think it’s the relationship that you have to work on, but it’s what’s inside.”
“Where’s your parental, mama bear/papa bear instinct FOR YOURSELF?”
“I am still that young child that doesn’t need to be talked to like that. From even myself, ESPECIALLY from myself. I can’t escape my own voice. That’s the one I can’t escape.”
“I think the key with boundaries is following through.”
“Something shifted inside of me at some point. It was like, I gotta be my own friend.”
“Treat yourself like a friend.”
“We can do hard things, and this can be the catalyst you need for creating the life you want. Because you take action when you realize that life is short. At least that was my experience.”
“In every situation, we either win or we learn.”

Recommended resources:
To reach out to Dr. Thapa: richawellness.squarespace.net
For help with domestic violence, contact a mental health professional or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233), or text SMART to 88788.

If you want to work with us, visit our website: www.thewholephysician.com. We have private coaching and CME courses available. Additionally, we're happy to lecture for your institution. Sign up for our Weekly Well Check by clicking the link. The Weekly Well Check is your weekly dose of encouragement and your only access to secret insider sales on our products.
If you'd like something you can use today, download our free Top 10 Mindset Hacks for Doctors here.

For a free quote on Own-Occupation Insurance, you're welcome to use our affiliate link: patternlife.com/drivetime
19 min
June 02, 2022 #12: A Psychiatrist's View On Coaching with Richa Thapa, MD
In this episode, we introduce you to our friend, Dr. Richa Thapa. She is a clinical psychiatrist who is a burnout survivor and newly certified Life Coach. Her inspirational story of beating the odds of breast cancer, surviving burnout, and discovering a passion for wellness coaching, especially topics about self-confidence and self-love. Enjoy this insightful and thoughtful episode with Dr Thapa and her journey.
*Here are some of our favorite moments:
Dr Thapa:
"I kind of had to just take a step back and reevaluate. I was really burnt out. I felt like I couldn't take care of anyone else's mental health before I could take care of my own."
"my biggest thing going through my cancer journey was, “I don't want to get depressed.” As a psychiatrist, I know what depression can do. I know what anxiety can do. And I know it would just have made everything worse."
"it was like the beginning of a freedom that I didn't know existed."
"this is like cognitive behavior therapy light. It's like a simpler version. But to me, what I liked about it is it was so accessible."
"our wellbeing and there's multiple facets to it, but my love is self-confidence coaching, self-love coaching. I feel like if you can be your own friend and learn to just love yourself in your toughest times you can get through anything."

Websites cited:
richawellness.squarespace.com
drlornabreen.org

Studies mentioned:
Mayo (2019)
Emotional exhaustion (p<0.001)
Burnout (p<0.001)
Resilience (p=0.04)
Quality of Life (p=0.005)

McLean (2020)
Burnout (p = 0.003)
Work Engagement (p = 0.023)
Psychological Capital (p = 0.002)
Job Satisfaction (p = 0.021)

Stanford (2022)
Burnout (p<.0001)
Self-valuation (p<.0001)
Sleep-related impairment (p<.0001)

U of Colorado (2022) - Group Coaching
Emotional exhaustion (p=.01)
Imposter syndrome (p=.003)
Self-compassion (p<.001)

If you want to work with us, visit our website: www.thewholephysician.com. We have private coaching and CME courses available. Additionally, we're happy to lecture for your institution. Sign up for our Weekly Well Check by clicking the link. The Weekly Well Check is your weekly dose of encouragement and your only access to secret insider sales on our products.
If you'd like something you can use today, download our free Top 10 Mindset Hacks for Doctors here.

For a free quote on Own-Occupation Insurance, you're welcome to use our affiliate link: patternlife.com/drivetime
16 min
May 26, 2022#11: Arrival Fallacy
This episode we discuss Arrival Fallacy - the illusion that once we “make it,” once we attain our goal or reach our destination, we will achieve lasting happiness. The term was coined by Tal Ben-Shahar, Ph.D. in his book, Happier.
We discuss:
What Arrival Fallacy is, and it’s distant relative, Summit Syndrome
The Happiness Quadrants (and where you want to spend most of your time)
Rat race
Hedonism
Nihilism
Happiness Quadrant
Tips to enjoy the journey, including
Stop saying “I’ll be happy when [x]...”
Start lighting it up
Focus on what’s going right
Celebrate along the way
Concentrate on your relationships
Quotables
“You often feel tired, not because you’ve done too much, but because you’ve done too little of what sparks a light in you.” -Alexander den Heijer
Start lighting it up!
Today, if you don’t know what your hobbies are, start dreaming.
As long as you know you’re going in the right direction, you’re going to get there.
If we can be mindful of those pleasant moments and really savor them, they can help carry us along as we endure unpleasantries.
We can learn how to absorb positive experiences.
What we really need is to be able to soak in stuff that’s more positive.
There’s so much going right all the time.
So we celebrate along the way. We can mourn along the way as well. All those things together will help us to find happiness in our journey.
The number one predictor of happiness is the quality tie we spend with people we care about and who care about us. (From Tal Ben-Shahar)
Happiness is the journey, not the destination. (Attributed to a lot of people including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Buddha, & Mahatma Gandhi)

References:
Happiness Quadrants
Alexander den Heijer
Ben-Shahar, Tal. Happier. New York, McGraw-Hill, 2007
Rick Hanson, Ph.D.
Wellness 911- You've Arrived: Why Aren't You Happier? (Dinsmore, Amanda MD; Cazier, Laura MD; Morrison, Kendra DO. Emergency Medicine News: April 2022 - Volume 44 - Issue 4 - p 30. doi: 10.1097/01.EEM.0000827728.91293.5a)

If you want to work with us, visit our website: www.thewholephysician.com. We have private coaching and CME courses available. Additionally, we're happy to lecture for your institution. Sign up for our Weekly Well Check by clicking the link. The Weekly Well Check is your weekly dose of encouragement and your only access to secret insider sales on our products.
If you'd like something you can use today, download our free Top 10 Mindset Hacks for Doctors here.

For a free quote on Own-Occupation Insurance, you're welcome to use our affiliate link: patternlife.com/drivetime
28 min
May 19, 2022#10: Self Talk
This episode looks at the relationship you have with yourself, specifically your self-talk. What kind of self talk do you use daily? Would you speak that way to a friend or a child? If not, it isn't something you need to say to yourself either.
Some highlights:
"The talk that I found myself saying to myself was more dismissive. And that is what I thought humility was, but that is nowhere in the definition of humility."
"Sometimes we're just flat out mean to ourselves and pick ourselves apart. Like, we would never talk to anyone else the way we might talk to ourselves."
"But we can approach ourselves like we would any other friend and we really do need to be our own best friend because when it comes down to it, that's the only thing we're guaranteed. We're guaranteed to have ourselves."
"...expecting somebody else to do that for us is expecting a human being to know what we need. We know best the messages that we need to hear for ourselves."
"The first step is to recognize them. The first step is to get outside of our brain and look down and observe our thoughts."
Mentioned in the podcast:
Janet Jordan Sculpture
“The High Five Habit: Take Control of Your Life with One Simple Habit” by Mel Robbins
“What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage” by Amy Sutherland; published in the New York Times on Oct. 11th, 2019
Rachel Hart Coaching (over-drinking coach)

If you want to work with us, visit our website: www.thewholephysician.com. We have private coaching and CME courses available. Additionally, we're happy to lecture for your institution. Sign up for our Weekly Well Check by clicking the link. The Weekly Well Check is your weekly dose of encouragement and your only access to secret insider sales on our products.
If you'd like something you can use today, download our free Top 10 Mindset Hacks for Doctors here.

For a free quote on Own-Occupation Insurance, you're welcome to use our affiliate link: patternlife.com/drivetime
25 min

About DRIVE TIME DEBRIEF: A Physician Wellness Podcast with The Whole Physician

From the publisher's feed

🔥 Doctors Feeling the Burnout? We’ve Been There—and We’re Here to Help You Climb Out of the Fire. 🔥

Drive Time Debrief: A Physician Wellness Podcast

Welcome to Drive Time Debrief, the anti-burnout podcast built just for physicians and healthcare providers who are ready to reclaim their joy, purpose, and well-being.

Hosted by the physician-coaches of The Whole Physician, this podcast delivers honest conversations, evidence-based tools, and practical strategies to help you navigate burnout, set boundaries, and find fulfillment in and outside of medicine.

Whether you're heading into a shift, decompressing on your commute home, or sneaking in a sanity-saving moment during your day, you’ll get bite-sized insights that speak to the *real* challenges of medical life—with compassion, candor, and a dose of humor.

If you’re tired of white-knuckling your way through your career and ready to feel like yourself again, you’re in the right place.

Episodes include:

- Physician burnout recovery stories

- Coaching tools for stress, imposter syndrome, & difficult dynamics

- Self-compassion, mindset shifts, and boundary-setting

- Conversations on career pivots, family life, and rediscovering joy

Hit subscribe and join us for a weekly debrief—because your well-being deserves to be non-negotiable.

You wouldn’t head into battle without armor, so why are we sent into the chaotic Dumpster Fire of Medicine without the tools we need to protect ourselves?

Medicine was supposed to be your calling. Instead, it feels like it’s breaking you—turning altruistic, purpose-driven, bright minds into frustrated, disillusioned, and exhausted shadows of who we used to be.

How do we know? We’ve been there. We’ve lived the long shifts, the impossible expectations, and the emotional toll. And we’ve watched too many of our peers struggle silently.

We’re The Whole Physician—three Board-Certified Emergency Physicians (and physician burnout experts) on a mission to rewrite the story of medicine. Our podcast isn’t just another pep talk. It’s a lifeline—and a quick remedy for burnout you can take with you wherever you go.

Whether you’re driving to your next shift, heading home after a long day, or taking a rare moment to breathe, our episodes are packed with practical tools and mindset shifts that actually work:

- Find hope for the future and a renewed sense of purpose

- Rediscover joy in your work and life

- Repair and strengthen relationships (even the one with yourself)

- Quiet the mental chaos and ease emotional exhaustion

- Realize you are NOT alone.

This is your space. A space where doctors like you—who keep showing up no matter what—get the care, support, and tools you deserve. You are our people. It’s about time someone put YOU first.

🎧 Ready to reclaim your hope and joy? Listen now.

Learn more at www.thewholephysician.com.

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