Flourish by Advaita Health

In this episode, Dr. Dewayne Book, MD, Chief Medical Officer, and Tripp Johnson, founder and CEO of Advaita Health, discuss something that has quietly become the core of how we operate: relational healthcare. 

This is not just a style of psychiatry. It is the underlying philosophy that shapes how we care for patients, how we support clinicians, how we supervise, how we hire, and even how we design our business model. In a world that keeps moving toward speed, scale, and 10-minute encounters, we are intentionally moving in the opposite direction. Longer visits, weekly supervision, salaried compensation, low turnover, in-person collaboration, and the belief that real relationships are not only clinically superior, but operationally sustainable. 

We talk openly about what a relational organization looks like in practice, why relational care is harder in the short term but better in the long term, and the guardrails required to protect it as you grow. We also contrast it with transactional models, RVU-driven practices, and the pressures that push most healthcare organizations toward volume over connection. 

If you’re a clinician who’s tired of feeling like a productivity unit, a leader wrestling with how to scale without losing your soul, or a patient wondering why your appointments keep getting shorter, this conversation offers a different way forward. 

Listen in and see what relational healthcare looks like when you build an entire organization around it. 

About Flourish by Advaita Health

Flourish by Advaita Health explores how people, providers, and communities move from suffering to flourishing. Each episode weaves together perspectives from healthcare, wellness, and human experience — from the science of mental and physical health to the art of living well.

Advaita Health is a North Carolina–based behavioral health organization dedicated to supporting whole-person flourishing. Learn more about our work and clinical services below.

• 🌿 Advaita Health: advaitahealth.com
• 🩺 Advaita Integrated Medicine: aimwellbeing.com
• 🎙️ Podcast: Flourish by Advaita Health
• 📸 Instagram: @advaitahealth
• 💼 LinkedIn: Advaita Health
• 📩 Subscribe for new episodes and updates

We often turn to discipline for healing. The structure gives us safety, rhythm, something to hold onto when life feels uncertain. But at some point, that same structure has to give us back to ourselves. 

In this episode, Tripp talks with Zoë Ward, a longtime Ashtanga practitioner and author of The Unruly Ascetic, about what happens when devotion meets discernment. Together they explore how methods that begin as lifelines can become cages if we never learn to listen to our own bodies and intuition. 

Zoë spent a decade studying with Sharath Jois in Mysore, India, before stepping back from teaching to reimagine what practice can be. She shares how she’s returning now with a renewed commitment to love-based discipline, consent, and self-trust — and how the journey from seeker to finder often begins with letting go. 

Check out Zoëy's Instagram for more on Ashtanga Yoga and to see her amazing art! - unrulyascetic

About Flourish by Advaita Health

Flourish by Advaita Health explores how people, providers, and communities move from suffering to flourishing. Each episode weaves together perspectives from healthcare, wellness, and human experience — from the science of mental and physical health to the art of living well.

Advaita Health is a North Carolina–based behavioral health organization dedicated to supporting whole-person flourishing. Learn more about our work and clinical services below.

• 🌿 Advaita Health: advaitahealth.com
• 🩺 Advaita Integrated Medicine: aimwellbeing.com
• 🎙️ Podcast: Flourish by Advaita Health
• 📸 Instagram: @advaitahealth
• 💼 LinkedIn: Advaita Health
• 📩 Subscribe for new episodes and updates

Psychiatrist and executive coach Dr. Hector Rodriguez joins Tripp to explore the intersection of brain health, trauma, and meaning. With a background in both medicine and divinity, Dr. Hector bridges neuroscience with spirituality, showing how trauma patterns appear in brain imaging and how lifestyle, nutrition, and connection help us rewire for healing. 

The conversation ranges from the science of SPECT scans and metabolic psychiatry to the art of living well. Dr. Hector shares why small, sustainable habits matter more than quick fixes, how movement and nutrition support mental health, and why connection and touch are biological necessities. Together they unpack the tension between modern overstimulation, social media self-diagnosis, and the timeless need for rest and ritual. 

This episode invites listeners to think differently about mental health—less as fixing what’s broken and more as tending to the soul. In Dr. Hector’s words, psychiatry is the medical treatment of the soul, and flourishing begins when we remember what it means to be fully human. 

In This Episode 

• Trauma, brain imaging, and the “diamond” activation pattern 
• Metabolic psychiatry and using lifestyle as medicine 
• Sustainable change: how to rebuild motivation step by step 
• Overstimulation, ADHD, and reclaiming attention in a noisy world 
• The social media effect on self-diagnosis and stigma 
• Hugging, oxytocin, and why connection heals the nervous system 
• Supplements, peptides, and the essentials before optimization 
• Psychiatry as care for the soul—bridging science and spirituality 

Hector Rodriguez, M.D., M.Div. is a bilingual psychiatrist, executive coach, and speaker specializing in trauma, PTSD, anxiety, depression, and sexual wellness. Known as Dr. Hector, he combines advanced brain imaging (SPECT), psychopharmacology, and trauma-informed psychotherapy with nutrition, movement, and lifestyle design to create whole-person healing. With both a medical degree and a Master of Divinity, he bridges neuroscience with meaning and purpose, helping people move from survival to flourishing. 

More from Dr. Hector 

• 🌐 https://whitebutterflyclinic.com/ 
• 🌐 https://doctorhector.com/
• 📱 https://www.instagram.com/doctor_hector/
• 📱 https://www.instagram.com/whitebutterflyclinic/

About Flourish by Advaita Health

Flourish by Advaita Health explores how people, providers, and communities move from suffering to flourishing. Each episode weaves together perspectives from healthcare, wellness, and human experience — from the science of mental and physical health to the art of living well.

Advaita Health is a North Carolina–based behavioral health organization dedicated to supporting whole-person flourishing. Learn more about our work and clinical services below.

• 🌿 Advaita Health: advaitahealth.com
• 🩺 Advaita Integrated Medicine: aimwellbeing.com
• 🎙️ Podcast: Flourish by Advaita Health
• 📸 Instagram: @advaitahealth
• 💼 LinkedIn: Advaita Health
• 📩 Subscribe for new episodes and updates

In this crossover episode between Tripp Talks and Flourish by Advaita Health, Tripp sits down with Kate O’Donnell, an Ayurvedic practitioner, longtime Ashtanga yoga teacher, and author of The Everyday Ayurveda Cook.

Tripp first encountered Ayurveda while studying yoga in Mysore, India—and it’s something he’s returned to at different points in his life. Kate’s work has been part of that journey, from her teaching in Boston to her accessible cookbooks (highly recommend the dosa recipe).

Together, they explore what Ayurveda offers for everyday life: a framework for rhythm, nourishment, and self-care that complements modern Western approaches to wellness.

In this episode:

• How yoga and Ayurveda share roots but serve different purposes
• Why Ayurveda is designed for “householders” living full, modern lives
• Simple daily rhythms to support digestion, sleep, and mood
• The balance of nourishment and purification in health
• Seasonal and lunar cycles, and how they influence the body
• Small, practical shifts that make a big difference — like eating with the sun and letting one meal digest before the next

About Kate O’Donnell:

Kate O’Donnell is a nationally certified Ayurvedic practitioner, author, and educator with more than twenty-five years immersed in India’s wisdom traditions. She is the founder of the Ayurvedic Living Institute, where she leads trainings, seasonal cleanses, and mentorship programs designed to make Ayurveda accessible for modern life.

A longtime Ashtanga yoga teacher, Kate has completed over a dozen extended trips to India to study yoga, Ayurveda, and Sanskrit philosophy. She’s the author of four books, including the acclaimed Everyday Ayurveda series, which helps readers bring ancient principles into the kitchen and daily rhythm.

Kate teaches internationally, hosts the Everyday Ayurveda with Kate podcast, and continues to explore how traditional systems of health can support balance, clarity, and joy in the modern world.

🔗 Ayurvedic Living Institute | Instagram | Podcast

About Flourish by Advaita Health

Flourish by Advaita Health explores how people, providers, and communities move from suffering to flourishing. Each episode weaves together perspectives from healthcare, wellness, and human experience — from the science of mental and physical health to the art of living well.

Advaita Health is a North Carolina–based behavioral health organization dedicated to supporting whole-person flourishing. Learn more about our work and clinical services below.

• 🌿 Advaita Health: advaitahealth.com
• 🩺 Advaita Integrated Medicine: aimwellbeing.com
• 🎙️ Podcast: Flourish by Advaita Health
• 📸 Instagram: @advaitahealth
• 💼 LinkedIn: Advaita Health
• 📩 Subscribe for new episodes and updates

In this episode of the Advaita Health Podcast, Tripp Johnson sits down with Dr. Dewayne Book, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Advaita Health. With nearly four decades of experience, Dr. Book’s career spans from his early days as a substance abuse counselor to leading Duke University’s psychiatry residency training in addiction treatment, and now shaping clinical practice at Advaita Health.

Dr. Book shares his personal journey through recovery, the importance of bringing oneself into the therapeutic relationship, and the evolution of addiction treatment—from the early days of “one-size-fits-all” counseling to the integration of medications like buprenorphine and naltrexone. He also reflects on how psychiatry and social work shaped his philosophy: that healing begins not with protocols or prescriptions, but with genuine human connection.

The conversation covers medication-assisted treatment, co-occurring disorders, the shifting landscape of substance use in America, and why patient relationships remain the most powerful intervention. Whether you are a clinician, policymaker, or simply interested in the future of behavioral health, this episode offers both deep clinical insight and timeless wisdom about what it means to truly care for patients.

• 00:02 – Introduction to Dr. Dewayne Book and his career path
• 03:06 – Starting as a counselor with “10 months of sobriety and a psychology degree”
• 04:18 – The seed of a medical philosophy: showing up as oneself in the room
• 06:18 – From counselor to social worker: discovering the limits of training and the call for more education
• 08:23 – Choosing medical school: seeking knowledge and professional authority
• 12:03 – Nearly relapsing during the move to North Carolina and finding recovery support at Duke
• 13:22 – Joining Fellowship Hall and shaping residency training in addiction psychiatry
• 17:47 – Introducing buprenorphine to reduce AMA rates in detox
• 22:05 – The evolution of medication-assisted treatment: methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone, and disulfiram
• 26:31 – Using every tool in the box: medication, therapy, relationships, and community
• 31:02 – Shifts in drug epidemics: crack, meth, opioids, cannabis
• 34:10 – Diagnosing comorbidities and substance-induced disorders
• 39:53 – TMS, depression, and why addressing substance use is non-negotiable
• 42:18 – Recovery capital, behavior change, and the role of relationships
• 50:18 – Advice for young psychiatrists entering addiction medicine
• 52:14 – Closing reflections on a career shaped by “just doing the next right thing”

About Flourish by Advaita Health

Flourish by Advaita Health explores how people, providers, and communities move from suffering to flourishing. Each episode weaves together perspectives from healthcare, wellness, and human experience — from the science of mental and physical health to the art of living well.

Advaita Health is a North Carolina–based behavioral health organization dedicated to supporting whole-person flourishing. Learn more about our work and clinical services below.

• 🌿 Advaita Health: advaitahealth.com
• 🩺 Advaita Integrated Medicine: aimwellbeing.com
• 🎙️ Podcast: Flourish by Advaita Health
• 📸 Instagram: @advaitahealth
• 💼 LinkedIn: Advaita Health
• 📩 Subscribe for new episodes and updates

What happens when your strategy, your soul, and your spreadsheet don’t align? 

In this episode of Open-Source Health, Tripp and Marcus unpack what it means to make conscious trade-offs—in business, in leadership, and in life. They reflect on a recent offsite, where the Advaita Health team wrestled with hard decisions about hiring, investment, and what to prioritize as the company matures. But this conversation isn’t just about money—it’s about meaning. 

They dive into the tensions between striving and contentment, personal growth and organizational demands, and why “doing what you’re inclined to do” may be the most sustainable strategy of all. Along the way, you’ll hear reflections on jiu-jitsu, nonduality, psychological safety, and how flourishing starts with the people delivering care—not just those receiving it. 

If you're a leader, clinician, or simply a human being wondering how to align your values with your work, this one's for you. 

About Flourish by Advaita Health

Flourish by Advaita Health explores how people, providers, and communities move from suffering to flourishing. Each episode weaves together perspectives from healthcare, wellness, and human experience — from the science of mental and physical health to the art of living well.

Advaita Health is a North Carolina–based behavioral health organization dedicated to supporting whole-person flourishing. Learn more about our work and clinical services below.

• 🌿 Advaita Health: advaitahealth.com
• 🩺 Advaita Integrated Medicine: aimwellbeing.com
• 🎙️ Podcast: Flourish by Advaita Health
• 📸 Instagram: @advaitahealth
• 💼 LinkedIn: Advaita Health
• 📩 Subscribe for new episodes and updates

In this episode of Open Source Health, Tripp shares personal reflections from his time in Spain—what it means to find rhythm, presence, and community while practicing Ashtanga yoga abroad, and how these anchors impact how we show up in life and work.

Switching gears into a deep dive on one of the most opaque corners of healthcare: pricing. Tripp and Marcus unpack machine-readable files—massive datasets that disclose what insurance companies actually pay providers. They explore why this matters, how Advaita is building a tool to make it usable, and why transparency is not just a technical challenge, but a values-based decision.

Chapters:
00:00 – Intro & Practicing Yoga in Spain
04:00 – Rhythm, Family, and Flourishing
06:50 – What Are Machine-Readable Files?
09:00 – Why This Data Matters in Healthcare
12:30 – Who Uses It Today?
15:00 – Complexity vs. Conspiracy
19:00 – Transparency as a Strategic & Moral Choice
24:30 – Building Advaita’s MVP
29:30 – The Power of Consistency: Brad Stulberg Quote

About Flourish by Advaita Health

Flourish by Advaita Health explores how people, providers, and communities move from suffering to flourishing. Each episode weaves together perspectives from healthcare, wellness, and human experience — from the science of mental and physical health to the art of living well.

Advaita Health is a North Carolina–based behavioral health organization dedicated to supporting whole-person flourishing. Learn more about our work and clinical services below.

• 🌿 Advaita Health: advaitahealth.com
• 🩺 Advaita Integrated Medicine: aimwellbeing.com
• 🎙️ Podcast: Flourish by Advaita Health
• 📸 Instagram: @advaitahealth
• 💼 LinkedIn: Advaita Health
• 📩 Subscribe for new episodes and updates

This week on Open-Source Health, we take you behind the curtain of our own brand evolution—where it’s worked, where we’ve failed, and what’s next. Tripp and Marcus open up about the messy, iterative process of defining who we are as an organization, especially as we’ve grown from Green Hill Recovery to AIM to Advaita Health.

We unpack how our identity has shifted alongside our services, values, and long-term vision. From conversations about mastery and failure to reflections on accessibility in healthcare, this is a raw and honest look at what it takes to grow an organization with integrity. Plus, we get personal with Marcus’s journey into health, fitness, and contemplative practice, shaped by his roots in Eastern North Carolina.

If you’ve ever wrestled with branding, scaling, or making values-driven decisions in healthcare, this one’s for you.

Takeaways:

• Why mastery is a slow, failure-filled process—and why that’s a good thing
• How our brand has evolved from Green Hill Recovery to Advaita Health
• Lessons learned from missteps in branding and communication
• The tension between who we are now and who we’re becoming
• Personal reflections on health, identity, and leadership growth

Chapters:
00:00 – Starting with Decaf Espresso and Catching Up
01:00 – The Long Road to Mastery (and Failing Along the Way)
05:00 – Marcus’s Health and Flourishing Journey: From Small-Town NC to Contemplative Practice
14:30 – Our Branding Missteps (and What We’re Learning)
28:00 – Clarifying Green Hill Recovery vs. Advaita Health vs. AIM
35:00 – Why Brand Clarity Matters for Healthcare Organizations
42:00 – Leadership Lessons: Holding Tension Between Present Reality and Future Vision
46:00 – Lessons Learned: The Value of Failing Repeatedly

About Flourish by Advaita Health

Flourish by Advaita Health explores how people, providers, and communities move from suffering to flourishing. Each episode weaves together perspectives from healthcare, wellness, and human experience — from the science of mental and physical health to the art of living well.

Advaita Health is a North Carolina–based behavioral health organization dedicated to supporting whole-person flourishing. Learn more about our work and clinical services below.

• 🌿 Advaita Health: advaitahealth.com
• 🩺 Advaita Integrated Medicine: aimwellbeing.com
• 🎙️ Podcast: Flourish by Advaita Health
• 📸 Instagram: @advaitahealth
• 💼 LinkedIn: Advaita Health
• 📩 Subscribe for new episodes and updates

This week on Open Source Health, Tripp checks in from Valencia, Spain, reflecting on what it means to lead with intentionality while managing complexity back home. Marcus and Tripp unpack the personal and organizational shifts that made this kind of work-from-anywhere leadership possible, from data infrastructure to performance management systems. They dive into how deliberate leadership transitions—like Dr. Book stepping into the Chief Medical Officer role—reflect a broader organizational commitment to aligning personal growth with company strategy.

They also announce a major next step for Advaita Health: launching a Mental Health PHP/IOP (Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient Program). The conversation explores how building a closed-loop behavioral health system requires both patience and long-term vision, resisting the urge to chase short-term wins in favor of sustainable impact.

Key Topics:

• What slow productivity looks like for a CEO working abroad
• The leadership development philosophy behind Advaita’s recent medical leadership changes
• How data and management infrastructure support strategic decision-making
• Why Advaita is moving toward a true integrated outpatient behavioral health system
• The internal debate: When is the right time to launch new services?

Chapters:
00:00 – Checking in from Valencia
02:00 – Slow Productivity and CEO Mindset Shift
05:30 – Why Tripp Took the Trip: Professional Development and Leadership Evolution
07:45 – Building Internal Capacity: Data, Dashboards, and Leadership Systems
11:00 – The Infinite Game and Designing for Flourishing
15:00 – Mental Health PHP/IOP: The Next Strategic Move
20:00 – How Data-Driven Decision-Making is Changing the Way We Work
25:00 – Cultural Shifts: Clarity, Calm, and Team Development
30:00 – Organizational Announcements: New Roles and Career Pathing
35:00 – Wrapping Up: A Scalable, Developmentally Intentional Future

About Flourish by Advaita Health

Flourish by Advaita Health explores how people, providers, and communities move from suffering to flourishing. Each episode weaves together perspectives from healthcare, wellness, and human experience — from the science of mental and physical health to the art of living well.

Advaita Health is a North Carolina–based behavioral health organization dedicated to supporting whole-person flourishing. Learn more about our work and clinical services below.

• 🌿 Advaita Health: advaitahealth.com
• 🩺 Advaita Integrated Medicine: aimwellbeing.com
• 🎙️ Podcast: Flourish by Advaita Health
• 📸 Instagram: @advaitahealth
• 💼 LinkedIn: Advaita Health
• 📩 Subscribe for new episodes and updates

In this episode of Open Source Health, Tripp and Marcus unpack a different kind of leadership discipline—the kind that doesn’t show up on your calendar. They explore what it means to lead with intention rather than intensity, and how slowing down can actually be the most strategic move for a founder, parent, and partner. 

Tripp reflects on his upcoming month-long trip to Spain as a forcing function to step into a more strategic role, and what it means to run a values-driven company without falling into the hustle trap. From hyper-productivity and masculine-coded “grind culture” to the real emotional labor of leadership, this episode asks: how do we balance growth with flourishing? 

Takeaways 

Hustle isn't always helpful—clarity often beats effort. 

Asking for help is a superpower, but over-advising can derail you. 

Leadership means managing your inner state, not just your output. 

Leverage isn’t just capital—it’s time, trust, and media too. 

If you want to scale a values-driven company, start by living your values. 

About Flourish by Advaita Health

Flourish by Advaita Health explores how people, providers, and communities move from suffering to flourishing. Each episode weaves together perspectives from healthcare, wellness, and human experience — from the science of mental and physical health to the art of living well.

Advaita Health is a North Carolina–based behavioral health organization dedicated to supporting whole-person flourishing. Learn more about our work and clinical services below.

• 🌿 Advaita Health: advaitahealth.com
• 🩺 Advaita Integrated Medicine: aimwellbeing.com
• 🎙️ Podcast: Flourish by Advaita Health
• 📸 Instagram: @advaitahealth
• 💼 LinkedIn: Advaita Health
• 📩 Subscribe for new episodes and updates