By Barbara de la Torre, M.D.
5
2626 ratings
The podcast currently has 27 episodes available.
In season 3 finale (Episodes 8 and 9), Ramey reflects back on her journey to form her unique Health Strategy.
She now understands health in a whole new way. The key ingredient is noticing.
In Episode 9, Ramey completes her Health Strategy consult, and reflects on all the components that inform her health now and in the future.
She understands the power and value she brings to her health through balancing lifestyle, relationships, and nutrition.
Ramey gains confidence on how to tap into her best medicine.
She draws from what she needs, whether it's Western or Eastern medicine, and she plans to use more self-care methods.
Season 3 is a narrative that was born from the inspiration that my mother started. She was also the number one fan who supported me to think outside the healthcare box and ask questions.
Christina was the pioneer who offered new ideas about healthcare before people were ready to hear them.
But I think you're ready to hear them now.
Health Strategy at Third Opinion MD is about manifesting a quiet revolution in healthcare. I’m continuing a family legacy to spark a wave of change in the way we practice medicine, how you can care for yourself, and how you can navigate the healthcare system.
It’s about searching inward for your strength, discovering your innate ability to heal, and expanding the window to be in charge of your health again.
So, here's to my mom. Episodes 8 and 9 were published on the 15-year anniversary of her death, but she will live on with what we do together.
My client, Ramey, reached a point where she wanted to go deeper than that with the Health Strategy Consult program. Season 3 is about pulling the curtain back so you can learn the process with Ramey on how to form a unique health strategy.
Thank you for Subscribing/Following the podcast and leaving a review! It means the world to this independent podcast host and producer.
Sign up for the Third Opinion MD Newsletter to stay up to date on workshops, podcast news and more: https://www.ThirdOpinionMD.org/newsletter
Follow Third Opinion MD on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirdopinionmd/
Book a Complimentary consult meeting with Barbara de la Torre: https://www.ThirdOpinionMD.org/contact
Imagine a healthcare system where you actually matter. Not just the symptom you walk in with, but who you are as a person, the struggles you face, your family legacy, your family secrets. Imagine all of these things matter.
In the season 3 finale, Episodes 8 and 9 reveal Ramey’s layers of family history in the context of relationships and identity. By looking backward, Ramey moves forward with the knowledge and confidence to form her own Health Strategy.
In Episode 8, Ramey takes a deeper dive on how people and events influenced her life experience and identity.
No one lives in a vacuum.
Family diseases, events and relationships contribute to your emotional and physical states of health.
The word, Genogram, is just a fancy term for a family tree that maps out who you belong to and some basic patterns of these relationships.
Genograms include biological and legal members of a family, but they can also include pets, friends, and other relationships. They reveal clues about family secrets and mythology, since families usually modify what is painful or embarrassing in their history.
You draw from your point of view as the key person at the center of the map, going back at least two generations and forward to your children and grandchildren.
I use genograms with my clients as a building block to fully know who they are in their environment.
With context, there is meaning.
With reflection, there is growth and potential for healing.
My client, Ramey, reached a point where she wanted to go deeper than that with the Health Strategy Consult program. Season 3 is about pulling the curtain back so you can learn the process with Ramey on how to form a unique health strategy.
Thank you for Subscribing/Following the podcast and leaving a review! It means the world to this independent podcast host and producer.
Sign up for the Third Opinion MD Newsletter to stay up to date on workshops, podcast news and more: https://www.ThirdOpinionMD.org/newsletter
Follow Third Opinion MD on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirdopinionmd/
Book a Complimentary consult meeting with Barbara de la Torre: https://www.ThirdOpinionMD.org/contact
McGoldrick, M. (2020). Genograms: Assessment and Treatment (4th edition). W. W. Norton & Company.
Launer, J. (2022). Why Doctors Should Draw Genograms—Including Their Own. In Reflective Practice in Medicine and Multi-Professional Healthcare. CRC Press.
Sometimes good medicine is so simple that people don’t even try it. In Episode 7, Ramey is prepared to practice a powerful self-care tool for emotional balance called EFT. When you learn to become a systems thinker, becoming healthier is not only possible, you believe in yourself again.
Be sure to also listen to Episode 6 on Ramey’s preparation for this transformative tapping experience.
Ramey Discovers the Power WithinRamey has years of experience in therapy, as a teacher, and now working in the healthcare system. She reached a place in her life when she was ready to develop her Health Strategy, including a cultivation of mental and emotional well-being.
After her first experience with a tapping technique called, EFT, Ramey said:
“I just feel like this is just more immediate and just something I can immediately take in. And it's not a pill and it's not something that's going to have some side effect. It's for me, and it's also made by me… I'm part of it too.”
Move Beyond the Traditional Mental Healthcare “Hamster Wheel”My client, Ramey, as she states it best, wants to avoid the “hamster wheel” of “therapy, pills, therapy, pills.”
There’s so much more to mental health treatment than just medications and therapy. There are so many amazing and dedicated people in the mental health field, but they can only treat so many people at a time. The healthcare system is fragmented and rewards specialists over prevention and self-care.
The best person to get off the hamster wheel between meds and therapy is You.
Based on the current healthcare system, it might seem normal that trauma is permanent, that everyone has to suffer if they've had trauma, or that it takes years of therapy and medications to relieve the suffering.
But seeing and hearing are not always believing.
You have the freedom to take care of your health according to what’s best for you. It’s time to build back the resilience and the strengths in your system. Your body, mind and spirit have powerful tools to do that.
And one of the ways to access these tools is through tapping.
My client, Ramey, reached a point where she wanted to dig deeper to find more health solutions through the Health Strategy Consult program at Third Opinion MD.
Season 3 is about pulling the curtain back so you can learn the process with Ramey on how to form a unique Health Strategy.
Please Subscribe/Follow Third Opinion MD podcast and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts! It will mean the world to this independent podcaster!
Sign up for the Third Opinion MD Newsletter to stay up to date on workshops, podcast news and more: https://www.ThirdOpinionMD.org/newsletter
Follow Third Opinion MD on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirdopinionmd/
Book a Complimentary consult meeting with Barbara de la Torre: https://www.ThirdOpinionMD.org/contact
In episodes 6 and 7, Ramey discovers a self-care technique for tapping acupuncture points to relieve negative emotions.
One of the most studied methods is called EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique. EFT is an emerging, research-based example of how Eastern medicine bridges beautifully with Western psychology.
Listen to how Ramey prepares for her first tapping experience.
Mental Healthcare in America Could Use a Healthy Dose of Chinese Medicine
Most mental health treatment in America includes prescription medicine and psychotherapy. But results in the last century show that the biomedical healthcare system, alone, can’t fully manage America’s mental health needs. Since the pandemic, the number of people suffering from emotional and mental anguish is staggering.
More than 1 in 5 adults in the United States live with a mental illness.[1] Just imagine, in the wake of modern life and current events, how many people live with a negative emotion like anger, sadness, anxiety or fear. The numbers are likely much higher!
You are fortunate to be in charge of your own health and have the power to add self-care skills to your life.
The challenge lies in how to choose what’s best for you.
You can go to therapy to treat your negative emotions. You can also combine psychotherapy with prescription medication. And if this combination works for you, that’s wonderful!
But there are 4 reasons why these two options might not work for everyone:
The ultimate goal is to minimize your need to see a doctor.
One technique that can help reduce your emotional burden is a self-care method called EFT.
What is EFT?
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), is also known as tapping. It’s a rapid and simple technique that involves tuning into an intensely stressful thought while tapping acupuncture points in a sequence. EFT combines the effects of stimulating acupoints with Western cognitive behavioral therapy, desensitizing techniques, and imagined or actual exposure therapy.
The results, if EFT is correctly applied, lead to long-lasting or permanent relief from negative emotions connected with a thought or situation.
But how is it possible for a simple method to help with depression, anxiety, addiction, and phobia? Don’t complex problems require complex solutions?
Listen to how my client, Ramey, discovers EFT and shares her experience in Season 3, Episodes 6 and 7. Consider Ramey’s health story as a way to witness how to expand your thinking about mental health from mental disorders being a problem of the mind to a more systematic approach to achieve emotional balance.
Never forget that the potential and simplicity of healing lies within you.
A Few Words of Caution
Follow Ramey’s Health Journey in Season 3
Season 3 is about pulling the curtain back so you can learn the process with my client, Ramey, on how to form a unique...
In episode 5, Ramey starts her six-week Health Strategy program, and she’s ready to work on her wellness unlike any health visit she’s had before.
It starts with the skills to become a systems thinker. This mindset doesn’t just expand outside the box. Embracing the best of traditional and nontraditional medical models is both an art and skill you need to navigate today’s fragmented healthcare systems.
How Did We Get Here?To understand your current state of health, you need to look back in time to the root causes. Roots are easier to find in the earth when you have the right tools to dig for them and know enough about the plant to avoid causing harm. You wouldn’t think to treat the leaves to nurture a tree back to health. Why, then, would you just focus on your symptoms?
The answer is in the culture we live in. Symptoms matter more than the root causes of illness. The healthcare system in the United States is failing you by remaining stagnant and holding tight to their biomedical model as the dominant narrative – specialist-driven care, mostly time-limited appointments, focusing on the symptoms. This a big reason why you can’t afford to fail yourself.
Right now, a lot of healthcare practitioners are siloed in their own specialties, both on the Western and Eastern medicine side. Most don’t communicate with each other, and that still leaves you in the passive role.
That really didn’t sit well with me as a second-generation physician with Board certification in traditional Family Medicine and in Medical Acupuncture. To truly change a system in the most profound way, you must transcend medical systems in order to gain the most from them.
Blended medicine is good medicine. And I believe you deserve to have the best that multiple medical systems can offer. The dominant medical system won’t serve it to you. You need good strategy to access what you need.
That's why I created the Health Strategy Consult program. It’s almost like a boot camp to be the CEO of your health now and in the future.
Join Ramey and me in Episode 5 to start the journey to become a systems thinker. It’s never too late to get to a place of knowledge and power for your health. You can have all the best tools, but you need a good strategy to know which tools work best for you.
My client, Ramey, reached a point where she wanted to dig deeper to find more health solutions through the Health Strategy Consult program. Season 3 is about pulling the curtain back so you can learn the process with Ramey on how to form a unique Health Strategy.
Thank you for Subscribing/Following Third Opinion MD podcast and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts!
Sign up for the Third Opinion MD Newsletter to stay up to date on workshops, podcast news and more: https://www.ThirdOpinionMD.org/newsletter
Follow Third Opinion MD on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirdopinionmd/
Book a Complimentary consult meeting with Barbara de la Torre: https://www.ThirdOpinionMD.org/contact
In Episode 4, Ramey is at a crossroads with her health, and she is ready to learn about the Health Strategy program at Third Opinion MD. What's motivating Ramey to take this giant step now more than before? Listen to our conversation on how you can achieve so much more when you move beyond a linear and passive way to address your health.
The Bird’s Eye ViewPart of forming a Health Strategy involves taking a step back to get the broad view of what’s going on with you, health wise, and exploring the best options based on your ability and the existing options in the system.
But there are two major issues with healthcare today. One you already know about is that the healthcare system is fractured, and it still operates with competing and potentially wrong goals for you individually. This situation can’t be “fixed” by one person or organization. Unfortunately, most healthcare organizations still operate in a linear and restricted way.
The other healthcare “elephant in the room” is you. In order for any system to function well, it has to serve the lowest denominator. But, in order for you to be served well by the system, you must serve yourself first. Remember, you are a system, too! If you don’t serve the parts of you best – your organs, your emotions, your unique window to remain balanced – the larger systems like insurance, clinics, and pharma can’t help you best.
The Path Forward
In order to improve the healthcare system, it must always start with your self-cultivation. I’m calling on you to start listening, ask questions, and take action to be in charge of your health again. No one else will do this for you.
This doesn’t mean abandoning the healthcare system and going out on your own. The more you learn health strategy, the more you will be empowered and knowledgeable to benefit from the existing system as well as becoming self-reliant.
Healthy individuals build healthier communities. And healthier communities help to heal the world around you.
Follow Ramey’s Health Journey in Season 3
My client, Ramey, took one of my classes to learn about eye health qigong, and she reached a point where she wanted to go deeper than that with the Health Strategy Consult program. Season 3 is about pulling the curtain back so you can learn the process with Ramey on how to form a unique health strategy.
Resources
Thank you for Subscribing/Following the podcast and leaving a review! It means the world to this independent podcast host and producer.
Sign up for the Third Opinion MD Newsletter to stay up to date on workshops, podcast news and more: https://www.ThirdOpinionMD.org/newsletter
Follow Third Opinion MD on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirdopinionmd/
Book a Complimentary consult meeting with Barbara de la Torre: https://www.ThirdOpinionMD.org/contact
In Episode 3, my client, Ramey, shares how she feels after learning a qigong form in class for the first time. And there's a very special surprise in the second half of the episode where we go over how Ramey responds to practicing qigong for the last two months. I also reflect on my health journey with qigong because, in community, we can achieve much more than we can alone.
The Power of Self CultivationThe healing path is usually not a straight line, but a cycle of ups and downs. I like to call it the “yin and yang” of what it means to be healthy. Empowerment to care for yourself doesn’t just come from the times you’re healthy, but also when you’re sick. The first step is about listening to what your inner doctor is telling you.
It’s about noticing what takes place in your healthy and unhealthy states without judgment. The key ingredients include making time for stillness, adaptation, and kindness towards you.
I’m here to share my clinical and personal health experience and wisdom. There are many lifestyle methods you can learn to be in charge of your health again. Chinese medicine is not the only way to achieve health, but it’s what I know best as a Qigong Master Certified instructor, Acupuncturist and Western Family Physician. This ancient and timeless technique belongs in modern mainstream medicine.
My client, Ramey, took one of my classes to learn about eye health qigong, and she reached a point where she wanted to dig deeper through my Health Strategy Consult program. Season 3 is about pulling the curtain back so you can learn the process with my client, Ramey, on how to form a unique health strategy.
Join Ramey and me in episode 3 to learn about the power and wisdom that qigong can offer you for your health journey.
Are you interested in learning qigong? Stay informed when classes are available in person and online! Sign up for the Third Opinion MD Newsletter to stay up to date on classes, workshops, podcast news and more: https://www.ThirdOpinionMD.org/newsletter
Thank you for Subscribing/Following the podcast and leaving a review! It means the world to this independent podcast host and producer.
Follow Third Opinion MD on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirdopinionmd/
Book a Complimentary consult meeting with Barbara de la Torre: https://www.ThirdOpinionMD.org/contact
When is it the best time to work on your health? When you have more time? After you get sick?
Welcome to modern life!
But real preventive medicine always starts and ends with YOU. And the best time to address your health is NOW. Listen to this episode on how the practice of qigong puts you back in charge of your health.
Self-Care is EverythingJust look at what the ancient physicians wrote over two thousand years ago about their ancestors:
“In the past, … [t]hey understood the principle of balance as represented by the transformations of the energies of the universe [Nature]. They formulated exercises to promote energy flow to harmonize themselves with the universe. They ate a balanced diet at regular times, arose and retired at regular hours, avoided overstressing their bodies and minds, and refrained from overindulgence of all kinds.”
(translated by Maoshing Ni)
Energy flow (the smooth circulation of qi) is the key to a long and healthy life. And those “exercises to promote energy flow” are collectively called qigong (pronounced chee-gong.) Qigong is a branch of Chinese medicine that offers tremendous opportunity to improve your health and, perhaps, help improve the healthcare system itself.
My client, Ramey, took one of my classes to learn about eye health qigong, and she reached a point where she wanted to go deeper than that with the Health Strategy Consult program. Season 3 is about pulling the curtain back so you can learn the process with Ramey on how to form a unique health strategy.
Join my client, Ramey, in episode 2 to learn about the power and wisdom that qigong has to offer in your health journey.
Thank you for Subscribing/Following the podcast and leaving a review! It means the world to this independent podcast host and producer.
Sign up for the Third Opinion MD Newsletter to stay up to date on workshops, podcast news and more: https://www.ThirdOpinionMD.org/newsletter
Follow Third Opinion MD on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirdopinionmd/
Book a Complimentary consult meeting with Barbara de la Torre: https://www.ThirdOpinionMD.org/contact
Ni, M. (1995). The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine: A New Translation of the Neijing Suwen with Commentary(Revised ed. edition). Shambhala.
The definition of qi mentioned in the podcast comes from esteemed scholar, Ed Neal, who wrote that all different types of qi “can be understood as being different manifestations of the primary fabric of space/time.” Neal, E. (2012). Introduction to Neijing Classical Acupuncture Part I: History and Basic Principles.pdf. Journal of Chinese Medicine, 100. https://neijingstudies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/JCM-Article-1.pdf
The power of healing is in the “Why.” In a rare opportunity to go behind the scenes, you’ll get to join Ramey on a unique health journey.
Ramey is a healthcare worker for eye issues. But she's also someone who's had eye problems for most of her life. She has that special insight from both sides of the healthcare fence. In this episode, she’s taking my class on self-care and prevention for the eyes.
Now Ramey wants to become a client and dig deeper. Through my Health Strategy Consult program, she learns to better manage her health by moving beyond the diagnosis and into why and how she developed her conditions.
Explore Beyond What You SeeIt starts with understanding health differently by stepping outside the healthcare expectations set for you. Witness how one person starts to reset her entire health perspective, expands possibilities, and restores hope on what it means to be healthy.
The Health Strategy Consult at Third Opinion MD is an opportunity for you to share with me everything that contributes to the state of your health. To form your own Health Strategy, you must first open your eyes and your heart to the possibilities.
It's not just about your diagnosis or about the lab tests that you're getting. So many things are involved in understanding your health story: your emotions, family upbringing, environment, nutrition then and now, and your lifestyle.
Your symptoms are not the problem, but they are messages from you about potential root causes. Good detective work requires collecting all the clues and facts into a meaningful and effective strategy.
The current healthcare systems are not doing this. Hospitals, clinics, insurance and pharmaceutical companies tend to act in their own best interests, not yours.
Blended medicine, from East and West, is good medicine and helps you form your own Third Opinion.
Join Ramey in Season 3, Episode 1 to learn why Chinese medicine is one of the most elegant and accurate medical systems to put you back in charge again.
What You’ll LearnDon’t forget to Subscribe to the podcast and leave a review!
Sign up for the Third Opinion MD Newsletter to stay up to date on workshops, podcast news and more: https://www.ThirdOpinionMD.org/newsletter
Follow Third Opinion MD on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirdopinionmd/
Book a Complimentary Health Strategy consult with Barbara de la Torre: https://www.ThirdOpinionMD.org/contact
In Season three, all episodes will follow one guest's journey to understand and achieve her best health potential. Each episode is recorded in a real-time sequence over the course of a 6-week consult to show how you can address your health in a more creative and individualized way.
My client, Ramey, graciously offered to share her time and health story with you as we work together on her Health Strategy from start to finish.
This approach doesn't exist in current mainstream healthcare, which is largely about gathering the information they want and not what you truly need.
Become a Systems ThinkerI founded Third Opinion MD so I can work with people who reach a health crossroad or want to expand their skills at self-care and navigating the healthcare system. They enroll in my Health Strategy program to get to a place of empowerment, wisdom, and hope.
And you can get there, too. It can be frustrating if you depend only on traditional healthcare's linear approach, which tends to be one size fits all. But you can achieve greater success by becoming a systems thinker.
The Impact on Your Third OpinionWhat is systems thinking for your health? It means taking a step back to look at the big picture in your life. It's not as simple as "eat this or do that." It's really about trying to understand all of you with a comprehensive approach. This includes your medical history, family patterns and relationships, innate and acquired patterns of health and disease, your lifestyle and your environment.
Join me on Tuesdays, starting September 5, 2023, to explore Ramey’s journey through the Health Strategy Consult from start to finish. This approach to health is what healthcare should be and how you can achieve your healing potential.
ResourcesClick here to learn more and to schedule a Complimentary Consultation: https://www.ThirdOpinionMD.org/contact
The podcast currently has 27 episodes available.