The Grit Podcast: with Dr. Ben Peery

I speak with Dr. Jeff Faragher dear friend and colleague about difficult events in our careers and lives that have impacted us, and how the relationships with our patients, close friends and family, remind us of the imperative of connectivity and its healing.

I speak with Dr. Sabrina Adams, veteran emergency department physician, wife, mother of twins about her childhood dream of becoming a doctor and how she overcame many challenges including growing up in Brazil, then immigrating to the United States and earning honors as an undergraduate while working and learning English to reach her goal. We discuss how gratitude and daily affirmations can help us acknowledge the sacrifices we made and honor those that have supported us along the way.

I speak with Dr. Matt Squiot, veteran emergency medicine physician, musician, husband, father, outdoor enthusiast about his early years struggling to get into medical school, and then dealing with sudden personal tragedy as he began his emergency medicine residency. How do you begin your medical career and achieve your life's goal when your tank is already empty? Matt shares his insights about how he kept pushing the pedals, but also learned to seek light and joy as he navigated the crucible of working on the front lines of the emergency department.

This is a story about my father's watch. I tell a story of a particular day commercial fishing in heavy seas with my father and brother and reflect on how learning to be tough as a young man, and its imperative for working on the front lines must be balanced by beauty and gentleness.

I speak with Dr. Ben Smith, veteran emergency medicine physician and residency classmate about the challenges and privileges of working in the emergency department and the imperative of seeking kindness, solitude and beauty to counterbalance the rigors of the front lines.

I visit with my brother Jess Peery, writer, videographer, musician and ayahuasca practitioner about the toxic influence of cellphones, social media and isolation on spirituality, and we discuss psychedelics, meditation and other practices that may help us preserve our mental health.

I speak with Dr. Chris Miller, lifestyle and integrative medicine physician and we discuss new research regarding sleep, diet, light therapy, gut health and relaxation techniques for healing chronic diseases and the recent powerful impact these practices have had on her own life and those of her patients.

I speak with Dr. Lisa Hile, emergency medicine physician, Iraq War veteran, entrepreneur and mother of 3 about the challenges of emergency medicine, and how her spiritual journey reset her expectations and freed her from the vortex of burnout.

I speak with Steve Ausherman, teacher and artist, about how he overcame the mental trauma of surviving cancer, a heart attack and a stroke through his art. We discuss the adapative capacity of our "plastic brain" and the potential therapeutic effect of painting, writing and sketching on mental health.

I speak with Raul Pizarro emergency department nurse about his years of work on the front lines as a lab technician, ER tech and RN. We discuss his long journey, balancing a young family, poor sleep, burnout, and wrestling with the doubt of ever feeling good enough.

I speak with Megan Backofen LCSW, and trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapist about her work with child sexual abuse victims, identifying and treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and effective tools for releasing accumulated trauma and changing negative cognitive narratives. We discuss the imperatives of first acknowledging that we are struggling and then applying daily self care practices to manage that inevitable mental stress.

I speak with Dr. Brad Nichol, general surgeon and colleague, about his many years of surgical work in a rural hospital. He recounts the cummulative burden of sleepless nights on call, tragic cases, occasional adverse outcomes and patient loss that threatened his physical and mental health. Dr. Nichol unweighted himself at a point of crisis of the impossible expectations of his career, and by reprioritizing family, rest, diet and self-forgiveness, as a phoenix rising, he became renewed.

I speak with Cody Lister, veteran EMT and firefighter about his experiences starting at the age of 16 in a small rural volunteer EMS agency, battling years of accumulated strain and seeking solace and at the fire station kitchen table.

I speak with Nicole Rippy, veteran ER technician, about burnout, difficult patients, the therapy of laughter, haircuts in the nursing station, and lifting each other up in crisis because ultimately, it's just us.

I speak with Julia Lehmann, Emergency Department nurse about the many challenges impacting young nurses entering the field. We discuss improving strategies for debriefing traumatic events, increasing awareness of the increasing physical violence facing those on the front lines, and the importance of admitting to ourselves that it is OK to not be OK.

I speak with Jennifer Hills, 20-year ER nurse about her insights caring for patients in the emergency department, her own father at home, balancing the chaos with gentle self care, a career change and slowing everything down.

I speak with Dr. Rob Orman, emergency physician, about our shared experiences working together in the ER, processing failure, expectations of perfection and the imperative of moving towards self forgiveness.

I speak with my brother Jess Peery about why we always bury the throttle instead of embracing gentleness, the challenges of vulnerability and trying to reinvent ourselves at the age of 50.

I speak with Drew Morse, critical care flight paramedic, on the challenges and rewards of a career in EMS, and the letting go of the horrors we see.

I reconstruct what it feels like to work a typical night shift as an emergency physician, including when an unstable, truly emergent patient comes in the door at the very end of my shift.

I speak with Dr. Mary Glode, gynecologist and chief of staff at a regional hospital about her amazing recovery from alcohol dependence, managing stress with life balance and the value of saying "no".

I speak with Travis Rohe, veteran firefighter/paramedic and SWAT medic about the perils of caring for patients in austere environments, managing severe stress, the weight of accumulated trauma and burden of being asked to be "more human than human."

I speak with Jen Elias veteran emergency department nurse, about ER burnout, night shifts, processing sadness, obnoxious patients and the realization as ER staff that we are likely pretty messed up.

I speak with Dr Chris Miller, Emergency Medicine and Integrative Medicine physician about how she pulled herself from the abyss of failing health, finding life balance and the imperative of always pressing forward.

I speak with 20 year law enforcement veteran, friend and SWAT tem colleague Justin Wareham as he reflects on the challenges of being a cop and a single day that changed him forever.

A discussion with Resa Hayes, licensed professional counselor and friend about shared trauma and why frontline providers may be averse to seeking out mental therapy.

I speak with Dr. Kelly Glenn, emergency medicine physician about offloading stress and the Kelly Glenn Great Pumpkin Project

I speak with Dr Brandy Drake, emergency medicine and palliative care physician about a shared traumatic moment in the ER, dealing with the grief and not carrying that sadness forward.

I speak with my brother Jess Peery, a shaman, about psychedelics, the inherent mental trauma of working in the ER and trying to unload it all.