Episode 42: How to Build a Trustworthy Integrative Health Team for Healing
Oct 24, 2024
Listen to episode above 👆🏼
Or you can click here to find and subscribe to Wellbeing Interrupted on your favourite App!
Are you worried about trusting the wrong people with your health? You’re not alone. After watching a recent episode of 7:30 on ABC Australia, which featured a segment about a health practitioner who wasn’t transparent about their qualifications, I felt the need to address this issue. Whether you’re dealing with a chronic illness or navigating a difficult health journey, having a support team you can trust is essential.
For me, this is about having an integrative approach to healing that balances both medical and natural therapies. But how do you know who to trust? How do you ensure the people you turn to for support are truly invested in your wellbeing, and not just out to make a quick buck?
Why Transparency and Integrity Matter
Last night’s 7:30 Report got me thinking about how important it is to ensure your health team is filled with people who are upfront and honest about their qualifications and intentions. It’s heartbreaking when people prey on others' vulnerabilities, especially those of us living with chronic health conditions. But that doesn’t mean we should shy away from exploring an integrative approach to healing.
When I first started my journey with multiple sclerosis and later, stage 4 breast cancer, I wasn’t always sure whom to trust. Over time, though, I learned to listen to my intuition and only surround myself with practitioners—both medical and natural—who respected my approach to healing.
It’s not about pitting one type of therapy against another. Instead, it’s about finding professionals who align with your values and genuinely want to help you thrive. For me, that means working with my oncologist and neurologist, alongside trusted natural therapists like my Reiki master, Lisa Kelly. Each practitioner brings something different to the table, but all are crucial to my wellbeing.
The Role of Intuition in Building Your Team
Building a trustworthy support network is about more than just checking credentials. It’s about trusting your gut. If you sit across from a doctor or natural therapist and something feels off—whether it’s a dismissive attitude or an overblown claim about “quick fixes”—that’s a red flag. Trust your instincts.
For example, if a natural therapist ever advised me to stop my medical treatments, or a doctor told me to stop meditating or using energy healing, they wouldn’t be part of my team. I need practitioners who respect each other and work together toward the same goal: helping me heal.
Healing isn’t just about addressing the physical symptoms of our conditions. It’s a holistic process that involves emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. Anyone who doesn’t see that—or who pushes their own agenda—isn’t the right fit for your journey.
Why an Open Mind is Key to Healing
Keeping an open mind is crucial to healing. Just because you’ve encountered one bad practitioner doesn’t mean the entire field is untrustworthy. For example, I’ve benefited tremendously from natural therapies like Reiki, energy healing, and craniosacral therapy. But I also know that not every practitioner operates with integrity.
You need to approach your health journey with discernment, but don’t let fear stop you from exploring therapies that might help you. The key is finding the right fit—people who respect both your medical treatments and your desire to explore complementary therapies.
My Journey of Healing and Remission
I know firsthand how transformative the right support team can be. When I was first diagnosed with MS, I kept getting sick because I wasn’t making the necessary changes in my life. It wasn’t until I combined conventional treatments with natural therapies and truly opened my mind to new possibilities that I started to feel better.
Today, I’m in remission from both MS and stage 4 breast cancer. My latest MRI shows no active disease for MS, and my most recent PET scan shows no evidence of cancer. Does that mean I’ve found a magic cure? Absolutely not. I’ve been on this journey for years, and it has required immense physical, mental, and emotional effort. But my integrative approach and the team I’ve built around me have made all the difference.
Creating Your Own Integrative Healing Team
So, how can you build a trustworthy integrative health team for yourself? Here are a few tips:
- Trust your intuition: If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Don’t ignore those gut feelings.
- Ask questions: Make sure your practitioners are transparent about their qualifications, experience, and approach to healing.
- Look for alignment: Your medical and natural health practitioners should respect each other and work toward a common goal—your wellbeing.
- Stay open-minded: Don’t let one bad experience stop you from exploring other therapies. Healing is a journey, and it’s okay to try different approaches until you find what works for you.
Looking Forward
I’m really excited to share more about these ideas at the MindBodySpirit Festival on November 15 and 16, where I’ll be presenting Transforming Health: Healing Mindset Shifts. It’s all about the power of mindset and creating a support system that works for you—whether through medical treatments, natural therapies, or a combination of both.
If you’re on your own healing journey, remember that the right practitioners are out there. It’s just a matter of trusting yourself, keeping an open mind, and staying committed to your wellbeing.
Referenced Episodes
Show Resources
- The Healing Mindset Course
- Follow me on Instagram: @Hurdle2Hope
Transcript Episode 42 How to Build a Trustworthy Integrative Health Team for Healing
[00:00:00] Teisha: Hey there, Teisha here, and welcome to episode 42 of Wellbeing Interrupted. Quick personal update before we get into this episode. Yesterday was the first snake sighting at Daisy Hill. Oh my goodness, big brown snake that was very close to the caravan apparently after the lizards that are under the ground near a tree near the van.
[00:00:31] Um, so a little bit scary because it moved pretty quickly. Um, and fortunately though, no one's hurt. The dogs didn't notice it as it was going across the ground and Andrew spotted it at the tree trunk. So all is good, all is safe, but gotta get used to sharing our property with brown snakes. As Andrew reminded me, the second most venomous snakes in the world.
[00:00:59] So, so pleased that I live in Australia. Then, last night, my phone started beeping quite a bit, because on the 7. 30 report, which is on the ABC here in Australia, there was a segment on Elle Macpherson, not specifically about Elle, but rather really honing in on someone who is part of her I guess support network, someone who the program outlined has not been completely upfront and transparent about their qualifications.
[00:01:42] The point of my podcast is I'm not going to name and shame that person. That's not my role. Rather, I'll put the link into the show notes of the 7. 30 report, so please watch that if you want to find out more, as I truly do believe that we need to make our own decisions and minds up about people. But what's really important is And what I really want to talk about today is ensuring that part of your support network in living with an illness, that you surround yourself with people who you trust, people who you know, are being transparent, are being authentic, and will support you in living well.
[00:02:38] So have a listen to this episode. I think it's a really important topic, and Yeah, as always, please reach out to me to let me know your thoughts and I'll say again up front, I live with stage 4 breast cancer, I live with MS and with both conditions, I've always had an integrative approach. That means I do have people in my support network that are medical practitioners, but also natural therapists.
[00:03:15] So hopefully you get a bit out of this episode. Welcome to Wellbeing Interrupted, a podcast dedicated to exploring the transformative power of a healing mindset. I'm Teisha Rose, your host. and the founder of Hurdle2Hope. If you're on a quest to not just survive but thrive after a life changing diagnosis, then you're definitely in the right place.
[00:03:43] Living with MS and now stage 4 breast cancer has taught me a vital lesson. In the face of a life changing illness, our mindset is everything. Each week I'll share insights, tips and strategies to help you build a happier, healthier,
[00:04:05] So let's begin your journey from hurdle to hope starting right now. Okay. Transparency, integrity and qualifications matter, especially when we're dealing with health conditions. So last night I was so disappointed that again, someone who is working within the space of natural therapies up front about their qualifications, that they're pretending to be someone who perhaps they're not qualified to be.
[00:04:45] And it's disappointing because all of a sudden it really casts a dark cloud on those who are working in this space, who are filled with integrity, who who have sometimes a real calling or purpose in their life to help others to heal. Last week, Lisa Kelly, a perfect example. Lisa has been part of my support network.
[00:05:16] She's a Reiki master. She is such a wealth of information. But as she said last week, she's not saying to people, come and see me, I'm going to heal you. Instead, it's part of the work we do together. And for me, Lisa just brings clarity to things I don't quite understand. I know energy healing has been good for me, but I also know that there's so many practitioners out there that wouldn't be allowed in my circle because I don't trust them.
[00:05:56] So as you listen to this episode, let's not, um, I guess, cast a shadow. on all natural therapists, because it's not the case. There's so many out there that will help us to live well, but we need to find out which ones those are. And what, for me, last night's episode really highlights is that we need to have a level of discernment when we're selecting our practitioners.
[00:06:32] But again, don't let this episode, if you watch it, stop you from having an integrative approach to your wellbeing.
[00:06:46] So I wanted to really say this out loud again because it's so important and for me, MS has taught me the importance of having an integrative approach to my well being. And I know that approach has meant that I've been able to live well with MS and now stage 4 breast cancer. And what I've found over the years is that being open to natural therapies has made me evolve as a person.
[00:07:22] It's really helped me to quiet my mind, to be open to new experiences, and as I've been on this personal growth, as I've learnt and grown, as I've challenged my thinking, I've become so much better in surrounding myself with people that I trust, And that goes both ways, because medically, there are certain people, certain, um, medical professionals that I wouldn't have part of my network.
[00:07:59] So as much as we call out those with, you know, natural therapies that aren't operating with integrity, the same can be said for doctors and other health practitioners. So it's just as important for me to ensure that my neurologist, my oncologist, my surgeon, who I trust, that they align with my approach to wellness.
[00:08:29] And I'm not saying they have to believe in Reiki or energy healing or things like that. But what I'm saying is that with those medical practitioners, I need them to be open to wellness. I need them to, I guess, listen to me. I need them to be on the same page. I need them to be at the top of their game. I need them to be open to new approaches.
[00:09:00] I need them to know what research is happening. I need them to be honouring my hope. So with that same discernment, I take that also to natural therapists. So if I show up to someone who, for example, is a Reiki practitioner or a Reiki master, If they tell me, don't take your medication, don't have the surgery, we can heal you.
[00:09:29] They're not welcome as part of my team because they're not respecting my medical practitioners. Just like if my doctor said, I don't want you meditating. What's the point of that? I just want you to take this medication. They also wouldn't be part of my team. So it's really important to work out for yourself who you can trust.
[00:09:56] And that is the key to building around you a support network that will help you heal. And I've talked a lot previously that healing is far more than the physical. Yes, I can be on medications that help me with the inflammation in my nervous system that help me with relapses, but there's so much more to healing than the physical symptoms.
[00:10:29] And if I'm to heal, then just focusing on the physical symptoms of my conditions won't help. It's a lot deeper than that. And for me, it just makes sense. Either medical alone, either natural therapies alone, aren't going to work by themselves for me. Instead, I need to combine both, take a holistic approach and anyone who, I guess, talks down the other, anyone who says, don't go there, only do my way, then they're not going to be part of my network.
[00:11:12] I also think just as medical practitioners need to be really open and transparent about their background, so do natural therapists and also anyone on social media. You know, anyone saying, follow what I do, they need to be transparent. And that's what I hope I am doing, because I know that people now are listening to me.
[00:11:42] People might think, gosh, Teisha's in remission. I want to do what she's doing, you know, and I'm sometimes hesitant to say I live with MS. I haven't had a relapse since 2012. My neurologist says that, you know, disease is not active at the moment. Sometimes I'm worried about owning that, but I know there's been so much work I've done, personally, internally.
[00:12:13] to help my healing, and it's not a quick fix. There's nothing I can say to do A, B, and C, and you also will be in remission. It might be your journey to have. You know, I was such a slow learner when it came to MS. In my 20s, I kept getting sick because I kept making superficial changes in my life, but I really didn't challenge how I approached and thought about my health.
[00:12:48] And it wasn't for me until I combined the medical with natural therapies and energy healing that I really started to heal. And I know that's why The results for me with stage 4 breast cancer have been surprising to myself and that I live to see it. Currently in remission, but the last PET scan I had showed no evidence of disease.
[00:13:18] How long that lasts? I don't know. All I know is that I need to continue to work on myself. That my move to Daisy Hill, except for the snake bit, has been such a positive move as I know this is where my healing will continue. But I'm never going to say, do what I've done. But what I will say is to constantly challenge your thinking, to be open to new ways of thinking and to really have an open mind.
[00:13:53] And part of that for me is to be open to new approaches to healing. And that's why it's so upsetting when someone is not doing the right thing when it comes to natural therapies, because it stops people from opening their mind. But what I hope is that if you're working on yourself, If you're really committed to healing, that you'll start being in a place where you feel what is right for you.
[00:14:29] And that's not being woo woo. That's the same approach I take with being connected with the right medical practitioners and being guided by your intuition. When I sat opposite my doctor, my surgeon, who was to perform the mastectomies, I knew straight away she was right and there's no surprise for me that my healing from that surgery was so incredible because she was the right person to work on my body.
[00:15:04] And taking that same approach to natural therapies, if I sat across the table from someone who really belittled my surgeon. Or my oncologist or neurologist. If someone was trying to convince me to spend a lot of money and say that, you know, they know how to cure cancer, straight away I'd be out the door because that's not how it works.
[00:15:38] So that intuition which guides you to connecting with the right medical practitioners, use that same intuition To connect you with the right natural therapists. And why I wanted to hop on here as well is that In about four weeks, on the 15th and the 16th of November, I'm part of the Speakers Lounge at Melbourne's MindBodySpirit Festival.
[00:16:11] It's such an amazing event. I'm so honoured to be part of the festival. I'll be presenting on transforming health. Mindset shifts for healing and I don't want people not going to events like this. I mean, this is a huge event. It goes for three days in Melbourne, then Sydney, also in Brisbane. And it's all about opening our ways of thinking, you know, and just because one person doesn't represent themselves accurately because one person is trying to con others into believing what they're selling and trying to make money out of that.
[00:17:08] Don't let that stop you from your own healing journey, because it's so important. And I, you know, without opening my mind, my life would be miserable. I wouldn't be well. I'd be pumping myself. with lots of medication and not really looking at the cause of my illnesses and not actively seeking wellness. So it's so important to go to events like that but have an open mind.
[00:17:46] As I've already said, if you have been working on yourself, Then you will be guided to, or attracted to, or feel right in the presence of people who will help your healing. You know, if it doesn't feel right, don't part with your money from people selling quick fixes. Instead, align yourself with people who will continue to help you grow and to live well.
[00:18:24] So if we're going to be transparent, again, I'm all about mindset. I'm not selling anything in terms of quick fixes. What I'm doing though is building on my knowledge I gained through studying psychology. I have a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. I graduated way back in 1996. Then I returned to university.
[00:18:54] I became a social worker. I've got a Bachelor of Social Work. As well as a Bachelor of Business Management. So they're my qualifications. I've lived through illnesses. I was diagnosed with MS at 22, so 27 years ago. And everything I do, everything I share is what has worked for me. Then I wrote my book, Life Interrupted, back in 2015.
[00:19:30] And part of that, the second part of my book was sharing the health framework. And what I've done in creating now the Hurdle2Hope roadmap is really applying everything I wrote in my second half of my book to this new challenge of cancer. And I've then worked out what has and hasn't worked. The good thing for me is everything I wrote way back 10 years ago has been applied and has worked to this new health challenge.
[00:20:07] And at the core of everything is having an open mind, is working on yourself. It's not about quick fixes. Instead, it's about sustained health and wellbeing. And mindset's not a quick cure. You know, mindset shifts that I teach are not a cure, but it's a way to live well with your illness. And hopefully, you know, bonus, I don't have any cancerous cells in my body.
[00:20:38] That's great. Not to say that I The next person with cancer won't, because this is my journey. It took me years to work out how to live well and embrace life with MS. Years. You know, early on I kept getting sick, and because I wasn't open to changing my life, I was stuck living in automatic pilot, living the life I'd assumed would be mine.
[00:21:09] And so, that type of environment, doesn't let yourself be open to new ways of thinking. And it wasn't until I slowly opened my mind to new ways of thinking that I started to enjoy my life more, but that took a long time. You know, I kept having relapses until 2012. I had heaps and heaps up until 2007, then 2012 I shared about us not having children and during that time I had my last relapse.
[00:21:47] A lot of that I know now was to do with the grief I was experiencing then, but I was able to work my way through that because I had an open mind. You know, I knew that I had to deconstruct what I thought my life would be. And then I had to rebuild my life, a meaningful life, but a life without children.
[00:22:24] So sorry, that's my random sort of take on this week. Started yesterday from a snake. Viewing ended last night with my phone pinging because of this episode on the 7. 30 report and I've put on hold next week's episode because I think it's so important that we don't live in fear of those who are not meant to be part of our healing journey, that we work on ourselves.
[00:22:58] And by doing that, we'll only be attracted to those that can help us, that will benefit our healing journey. And all I do is really encourage you to work on your healing mindset. That's why I'm running my course again in the next month or so. I'll let you know when it's out for the healing mindset. You learn the hurdle to hope roadmap.
[00:23:33] This roadmap isn't saying, follow these steps. As soon as a hurdle interrupts your life, and then you'll heal and your life will be filled with hope. That's not my approach. Instead, it's there to challenge you, to guide you so you can tap into your own inner strength so you can regain your own power. And then you can build your own resilience.
[00:24:03] And if you do that, then you don't have to live in fear. You don't have to be worried that someone you're seeing might end up on the 7. 30 report, because they won't be part of your world. You work on yourself enough that those people Won't be attracted to you, and you certainly won't give them the time of day.
[00:24:29] So I really encourage you to have an open mind, to continue to work on yourself, to not be scared by reports, but to know and trust your own intuition, knowing that whoever you come across, you will be able to discern whether they're right for you and your healing. As always, or having the show notes, different episodes to listen to.
[00:25:00] My take on Al McPherson was in episode 38. In episode 36, I talk about navigating the grief I experienced of not having children. Also, episode 11, where I talk about healing is Beyond physical recovery, once you start thinking about it like that, that's when you'll be open to natural therapies and thinking, yes, I've got my medical team, yes, I'm dealing with my illness, but hey, it's so much more than the physical and I want to heal at all levels.
[00:25:38] So that's where natural therapies really help and if you do some of that work then it may also translate into having impact on the physical. And finally, Episode number three, where I talk about mindset is everything, because that's what I really want to be known for, is that in living with our illnesses, our mindset truly is everything, and if we work on that, then we will have an impact on our experiences.
[00:26:16] Have a great week, follow me at Hurdle2Hope with the number 2 on Instagram, then I'll see fill you in on all that's going on in the preparations for the MindBodySpirit Festival. I'm really excited about doing that. I started speaking engagements before COVID. I was getting back into them and then stage 4 breast cancer happened and then I lost my voice.
[00:26:43] Um, so now I'm back and I can't wait for this new chapter. Have a great week and look forward to chatting to you soon.
