by dmackinnon | May 27, 2021 | Healing Choices
I took my son to the dentist for his six-month cleaning recently and he had a new hygienist. She was very good with my son, who is still fairly uncomfortable with the whole process. He had to have x-rays and she explained everything to him and got the first picture. I...
by dmackinnon | May 20, 2021 | Healing Choices
A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about doing one scary thing a day. The practice has been very helpful for me and my clients but a recent conversation made me think I wasn’t clear enough with that post. As Brené Brown says: “Clear is kind, unclear is unkind.” I...
by dmackinnon | Apr 29, 2021 | Healing Choices, Thought Work
One Saturday morning when I was a first year medical student, I got off the subway and stopped off at the bodega to get a cup of coffee on my way to school to study for the biochemistry test on Monday. I got to my study carrel, unloaded my books, and drank my coffee...
by dmackinnon | Mar 10, 2021 | Tools for the Practitioner, Whole Healer
We spend our days in exam rooms with patients. One after the other. We walk in the room to connect, problem-solve, and heal. How we feel when we walk into that room is important. Taking a little time—a microsecond—to manage our feelings before we step across that...
by dmackinnon | Feb 18, 2021 | Healing Choices, Limiting Beliefs
Recently, I decided to do something scary once a day. Very recently. Two days ago, actually. Today will be the third day but I haven’t done anything scary yet. Two days ago I called the medical school I went to to update my information in the alumni directory. Not...
by dmackinnon | Jan 14, 2021 | Healing Choices, Limiting Beliefs
Last year, a client, I’ll call her May, told me about someone who’d seen all the work she’d put into the report she was sending to her boss. At the time, her colleague had told her, “This is supposed to be a 1 page summary! You don’t need to do all this work every...
by dmackinnon | Dec 7, 2020 | Thought Work, Whole Healer
There was a day, back when I was working full-time as a family physician, when I sat at the water’s edge on a beautiful, rugged beach in Maine, trying to enjoy the view and the sound of the waves, despite my exhaustion. As it turned out, that was the only day I got to...
by dmackinnon | Oct 29, 2020 | Tools for the Practitioner, Whole Healer
As physicians, we do a lot of different things for a lot of different people including, hopefully, ourselves. Sometimes we are more successful than other times.. In her book, Gretchen Rubin explores how we handle expectations—internal and external, and I found it a...
by dmackinnon | Oct 21, 2020 | Limiting Beliefs, Whole Healer
Have you ever become defensive when your partner told you you’ve been working late too much, and claimed, “I always put this family first!” yet you know the reality is you’ve missed dinner and bedtime with the kids every night this week? Have you ever ignored expert...
by dmackinnon | May 28, 2020 | Healing Choices
When we are in crisis mode, and we are all in crisis mode these days, in some way or another, we need to be gentle with ourselves and stick to the basics.
1. Eat as healthily and mindfully as you can. Then, when you don’t eat healthy, tell yourself it’s okay, and...
