Doctor, Entrepreneur, Body Whisperer. Dr. Brook Sheehan has found many helpful ways to stay in tune with her body and mind.
Thank you so much for your time! I know you are a very busy person. Can you tell us a story about what early experiences brought you to choosing a career in the medical profession?
My grandfather, who I, unfortunately, didn’t have the chance to meet, was a famous well-published neurosurgeon and Dean of New York University Medical School. His brother, also a doctor, discovered a medical condition that bears our family name – Sheehan Syndrome. These facts were shared a lot while growing up. But it wasn’t until I became a mom that I even considered anything in the health field. Prior to that, I was working as an Accountant. I guess you can say it was part of my DNA before I even recognized it.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you in your career as a doctor?
There have been a lot of interesting and incredible stories that have happened, but I’d have to say, the most interesting occurred with a patient I have been working with remotely. A 5-year boy on the spectrum but highly functional. The mother reported to me in our initial call that she was worried about certain aspects of his speech. Parroting (repeating commands vs. acting them out) and lack of social cues. I’ve been working with this child for the past 90 days and he is doing AMAZING!! The “parroting” speech has improved, he’s responding to directions, and engaging in eye contact. This has all happened by discovering exactly what his body needed to function at its best and only providing it with that so it can do the job it’s been designed to do.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting out on your career? What lesson did you learn from that?
I know I’m not alone in this, but in the early days, I was guilty of over-sharing. I would speak to patients with all the medical jargon terms and only made things worse by adding in more terms when their eyes began to glaze over. I look back on it now and laugh but sometimes it makes me sad because of course they never came back. I do hope they found the help they were seeking somewhere else. The lesson here – it’s okay to dumb things down! Patients don’t care about how much you know. They care about your ability to help them.
To #DareToCare means to survive and thrive in today’s medical world. How do you take care of yourself? What’s the routine you must do to thrive every day?
I’ve developed a deep appreciation for my body and all the work that it does to keep me well. It’s a synergistic relationship and one that I don’t take lightly. With that said, my self-care routine is very dynamic and ever-changing. I can tell you the main things that are part of my every day are making sleep a priority, meditation, gratitude, and specific supplementation.
I write a series of letters to my God-daughter in my latest book. In that same vein, what are 5 things you would tell your younger self?
I’d tell myself these things: 1) others opinion of you pales in comparison to how you see yourself; 2) practicing self-love isn’t selfish; 3) what you think is “the end of the world” probably isn’t; 4) you are in control of how you respond to things that happen, and 5) honor your body and it will give you lots of great years!
How can medical professionals reclaim heart-based healing amid pandemic, political, and other pressures?
By healing thyself first. This requires going inward and listening to the whispers the body speaks. The body speaks to us all the time. Unfortunately, we have lost our way of understanding it with all the noise and chaos in the outside world. When we as the healer, stand in our truth and conviction, we are better able to approach patient concerns with a deep sense of caring and knowledge to help them manage their stresses better.
Is there a particular book that you read, or podcast you listened to that really helped you in your work as a healthcare professional? Can you explain?
Decoding the Human Body Field: The New Science as Information by Peter Fraser really helped give me the words to articulate the type of work that I do as a practitioner. By combining energetics with the physical, I’m able to address patient concerns at a much deeper level, and having the right words to describe that is powerful!
Because of the role you play, you are a person of great influence in the healthcare community. If you could inspire other doctors and nurses to bring change to affect the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? Said another way, what difference do you see needs to be made for our collective future?
The difference I see that needs to be made is a return to ourselves. I mentioned it before but going inward and listening to that voice within us is going to provide the greatest collective change in the world. I absolutely believe doctors and nurses are necessary, but I also think that humanity has lost its way and no longer thinks for itself. They seek a pill or cure on the outside to “fix” their problems on the inside. As doctors and nurses of the future, we need to teach others how to listen to the great wisdom that resides within.
