Dr. M. Laura Nasi joins me for an in-depth conversation about an integrative approach to what you can do to become whole again when you have a diagnosis of cancer. Dr. Nasi presents a new way of looking at how we view and treat cancer. Integrative medicine encourages chemo and radiation when necessary, while also focusing on a patient’s internal balance to help halt the disease.
Guest:
M. Laura Nasi, MD, is an integrative oncologist in private practice in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She specialized in Internal Medicine at Temple University and in Clinical Oncology at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NY, was Clinical Research Coordinator for the International Breast Cancer Study Group in Bern, and Research Director for a Swiss pharmaceutical company. She lives with her partner alongside a lake on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, where she grows her own vegetables.
People experience therapeutic benefits when immersed in nature. Research shows that spending significant time in nature can lead to better immunity, reduced anger, better mood, good sleep, and increased energy. Spending time in nature also reduces blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones. In partnership with the East Bay Regional Park District, the Primary Care Clinic at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland became one of the first in the nation to refer patients to the outdoors for health. The program is called Stay Healthy In Nature Everyday (SHINE).
There are now many doctors prescribing Nature for its health benefits. Ask your doctor about it!
Nooshin Razani, MD, MPH, is a pediatric clinical scientist and Nature Champion. She serves as director of the Center for Nature and Health at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, and she founded the Stay Healthy In Nature Everyday (SHINE) program. She is leading a team of clinicians conducting a randomized clinical trial to examine how to operationalize a park prescription program in a low-income setting. Since 2014, Dr. Razani has prescribed time outdoors to her pediatric patients and their families as preventive medicine. The results of the first study showed reduced stress in the parents of pediatric patients at a clinic serving low-income families. The randomized clinical trial is the first of its kind. It compared the effect of supported park outings versus independent park prescriptions with the goal of learning how to operationalize a park prescription program in a low-income setting. She was trained as a Nature Champion by the National Environmental Education Fund and Bureau of Fish and Wildlife in 2010. Dr. Razani is an attending physician UCSF Benioff Oakland’s Ambulatory Department and Assistant Clinical Scientist at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI).She attended medical school at University of California San Francisco, completed a pediatric residency at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, and has a Masters in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Daphne Miller, MD founded WholeFamily MD, San Francisco’s first integrative primary care medical practice. Her mission was to reclaim the heart of medicine by focusing on her patients rather than on the business and red tape of medical practice. Dr. Miller welcomes the challenge of medical mysteries and enjoys helping patients tackle complex health problems. She feels her most important role is to help patients discover their “inner doctor,” so that they may develop the skills they need to manage their health. Dr. Miller is a graduate of Brown University and Harvard Medical School and completed her family medicine residency and an NIH-funded primary care research fellowship at UCSF. She is also a Bravewell Fellow with the University of Arizona Program in Integrative Medicine. Dr. Miller is an Associate Professor at UCSF where she teaches nutrition and integrative medicine. When she is not seeing patients or teaching, Dr. Miller writes books and articles related to food, farming, the environment, and health. She has authored two best-selling books: The Jungle Effect: The Healthiest Diets from Around the World, Why They Work and How to Make Them Work for You and Farmacology: Total Health from the Ground Up.
If you’re having trouble sleeping, you’re not alone. About 25 percent of Americans experience acute insomnia each year. Good sleep is essential for your physical and emotional health, and a first step in getting a good night sleep is to learn about what helps and what hinders sleep.
Guests:
Michael A. Tompkins, PhD, has twenty years of providing cognitive-behavior therapy for anxiety disorders and chronic insomnia. He is a licensed psychologist and co-director of the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy. He specializes in the treatment of anxiety disorders and insomnia, and is the author of seven books, including, Anxiety and Avoidance: A Universal Treatment for Anxiety, Panic, and Fear,OCD a guide for the newly diagnosed, and his newest book is, The Insomnia Workbook for Teens. He is also an assistant clinical professor of psychology, at the University of California at Berkeley, and an adjunct faculty member of the Beck Institute.
Monique A. Thompson, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist specializing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for mood and anxiety disorders. She treats adults and teens with depression, anxiety (panic, worry, phobias), social anxiety, ADHD, insomnia, and life stress. In addition to her practice at the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy, she was a staff psychologist at the Golden Bear Mood and Sleep Research Clinic at UC Berkeley. She has extensive training in CBT for insomnia (CBT-I). She also has experience working with individuals and families coping with addiction, role transitions, and chronic health problems (multiple sclerosis, lupus, cancer, chronic pain).
If you suffer from chronic pain, you are not alone. It’s been reported that 100 million people in the US suffer from chronic pain, and 66% of sufferers expect to live with some pain for the rest of their lives. Many people with chronic pain feel isolated, and need friends, family, or counselors, to help them cope with the many emotions that come with ongoing pain. Aside from medication treatment, there are many other strategies people find helpful in managing their pain, and we will talk with our listeners about what has helped them. We will also discuss the stigma associated with people who have chronic pain, and what kinds of things can relieve that burden.
Guests:
Marsha Haller, MD did her residency training at San Francisco General Hospital/UCSF in Psychiatry and Family Medicine. She also completed a fellowship in Urban Family Health, and the Geriatric Teaching Program at Mt Sinai Hospital. Dr. Haller was board certified in Geriatric Medicine in 1990. During her academic career, she developed courses on cross-cultural and psychosocial aspects of family medicine, and geriatric psychopharmacology. For 12 years she worked at the Alameda Family Physicians, where she treated adults and children. During this time, she developed particular interest in chronic myofascial pain, and deepened her commitment to a more holistic approach to health and healing. In 2004 she became a Diplomate of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture. For the last 16 years, her Berkeley practice has been devoted to medical acupuncture and related techniques. She is committed to fostering lifestyle changes that lead to better individual and global health. She also works for the San Francisco Department of Public Health at Tom Waddell Health Center in the Tenderloin doing urgent care.
Jennifer Ault, D.O. is a former physical therapist who is currently board certified in Neurology and Pain Medicine. She graduated from Touro University College of osteopathic medicine in 2007 and completed her residency at Dartmouth medical school in New Hampshire. She has been with Sutter East Bay physicians medical group since September 2012. Dr. Ault specializes in the treatment of acute and chronic pain emanating from the nervous system. She provides multi-disciplinary care, including formulating medication recommendations if appropriate. She also recommends physical, complimentary, and behavioral treatments as appropriate. She provides full scope of interventional procedures in the treatment of these and other painful conditions. These include but are not limited to: epidural injections, spinal and peripheral lead stimulation, lumbar sympathetic blocks, stellate ganglion blocks, radiofrequency ablation, ultrasound guided nerve blocks and joint injections, lumbar facet and sacroiliac joint injections, and occipital and sphenopalatine nerve blockade.
1-800-273-8255 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, call this number. The Lifeline provides 24/7 free and confidential support for people in distress, and resources for you and your loved ones.
My guests, Eli Merritt MD, and Esme Shaller, PhD, joined me to discuss the suffering and anguish that is associated with suicide. We addressed the grief, guilt, and shame people feel when someone they love has killed themselves, and also the pain and hopelessness that a person experiences when they are considering suicide.
Talking about suicide is challenging, but it’s vital that we TALK ABOUT IT.
Eli Merritt, M.D., is the founder of Merritt Mental Health, a mental health and addiction care navigation company that connects patients and family members with best-fit, individualized mental health care nationwide. He is the author of Suicide Risk in the Bay Area: A Guide for Families, Physicians, Therapists, and Other Professionals, and is currently a Visiting Scholar at Vanderbilt University where he is investigating a Unified Theory of Depression. Dr Merritt has previously held positions as president of the San Francisco Psychiatric Society and as an Adjunct Clinical Faculty member at Stanford. He completed a B.A. in history at Yale, M.A. in ethics at Yale, medical degree at Case Western Reserve, medical internship at the Lahey Clinic, and residency in psychiatry at Stanford. He has written on diverse topics in medicine, psychiatry, and medical ethics, including diagnosis, insomnia and depression, addiction, suicide prevention, informed consent, and privacy issues in mental illness. He has taught medical students and resident physicians courses on psychiatric interviewing, ethical standards and boundary violations, the placebo effect, hyperthyroidism, and medical decision-making, among other subjects.
Esme Shaller, Ph.D., is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Child Psychiatry at UC San Francisco and in the Department of Psychology at UC Berkeley. She is the director of the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Program at UCSF and the Clinical Director of Outpatient Services for Child Psychiatry. Dr. Shaller’s passion lies in the teaching and dissemination of empirically supported treatments for complex psychological problems, particularly in adolescence. As such, she devotes a large percentage of her time to teaching and training, both within UCSF’s residency and fellowship programs and in the larger Bay Area community. She has worked with other members of her team to implement comprehensive DBT for low income teens in three California Counties.Dr. Shaller received her B.A. in psychology with highest honors from UC Berkeley and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the State University of New York, Stony Brook. Subsequently, she completed her psychology internship at the Zucker Hillside Hospital at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens (where she fell in love with DBT!), followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Kaiser Permanente in South San Francisco. She has been at UCSF since 2007.
(Picture from Outdoor Afro)
Listen now to KPFA 94.1FM “About Health” 10/15/18
Michael A. Tompkins, PhD, has twenty years of providing cognitive-behavior therapy for anxiety disorders and chronic insomnia. He is a licensed psychologist and co-director of the 
Monique A. Thompson, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist specializing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for mood and anxiety disorders. She treats adults and teens with depression, anxiety (panic, worry, phobias), social anxiety, ADHD, insomnia, and life stress. In addition to her practice at the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy, she was a staff psychologist at the 
