Episodes

Physicians are trained to recognize crisis in everyone except themselves. Drs. Erin Hurley and Joanne Sotelo explore how competence, productivity, and the pressure to keep going can hide serious distress, especially among women physicians. Burnout, depression, and suicidal thoughts require different forms of support. The episode examines when coaching or psychiatric care may be needed, the fears that keep physicians from seeking help, and how simply asking, staying present, and offering support...

People-pleasing is more than a boundary issue, especially for women physicians. This episode explores how conflict avoidance, perfectionism, and self-sacrifice can become deeply wired responses shaped by socialization, professional culture, and the nervous system. The conversation offers practical ways to break the pattern through self-compassion, greater awareness, and intentional pauses, helping physicians make choices that protect their energy, peace, and well-being. Key Takeaways To Listen...

Malpractice litigation is one of the most feared and least discussed realities in medicine, yet for many physicians, it is not a remote possibility but an eventual risk of practice. Dr. Gita Pensa joins Drs. Joanne Sotelo and Erin Hurley to explore the psychological toll of being named in a lawsuit, from shame, isolation, and identity threat to burnout, trauma, and even suicide risk. Drawing from her own experience surviving a 12-year malpractice case and facing litigation again, Dr. Pensa shar...

Women are often taught to push through pain, discomfort, and other symptoms they assume are simply part of aging. Dr. Michelle Singer, a board-certified OB-GYN and cosmetic gynecologic surgeon, joins Drs. Erin Hurley and Joanne Sotelo to discuss women's health, anatomical education, and creating psychologically safe spaces where women can speak openly and without shame. Dr. Singer also shares her journey of leaving traditional practice to build a career aligned with her values, while expanding ...

Many high-functioning women appear to be doing everything right, eating well, exercising, staying productive, and showing up for everyone around them, yet still feel exhausted, disconnected, or unwell. In this conversation, Drs. Erin Hurley and Joanne Sotelo speak with Brooke Erickson, a functional nutritionist, about the foundational pillars that are often overlooked, which are circadian rhythm alignment, nervous system regulation, sleep, energy management, and authentic living. Together, they...

Some patient encounters end when the visit is over, but their emotional impact often doesn't. This episode explores the hidden emotional weight physicians carry and why it often goes unrecognized. Through discussions around medicine, caregiving, and emotional well-being, the episode examines why women physicians may be especially vulnerable to carrying this emotional load into their personal lives, how unresolved stress can affect mood, sleep, relationships, and connection, and why self-compass...

Most of us stopped singing somewhere around the time we were told we weren't good at it. We stopped dancing when it became a performance. We stopped playing when we learned to be serious. And in that process, we lost access to what Dr. Dao calls our most fundamental human languages, the ones that live beyond words, beyond analysis, beyond diagnosis. Dr. Dao has spent his career helping people find their way back to those languages, through the body, the voice, and the imagination. In this episo...

Love, loss, and the reality of death shape this conversation as Drs. Erin Hurley and Joanne Sotelo speak with celebration and grief expert Sherry Richert Belul. Through stories of loss, dementia, and inherited belongings, they explore how preparing for death can help people live and love more intentionally. They discuss how simple choices, such as advance directives, important contacts, digital organization, funeral preferences, and plans for meaningful possessions, can ease family burdens and ...

Assumptions feel efficient in high-pressure environments, but this conversation makes the case that they often cost physicians far more time, energy, and connection than they save. Through stories from clinical leadership, family life, and coaching, the discussion explores how negativity bias shapes interpretation, why curiosity interrupts unnecessary conflict, and how a simple pause can create the conditions for psychological safety and trust. The episode makes the case for slowing down long e...

Dr. Joanne Sotelo leads a candid conversation on what mental health truly means for high-performing professionals, moving beyond crisis and diagnosis to everyday emotional, psychological, and physical well-being. She names the subtle warning signs: sleep disruption, emotional numbness, caregiver exhaustion, overworking, people-pleasing, and irritability, and emphasizes that looking “good on paper” doesn’t erase hidden anxiety, burnout, or disconnection. Alongside co-host Dr. Erin Hurley, she unp...

Every elite athlete performs with a coaching staff behind them. It's just part of how high performance works. Physicians perform at the same level of intensity, with far higher stakes, and a coach was never part of their contract, their training, or anyone's expectation. Drs. Hurley and Sotelo both hired their first coaches when physician-specific research on coaching was still in its early stages. For Erin, the twelve months that followed included a breast cancer diagnosis and her mother's fai...

Medicine is supposed to heal. But for many patients, and for the clinicians who care for them, it can also be the source of deep and lasting harm. In this episode, Drs. Erin Hurley and Joanne Sotelo sit down with Diane Solomon, PhD, a retired psychiatric nurse practitioner and nurse-midwife, to explore how medical encounters themselves can become traumatic, and what it takes to change that. Together, they trace how experiences like objectification in teaching hospitals and the relentless pressu...

Centered on the voice and expertise of Dr. Joanne Sotelo, this conversation unpacks why awareness alone doesn’t change the lives of women in medicine and how real transformation comes from upgraded standards and identity shifts. In dialogue with Dr. Erin Hurley, Dr. Joanne explores how “doctor programming” normalizes self-neglect, overworking, and emotional exhaustion, and explains why we don’t rise to our goals, we fall to our standards. Together, they walk through getting specific about desire...

Calm leadership in a nearly 10-hour ordeal becomes a living case study as Dr. Erin Hurley turns a five-hour flight delay into a masterclass on emotional contagion, mindset, and boundaries for women in medicine. In conversation with Dr. Joanne Sotelo, Dr. Erin reflects on how the captain’s steady updates and the flight attendant’s humor contained chaos instead of amplifying it, and how the same principles apply in clinics, hospitals, and homes. Together, they connect the research on emotional con...

Emotional exhaustion often begins when how you spend your time no longer matches what you deeply value, and in this episode, psychiatrist and coach Dr. Joanne Sotelo explains how to realign. In conversation with Dr. Erin Hurley, she defines realignment, shares personal stories of shifting roles and leaving a large institution, and unpacks research on burnout, autonomy, and meaning for women in medicine. Listeners get practical steps to reconnect with values, audit their schedules, regulate their...

When physicians stop treating rest as optional, Dr. Erin Hurley argues that “white space” becomes the key to sustainable medicine. In this episode, she joins Dr. Joanne Sotelo to define white space as truly unstructured, unscheduled time and explains how constantly filling every open slot drives cortisol, burnout, and a shutdown of the brain’s creative default mode network. Drawing on research about physicians’ vacation habits, executives’ 10–15 minute reflection practices, and studies of Nobel ...

Dr. Erin Hurley and Dr. Joanne Sotelo dive into the often-invisible pattern of self-neglect among women in medicine, tracing how it begins early in training and becomes normalized within a culture that rewards self-sacrifice, over-functioning, and emotional suppression. Joanne explains how slow self-abandonment leads to disconnection, resentment, burnout, and a loss of identity, and why self-compassion is a research-backed antidote that many high-achieving women find foreign and feel “weak.” Tog...

Women physicians are often balancing demanding clinical work with caregiving responsibilities at home, creating what many describe as a “second shift.” In this episode, Dr. Erin Hurley interviews psychiatrist and coach Dr. Joanne Sotelo about caregiver burnout, why healthcare providers are especially vulnerable to it, and how emotional labor, family expectations, and caregiving for aging parents can overwhelm even the most capable physicians. Drawing from her personal experience caring for her m...

What if the problem isn’t you, but the environment you’re trying to succeed in? In this episode, Dr. Erin Hurley takes the lead in unpacking why so many women in medicine feel overwhelmed, inefficient, and burned out despite doing everything “right.” She shares powerful insights on cognitive load, constant interruptions, and how workplace design sabotages focus, time, and energy. Dr. Erin also brings attention to neurodiversity, sensory sensitivity, and the hidden ways physicians are set up to s...

What happens when the physician trained to save lives can no longer survive the system she works in? In this episode, Dr. MaryAnn Wilbur joins Dr. Erin Hurley and Dr. Joanne Sotelo to unpack the deeper forces, from burnout and moral injury to dehumanization, loss of autonomy, and broken trust. She shares the story behind her book, The Doctor Is No Longer In, and the documentary Suck It Up, Buttercup, reminding us that healthcare reform cannot happen without both physicians and patients reclaimin...

Dr. Joanne Sotelo takes center stage in this episode as she unpacks what happens when medicine stops feeling sustainable, especially when being a physician becomes your core identity rather than just a job. Drawing on her own transition and work with clients, she walks through the stages of identity shift, from the first whispers of doubt to numbing, resentment, and crisis, while highlighting the roles of moral injury, burnout, and financial “golden handcuffs.” Alongside co-host Dr. Erin Hurley,...

What happens when women in medicine stop accepting the status quo and start choosing rooms, people, and experiences that truly support them? In this episode, Dr. Erin Hurley returns to share how saying yes to coaching, leadership conferences, and deeply connected communities transformed her career, relationships, and impact as a “physician disrupter.” From the Suck It Up Buttercup documentary to the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation and her own “Notes from the Heart” event, Dr. Erin reveals how...

Why does a life that looks successful on paper still feel unfulfilling? In this episode, Dr. Erin Hurley sits down with Dr. Joanne Sotelo to explore what high-achieving women in medicine need now, especially when guilt, shame, and burnout make it hard to hear themselves clearly. Joanne introduces her Harmony Method, a framework built on reconnecting, realigning, and rising, to help women in medicine move out of autopilot and back into a life that reflects their truth. Press play for a powerful c...

If your New Year’s resolutions have quietly unraveled, it’s not because you failed; it’s because not all goals are created equal. In this episode, Dr. Erin Hurley breaks down the critical difference between habit goals and project goals, and why using the wrong strategy leads to frustration and self-blame. Together, Erin and Joanne explore discernment, momentum, accountability, and the neuroscience behind self-compassion. You’ll learn how to stop treating every goal the same, how to match the ri...