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EB: There’s a fire in my belly that desperately desires<br />
to partner with women to create the very best version of<br />
themselves. We all have times when we feel knocked<br />
down, stuck, hopeless, and unhappy. In these times, we<br />
need someone to walk with us and to believe in us, until we<br />
believe in our own ability.<br />
It is my mission to be that HOPE in someone’s life. I want to<br />
prove to women it is possible to change the trajectory of<br />
your health and to create the life you desire.<br />
SM: What are the most difficult areas of life for you to<br />
maintain/display strength?<br />
EB: I struggle feeling strong when I’m experiencing<br />
something new or when I’m in a situation where I feel<br />
unqualified. When I’m not practicing positive self-talk, I all<br />
too quickly stop myself, or give myself a bailout plan before<br />
I even try. I know I have the strength to try and yet, the reality<br />
that I could fail can cripple me from even starting.<br />
It’s also difficult to display strength in times of vulnerability.<br />
It’s challenging to show the world my imperfections and<br />
insecurities. However, I know there is incredible strength<br />
in vulnerability. It is in our vulnerability that we connect<br />
with others and prove our authenticity. With vulnerability<br />
comes true connection, and with true connection, growth<br />
is possible.<br />
PB: Changing and removing limiting beliefs has been the<br />
most difficult area of my life to master, until recently. When<br />
I completed Medical School and Residency, I was filled<br />
with a great passion and conviction that the world needed<br />
changing—and I was going to change it! People needed to<br />
be healthier, but organized medicine’s strong foundation<br />
is in a disease-based model. My fervent belief is that we<br />
should focus on total well-being, rather than one disease<br />
diagnosis after another. But it became clear that I could not<br />
move a mountain that did not want to be moved without<br />
help. Over time, I began to lose hope. I began to despair.<br />
Over the last three years, I have fully embraced the<br />
words of the 13-th century Persian poet Rumi, who wrote,<br />
“Yesterday—I was clever, so I wanted to change the World.<br />
Today—I am wise, so I want to change myself”. I have come<br />
to realize that I have been as much a victim of my own<br />
subconscious beliefs as my patients are of theirs.<br />
SM: So many things in our world are polarized right<br />
now – including viewpoints on pharmaceuticals or<br />
natural remedies. In your opinion, does it have to be<br />
an or thing? Is there room for and in strong physical<br />
well-being?<br />
PB: I revere my practice in Integrative Medicine because it<br />
is truly the melding of two worlds. There are components<br />
of medicine that Western medicine has truly triumphed in<br />
achieving, while more ancient or natural modes of healing<br />
are unsurpassed in their ability to bring us into a place of<br />
balance. If you’ve just had a heart attack, modern medicine<br />
will save you acutely, more often than not. It possesses<br />
powerful drugs and interventions in its arsenal to bring you<br />
back from the dead—so to speak, and that is definitively<br />
called for in those circumstances. However, once you’ve<br />
recovered from the heart attack, using combinations of<br />
prescription medications and herbal regimens including<br />
adopting healthy food choices and a cadre of vitamin<br />
supplements has been extremely successful at restoring<br />
one to full health. Then with time, one may transition to a<br />
purely holistic course of management.<br />
I have had patients who have refused any pharmaceutical<br />
drugs after their acute phase of recovery and done well<br />
and those who have done poorly. I do believe there is room<br />
for both pharmaceuticals and herbal regimens in today’s<br />
practice of medicine; however, even more crucial than<br />
starting and stopping drugs is truly engaging our patients in<br />
the process of securing their own optimal health. They must<br />
have knowledge and understanding of the dysfunctions<br />
and diseases that ail them and must be allowed to be active<br />
partners in their plan for health. Afterall, they are the true<br />
healers of themselves.<br />
EB: It starts with taking personal responsibility for your<br />
health and evaluating your current reality. Then, you must<br />
take action to choose healthy routines and habits that equip<br />
your body with the strongest armor of defense possible.<br />
There are also situations where medication is necessary<br />
and should be viewed accordingly.<br />
Ultimately, you need to be willing to have an honest<br />
conversation with yourself and ask if changing daily habits<br />
would improve the situation. If yes, then do that. If not or<br />
even if for a season, medication is required to give your<br />
body the self-care it needs, you need to be willing to do<br />
that.<br />
SM: What else should our readers know about you?<br />
EB: I am not a health expert. (Yes, you read that correctly.)<br />
When you make a change, you don’t need an expert. You<br />
need someone you can trust who is a little further ahead on<br />
the journey to show you the way. I am a health advocate, a<br />
pioneer for healthy living and I am a work-in-progress.<br />
I am committed to my health journey and growing into the<br />
best version of myself so that I can authentically lead others<br />
to do the same.<br />
PB: I am Board Certified in Family Practice and will sit for<br />
the Board exam to the newly organized American Board<br />
of Integrative Holistic Medicine-ABPS in May 2021. I am<br />
divorced and live in Sioux City as an empty nester with my<br />
two children migrating home and away to college as their<br />
busy lives allow.<br />
I love travelling, the study of geography, and learning about<br />
other cultures. I have spent significant time in 46-states<br />
and in more than 20-countries around the world. I also<br />
enjoy cooking, singing, and dancing, as well as—writing<br />
poetry, short stories, and journaling, which I believe is one<br />
of the least expensive and most effective forms of selfpsychotherapy.<br />
I am a life-long learner and truth seeker.<br />
Photos Contributed by Erin Bahrenfus and Dr. Paula Bennett.<br />
<strong>Siouxland</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> | strength / 11