#114 Dr. Sandra Scheinbaum – Functional Medicine Coaching

Meet Dr. Sandra Scheinbaum

Dr. Sandra Scheinbaum is passionate about transforming healthcare by training health coaches to help people become CEOs of their own health. She spent nearly five decades making healthcare and education more holistic and innovative. With a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, Sandi specialized in positive psychology, cognitive behavioral therapy, and mind-body medicine, and served as a teacher and the director of a clinic for Attention Deficit Disorders (ADD). She is a pioneer in her fields, having implemented programs such as the use of neurofeedback with patients and becoming the first-ever psychologist to earn certification through The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM).
Dr. Scheinbaum founded the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy in collaboration with The Institute for Functional Medicine. A clinical psychologist for over 35 years, she is an expert in positive psychology and mind-body medicine, and the author of Functional Medicine Coaching, Stop Panic Attacks in 10 Easy Steps, and How to Give Clients the Skills to Stop Panic Attacks.

Show Notes:

ABOUT DR. SANDI

• I have various careers and passions in my life
• I started out thinking that I was going to be a school teacher and I spent a lot of my time working in there with kids that have special needs
• But I was always loving learning and wanting to move on, so I got a doctorate in clinical psychologist and specialized in areas that at a time was considered radical
• I was practicing positive psychology before. I was more focused on what’s right with you than what’s wrong with you
• I was often not a perfect example personally, because I would typically think what’s wrong
• So, I had some failures along the way, had run a group practice with a psychiatrist that did not work out too well
• Because I love learning, I was certified as a yoga instructor, studied nutrition and happened upon in the Institute for Functional Medicine
• So, I started taking their training modules, took the exam and completed their training
• When I have completed their training, I realized it really wasn’t appropriate as a psychologist. My license did not allow me to practice functional medicine
• But, I went back to my roots which were teaching and took all the principles that I had studied, that I had worked for so many years with patients and put them all together and then, teach it to others
• This was the time when teaching health coaches starting to emerge as a need
• The Institute for Functional Medicine became my partner and I had another partner
• We developed a Functional Medicine Coaching Academy and so, we have an online school
• This is really my mission and purpose – to help people on this journey towards wellness, to train people to go out and serve others and help them reach their health goals

• We do not have the agenda. We do not have a driving philosophy to only teach a particular way of eating
• We follow the guidelines of The Institute for Functional Medicine which is researched-based
• Increasingly what Science tells us is personalized. In other words, there is no one-size-fits-all approach
• That is really why coaching is heart-centered and powerful
• We teach those functional medicine principles and we integrate that with positive psychology which are the needs for you to thrive, find well-being, the psychology of eating and mind-body medicine
  
• I love to take myself away. I love to do things that are often involved in a movement
• I meditate through dance and through walking
• What I also love is going to tap dancing class or ballet and that’s what takes me away
• I do my best writing when I have loud music on and walking on my treadmill desk
• I had specialized for many years before I founded functional medicine
• One of my specialty was working with people who have panic or anxiety probably because I used to have those when I was in my 20’s and I have learned to stop those panic attacks by using mind-body techniques like slow breathing or imagery
• For many years, I have gone around the country and do some workshops for some professionals, biofeedback, other professional organizations in psychology, teaching therapists and others on how to use these in their clients
• So, I wrote a book for therapists on how to help people stop panic attacks, and then I wrote him to stop panic attacks by integrating all these methodologists and then, wrote another book about the coaching process

WORDS OF WISDOM

• I think it’s really important to identify what’s right with you and not what’s wrong with you
• What I have learned and really advocate from positive psychology is when you focus on what’s right with you and really emphasize that
• Then, your performance will be different, you’ll be resilient with the obstacles and challenges that you’re facing. Therefore, your functioning better, you’re getting better with your strengths
• That is not only your mental process, but it is a physical process
• As you focus on your strength, as you focus on what you’re grateful for, express love, kindness, and forgiveness, all that is very important on a physical level
• Researchers in positive psychology looks in what is good and how to actually flourish
  
• We get meaning and purpose when we belong and so many people feel isolated and lonely
• What’s becoming real and concerning is this digital addiction – we are living in our phones and we are spending more time connecting that way as supposed to a genuine human interaction
• The more we build community, the more we have people in groups, that is the key to having joy, love and good connection in your life
• One of the things I love about going to dance class and which has been studied is, one of the best activity for brain health was dancing because it is so social
  
• I was fortunate to be trained with the late great Albert Ellis and he was one of the developers of cognitive behavior therapy and that is a very effective process that you use to help and change your thinking
• It’s really not the reality, but it is how we interpret the reality
• One of the things that we often distress and disturb ourselves about is embarrassment and shame
• Dr. Ellis used to say that there is no good thing that comes from embarrassment and shame, life goes on
• When you have an idea or if you want to change something, notice those questions that you’re presenting to yourself as roadblocks and focus on if any of them is an embarrassment, shame or fear
• Wanting to learn more is so essential. Not only to the learning process, but it’s also one of the key factors well-being particularly as we age
• When you lose curiosity about the world around you, it is often an indicator of cognitive decline
• I want to stay vibrant and part of that is to continue to learn to have that curiosity, keep up the latest technology so that I don’t feel old
• I feel better and I have more energy than I was in my 20’s

HOW CAN PEOPLE FIND YOU

• Website: functionalmedicinecoaching.org
• Facebook: Functional Medicine Coaching Academy
• Instagram: @functionalmedcoach
• Personal Instagram: @drsandi

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