Kindness is a Powerful Choice; with Dr. Erica Harris | RDID; Ep 113

Erica Harris is an emergency physician at Einstein Hospital, and she also serves on the Board of Directors of Recovery Diaries. Our "Recovery Diaries in Depth" interview with Dr. Harris is a wide-ranging, empathic conversation that you will be sure to want to hear.Dr. Harris's experiences working in emergency medicine, surviving the trauma of COVID, are discussed in her interview and are also the subject of a beautiful documentary film we made several years ago, during the height of the pandemic where she thought about ideas of vulnerability and heroism, juxtaposing her career as a physician against that of her grandfather, a coal miner who fought for miner's rights and safety. In today's profit-driven medical industry, many healthcare providers feel immense pressure to see as many patients in a shift as possible to maximize profits, but Dr. Harris emphatically believes that kindness and empathy don't cost anything and they don't make interactions take any longer. She is a true believer in vulnerable, intimate moments with her patients. She also is a strong advocate for de-stigmatizing and normalizing mental health, openly sharing that she is in therapy. Dr. Harris knows for sure that helping others, whether during a pandemic or not, has its toll that it takes on the mental health of providers, but she is here to remind us that vulnerability is a strength and that we can get through anything. Conversations like the ones on this podcast can sometimes be hard, but they're always necessary. If you or someone you know is struggling, please consider visiting www.wannatalkaboutit.com. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please call, text, or chat 988.https://recoverydiaries.org/