How the
Help the Healers Project came about
Several years ago, Adam Blanning, M.D. noticed many of his colleagues were talking about burnout. It was not hard to see why. Statistics show that in the last several years, 60 to 70% of U.S. physicians are feeling burned out. He looked into available burnout solutions, like faster charting methods or relaxation techniques: all felt reductionist in nature, and short term.
So he, along with his colleague, Carmen Hering, D.O., worked to shift the focus: from what you do as a medical professional to how you do it. This is a subtle but important shift because right now it’s all about what makes your patients’ medical care more manageable and not how you do the medical care itself. That requires re-evaluation of patterns that may feel so normal, you may not even see them.
What distinguishes Help the Healers Project and its curriculums is that our intention is to identify and reclaim the parts of your humanity that get pushed out of the practice of medicine, but still stand at the heart of the healer’s work.
Since the foundation of the Help the Healers Project, new co-workers have been added and new initiatives have launched, like this podcast, produced by the Medical Section at the Goetheanum. Season 2 focuses on Claiming Wholeness in Health and Education.
“I would definitely recommend it. I was a little burned out in my own practice and I’m ready to change my model. These ideas of being flexible and being able to change my approach are really helpful. “
Patricia–Practitioner in Colorado
Adam Blanning, M.D.
Adam Blanning MD practices anthroposophic family medicine in Denver, Colorado, USA and is a co-leader of the Medical Section at the Goetheanum, helping to support and organize holistic medical activities worldwide.
He received an English literature degree (1995), Doctor of Medicine (1999) and completed a family medicine residency (2002) all at the University of Colorado. He taught family medicine at both New York Medical College and the University of Colorado School of Medicine before starting his anthroposophic medical practice.
While he sees patients of all ages and for a wide variety of conditions, healthy development and the special needs of children has always been a core interest. For more than 20 years he has worked collaboratively with Waldorf schools, particularly around methods for observing and better understanding children’s behaviors and needs. He teaches nationally and internationally, co-directs the physician training programs for anthroposophic medicine in the U.S. and Canada, and is a past president of the Anthroposophic Health Association (AHA).
Dr. Blanning is the author of Understanding Deeper Developmental Needs: Holistic Approaches for Challenging Behaviors in Children and Raising Sound Sleepers: Helping Children Use their Senses to Rest and Self-Soothe. He lives with his wife and two children in Colorado.
Carmen Hering, D.O.
Carmen Hering integrates osteopathy with anthroposophic medicine in private practice since 2006. She serves as adjunct faculty at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine and at the Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training (BACWTT). Dr. Hering trains medical students and residents in her clinic and works with schools, teachers and therapists to support children's healthy development.
Dr. Hering founded Live Oak Medicine, an integrative clinic which offers osteopathic and anthroposophic medicine, anthroposophic nursing, and anthroposophic art therapy. She also founded Acorn Community Clinic, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing access to integrative medicine and therapies and co-founded the Foundation for Health Creation, a non-profit organization and community project dedicated to patient education and outreach.
Laura Scappaticci
Laura Scappaticci is the Whole School Counselor at the Sacramento Waldorf School and previously served as the Director of Programs for the Anthroposophical Society in America. Through her podcast, That Good May Become, Laura brings anthroposophy into the here-and-now, connecting it with contemporary cultural concerns and innovations. She’s honored to be working with the Medical Section and the Help the Healers project to bring the insights of anthroposophical medicine to the broader community. She lives with her patner, three children, and a flock of four chickens in Northern California. Follow @laura_scappaticci on Instagram.
Amanda Jacobs-Bissonette
Amanda is the Executive Administrator and Training Coordinator for the Physicians’ Association for Anthroposophic Medicine and a co-founder of the Foundation for Health Creation. After finding the Anthroposophic Medicine movement in 2012, through a connection made via her children’s Waldorf-inspired kindergarten, she has directly experienced the profound transformations made possible through an Anthroposophic approach to health, medicine, education and wellness. She is dedicated to sharing this unique and inspirational approach with medical practitioners, patients, parents and the public. Amanda lives with her partner and twin children in Moab, Utah, where they tend a hobby farm, along with two dogs, two parakeets, three ducks, and a flock of wild chukars. In her free time, she and her twins create art and handwork for sale through local artisan shops and markets.
