In this powerful episode of Holistic Health with Melissa, Melissa sits down with her best friend, Stevie Silvers, a registered nurse and former hospital charge nurse, to hear the story of what happened when she began asking questions during COVID.

Stevie takes listeners back to March 2020 and shares what she actually experienced working inside the hospital during the pandemic, including the disconnect she witnessed between what was being reported publicly and what she was seeing firsthand, the staffing crisis within healthcare, and the growing pressure to follow protocols without question.

As Stevie began asking why, she found herself increasingly scrutinized by hospital leadership. She questioned masking policies, testing requirements, natural immunity, patient care protocols, and eventually the COVID vaccine mandate. Despite her efforts to find a way to remain compliant while protecting her health and keeping her job, Stevie was ultimately fired after 11 years of nursing, including time as a highly respected permanent charge nurse and recipient of a national Magnet Award for Transformational Leadership.

Stevie shares what it was like to walk out of the hospital after giving so much of her career to caring for patients, how COVID changed her relationships and her trust in the healthcare system, and why she believes questioning medical decisions should be a fundamental part of informed consent.

The conversation also goes deeper into the problems Stevie and Melissa see within modern healthcare, including standardized treatment, the loss of individualized patient care, fear-driven decision-making, and the growing divide between patients and the medical professionals they once trusted.

But ultimately, this is a story about more than COVID or healthcare.

It is a story about conviction, courage, integrity, medical freedom, and faith.

After losing her career and many relationships, Stevie reflects on how God met her in the middle of the uncertainty and how the experience ultimately strengthened her relationship with Jesus and changed the way she views her calling in healthcare.

If you've ever felt afraid to question a medical recommendation, pressured to make a decision you weren't comfortable with, or wondered whether there is a better way to approach your health and healthcare, this conversation is one you won't want to miss.

What happens when asking questions becomes dangerous? And what are you willing to risk to stand by what you believe is right?

If you are looking for someone to support you in your health journey,apply to work with Melissa here: https://holistichealthbymelissa.com/clarity-call-form

Are antidepressants actually treating the root cause of depression and anxiety, or are we simply managing symptoms?

In this episode of Holistic Health with Melissa, Melissa is joined by Katie Collins, PA-C, a physician assistant with experience in family medicine, urgent care, and lifestyle medicine who now helps parents make more informed health and medical decisions.

Katie and Melissa have a candid conversation about antidepressants, SSRIs, informed consent, and the research behind the medications so many people are prescribed.

They talk about the long-standing "chemical imbalance" theory of depression, what the research actually tells us about serotonin, the limitations of antidepressant clinical trials, placebo comparisons, conflicts of interest in research, and why reading beyond the abstract matters.

They also discuss what can get overlooked when depression and anxiety are reduced to a diagnosis and a prescription, including nutrition, sleep, hormones, blood sugar, nervous system dysregulation, trauma, identity, relationships, lifestyle, and spiritual health.

As Christians, Katie and Melissa also explore an important question: What happens when we begin to see ourselves as "broken" or defined by a diagnosis rather than seeing ourselves through the lens of who God created us to be?

This is a thought-provoking conversation about informed consent, asking better questions, looking beneath symptoms, and becoming more empowered participants in our own healthcare.

If you are interested in working with Melissa, apply here for a free clarity call to see what option is the best fit for you: https://holistichealthbymelissa.com/clarity-call-form

Connect with Katie:
Find Katie on Instagram at @katie.c.pac for more conversations about conventional and "crunchy" approaches to health, informed decision-making, and navigating healthcare as a parent.

This episode is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Do not start, stop, or change any medication without guidance from your qualified healthcare provider.

Informed consent is the right to know the full risks, benefits, and alternatives before saying yes to any medical treatment, and it's something Melissa believes every parent and patient deserves.

This week, Melissa sat down with Katie Collins, a certified physician assistant known online as Katie the PA, for a conversation about what informed consent actually looks like and how often it's missing from routine medical care. Katie shares her own path from working in urgent care and family medicine to educating parents on the childhood vaccine schedule, along with what her physician assistant training left out entirely. The conversation moves through the gaps in vaccine clinical trials, the financial incentives built into pediatric care, and how so many mothers are told their child's reaction to a vaccine is "just a coincidence."

In this episode, you'll hear:

• What true informed consent requires before any vaccine or medical procedure
• The training gaps Katie experienced in physician assistant school around vaccine risk
• The three core flaws in vaccine clinical trials

This conversation is part of a bigger picture for Melissa: helping women feel informed, supported, and empowered in their health decisions. If this conversation struck something in you, consider scheduling a Clarity Call with Melissa to see if her six-month 1:1 coaching container with a community element, the Freedom Collective, is a good fit for you. Healing was never meant to happen alone, and she would love to walk the journey with you.

To connect with Katie Collins and learn more about informed consent and vaccine education, find her on Instagram at @katiec.pac or reach her directly at katie@katieccontent.com.

In this deeply personal solo episode of Holistic Health with Melissa, Melissa shares the story she's never fully told before.

After a recent social media reel about her experience as an RN during the COVID-19 pandemic reached millions of people, listeners asked for the full story. This episode is that story.

Melissa takes you behind the scenes of working inside the traditional medical system before and during the pandemic, navigating pregnancy, caring for patients, questioning what she was witnessing firsthand, and ultimately walking away from a career she once believed was her calling.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• What it was like working as a registered nurse during COVID
• The experiences that changed her perspective on healthcare
• How fear, burnout, and moral injury affected healthcare workers
• Why she believes informed consent matters
• How these experiences ultimately led her to build a different approach to healing

Whether you agree with every conclusion or not, this episode is an honest account of one nurse's personal experience and the journey that shaped the work she does today.

Today, Melissa helps women move from survival to freedom by addressing the root causes of emotional and physical symptoms through a trauma-informed, faith-based approach that integrates nervous system regulation, nutrition, lifestyle medicine, and biblical truth.

Interested in working with Melissa?

Applications are currently open for Freedom 1:1, her six-month, high-touch coaching experience for women who are ready to heal from the inside out. There are 2 spots open and applications close soon.

Learn more and apply here:
https://holistichealthbymelissa.com/clarity-call-form

Sometimes the deepest healing doesn't come from doing more. It comes from learning how to stop.

Last week, Melissa sat down with Laurie Smith, author of The Flow Habit, for a powerful conversation about reconnecting to stillness and finding flow. If you missed episode 69, go back and listen first. This week's episode is a little different. At the end of that conversation, Melissa and Laurie began talking about the meditations Laurie creates to help people access flow, and Laurie offered to record one just for this community.

This episode is that meditation. Laurie guides listeners through a gentle breathing and grounding practice, an invitation to slow down, soften, and reconnect with the flow that is already part of who you are, whether you are settling in for the night, waking up for the day, or simply need a moment of stillness in the middle of it all.

It's a good fit for anyone who feels disconnected from their body, overwhelmed by the noise of daily life, or in need of permission to simply rest in the present moment.

In this episode, you'll experience:

• A guided meditation to help you slow down and reconnect with your body
• A grounding practice to calm the nervous system and settle into the present moment
• An invitation to release old patterns and open your heart to receive
• A gentle reminder that flow and stillness are already within you

If this episode sparks something in you, Melissa would love to walk alongside you on your healing journey. Consider her Freedom Collective, a six-month 1:1 container with a community element, because you don't have to heal alone. Schedule a Clarity Call with Melissa to see if this work is a good fit for you.

To connect with Laurie Smith and learn more about flow state, find her at lauriesmith.com or theflowhabit.com. Her book, The Flow Habit, is available anywhere books are sold and on Amazon.

Have you ever done something you loved so much that time just disappeared? That feeling has a name, and it might be one of the most healing things you can experience.

In this episode of Holistic Health with Melissa, Melissa explores the science of flow state and why so many of us have lost easy access to something that used to come naturally as kids. Podcast guest, Laurie Smith, an author and flow researcher, shares how she discovered flow during the early days of the pandemic, when anxiety and overwhelm pushed her to challenge herself to do just five to ten minutes a day of something that brought her pure joy. That small habit became the foundation for a framework she now teaches to help people reconnect with their creativity, their intuition, and their nervous system.

Together they talk about what flow actually is, why children access it so effortlessly, and how the constant pull of social media and external validation has rewired our brains to look outward instead of inward. You will hear the story of a psychologist who discovered flow as a boy playing chess through the sound of bombs during World War II, and why that same calm is within reach is and available to you too, even in your hardest moments.

This episode is for anyone who feels stretched thin, disconnected from their creativity, or stuck in survival mode. If you have been craving a way back to peace and presence that does not require perfection, this conversation offers a gentle, practical place to start.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• What a flow state actually is and the four steps to access it
• Why children get into flow so easily and adults struggle to
• How flow can lower reliance on things that numb or distract us
• A simple way to start with just five to ten minutes a day
• Why softness and self-compassion matter more than pushing harder

If this episode resonated with you, Melissa would love to walk alongside you on your healing journey. Reach out for a free Clarity Call to see if this kind of work is a good fit for you. I have a few 1:1 spots available.

To connect with Laurie Smith and learn more about flow state, find her at:

lauriesmith.com or theflowhabit.com

Her book, The Flow Habit, is available anywhere books are sold and on Amazon.

What if the hardest thing you've ever walked through became the foundation for some of the best parts of who you become?

In this episode, Melissa explores the powerful concept of Post-Traumatic Growth, the psychological and spiritual transformation that can happen after trauma when we choose to heal instead of stay stuck.

You'll learn why some people experience profound growth after adversity while others remain trapped in cycles of pain, and how healing your nervous system, beliefs, and identity can completely change the trajectory of your life.

Melissa also shares her own story of how childhood trauma shaped her identity, fueled years of performance-driven living, and ultimately led her to discover the calling God had placed on her life.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What Post-Traumatic Growth is (and how it's different from resilience)
• Why healing, not trauma itself, is what creates lasting transformation
• The surprising strengths that often develop through trauma recovery
• How your beliefs about your story shape your future
• Why God doesn't waste your pain
• How your greatest struggle can become your greatest testimony

No matter what you've been through, your past does not have to define your future. You can't choose what happened to you, but you can choose what comes from it.

Healing is always possible.

If you're interested in exploring this work for yourself, reach out to Melissa here: https://holistichealthbymelissa.com/discovery-information-form

What if the symptoms you have been trying to fix are actually messages your body is sending you?

This week on Holistic Health with Melissa, Melissa is joined by Dr. Tabatha Barber. She is a triple board-certified physician in obstetrics and gynecology, menopause, and functional medicine, and the author of the international bestseller Fast to Faith. Her story begins far from the exam room. From teen mom and high school dropout, she went on to build a virtual medical practice serving women across the country, and she credits her turnaround entirely to faith and perseverance.

Dr. Tabatha opens up about the autoimmune crisis that followed her first pregnancy, the years she spent chasing quick fixes before understanding the role of the nervous system in true healing, and the moment she felt God call her away from surgery and into a different kind of medicine. She and Melissa talk honestly about why information alone never leads to transformation, why healing has to happen in the right order, and why gut health, hormone balance, and mindset cannot be separated from each other.

This conversation is for the woman who feels like she has tried everything and still does not feel like herself. Dr. Tabatha offers real hope, practical next steps, and a reminder that your body was designed to heal.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why chasing supplements and protocols will not fix a dysregulated nervous system
• What it means to treat symptoms as messages instead of problems to silence
• Why renewing your mind is a required part of physical healing
• A simple first step for anyone who feels stuck and does not know where to start

If this episode resonates with you, Melissa would love to walk alongside you on your healing journey. To get started, schedule a Clarity Call here: https://holistichealthbymelissa.com/discovery-information-form

To connect with Dr. Tabatha, check out these resources:

• FREE Guide to Intermittent Fasting the Faithful Way https://fasttofaith.com/intermittent-fasting-guide/
• Balancing Your Hormones Naturally, FREE Guide: https://drtabatha.com/free-hormone-guide/
• Dr. Tabatha's Website: fasttofaith.com
• Dr. Tabatha's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gutsydrtabatha/
• Dr. Tabatha's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrTabatha
• Dr. Tabatha's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@christianphysician
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