On this episode of The Care2Grow Show®, Dr. Larry Arbeitman welcomes Dr. Savitha Rao, a double board-certified adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist who recently opened her own integrative psychiatry practice, Walls Down Wellness, in Red Bank, New Jersey. Drawing from traditional medical training as well as formal study in functional medicine and integrative psychiatry, Dr. Rao designs customized treatment plans that go beyond medication management to consider the whole person.

In this episode, they discuss:

Dr. Rao's own journey with depression and anxiety, which came to a head during residency, and how incorporating therapy, lifestyle changes, meditation, and the gut-brain connection alongside medication eventually allowed her to move beyond needing it — an experience that now shapes how she treats her own patients.

Why she believes integrative psychiatry isn't a replacement for traditional, evidence-based training but a way to build on it, especially with children and adolescents whose brains are still developing.

How she cares for the whole family, not just the child in front of her, and why she sees a parent's emotional state, and even marital dynamics that surface in the room, as valuable information rather than a distraction.

The power of presence and simple, active listening — including research showing patients feel truly heard in as little as 50 seconds, while the average doctor listens for only 17 to 27 seconds before interrupting.

How she intentionally designed her office — a couch instead of a desk, no barriers between her and her patients, meaningful art on the walls, natural materials — to help regulate a patient's nervous system before a word is even spoken.

A powerful story about a homeless patient who refused a life-saving blood transfusion for hours, then signed the consent immediately once a provider simply sat down at his level — because, he said, she was the first person to do it.

Her own self-care practices, including a non-negotiable daily transcendental meditation practice, prioritizing sleep, and time at the beach, and why she believes physician burnout isn't caused by caring too much, but by not checking in with your own needs.

Her new newsletter, Buddy Business, exploring topics like the loneliness epidemic and the vagus nerve's role in social connection.

A lightning round covering her care philosophy in one word (integrative), the people who've shaped how she cares (her parents), and finishing the sentence: "Care is... being present."

About Dr. Savitha Rao

Dr. Savitha Rao is a double board-certified adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist who has recently opened a private integrative psychiatry practice, Walls Down Wellness, in downtown Red Bank, NJ. Her prior experience spans multiple psychiatric settings, including inpatient, outpatient, emergency room, and consult/liaison. Drawing from traditional medical training as well as formal training in both functional medicine and integrative psychiatry, she works closely with patients to design customized treatment plans based on their individual needs, taking an integrative approach to mental health that considers the whole person. Dr. Rao was born and raised in New Jersey and currently resides in Asbury Park. She attended Rutgers University for her undergraduate degree and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School for her medical degree, completing both a general psychiatry residency and a child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Connect with Dr. Savitha Rao

Website: wallsdownwellness.com

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On this episode of The Care2Grow Show®, Dr. Larry Arbeitman welcomes Dr. David Moore for what he calls "truth serum" — an unusually candid conversation about what it really costs to chase someone else's version of success. After 25 years as a chiropractor, building a practice, treating thousands of patients, and writing a book, Dr. Moore walked away from his practice in 2021, not by choice but by necessity, after years of pushing through chronic pain and injury finally caught up with him.

In this episode, they discuss:

Dr. Moore's path into chiropractic — including a rough start marked by youthful mistakes, an injury that led him to his first chiropractor, and a single adjustment that changed the direction of his life.

How he spent years chasing other practitioners' numbers and definitions of success instead of building his own purpose — and the accumulating physical toll of adjusting patients at high volume, including a shoulder injury and a hip avulsion fracture he didn't even realize had happened.

The moment in 2021 when he finally walked away from the practice he'd built his entire identity around, and what it felt like to "burn it down" rather than transition slowly.

How he discovered breathwork, HeartMath, and heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback in 2015 — and why, as a doctor, he needed the science behind it before he could fully trust what he was experiencing.

The devastating loss of his childhood friend Dave, who died suddenly of a heart attack from what looked like classic chronic, unmanaged stress — and how that loss reinforced for Dr. Moore that nervous system regulation isn't just about calm and focus, it's life or death.

His current part-time practice serving a Spanish-speaking, underserved community — where, without a shared language, he found that care communicated through hands and presence needed no words at all.

The "five Ps" framework — philosophy and purpose as causes, versus psychology, procedures, and profit as effects — and why so many providers unknowingly build their practice backwards.

His work now teaching high-achieving professionals and chiropractors to regulate their nervous systems on demand through breathwork and HRV-based biofeedback, so they can sustain high performance without burning out the way he did.

A lightning round covering his philosophy of healing in one word (love), the daily habit that's had the biggest impact on his life (prayer), and finishing the sentences: "Healing begins when... you let it" and "Care is... love."

About Dr. David Moore

Dr. David Moore spent 25 years as a chiropractor, going completely all-in on his profession the way he does everything in his life. He built a practice, treated thousands of patients, wrote a book called The Chiropractic Evolution, hosted a community health show, and poured himself into helping people live pain-free, drug-free, and fully alive. But somewhere along the way, chasing goals that looked right on the outside, he stopped listening to his own body — and after 25 years, he walked away, not by choice, but by necessity. What he found on the other side was breathwork, heart rate variability, and autonomic nervous system regulation. Dr. Dave now teaches high-achieving professionals and chiropractors how to regulate their nervous systems using breathwork and HRV-based biofeedback — the same tools that helped him rebuild after burnout, chronic pain, and a complete identity overhaul. He is a certified HeartMath instructor and the founder of the Brain Body Breathing Academy.

Connect with Dr. David Moore

Website: thecoherencecoach.com
Free Community: skool.com/thecoherencecoach/about
Facebook: facebook.com/dr.david.moore

If this conversation resonated with you, share it with someone who needs to hear it — that's how we put the care back into healthcare, one conversation at a time.

On this episode of The Care2Grow Show®, Dr. Larry Arbeitman welcomes Tilly Lawrence, BSN, RN — a scientist, futurist, and former PICU/NICU nurse who led a federally funded virtual interventional trial using vagal nerve modulation and sound augmentation technology to help alleviate symptoms of long COVID. She's the creator of Vagal Intelligence and the Sense. Sway. Sync. methodology, and will share her journey on the TEDx Bessies Creek stage this summer under the theme "Be Human."

In this episode, they discuss:

Tilly's decade in PICU and NICU nursing, the burnout that came from repeatedly running codes on critically ill children with no time to process, and why she eventually moved into clinical research.

The personal crisis that changed everything: her daughter's years-long battle with cyclic vomiting episodes, and how Tilly's own PICU-trained "emergency mode" nervous system was unintentionally being transferred to her daughter during care.

How learning the polyvagal theory and consciously shifting her own nervous system state cut her daughter's six-day episodes down to a day and a half — a real-world example of how a caregiver's physiological state shapes the person they're caring for.

A clear breakdown of the three states of the polyvagal theory: ventral vagal (safe, open, able to heal), fight-or-flight activation, and dorsal vagal shutdown (freeze, numbness, disassociation) — and why so many patients arrive already stuck in one of the latter two.

Her Sense. Sway. Sync. framework: how providers can regulate their own nervous system first (sense), use presence and body language to help shift a patient's physiology (sway), and ultimately reach a state of true co-regulation with the patient (sync).

Why provider self-regulation isn't a soft skill but a clinical tool — backed by research from Compassionomics showing a 40-second compassionate statement measurably reduced anxiety in oncology patients.

A real example of disconnected, rushed care in action, and why "fast food healthcare" leaves both patients and staff dysregulated.

Her upcoming TEDx Bessies Creek talk (July 18) on the theme "Be Human," and her vision for bringing Vagal Intelligence to practitioners, educators, and school systems.

A lightning round covering her care philosophy in one word (believing), the person who's shaped how she cares (her father), and finishing the sentence: "Care is... believing."

About Tilly Lawrence, BSN, RN

Tilly Lawrence, BSN, RN, is a scientist, futurist, and former PICU nurse who successfully led a federally funded decentralized/virtual interventional trial using vagal nerve modulation and sound augmentation technology to help alleviate some of the 200+ symptoms of long COVID. She is the creator of Vagal Intelligence, a framework for the science of human co-regulation, and the Sense. Sway. Sync. methodology that puts it into daily practice. She is also a mother of three, whose own experience has shaped and reframed how she understands care, resonance, and what it truly means to be human. Tilly will share her journey to Vagal Intelligence on the TEDx Bessies Creek stage this summer, under the theme "Be Human."

Connect with Tilly Lawrence

Website: vagalintelligence.com
Instagram: @tillylawrence
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tillylawrence
Email: tillylawrence818@gmail.com

If this conversation resonated with you, share it with someone who needs to hear it — that's how we put the care back into healthcare, one conversation at a time.