“Compassion and relationships create all opportunities.” ~Dr. Nzinga Harrison

Revolutions need revolutionaries. What’s true for the social justice movement is true in the drive to create more equitable mental health opportunities; after all, these threads have been entwined throughout this country’s history. Meet my new favorite person in the whole wide world, psychiatrist, podcast host, and amazing human Dr. Nzinga Harrison!

As co-founder and chief medical officer of Eleanor Health, Dr. Harrison has flipped the addiction care script by centering the client in a holistic, whole-person, whole-life embrace. “We say hashtag Eleanor for life. So, once you’ve joined us, we are trying to stay with you like your primary care doctor.”

Hashtag I’m smitten!

Eleanor Health’s model is a radical departure from prevailing intervention methods, so much so that I got choked up about it during this convo. That’s partly in response to Dr. Harrison’s common-sense compassion, and partly due to my seething frustration at our current (broken) system of care. Although the phrase it takes a village offers insight into Eleanor Health’s strategy, Dr. Harrison provides details in her characteristic easy manner. As she explains, Eleanor Health is a value-based resource. It bucks the fee-for-service mentality by creating a sense of abundance for clients and staff alike in terms of available time, resources, and recovery outcomes.

Dr. Harrison comes by her leadership and compassion naturally. Her father was a commander of the Black Panther militia while she was growing up in Indianapolis. She also witnessed family members struggle with various addictions. Those experiences shaped her answers to the healer and wounded healer questions - answers I have never heard before in all the times I’ve asked.

The dynamics of addiction care are changing. Dr. Harrison and Eleanor Health are proof that holistic support is sustainable, profitable, and humane.

GUEST BIO

A well-respected physician and educator, Dr. Nzinga Harrison is the Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder of Eleanor Health, a value-based provider of compassionate, comprehensive, outpatient addiction treatment. Approachable and energetic, she has been known to explain medical concepts with an ease and humor that results in her audiences developing understanding of difficult material while having a good time doing it! She has written and presented several articles and workshops on the medical aspects of addiction and other psychiatric disorders, and has consulted on the same topics both nationally and internationally.

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope - Mark Manson.

Al-Anon

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