Meet Dr. Cece Brooks

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dr. Cece Brooks. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Dr. CeCe, so great to have you with us today. There are so many topics we want to ask you about, but perhaps the one we can start with is burnout. How have you overcome or avoided burnout?

As a medical professional, it is my job to truly listen, hear, and feel for my patients every single day. I genuinely care about their thoughts, feelings, symptoms, and experiences and I work to validate them at every appointment. I, therefore, carry their sadness, pain, happiness, and joy with me. At the beginning of my career, I often felt overwhelmed by those emotions because the patient population I treat tends to suffer from chronic symptoms. I would leave my office feeling empty and depleted only to go home to my two young children who also needed me. I quickly found myself having compassion fatigue – I was so emotionally drained from my patients that I had nothing left to give at home. It was hard to even hold a simple conversation let alone be actively and happily present with my kids.

I run a functional medicine practice, an online platform, and we now have four kids under 8 – so overcoming this compassion fatigue, or burnout, has been a huge learning curve and something I honestly still work to balance every day. I naturally want to help everyone and say yes to everything, so I’ve had to work hard to be comfortable with setting boundaries. I’ve had to remove any guilt of saying ‘no’ to someone in order to prioritize myself or my family. I now set boundaries that align with my mental health – I don’t over schedule, answer emails late at night, or bring any of my work home. I take breaks when I need to and I prioritize spending time with my kids and being fully present with them.

On work days, I reset between each patient. I take 30 seconds to just focus on my breath before walking into the next appointment. At lunch, I walk outside just to get some sunshine for a few minutes without my phone or any other distractions. While driving home from work, I either listen to calming music or roll the windows down and enjoy the silence. And before I enter my home, I take just a few minutes to breathe outside and center myself – that way, when I walk in the door to my husband and four kiddos I am regrouped and calm. I am not overstimulated from the work day nor carrying those feelings on and allowing it to impact how I respond to my family.

Balance is always possible, sometimes it’s just a matter of how you prioritize your time!

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

My story starts when I was 21-years-old. My husband (then boyfriend) and I were living in Florida and all of a sudden I went from a healthy young adult to struggling deeply with my health. I suffered from memory loss, word retrieval issues, joint pain, brain fog, fatigue, and the inability to process emotions. I visited numerous doctors and specialists without any resolution. Over the next 6 years, my health continued to decline – to the point where I could hardly leave my bed- and it wasn’t until I turned to functional medicine that I finally received an answer – I had Lyme Disease – and was able to completely heal.

I know what it’s like not to be heard. I know what it’s like to be told “it’s all in your head”. I was misdiagnosed, misled, and misunderstood by conventional medicine. And, because of that, I’ve dedicated my education and career to discovering the true root cause of symptoms; to uncovering the truth. As a Functional Medicine Nurse Practitioner, I work to solve the jig-saw puzzle of illness.

When it comes to investigating my patient’s health at my medical practice, Discovery Wellness Group, I dig deep and constantly ask “why?”. Because relief doesn’t come from masking symptoms or a bottle of pills that eases discomfort temporarily, true relief comes from identifying triggers and healing the body.

The years I struggled with being chronically ill led me to where I am today. That struggle allows me to truly feel for my patients- to understand and validate how they feel. To be a source of hope and comfort, to be a teammate in their health journey, and to be someone who will never give up on them. That journey fuels my fight to provide patients with answers and solutions to their medical mysteries.

Outside of my Lyme Disease journey, being a mama of four also allows me to connect to a completely different subset of patients. I strive to take the time to understand each child as a whole and provide unique, holistic, and integrative care that leads children down the path of healing. I offer a safe space to listen to parent’s concerns, provide holistic treatment options, and dig to find the root cause of the symptom. In well child care, I utilize natural remedies whenever possible and focus on providing preventative care. I’m all about having open conversation with my patients and their parents in order to foster a trusting environment.

On The Discovery Doc platform, I share tips and tricks on living a less toxic lifestyle, holistic options, natural remedies, & all things mama and kiddo related. I have tons of resources available, including various E-Books and Guides as well as a podcast, that focus on non-toxic living and optimizing health!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

In my opinion, the most important qualities are actually believing in what you do, being honest, and staying true to yourself. If you don’t believe in what you’re doing – why are you doing it? Is it worth it? Being chronically ill throughout my 20s was tough. I missed out on a lot and watched from afar what other ‘typical’ people my age were doing. But it led me here. It changed the trajectory of my career so that I could help others with unexplained, chronic symptoms find answers and regain their health. It led me to the ability to know exactly how my patients feel – to connect with them on a deeper level than other practitioners. It led me to actually enjoy going to work day in and day out – no matter how stressful it can be sometimes – knowing I am a source of light and hope for my patients who are struggling, just as I did. Stay true to yourself and you can develop your own success!

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

Take a minute to yourself. I understand what it’s like to be on the go all the time – whether that’s as a mom, business owner, medical practitioner, or just a human. There is always something to be done. When I am feeling overwhelmed, I first acknowledge that feeling and remind myself that it is okay to feel that way. I don’t panic about it or shame myself for it – I accept it and I do not fear it. Then, I take a step back (or a step away) from whatever I am doing and center myself. I close my eyes and take some deep breaths just for a few minutes. This can look different for everyone – some may go outside and take a quick walk, some may take their shoes off and stand outside in the sunshine, some may pray or meditate, some may download and app and follow a short breath work our sound therapy session. Implement something that is maintainable for you and, whatever it is, know that simple 1-2 minute breaks throughout your day matter.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.discoverywellnessgroup.com (medical practice)
• Instagram: @TheDiscoveryDoc
• Facebook: @TheDiscoveryDoc
• Youtube: @TheDiscoveryDoc
• Other: www.thediscoverydoc.com (educational platform)
  Tiktok: @TheDiscoveryDoc
  The Discovery Doc Podcast (on all streaming platforms)

Image Credits

Kelley Raye