What if healing isn’t about finding the right doctor, but learning to become an active participant in your own care?

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Tracy Shevell, a board-certified OBGYN and high-risk maternal-fetal medicine specialist who spent nearly two decades inside academic medicine before her own complex illness—and the pandemic—led her to reimagine what healing could look like.

Tracy shares her story of moving from exhaustion and mystery illness to self-advocacy, trauma work, and spiritual integration. We discuss the systemic issues within medicine, how patriarchal models of care silence both patients and practitioners, and what it means for women to reclaim authority over their bodies and health.

This conversation is both a critique of modern healthcare and an invitation to return to what’s deeply human in medicine: presence, curiosity, and compassion.

What You’ll Learn

✨ How Dr. Shevell’s own illness taught her to bridge western and holistic models of healing✨ The emotional and spiritual dimensions of women’s health that medicine often overlooks✨ Why trauma screening (ACEs) belongs in every medical intake✨ How to advocate for yourself without apology✨ Why “it’s just anxiety” is never an acceptable answer✨ The importance of boundaries, partnership, and choosing doctors who believe in your capacity to heal✨ How menopause and midlife can become opportunities for reinvention and sovereignty

⏳ Timestamps00:00 Intro + welcome03:00 From high-risk OBGYN to patient and advocate07:00 The problem with patriarchal medicine10:00 Why trauma belongs in every health assessment14:00 Complex illness, misdiagnosis, and the “it’s just anxiety” trap17:00 Functional medicine, trauma work, and EMDR20:00 Spirituality, faith, and learning to listen to your body27:00 Re-entering medicine as a teacher of empowerment37:00 How to advocate for yourself with doctors42:00 Menopause and the reinvention of the self44:00 Dr. Shevell’s upcoming book Labor and Deliverance

📚 Connect with Dr. Tracy Shevell

Website: www.tracyshevellmd.com

Email: hello@tracyshevellmd.com

Instagram @tracyshevellmd

TikTok: @tracyshevellmd

Substack tracyshevell.substack.com

Book (forthcoming, 2026): Labor and Deliverance – a blend of patient stories, personal narrative, and lessons on healing beyond medicine

💫 Ready to go deeper?

→ Begin your Sacred Illness® Journey:https://www.aurorasomatic.com

→ Apply to be a podcast guest:https://www.aurorasomatic.com/podcast-guest

→ Apply to be an Affiliate and help share this work:https://www.aurorasomatic.com/affiliate

→ Follow Dr. Erin on Substack:https://sacredillness.substack.com

🎶 Music by: “Instructions for Living a Life” by Savfkhttps://www.youtube.com/@SavfkMusic

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