Co-Locating Outpatient Counseling and Fitness Services for Mental Health Treatment[Podcast Series]

Brendan Kelly is Owner and CEO of The Well Being Counseling and Fitness Center.
Dr. Ben Davidson is Chair of The Well Being Foundation Board of Directors and a practicing physician.

“But the next thought that popped in my head was, well, why couldn't you take a traditional outpatient therapy practice, add a room and fill it with exercise equipment? And that was it. That was the idea. And I remember it. I'm not kidding when I say the idea really kind of hit me like a lightning bolt.”

“And since I met you, actually, I've been asking other providers in my organization, so what do you do if you have to refer someone for exercise? And I get these blank stares, and I, also, my main answer is a blank stare. However, because of The Well Being, we do have a very specific outlet for that, for that question, and that's for people with anxiety and depression or other mental health disorders, where we are referring to therapists, we can refer them to The Well Being.”

“And so we work with people, kind of try to meet them where they're at and come up with a concrete plan for movement for them, which then, when it's finished, the client gets a copy of the movement plan, and the therapist gets a copy of the movement plan. And then, on an ongoing basis, the therapist will review the plan with the client. If the client is doing well with the plan, they're exercising, they're moving their bodies, then the therapist is is really saying, How do you feel?” Because that's our focus. We always want to bring the exercise back to how does it make you feel?”

“So picture that compared to once every week or two of sitting with a therapist who can really address all your barriers. It's just night and day. And for us to get there. I know people trust physicians, but I feel like people trust their therapists, who they've developed a big relationship with as well. So it just, this model here answers that question in a way that I just don't think has been done before. And it's so powerful when you've got this person that you trust and you're talking to, and there's a gym right there, you know, you can, you can lead a horse to water, but you can throw in a treadmill too.”

“Personal training is not covered by insurance companies, and it costs money and the thing that bothered me was that, you know, you have two people that are similar health status, similar age, similar situation, neither of whom know what to do in terms of moving their bodies, and one person has money and can't afford it, and the other one doesn't. And so sorry, you're out of luck.”

“I hope everyone continues to harass insurance companies to cover this sort of thing. But here's a way of doing it where I, as a physician, can refer a client here know, that they're going to get good counseling. I'd be doing that anyway. I'd be leaning on their insurance to do that anyway, and then know that they'll also have access to a gym that they didn't have before, and potentially the foundation to help them out.”

“But as a practicing physician, it's tough for me to refer just for exercise only, like if, yeah, sure, if someone has depression, I can refer them here. But I currently don't have a reliable way of helping people exercise and getting that feedback. And we, that's the, that's the final link that we really need to put in the chain.”

“And I just want to get as many people as possible in the United States and beyond to use this wonderful, I call it the world's best mental health medication with the world's best side effects, right? It seems like it's really starting to catch on, and more and more people are realizing it for what it is.”

Training the Next Generation of Healthcare Providers in Lifestyle Medicine[Podcast Series]