Work From The Inside Out 204: You Need Stress to Build Resilience with Deborah Gilboa
Resilience expert Deborah Gilboa, MD, aka “Dr. G,” works with families, organizations, and businesses to turn stress into an advantage. Known for her contagious humor, Dr. G works with people across generations to rewire their attitudes and beliefs to create resilience through personal accountability and a completely different approach to adversity. She is the author of the recently released book From Stressed to Resilient: The Guide to Handle More and Feel It Less. Dr. G is a board-certified attending family physician at a community health center whose practice includes making house calls.
As a child, Dr. G suffered from seizures. When asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” her answer was a pediatric neurosurgeon since she had a female doctor in that specialty who she liked. Dr. G changed her mind, when in 9th grade biology lab, she had to dissect a fetal pig. Around that time she discovered the fun of theater, finding social acceptance and learning that people can have careers in theater. She decided to study theater in college. After earning her BFA in stage management, Dr. G worked in theater for six years, including two years at Second City, the famous improv company in Chicago. She also volunteered as an emergency medical technician and got certified as a paramedic. At 26, Dr. G decided to apply to medical school, but she needed two years of pre-requisite coursework to qualify. She mapped out a plan to ensure she could make it happen. Dr. G had also worked at Deaf West Theater in Los Angeles, founded by the deaf actress Marlee Matlin. She had learned some American Sign Language (ASL) and a lot about deaf culture. Dr. G heard that ASL interpreters were needed in health care, so she enrolled in ASL classes and began to work as an ASL interpreter while she prepared for medical school.
Today, Dr. G practices family medicine on a part-time basis and speaks regularly to audiences in every sector on a variety of topics pertaining to resilience, mental health, and effective communication. She says, “Resilience is not given… it is choice and action.”
In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Dr. G’s journey:
- Dr. G’s message is straightforward and essential: Do stress better. Be resilient.
- She appears regularly on TODAY, Good Morning America, and The Doctors. Her work is featured frequently in the Washington Post, The New York Times, Forbes Magazine, and many other digital and print outlets.
Learn more and connect with Deborah here:
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