hol+ with Dr. Taz MD | The Future of Medicine is Holistic

Feeling overwhelmed by stress, financial pressure, or the demands of everyday life? Explore hol+ mental health services to learn about personalized support for your emotional well-being.
You’re working, providing, caring for your family, and thinking about what comes next. But somewhere in the middle of holding everything together, have your own needs disappeared from the conversation?
In this solo reflection, Dr. Taz revisits her conversation with Mandi Woodruff-Santos, co-host of Brown Ambition, to explore the invisible load women carry and how money, ambition, caregiving, and health intersect.
Whether you’re pursuing a demanding career, supporting your household, or considering a pause during pregnancy, postpartum, or menopause, these decisions deserve more than pressure and guilt. They deserve preparation, honest conversations, and room for your own well-being.
Dr. Taz shares the personal question that made her reconsider her priorities, reflects on Mandi’s idea of a mental health emergency fund, and explores what it means to advocate for yourself without continually taking a back seat.
IN THIS EPISODE
• The invisible load of earning, caregiving, and managing everyone’s needs
• Financial self-advocacy and the challenges women face
• Navigating work decisions during major life transitions
• Why a mental health emergency fund belongs in the conversation
• Planning for a career pause and a possible return
• Recognizing when ambition is outpacing your capacity
• Making room for yourself alongside your work and family
• Moving through shame and uncertainty around money
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ABOUT THIS EPISODE
This episode features Dr. Taz’s reflections following her interview with Mandi Woodruff-Santos. Listen to their full conversation for more on women, money, breadwinning, and financial confidence.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Explore the Brown Ambition book and preorder information:
https://brownambitionbook.com
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Feeling overwhelmed by stress, financial pressure, or the demands of everyday life? Explore hol+ mental health services to learn about personalized support for your emotional well-being.
She built a successful career, started her own business, and became a mother. So why did everything start to feel overwhelming? Dr. Taz welcomes award-winning financial journalist, career coach, and Brown Ambition podcast host Mandi Woodruff-Santos to explore how financial stress, career pressure, and the expectation to hold everything together can affect women's mental and physical health.
Mandi shares what she's learned from helping women navigate money challenges, career transitions, and the pressure to succeed. Together, they discuss why women often struggle to ask for what they need, how financial shame can undermine confidence, and the additional challenges women of color face when advocating for themselves at work.
Dr. Taz reflects on the stress she sees among women who carry financial responsibility for their families, as well as her own experience growing up around money anxiety. Their conversation explores the pressure to be the strong one, the connection between financial security and emotional well-being, and why success doesn't always protect us from burnout.
Mandi also opens up about her personal experience with postpartum depression and anxiety, the challenges of building a business while raising young children, and the circumstances that led her to seek inpatient mental health treatment. She introduces the idea of a mental health emergency fund, explaining why having trusted people and professional support in place matters before a crisis occurs.
Drawing from her upcoming book, Brown Ambition: How to Reboot Your Money and Career When Life Throws You Off Track, Mandi shares how women can move beyond shame, navigate unexpected setbacks, and pursue financial success without losing sight of their health and happiness.
IN THIS EPISODE
How financial stress affects mental and physical well-being
The hidden pressure of being the family breadwinner
Money shame and the expectations placed on women of color
Three common thought patterns that hold women back in their careers
Asking for raises, negotiating, and advocating for yourself
Recognizing when it's time to make a career change
Financial transparency and independence in relationships
Mandi's experience with postpartum depression and anxiety
Recognizing when old coping mechanisms stop working
Building a mental health emergency fund
The importance of rest, community, and asking for help
Redefining ambition and finding fulfillment beyond financial success
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Learn about hol+'s approach to mental health and emotional well-being:
https://holplus.co/services/mental-health/
ABOUT MANDI WOODRUFF-SANTOS
Mandi Woodruff-Santos is an award-winning financial journalist, career and negotiation coach, and host of the Brown Ambition podcast. She is the founder of MandiMoney Makers, a coaching community helping women of color advance their careers and build wealth. Her debut book, Brown Ambition: How to Reboot Your Money and Career When Life Throws You Off Track, is scheduled for release on June 15, 2027.
CONNECT WITH MANDI
Check out the Brown Ambition Book:
https://brownambitionbook.com
Website and career coaching:
https://www.mandimoney.com/
Brown Ambition podcast:
https://brownambitionpodcast.com/
Book information and preorders:
https://www.mandimoney.com/book
CONNECT WITH HOL+
Follow the podcast for new episodes, and leave a review to help others discover the conversation.
This episode is for educational purposes and does not replace individualized medical, mental health, or financial advice.
Dr. Taz: https://www.instagram.com/drtazmd/
Hol+: https://www.instagram.com/liveholplus/
Hol+ Show: https://www.instagram.com/holplushow/
Subscribe to the audio podcast: https://holplus.transistor.fm/subscribe
Subscribe to the video podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@HolPlusShow/podcasts
Get your copy of ➡️ The Hormone Shift: https://amzn.to/44yYhZd
Produced by https://ClipGrowth.com (Producer: Pat Gostek)

What if experiences you thought you'd moved past are still influencing how you feel, react, and connect with others?
In this episode, Dr. Taz reflects on her recent conversation with trauma expert Dr. Gillian O'Shea Brown and shares what stood out most about the connection between emotional trauma, physical health, and the nervous system.
Dr. Taz explores how past experiences, including smaller, often overlooked microtraumas, may shape our stress responses and relationship patterns. She also discusses EMDR, somatic healing, attachment styles, and why learning to recognize our emotional patterns can be an important part of healing.
Drawing from her own life, Dr. Taz opens up about the time she spent alone in her twenties and how that period of self-reflection helped her better understand herself, break old patterns, and prepare for healthier relationships.
This mini solo is a reminder that understanding your personal story can be just as important as looking ahead. Sometimes the patterns we want to change begin with experiences we haven't fully understood.
In this episode, Dr. Taz reflects on:
The connection between trauma, stress, and physical health
EMDR, somatic healing, and the nervous system
Microtraumas and attachment patterns
Why old emotional and relationship patterns can resurface
The importance of self-reflection and personal growth

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Learn about hol+’s approach to mental health and emotional well-being:
https://holplus.co/services/mental-health/
ABOUT DR. GILLIAN O'SHEA BROWN
Dr. Gillian O’Shea Brown is a psychotherapist, complex trauma specialist, and EMDRIA Approved Consultant. She is the author of Psyche’s Awakening: A Guide to Emotional and Somatic Healing Through the Wisdom of Greek Myth.
CONNECT WITH DR. GILL
Website and book information:
https://www.drgillianosheabrown.com/
Newsletter:
https://drgillianosheabrown.substack.com/
CONNECT WITH HOL+
https://holplus.co/
Follow Dr. Taz:
https://www.instagram.com/drtazmd/
Follow the podcast for new episodes, and leave a review to help others discover the conversation.
This episode is for educational purposes and does not replace individualized medical or mental health care.
STAY CONNECTED
Dr. Taz: https://www.instagram.com/drtazmd/
Hol+: https://www.instagram.com/liveholplus/
Hol+ Show: https://www.instagram.com/holplushow/
Subscribe to the audio podcast: https://holplus.transistor.fm/subscribe
Subscribe to the video podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@HolPlusShow/podcasts
Get your copy of ➡️ The Hormone Shift: https://amzn.to/44yYhZd
Produced by https://ClipGrowth.com (Producer: Pat Gostek)

(00:00) - Intro

(00:43) - How trauma can affect physical health

(01:25) - The body's response to unresolved trauma

(01:45) - EMDR and somatic healing

(03:00) - Microtraumas and attachment styles

(03:50) - Why understanding yourself matters

(04:05) - Dr. Taz's personal journey

(04:45) - Breaking old relationship patterns

(05:50) - The mind-body-spirit connection

Different person. Same painful pattern. Why does it happen? Dr. Taz welcomes psychotherapist and complex trauma specialist Dr. Gillian O’Shea Brown to explore how unresolved experiences can shape our relationships, our reactions, and the beliefs we carry about ourselves.
Dr. Gill describes trauma as the past intruding on the present. Together, they discuss how childhood coping strategies can follow us into adulthood, why familiar dynamics can influence attraction, and what it can mean to recognize yourself as the fixer, the caretaker, or the person who puts their own needs last.

Dr. Taz shares her experience of taking responsibility for others’ emotions as the eldest child. Their conversation explores parentification, people-pleasing, emotionally unavailable partners, and the courage involved in expressing your needs.
They also introduce EMDR therapy, the importance of preparation and professional support, and Dr. Gill’s perspective on emotional and somatic healing.
Drawing from her book, Psyche’s Awakening, Dr. Gill brings together psychology and Greek mythology to explore self-compassion, psychological safety, and the possibility of choosing differently.
IN THIS EPISODE
• Recognizing when the past is influencing the present
• How painful experiences can shape core beliefs
• What EMDR therapy involves
• Childhood self-blame and adult coping patterns
• Repetition compulsion and familiar relationship dynamics
• Parentification and becoming “the fixer”
• People-pleasing, self-abandonment, and boundaries
• Noticing how relationships affect your sense of self
• The guest’s perspective on somatic healing
• Finding support and developing self-trust
EXPLORE HOL+ SERVICES
Learn about hol+’s approach to mental health and emotional well-being:
https://holplus.co/services/mental-health/
ABOUT DR. GILLIAN O'SHEA BROWN
Dr. Gillian O’Shea Brown is a psychotherapist, complex trauma specialist, and EMDRIA Approved Consultant. She is the author of Psyche’s Awakening: A Guide to Emotional and Somatic Healing Through the Wisdom of Greek Myth.
CONNECT WITH DR. GILL
Website and book information:
https://www.drgillianosheabrown.com/
Newsletter:
https://drgillianosheabrown.substack.com/

CONNECT WITH HOL+
https://holplus.co/
Follow Dr. Taz:
https://www.instagram.com/drtazmd/
Follow the podcast for new episodes, and leave a review to help others discover the conversation.
This episode is for educational purposes and does not replace individualized medical or mental health care.

STAY CONNECTED
Dr. Taz: https://www.instagram.com/drtazmd/
Hol+: https://www.instagram.com/liveholplus/
Hol+ Show: https://www.instagram.com/holplushow/
Subscribe to the audio podcast: https://holplus.transistor.fm/subscribe
Subscribe to the video podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@HolPlusShow/podcasts
Get your copy of ➡️ The Hormone Shift: https://amzn.to/44yYhZd
Produced by https://ClipGrowth.com (Producer: Pat Gostek)

Join The Circle (use code YOUTUBE): ➡️ https://holplus.co/circle/
What should you know about Candida, recurring yeast infections, and the broader symptoms often associated with gut health?
In this mini solo episode, Dr. Taz shares her functional medicine perspective on Candida overgrowth. She discusses possible contributing factors, the tests used in her practice, and how she approaches nutrition, antifungal treatment, and support for the gut microbiome.
IN THIS EPISODE
• Antibiotics and other potential contributors to yeast overgrowth
• Symptoms Dr. Taz considers during an evaluation
• Stool analysis, organic acid testing, and the limitations of home spit tests
• Dietary changes, prescription antifungals, and botanical products discussed in her practice
• Why similar symptoms can have different underlying causes
Symptoms such as bloating, fatigue, cravings, and brain fog are nonspecific and do not confirm Candida. Consult a qualified healthcare professional for an individual evaluation.
Ready to take a closer look at your health?
Schedule a consultation with a hol+ provider to explore your symptoms, lab results, and personal health goals:
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STAY CONNECTED
Dr. Taz: https://www.instagram.com/drtazmd/
Hol+: https://www.instagram.com/liveholplus/
Hol+ Show: https://www.instagram.com/holplushow/
Subscribe to the audio podcast: https://holplus.transistor.fm/subscribe
Subscribe to the video podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@HolPlusShow/podcasts
Get your copy of ➡️ The Hormone Shift: https://amzn.to/44yYhZd
Produced by https://ClipGrowth.com (Producer: Pat Gostek)