Is It Burnout or Perimenopause? A Functional Medicine Doctor Explains
Feeling overwhelmed, fatigued, and like your body is changing in your 40s? Dr. Josée Poulin, a physician turned functional medicine expert, reveals why "normal" lab results don't tell the whole story and shares a holistic path to reclaiming your energy, confidence, and health in midlife.
In this episode of the Speak In Flow Podcast with Melinda Lee, Josée moves beyond band-aid solutions to explore the root causes of burnout, the transformative power of food and breath, and why healing happens in a state of joy.
This episode is a must-listen for any professional woman feeling stuck in cycles of fatigue and overwhelm, ready to build a sustainable, unstoppable foundation for the decades ahead.
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
A Doctor’s Journey to Root-Cause Healing
Josée’s personal story of physician burnout reveals the critical gap in Western medicine: treating symptoms in silos rather than the whole person.
Signs Your Body is Recalibrating
“Sleep disturbances, midsection weight gain, and feeling drained all the time are signals, not sentences.”
Learn to recognize the key symptoms of hormonal shifts in perimenopause and midlife, and understand why they are a call to action for foundational health, not just a reason to “push through.”
Your Foundational Toolkit
“Food is medicine, your breath is free, and connection is transformative.”
Move beyond quick fixes with Josée’s three pillars for rebuilding resilience: using nutrition as foundational fuel, wielding the 4-7-8 breathing technique for instant calm, and finding a supportive community that believes in your growth.
Where Real Healing Happens
“Healing doesn’t have to be heavy.”
True, lasting health flourishes in a state of safety, calm, and joy. Learn why incorporating fun, laughter, and lightness into your wellness journey is a physiological necessity for your nervous system.
BLOG:
One of the best ways to avoid burnout is to build a team that knows how to take accountability. Empower your team so that you don't have to carry the load alone, and everyone can lift their own weight.
Read our latest article, "Empowering Your Team to Take True Ownership."
This article breaks down the exact, actionable steps to shift from a culture of finger-pointing to one of genuine ownership.
About the Guest:
Dr. Josée Poulin is a passionate physician on a mission to transform how women experience midlife. With a foundation in hospital medicine and advanced training in functional and integrative care, she empowers women to take control of their health through personalized, science-backed programs that bridge conventional and holistic medicine.
Recognizing the gaps in traditional care, especially around menopause, Dr. Poulin founded The Unstoppable Women’s Academy, a community dedicated to helping women feel strong, vibrant, and confident through midlife and beyond. She is a member of The Menopause Society and the Institute for Functional Medicine, combining the latest medical science with a compassionate, whole-person approach to healing.
Social Handles:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_josee_poulin/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/josee.poulin.988
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jos%C3%A9e-poulin-555335293/
Website: joseepoulin.com
Fun Facts:
- 🎵 The Prescription of Joy: Josée champions the "Mary Poppins Phenomenon," adding a spoonful of fun and joy to everything she does. She often brings music, dancing, and her skills on the piano, guitar, and ukulele into her group sessions, believing joy is powerful medicine.
- 💪 The Strength Builder: This year, she focused on building muscle and went from zero to conquering four consecutive pull-ups, embodying her own unstoppable journey of strength and resilience.
- 🚿 The Healing Soprano: Her unofficial barometer for being "in flow?" Singing in the shower!
About Melinda:
Melinda Lee is a Presentation Skills Expert, Speaking Coach, and nationally renowned Motivational Speaker. She holds an M.A. in Organizational Psychology, is an Insights Practitioner, and is a Certified Professional in Talent Development as well as Certified in Conflict Resolution. For over a decade, Melinda has researched and studied the state of “flow” and used it as a proven technique to help corporate leaders and business owners amplify their voices, access flow, and present their mission in a more powerful way to achieve results.
She has been the TEDx Berkeley Speaker Coach and has worked with hundreds of executives and teams from Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Caltrans, Bay Area Rapid Transit System, and more. Currently, she lives in San Francisco, California, and is breaking the ancestral lineage of silence.
Website: https://speakinflow.com/
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/speakinflow
Instagram: https://instagram.com/speakinflow
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpowerall
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