London Breedlove, associate clinical professor in the Family Medicine Department, reflects on the benefits of holistic care that treats mind and body in tandem. As a current student in the Executive MHA program, Breedlove was recently awarded with the David A. Winston fellowship in recognition of their clinical, educational, and policy work.
London Breedlove is on a mission to break down the “silos” between physical and mental health care. Their preferred model of team-based, holistic care harnesses the power of providers working together to care for a patient. As an associate clinical professor in the Family Medicine Department and the director of Integrated Behavioral Health, Breedlove has spearheaded team-based care in myriad ways.
“I’m very passionate about this,” said Breedlove. “When I explain to patients that we offer this service, they’re both delighted, and it’s also seen as just natural…It’s nice to have a village or a team working together, and that’s been shown to be conducive to a lot of really positive patient outcomes.”
Historically, you may have received counseling at a therapist’s personal office while sitting on their couch, à la Freud. But today, Breedlove works side-by-side with primary care doctors to treat patients’ physical, mental, and spiritual health. A primary care doctor can seamlessly refer a patient to Breedlove and schedule an appointment for that very day.
In their own teaching and practice, Breedlove also strives to explore creative ways of healing. As co-director of education at UW’s Osher Center for Integrative Health, they work with a team that practices acupuncture, therapeutic massage, mindfulness, and other mind-body approaches.
“I really believe that there are many different ways for individuals and communities to heal,” reflected Breedlove. “As a practitioner, I have certain tools to offer, but I also seek to understand what’s going to be a good fit for a patient in terms of certain modalities or approaches. We all deserve to heal in ways that make sense to us and are conducive with our values and our beliefs.”
At the Osher Center, Breedlove plans educational offerings, both professional and community-facing. They currently run a popular class teaching mindfulness and stress management techniques to family medicine residents, who experience high levels of burnout.
“I feel super proud and fortunate to be part of the Osher team,” said Breedlove.
Making Change on a Policy Level
Throughout their ten-plus years of experience teaching, Breedlove has sought to train the next generation of mental health practitioners. The need is great: the pandemic caused an uptick in rates of depression and anxiety, and the Surgeon General has warned of a “loneliness epidemic.” As head of the Washington State Psychological Association (WSPA) board, Breedlove has lobbied to expand our state’s pipeline of talented clinical psychologists.
To that end, Breedlove has tackled the issue of inadequate funding for training by successfully advocating for legislation that would allow clinical residents to be billed for their services by Medicaid.
“It was a really exhilarating experience to be part of that from the very beginning, in terms of thinking through the policy issue that we were trying to solve, and ending with this permanent change,” Breedlove explained. “When you bill for the work performed by supervised trainees, you also fund their training. If there’s no funding, then we have a shortage of professionals.”
Energized by this success, Breedlove enrolled in the Executive Master in Health Administration (EMHA) program to further sharpen their health care leadership skills. Their advisor encouraged them to apply for the David A. Winston fellowship, which provides scholarship funds along with the chance to participate in a symposium in D.C. featuring leaders in health care policy, including senior policy advisors to members of Congress.
Breedlove was ultimately chosen as one of the scholarship recipients. Over a whirlwind weekend in early October, Breedlove connected with fellow health administration and policy professionals, forging a “sense of community.” Another big perk? The mentorship available to recipients.
“They made it very clear throughout the symposium that they want to support students long-term in terms of networking, connections and future opportunities,” said Breedlove.
Breedlove is eager to continue spearheading policies to reshape the psychological profession for the better, all while maintaining their clinical practice and training the next generation of clinical psychologists. Underlying all of their work is empathy, and the drive to help those in need.
“For a lot of people who are in the field, it’s a natural calling. This was always the one thing that I wanted to do,” said Breedlove.