I’m doing something a little different today—and I think you’re really going to enjoy it. I recently had the privilege of being interviewed on the Better Health Bookshelf podcast, hosted by the insightful and generous Mike Capuzzi.

Mike Capuzzi is a seasoned marketing strategist, Amazon #1 best-selling author, and host of the Better Health Bookshelf podcast, where he features standout health and wellness books and the authors behind them. With over 30 years of experience, Mike is passionate about spotlighting powerful, practical books that help people live healthier lives.

Mike invited me to share my personal healing journey from multiple sclerosis, what inspired me to write Beat Autoimmune, and some of the key strategies from my F.I.G.H.T.S.™ framework that have helped so many others on their healing path. In this conversation, we dive into root causes like stress, food, and toxins—and I share practical tips you can start using right away to support your immune system and take back your health.

Whether you're just starting to explore functional medicine or you're deep into your healing journey, there’s something in here for you. I’m so grateful to Mike for the opportunity—and for his permission to share this episode with you here. I hope this inspires you, and I encourage you to check out Mike’s Better Health Bookshelf podcast for more great conversations about health-transforming books.

Quote: “Hope is real. Healing is possible.”

00:00 – Introduction by Mike Capuzzi Mike introduces Palmer Kippola and her book, Beat Autoimmune, setting the stage for a discussion on reversing autoimmune diseases naturally.

01:30 – Palmer's Personal Healing Journey Palmer shares her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis at age 19 and her 26-year journey to recovery, emphasizing the power of addressing root causes.

07:45 – The F.I.G.H.T.S.™ Framework Explained An overview of Palmer's F.I.G.H.T.S.™ framework: Food, Infections, Gut health, Hormone balance, Toxins, and Stress, as key areas to address in healing.

12:20 – The Impact of Diet on Autoimmune Conditions Discussion on how certain foods can trigger or alleviate autoimmune symptoms, and the importance of the elimination diet to determine your optimal foods.

18:00 – Environmental Toxins and Their Role Exploring how everyday toxins contribute to autoimmune issues and strategies to reduce exposure.

23:15 – Stress Management Techniques Palmer discusses the profound effect of stress on the immune system and shares practical methods to reduce it.

28:40 – Encouragement and Resources for Listeners Palmer offers hope and actionable steps for those dealing with autoimmune conditions, including resources for further support.

Resources mentioned:

Book: Beat Autoimmune - https://a.co/d/99MHeVw

Website: https://palmerkippola.com

Better Health Bookshelf podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/better-health-bookshelf-discover-new-health-and/id1487836914

Want my help reversing an autoimmune condition? If you are determined and committed to reclaiming your best health and life, I offer Functional Medicine Total Health Transformation Programs over Zoom. Get on my calendar for a free 30-minute discovery and strategy call: https://palmerkippola.com/apply/

#beatautoimmuneandthrivepodcast

Roberta Tachi is an Embodiment Coach, Spiritual Guide, and inspirational example of complete autoimmune recovery.

After facing her own illness and profound healing journey—reversing the autoimmune disorder Myasthenia Gravis—Roberta has dedicated her life to helping others release trauma stored deep within the body. With more than two decades of experience in holistic healing and trauma release, Roberta has guided hundreds of individuals across more than 35 countries in discovering and resolving the emotional triggers behind chronic pain, autoimmune conditions, and other health challenges.

Roberta has a unique ability to intuitively identify the hidden blocks, constrictions, and fragmentation within the body—those unseen barriers preventing true healing. She specializes in gently guiding people back into connection with their authentic selves, teaching them how to be in their bodies and integrate their life experiences so they can finally experience physical and emotional wholeness.

Today, Roberta invites us to understand the powerful link between our biography and our biology, offering a transformative pathway to healing autoimmune disorders and unlocking our body's boundless capacity to heal.

I have personally benefited from working with Roberta, experiencing a deeper, more embodied connection with myself and a greater awareness – and I should say, felt sense – of the constrictions related to my own early childhood traumas; and so I’m excited to delve into the realm of embodiment and trauma healing with her today.

Quote: “Your intention to heal, your intention to be well, has to be present.”

What’s inside this episode?

03:12 Roberta Tachi’s autoimmune story and an important intention crucial to any healing journey

11:00 Learning to communicate with your cells and the power of creating purpose for your healing

16:30 How and why early childhood trauma gets stored in the body

31:30 Palmer opens up and shares about her recent experience with oral health challenges and how Roberta is helping her

48:00 Roberta guides us through a short inner connection meditation

57:35 Simple techniques and strategies to become more present in your body

Resources mentioned:

Website: https://robertatachi.com/

You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/@robertatachi2023

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robertatachi/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/anewpathtohealing

Embody Wellness App: Available for free on Google Play or Apple Store

Books on healing trauma:

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk: https://amzn.to/4k3VL3s

The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Maté: https://amzn.to/42Yrahy

Want my help reversing an autoimmune condition?

If you are determined and committed to reclaiming your best health and life, I offer Functional Medicine Total Health Transformation Programs over Zoom. Get on my calendar for a free 30-minute discovery and strategy call: https://palmerkippola.com/apply/

#beatautoimmuneandthrive

Today I’m joined by Dr. Fred Luskin, one of the world’s leading researchers and teachers on forgiveness. He’s the founder of the Stanford University Forgiveness Projects, a longtime lecturer at Stanford School of Medicine, and bestselling author of Forgive for Good, Forgive for Love, and the newly released Forgive for Good Recovery Workbook.

Fred has spent decades studying the link between forgiveness and well-being. His research shows that forgiveness can reduce chronic stress, depression, and even physical pain — while boosting resilience, emotional balance, and inner peace.

If you’re healing from an autoimmune disorder or any chronic condition, this conversation is especially for you. Emotional stress, resentment, and unresolved pain can keep the body stuck in survival mode, which fuels inflammation and autoimmunity. Forgiveness is a powerful balm and way of living that soothes the nervous system and supports deep healing.

I had the privilege of taking Fred’s Forgive for Good workshop through Stanford Health Care, and I can say firsthand: his approach is both practical and profoundly transformative.

Tune in as we explore why forgiveness isn’t just a virtue — it’s a vital practice for a healthy, thriving life.

Quote: “Forgiveness is giving up all hope for a better past.”

What’s inside this episode?

02:20 What it is that makes unforgiveness so diminishing

04:00 Fred’s personal story that led him down the path of understanding and researching “unforgiveness” as his work

07:25 What is forgiveness and what is it not?

10:20 What he found from his study of forgiveness in the most extremely traumatic life circumstances, and the most important aspects of forgiveness

17:25 Forgiveness strategies for someone who has experienced adverse childhood experience(s) (ACEs) and is facing an autoimmune response

25:55 Steps someone can take to forgive and look forward in their life

34:38 The integration of spirituality and history into Fred’s secular studies on forgiveness

38:00 Forgiveness is a choice and a learned skill

Resources mentioned:

Forgive For Good by Dr. Fred Luskin: https://a.co/d/7MzvjrE

The Forgive For Good Recovery Workbook: https://a.co/d/gSPBEXd

Want my help reversing an autoimmune condition?

If you are determined and committed to reclaiming your best health and life, I offer Functional Medicine Total Health Transformation Programs over Zoom. Get on my calendar for a free 30-minute discovery and strategy call: https://palmerkippola.com/apply/

#beatautoimmuneandthrivepodcast

Dr. Shani Robins is a licensed psychologist and the founder of Wisdom Therapy™, a therapeutic approach he pioneered in 1998. He teaches psychology and wellness courses at a number of schools including Stanford University, Foothill College, and College of San Mateo.

Dr. Robins holds a B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy from UCLA, an M.A. and Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from UC Santa Barbara, and a second Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. He has been a California Board Licensed Psychologist for over 20 years.

Blending the best of Western psychology—including Emotional Intelligence and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)—with Eastern practices like mindfulness, compassion, gratitude, and humility, Dr. Robins helps people reduce suffering and live with greater wisdom.

He specializes in psychotherapy for anxiety, anger management, and career counseling, working with individuals, couples, and groups. His integrative approach combines CBT, Mindfulness Meditation, and Wisdom Therapy to help clients lower stress and enhance well-being.

In this inspiring episode, Dr. Robins shares practical strategies and timeless wisdom to help you break free from anxiety, pain, and emotional struggles—whether you’re healing from an autoimmune condition or simply seeking to live a more meaningful life. Learn how to reframe challenges, overcome cognitive distortions, practice mindfulness, and cultivate self-compassion, gratitude, optimism, and humility. Dr. Robins shows us how to be wiser and freer, starting with your very next thought.

Quote: “How we think significantly influences how we feel.”

What’s inside this episode?

02:26 How wisdom and well-being can be defined when it comes to dealing with and healing chronic illness

13:54 Wise vs. unwise thought patterns, and the understanding that how we think directly correlates with how we feel

20:05 How we can approach and respond to new health challenges in a wiser and more skillful way

25:26 Understanding mindfulness as a practiced skill that allows us to consciously observe our thoughts and create the opportunity to shift them

35:35 How shifting our perspective through actively changing our biological default for survival and practicing gratitude frees us from suffering

43:50 How we can practice more humility, self-compassion, and optimism

59:00 Final words from Shani on the practice of living a wise life

Resources mentioned:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) workbooks:

Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think - https://amzn.to/4i8pW7S

Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy - https://a.co/d/6jUl00S

Shani’s website: Wisdomtherapy.com

Want my help reversing an autoimmune condition?

If you are determined and committed to reclaiming your best health and life, I offer Functional Natural Medicine Autoimmune Reversal Programs over Zoom. Get on my calendar for a free 30-minute discovery call, here: https://palmerkippola.com/apply/

I’m delighted to be joined again today by Dr. Keesha Ewers, a board-certified Functional and Ayurvedic medicine expert, Doctor of Sexology, trauma-informed psychotherapist, conscious dying doula, MAPS certified MDMA-assisted psychotherapy therapist, and founder of the Academy for Integrative Medicine Health Coach Certification Program.

With over 40 years in medicine, she developed the HURT Model to understand how childhood trauma impacts adult health, leading to her Freedom Framework for reversing autoimmune disease.

Dr. Keesha is a best-selling author of several books, including Solving the Autoimmune Puzzle: The Woman’s Guide to Reclaiming Emotional Freedom and Vibrant Health. She also co-hosts Liberating Generations with her daughter, a podcast on breaking free from intergenerational trauma.

I’ve had the pleasure of being part of Dr. Keesha’s Reverse Autoimmune Disease Summit and she has been on the podcast before (episode #50) discussing the profound links between childhood trauma and autoimmunity. In this episode we dive deeper into the opportunity for healing from autoimmune disorders by listening to our bodies and applying both ancient and intuitive wisdom ideally as early as possible.

Quote: “You can’t bathe yourself everyday every minute in resentment and think you’re going to get better, it won’t happen.”

What’s inside this episode?

03:12 Dr. Keesha Ewers story and how perfectionism drove her body into overdrive and autoimmunity

14:10 The four corners of where Dr. Keesha Ewers suggests that people start on their healing journey

22:35 How your body is trying to communicate to you

27:55 Highly sensitive persons (HPS’s), autoimmune relationships, and boundaries

34:00 Trauma as imprinted patterning that’s no longer serving you

40:04 The best way to let go of conditioned self-criticism and how to change your mind and the way you think

46:43 Dr. Keesha’s pebble practice to help shift your perception

Resources mentioned:

Dr. Keesha’s website: https://www.drkeesha.com/

Dr. Keesha’s book: Solving the Autoimmune Puzzle - https://a.co/d/2SRSoT1

Dr. Keesha’s 21 Day Quick Start: https://go.drkeesha.com/21day-quickstart-program

Want my help reversing an autoimmune condition?

If you are determined and committed to reclaiming your best health and life, I offer Functional Natural Medicine Autoimmune Reversal Programs over Zoom. Get on my calendar for a free 30-minute discovery call, here: https://palmerkippola.com/apply/

Sunjya Schweig, MD is an integrative medical doctor and the founder and president of the California Center for Functional Medicine. A leading expert in complex chronic illnesses, Dr. Schweig specializes in rigorous investigation and personalized management strategies. With over 25 years of experience, he takes a deeply investigative, data-driven approach to patient care.

He is also the founder of the non-profit Functional Medicine Research and Technology Center, which advances research and programs focused on first responders, tick-borne illnesses, long COVID, and data visualization.

In this episode, Dr. Schweig shares the investigative steps his functional and integrative practice takes to detect and treat chronic illness—plus foundational steps you take to support your health starting today.

Quote: “You're not crazy, you have a lot of things going on, and any one of these could be the reason you're sick.”

What’s inside this episode?

01:26 Dr. Sunjya Schweig’s story and what caused him to go into integrative and functional medicine as a conventionally-trained medical doctor

08:54 The landscape of autoimmune disorders today based on conditions he sees most commonly in his practice

19:06 Foundations for healing that you can get started on before even starting to work with a functional medicine practitioner

26:36 After taking on the foundational components of healing what’s the next step while working with a practitioner

30:16 Why it’s so important to address infections when you’re facing autoimmunity

34:48 Gut and stool tests that Dr. Schweig’s practice prefers

38:07 When mold comes into the hypothesis of what may be wrong with somebody, and what it's like to work with a “mold dog”

46:28 A message to those who are feeling fearful and overwhelmed

47:40 What Dr. Schweig is working on and how AI comes into play

Resources mentioned:

California Center for Functional Medicine: https://www.ccfmed.com/

CCFM on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ccfmed_ca/

Trauma healing and nervous system reset resources:

Book: When the Body Says No by Gabor Maté

The Gupta Program: https://guptaprogram.com/

Alex Howard: https://www.alexhoward.com/

Primal Trust: https://www.primaltrust.org/

DNRS: https://retrainingthebrain.com/

Aimiee Apigian: https://traumahealingaccelerated.com/

Amy B. Scher: https://amybscher.com/

Sleep Resources:

Dhru Purohit podcast: Sleep Masterclass with Dr. Schweig: https://dhrupurohit.com/dp-ep378/

Book: Why We Sleep by Mathew Walker: https://amzn.to/3XrOQYt

Gut Resources:

Genova GI Effects stool test: https://www.gdx.net/products/gi-effects

ParaWellness parasite and yeast stool test: https://parawellnessresearch.com/order/

Mold Testing and Inspection:

Real Time Labs urine test: https://realtimelab.com/

MyMyco immune response blood test: https://mymycolab.com/

Mold Dog services: https://mold-dog.com/

Want my help reversing an autoimmune condition?

If you are determined and committed to reclaiming your best health and life, I offer Functional Natural Medicine Autoimmune Reversal Programs over Zoom. Get on my calendar for a free 30-minute discovery call, here: https://palmerkippola.com/apply/

My guest today is Dr. Keesha Ewers, a board-certified Functional and Ayurvedic medicine expert, Doctor of Sexology, trauma-informed psychotherapist, conscious dying doula, MAPS certified MDMA-assisted psychotherapy therapist, and founder of the Academy for Integrative Medicine Health Coach Certification Program.

With over 30 years in medicine, she developed the HURT Model to understand how childhood trauma impacts adult health, leading to her Freedom Framework for reversing autoimmune disease.

Dr. Keesha is a best-selling author of several books, including Solving the Autoimmune Puzzle: The Woman’s Guide to Reclaiming Emotional Freedom and Vibrant Health. She also co-hosts Liberating Generations with her daughter, a podcast on breaking free from intergenerational trauma.

I’ve had the pleasure of being part of Dr. Keesha’s Reverse Autoimmune Disease Summit and deeply appreciate our generative and expansive conversations. Today, we’re diving into the well-established connection between childhood trauma and autoimmunity—and the profound potential for healing.

Quote: “You weren’t robbed of a life you were supposed to have, you’re living the life that you’re supposed to live.”

What’s inside this episode?

02:30 Dr. Keesha’s big “wake up” and how she discovered the connection between trauma and autoimmunity

11:53 Understanding the perception and belief that everyone has some level of trauma

25:28 The approach of curiosity for reversing autoimmune, and when are you “done” working on your trauma?

34:42 What well-digested trauma looks like

39:55 What the best form of trauma healing is

44:27 The impact or trauma on you if you consciously or subconsciously forget it

49:20 Ways to access trauma that your body knows or feels, but that you can’t remember

52:37 Final words of wisdom from Dr. Keesha

Resources mentioned:

Dr. Keesha’s website: https://www.drkeesha.com/

Want my help reversing an autoimmune condition?

If you are determined and committed to reclaiming your best health and life, I offer Functional Natural Medicine Autoimmune Reversal Programs over Zoom. Get on my calendar for a free 30-minute discovery call, here: https://palmerkippola.com/functional-medicine-autoimmune-reversal-program/