Interview with Dr. BJ Miller, Palliative Care and Hospice Warrior

I try never to use the word “warrior” lightly.  But Dr. BJ Miller is a warrior of the first order, having overcome and thrived after a near-fatal electrical accident took half his arm and both legs below the knee.  BJ talks about how that life-shattering experience proved to be a foretaste of what it means to confront death, a taboo subject in our culture.  BJ utilized his accident as a launch point to pursue medicine as a career and to become one of the world’s leading experts and thought leaders on palliative care and hospice, outlined in his book, A Beginner’s Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death. He has been featured in conversation with Oprah on her Soul Story show, and his groundbreaking TED talk has been viewed millions of times.  

We discuss BJ’s accident, the loss of identity that inevitably follows such a complete upending of one’s life, and how BJ’s own healing journey helped shape his unique approach to patient care and improving end-of-life experiences for his patients.

 After completing Medical school, BJ was selected to serve as the Executive Director of the famous Zen Hospice Project (sadly, now closed) in San Francisco, whose guest house for years served as an exemplar for the compassionate care and nurturing of individuals at life’s end. We discuss the limitations of the current health care system’s approach to hospice, which reinforces the current fear-based view of death as a defeat or failure, rather than a natural corollary of life.  

 BJ currently serves as a counselor at Mettle Health, an organization that he co-founded, consisting of physicians, counselors, and social workers that provide support and guidance for those experiencing serious illness. We talk about its mission to ameliorate the singular focus on disease adopted by our current health care system, and to shift the focus of patient care back onto the patient. 

If you are at all interested in both an enthralling story of healing and recovery and a complete reframing of the way we approach the end of life,  you owe it to yourself to have a listen.  BJ is an amazing individual and I feel blessed to have him on the Unconditional Healing show. 

After you listen, you can learn about and register for our next online Healing Circle here.  It's free,  and you’ll find like-minded folks with whom to practice meditation and share the journey toward unconditional health and well-being. 

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Thoughts?  Guest suggestions?  Email me at [email protected].