Dr. Deb Peabody

I am a native of Maine and have been a practicing Family Physician approximately 20 years. Personally, I am married and live on a mountaintop overlooking Penobscot Bay. I have one dog, Buck, who is such a love and a great Hospice volunteer. I love the outdoors and enjoy kayaking, hiking, gardening, and fishing. I am also the Hospice Medical Director for the community which is another area that I truly love. Here's my story...

The awakening

It had been my lifelong dream to be a doctor, and I had always wanted to be a family doctor.  I went to medical school at the age of 40, completed my training and returned to my home state of Maine to practice medicine.  I initially enjoyed practicing medicine and really felt that I was helping my patients become well. Unfortunately, medicine has changed dramatically and now we are resorting to sitting in front of a computer and checking boxes, while not truly engaging in the patient and patient care.

As I approached a pivotal birthday with another zero in it, I realized that I could not practice medicine in this way anymore. I felt that the computer and the constraints of insurance companies were interfering with my ability to care for patients. The other thing that really bothered me was that patients were becoming much sicker and at a younger age.  In this country where so much money is spent on healthcare... why is everyone so sick with heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer, etc.?  As I sat with my patients, there were common threads that I noted and they were; poor eating habits, lack of exercise or movement and increased stress!  I saw these issues many times a day and patients were looking for the "pill for the ill" but no where were we addressing the real issue.  I realized that I must do this differently or I would not be able to do this work any longer. The current medical model was becoming toxic to me!

a new model

I then found Functional Medicine and that model resonated with me as it is a model that looks at the underlying causes of chronic illness and applies strategies such as proper nutrition and diet, exercise and movement and stress management to both treat and prevent illness in their patients.  I felt that this was the model that I wanted to practice and embarked on a new medical practice to help patients and myself to achieve optimal health in all the seasons of their lives.

4 seasons wellness

And that is how 4 Seasons Wellness came to be! Having just started this type of practice, I am now back in my joy and medicine is fun again. I am also practicing what I preach and do have a daily meditation practice, work with a personal trainer to achieve improved movement and am also working with an integrative nutrition expert on my own eating habits.