Episode 7: From Burnout to Belonging:

Creating Flourishing Healthcare Cultures

In this inspiring season finale of The Symptom Media Podcast: Bridging the Divide in Mental Health, host Dr. Lindi van Niekerk sits down with Dr. Kim Garver, Dr. Jared Christensen, and Dr. Amy Young to explore how healthcare organizations can move beyond burnout toward cultures of genuine flourishing.

Drawing from their work at the University of Michigan and the Center for Positive Organizations, the trio shares how small, intentional acts of leadership such as listening with compassion, flattening hierarchies, and cultivating “relational energy”, can transform even the most toxic of workplaces. Together, they unpack what it means to build systems that care for the caregivers, translating research on positive organizational scholarship into real-world change.

Through deeply personal stories of loss, renewal, and courage, Kim, Jared, and Amy reveal how connection, transparency, and accountability can rebuild trust and meaning in medicine. This conversation is both a testament and a roadmap: that by starting human and ending human, we can create environments where clinicians don’t just survive the system — they change it.