Love as Medicine: A Coaching Tool for Women Physicians
Editor’s Note (February 2026): This post was updated with a few new reflections and current links.
“A physician once said the best medicine for humans is love. Someone asked, "What if it doesn’t work?" Said with a smile—increase the dose.”
I have no idea where this quote came from, but I 100 percent agree.
Love is the best form of medicine.
And most of us don’t utilize it fully—not because we don’t want to, but because we haven’t been taught how to practice it when we’re stressed, depleted, resentful, and running on fumes.
If you’re a woman physician (or a high-achieving caretaker type), you may be especially good at competence… and especially rusty at love as a daily practice—especially at home.
Love Is Not Simply a Sentiment. It’s a Skill.
Helping people reconnect with love—for themselves and for others—and use it as medicine is the heart of my work as a physician coach.
I teach love as a strategy—literally for everything:
marriage and relationship repair
neurodiverse relationships (ADHD/autism dynamics)
resentment and overfunctioning
parenting and co-parenting
burnout recovery and boundaries without guilt
career transitions and identity shifts
conflict, regret, and “stuck” moments
“What would love do?” is my signature coaching phrase.
It’s also the question I personally use in every sticky life moment.
Not because love makes life perfect.
Because love makes life more humane—and more sustainable.
The Cup of Love
For years, I missed one of the simplest ways my husband shows love.
Coffee.
Meticulously prepared. Almost always brought to me.
I drank it quickly. Or critiqued the timing. Or moved on to the next thing. (You know. Because I’m efficient.)
Then, at some point—after a lot of personal work—I started calling it what it actually is:
A cup of love.
And everything shifted—not because he changed, but because I stopped requiring love to look the way I thought it “should.”
I started receiving it.
I started noticing it.
I started practicing love by letting it land.
That one reframe is small…and also life-changing.
Because what you practice grows.
And what you pay attention to becomes your life.
What Would Love Do?
Love would pause.
Love would get present.
Love would notice where you’re operating from urgency, fear, control, or depletion.
Love would regulate your nervous system enough to access choice again.
And then love would choose an approach that protects your integrity and your health—while creating more connection.
Love would learn to infuse love into every nook and cranny of your life.
Learning to do this is one of the best investments you can make.
And it’s not as easy as it sounds.
The Part People Don’t Say Out Loud
It took me many years to retrain my highly trained brain.
To learn to pause and be present and notice where I wasn’t showing up with love…
and then to begin to change.
I didn’t do this alone.
Without support, guidance, and my own coaching, it would have taken me much longer.
I am still learning.
Still noticing.
Still practicing.
Because that’s what practicing love is.
If you want to practice love more intentionally—toward yourself and toward the people you love—I would love to support you.
If relationships are your growth edge, start here:
https://www.jessiemahoneymd.com/mindfulrelationshipcoaching
And if you want an immersive nervous-system reset + real integration, retreats are here:
https://www.jessiemahoneymd.com/retreats