Interview With Rita M. Hancock, M.D. by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Rita M. Hancock, M.D.

Dr. Rita M. Hancock is a board-certified pain management specialist physician and is the author of Radical Well-being: A Biblical Guide to Overcoming Pain, Illness, and Addictions (Siloam, January 2013) and The Eden Diet: How To Eat Treats, Enjoy Your Food, and Lose Weight (Zondervan, 2008). 

Rita, welcome to Overcoming Through Time – With God’s Help.  We appreciate your willingness to share your testimony of overcoming with our readers.  Would you tell us about the most difficult thing in your life you have had to overcome, with God’s help? (transparency appreciated!)

By far, my most challenging struggle in life has been in the area of body weight and body image. Born into food-centered Italian-American family, I grew up worshipping food more than I worshipped God. I ate gigantic portions when I wasn’t even hungry, just because the food was “there” and it tasted good. It’s no surprise that I weighed 207 pounds by the time I was 17 years old! Thankfully, before I left for college, I lost 75 of those extra pounds. But, then, I went on to develop a compulsive eating disorder while in my pre-med studies at Cornell. It only makes sense that I would fall into either overeating or starving under the pressure of the rigorous pre-med curriculum. Up to that point in life, all I had ever known was either overeating when stressed or drastically under-eating to try to feel “in control.” I never knew “normal” eating--i.e. eating in response to physical (not emotional) hunger. Thankfully, my story has a happy ending. By the time I finished college, I discovered how to eat according to physical hunger. Fast-forward another fifteen years and things got even better when I realized that God Himself programmed us with those hunger pangs for a reason--so we’d actually FEEL them every now and then! I discuss more about my personal weight loss testimony and how God helped my overcome my weight problem in my book, The Eden Diet.

What is your favorite bible verse and why?
Matthew 19:26 “...but with God all things are possible.” As you know, I’m a pain management specialist. I have this Bible verse on the wall in one of my exam rooms, and, I believe that Scripture changes the atmosphere not only of that room, but of my whole office. It gives my patients and me hope and is a springboard for healing.

Disability friendliness: Is this latest release available in audio format or do you have any other works available on audio?  Do your e-books have audio capability? Do you have any in large print?  
I am 99% sure that my book on emotional healing, Radical Well-being, will be in audio and large print versions.

What has been the most important thing you hope your readers will get from your books and why?
I want readers to become healthy in mind, body, and spirit! My first book, The Eden Diet, was about losing weight by using hunger pangs as a compass for when and how much to eat. My second book, Radical Well-being, takes your healing to the next level and practically hands emotional and spiritual healing to you on a silver platter. Not only does emotional peace facilitate weight loss by reducing your urges to stress-eat, it also reduces the severity of your physical pain problems and stress-induced illnesses like fibromyalgia, migraines, spinal pain, IBS, TMJ pain, pelvic pain, depression, anxiety, and others.

As you researched your books, did you learn anything that particularly touched your heart?
My patients’ real life stories are more horrendous than anything I could research or make up. Many of my patients were neglected by their alcoholic or otherwise mentally ill parents or they were abandoned, or abused physically, verbally, or sexually, as children. Others suffered horrendous traumas, like losing their parents or other family members or close friends in natural disasters like tornadoes or house fires or the Oklahoma City bombing (I live and practice medicine in OKC). One of my patients even saw her own dad shoot himself in the head when she was only five years old. He was bipolar and actually told her it was her fault. Can you imagine how that little girl felt when that happened?

In this latest work, do you have any topics useful for bibliotherapy, or therapeutic influence through reading about a disorder or situation?  
I believe very strongly in telling stories that other people can relate to and identify with. When I talk about my patients’ stories and how they found biblical truth to replace the lies they internalized as children, I believe it’s a springboard for my readers to find healing in their own lives.

websites: 
www.TheEdenDiet.com 
www.RadicalWell-being.com. 


In social media:
https://www.facebook.com/RadicalWellBeing
https://www.facebook.com/TheEdenDietChristianWeightLossProgram
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Doctor-Ritas-Author-Page/185333998237079
Twitter @RitaHancockMD

Blogs to which Dr. Rita contributes: 
The Wordserve Watercooler (writer's blog)
The Christian Post (health blogger)
Free online diet forum and blog: The Eden Diet blog 

Giveaway:  Dr. Hancock is generously giving away a copy of one of her books.  Leave a comment to be entered! Answer this question -- what do you wish a medical expert could tell you about healthy living?