ST. LUCIA – For much of her career, Dr. Tanya Destang-Beaubrun has heard the same stories repeated by women from across the Caribbean and its diaspora, highlighting a need for fresh health advice.
They arrive at appointments exhausted, overwhelmed and wondering why they no longer feel like themselves. Some describe persistent fatigue that doesn’t improve with rest. Others struggle with brain fog, anxiety, unexplained weight gain, digestive issues or hormonal changes that seem to have appeared without warning. Many have spent years putting their own wellbeing on hold while caring for children, aging parents, demanding careers and everyone else around them.
Too often, they have been told their symptoms are simply part of getting older—or that their test results are normal and there is nothing to worry about, despite seeking health advice for their concerns.
For Dr. Tanya, those conversations became impossible to ignore.
After decades in medicine, she realized Caribbean women needed more than another health book. They needed a resource that reflected their experiences, acknowledged their culture and challenged long-held beliefs about what it means to be healthy, as well as to deliver relevant health advice.
That conviction inspired Held and Healed: A Physician’s Guide to Healing the Body, Calming the Mind and Living in Joy, a book that encourages women to rethink not only how they care for their bodies, but how they define health itself.
Looking Beyond Symptoms
One of the central messages of Held and Healed is that health is about far more than treating disease after it appears.
Instead of focusing only on symptoms, Dr. Tanya encourages women to become more curious about the underlying factors that influence their wellbeing—from chronic stress and poor sleep to nutrition, inflammation, hormones and emotional health.
It is an approach shaped by years of caring for patients who often felt something was wrong long before conventional tests revealed a clear diagnosis. Additionally, sound health advice is at the core of her work.
Rather than dismissing those concerns, she believes they deserve careful attention.
Healing, she argues, begins with listening.
The Hidden Cost of Always Being Strong
Caribbean women have long been celebrated for their resilience.
They are often the caregivers, the problem-solvers, the women who keep families, businesses and communities functioning even during difficult times.
But Dr. Tanya believes that strength can sometimes become a burden.
Many women become so accustomed to placing everyone else’s needs first that they lose sight of their own health until their bodies force them to stop.
Through Held and Healed, she invites readers to challenge the idea that self-sacrifice should be worn as a badge of honour. Looking after oneself, she says, is not selfish—it is essential.
Why Culture Matters
Health advice is everywhere, but much of it is developed without considering the cultural realities of Caribbean life.
The foods people eat, family expectations, attitudes toward ageing, conversations around menopause, approaches to mental health and even beliefs about seeking medical care all shape how health is experienced.
Dr. Tanya believes those realities deserve greater attention.
Rather than asking Caribbean women to fit into conversations created elsewhere, she hopes Held and Healed helps create a conversation rooted in the region’s own experiences and values.
Rediscovering Joy
Perhaps the book’s most unexpected message is found in its title.
For Dr. Tanya, healing is not simply about preventing illness or extending life.
It is about creating a life worth enjoying.
Throughout the book, she encourages women to make space for rest, meaningful relationships, gratitude, movement, purpose and joy—not after every responsibility has been fulfilled, but as essential components of wellbeing.
These ideas form the foundation of her MOre Joy Method®, an approach that integrates physical, emotional and spiritual health into everyday life.
In a world that often measures success by productivity, she believes joy deserves to be taken just as seriously. For anyone interested in improving their wellbeing, following expert health advice can make a lasting difference.
A Personal Mission
The inspiration behind Held and Healed extends beyond years of clinical practice.
Dr. Tanya’s own experience as a patient fundamentally changed how she understood healthcare.
Finding herself on the other side of medicine reminded her that people want more than answers. They want to feel seen, heard and understood.
That experience reinforced her commitment to treating the whole person rather than focusing solely on disease—a philosophy that now defines both her practice and her writing.
Starting a New Conversation
As conversations around women’s health continue to evolve, Dr. Tanya hopes Held and Healed encourages Caribbean women to ask different questions—not only about illness, but about wellbeing.
How well am I sleeping?
Am I managing stress in healthy ways?
Am I nourishing my body?
Have I ignored symptoms because I believed they were simply part of getting older?
Am I making room for joy?
For Dr. Tanya, these questions are just as important as any diagnosis.
Her hope is that readers will come away with more than information. She hopes they will leave with permission—to prioritise themselves, to listen to their bodies and to believe that health is about far more than surviving.
It is about living fully.
And for Caribbean women, she believes that conversation is long overdue.
