In this episode of the Smarter Not Harder Podcast, Karen DiMarco gives us one-cent solutions to life’s $64,000 questions that include:
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How can chronic fatigue and burnout be influenced by patterns of thought, perception, and identity?
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What evidence supports the possibility of reversing chronic conditions without medication, and what mechanisms might explain such outcomes?
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How do metaphor, consciousness, and ultradian rhythms contribute to our understanding of fatigue and recovery?
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In what ways can trauma, hypervigilance, and misdiagnosis contribute to the persistence of illness, and how might psychedelics support healing and insight?
Who is Karen DiMarco?
Karen DiMarco is a board-certified nurse with over two decades in critical care — ERs, trauma bays, and air ambulances. But after years of burnout and chronic illness, she walked away from the conventional system to ask a deeper question: "What actually makes people well?"
Today, Karen is a speaker, educator, and co-founder of RNegade.pro, an accredited continuing education (CE) platform that delivers binge-worthy education for nurses who want more truth, more depth, and more humanity in healthcare.
She also co-created the Foundations of Health program and has been featured on TEDx, in peer-reviewed journals, and on stages around the world. With science as her backbone and story as her superpower, Karen blends physiology with philosophy to explore how trauma, beliefs, environment, and nervous system regulation shape human health. Her work is raw, real, and radically honest — and it invites healthcare professionals to wake up, heal, and lead from the inside out.
What did Karen and Dr. Scott discuss?
00:00 Welcome to the Smarter Not Harder Podcast
01:29 Guest Introduction: Karen DiMarco
02:36 Karen’s Health Journey and the Impact of Thought
05:37 From ICU Nurse to Air Ambulance to Burnout
09:32 The Breaking Point: When the Brain and Body Shut Down
14:00 The Test That Changed Everything
17:09 Launching a Study to Heal Chronic Fatigue — Without Meds
24:21 Study Design, Radical Results, and What They Discovered
31:03 Thought, Consciousness, and the Origins of Experience
35:25 Healing Through Metaphor: The Bus, the Snow Globe, and More
39:59 How Thought Creates Inflammation and Blocks Healing
42:24 Misreading the Body: Ultradian Rhythms and Fatigue
45:51 Hypervigilance, Identity, and Why Some Illness Persists
47:28 Trauma, Safety, and Letting Go of the Diagnosis
54:37 Psychedelics and the Fast-Track to Insight
58:31 3 Ways to Live Smarter Not Harder
Find more from Karen DiMarco:
Website: https://karendimarco.com/home/
RNegade.pro: https://rnegade.pro/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-dimarco-rnegade/
Find more from Smarter Not Harder:
Website: https://troscriptions.com/blogs/podcast | https://homehope.org
Instagram: @troscriptions | @homehopeorg
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