Skills Lab
The Health Care Proxy: Choosing Your Voice — and Putting It in Writing
When a medical crisis strikes, someone must be able to speak for the patient — and be legally permitted to listen. Yet most adults have never named a healthcare proxy, and even fewer have had the conversation that gives the paperwork meaning. This 90-minute interactive virtual Skills Lab moves past the “what” of healthcare proxies to the two steps people most often avoid: having the conversation with a family member about choosing a proxy, and completing the advance directive and HIPAA authorization paperwork that makes the choice count.
Co-taught by Robin Shapiro, health advocacy leader and author, and Dr. Brad Lichtenstein, ND, BCB, mind-body medicine specialist, the session pairs practical tools — proxy selection criteria, conversation openers, and a section-by-section walkthrough of proxy and advance directive forms — with contemplative skills for staying grounded and present when the conversation gets hard. A live modeled conversation and a three-part personal worksheet (proxy candidate inventory, conversation planner, paperwork checklist) ensure every participant leaves with a concrete action plan, not just notes.
The session gives special attention to a widespread blind spot: the moment a child turns 18, parents lose the automatic legal right to receive medical information or make healthcare decisions on their behalf. Naming a healthcare proxy and signing a HIPAA authorization belongs on every college and young-adult checklist, and participants will learn how to put both in place.
Designed for patients and families as well as professional health advocates, every skill is taught on two tracks — for your own family, and for the clients advocates serve. Participants leave equipped to choose the right proxy, open the conversation with confidence and compassion, and finish the documents that ensure every adult’s voice is heard when it matters most.
Learning Objectives:
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Understand why every adult 18 and older — from college students to elders — needs a designated healthcare proxy and HIPAA authorization.
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Identify the qualities of an effective healthcare proxy and how to evaluate potential candidates
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Initiate and navigate a values-based conversation with a family member about choosing a healthcare proxy
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Be able to complete advance care directive documents — including proxy/agent designation, HIPAA authorization, and understand witnessing/notarization requirements
About The Speaker –
Robin L. Shapiro is a health communications entrepreneur with more than thirty years of experience. She co-founded HealthAdvocateX and is a nationally recognized pioneer in the Health Advocacy movement. Her book, The Secret Language of Healthcare: How to Ask for the Care You Deserve, was published based on her experiences working in health advocacy. She founded/co-founded award-winning companies that engage patients in sharing their personal medical stories, including Health Advocacy Strategies and Health Perspectives Group (now called REVERBA). She co-founded Allied Health Advocates in 2008, the first independent health advocacy company in Washington state. She is also the host and creator of the Well Said Health podcast.
Brad S Lichtenstein, ND BCB BCB-HRV
Dr. Brad Lichtenstein is a naturopathic physician, biofeedback and meditation instructor, author, speaker and former professor at Bastyr University. He created the BreathSPACE to help people cultivate the space to open their hearts and breathe into their lives with ease. Dr. Lichtenstein has a strong focus on developing psycho-emotional-spiritual health while dealing with chronic, life-challenging illnesses and trauma. His contemplative approach to care, which integrates his years of study medicine, mind-body medicine and biofeedback, depth & somatic psychology, and end-of-life care, was profoundly shaped by his participation in a joint research study with the University of Washington where he provided over 500 guided bedside meditations to hospice patients.
Dr. Lichtenstein received his doctorate of naturopathic medicine from Bastyr University and is BCIA certified in general and heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback. His chapters on mind-body medicine have been published in the Advanced Clinical Textbook of Naturopathic Medicine (2020) and in Integrative Men’s Health (2014), and his articles have appeared in several publications and journals. Finally, he has hosted over 50+ Death & Cupcakes gatherings around the greater Seattle area encouraging people to become more comfortable with the inevitable reality that faces us all.