Finding Connection Through Coffee and Hobbies in Medicine

Welcome back to The Good Enough Psychiatrist.

In this episode, we're joined by Eric Wagner, a psychiatry resident and founder of Fortifying Wellness, an integrative psychiatry practice in Colorado. Together, we explore the role hobbies play in helping us maintain balance, build community, and stay connected to ourselves throughout training and beyond.

Using coffee as our starting point, we discuss how a simple hobby can become a source of connection—with family, friends, colleagues, and even patients. We reflect on how hobbies evolve throughout medical training, what happens when we lose touch with activities that bring us joy, and why cultivating interests outside of medicine may be essential for long-term wellbeing.

Eric shares his path into psychiatry, his interest in integrative approaches to mental health, and his journey toward launching a private practice. We also dive into the surprisingly nuanced world of coffee, from brewing methods and bean selection to the rituals that transform a daily beverage into a meaningful practice.

Topics discussed include:

Eric's path into psychiatry

Launching Fortifying Wellness Integrative Psychiatry

Building a career in Colorado

The role of hobbies in maintaining wellbeing

How coffee became a passion and source of connection

Relationships built through shared interests

The intersection of hobbies and patient care

Preserving identity outside of medicine

Coffee brewing techniques, equipment, and experimentation

Finding meaning and community through everyday rituals

We also discuss recent research examining coffee consumption and health outcomes, including cognitive function, dementia risk, and cardiovascular health.

Studies Mentioned

Zhang Y, Liu Y, Li Y, et al. Coffee and Tea Intake, Dementia Risk, and Cognitive Function. JAMA. 2026;335(11):961–974.

Wong CX, Cheung CC, Montenegro G, et al. Caffeinated Coffee Consumption or Abstinence to Reduce Atrial Fibrillation: The DECAF Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2026;335(4):317–325.

About Our Guest

Eric Wagner is a psychiatry resident and founder of Fortifying Wellness, an integrative psychiatry practice in Colorado. His interests include lifestyle psychiatry, integrative mental health care, physician wellbeing, and helping individuals build sustainable foundations for long-term wellness.

The Good Enough Psychiatrist explores the human side of psychiatry, training, and life through conversations about connection, meaning, relationships, and the experiences that sustain us both inside and outside of medicine.