Neura members can now hold video appointments with Dr. Begasse de Dhaem, MD FAHS. If you'd like to book an appointment, start your Neura trial membership today!

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Meet Dr. Olivia Begasse de Dhaem: Clinician, Advocate, and Partner in Care

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At Neura Health, we’re committed to providing cutting-edge neurological care, and we’re excited to introduce Dr. Olivia Begasse de Dhaem, MD, FAHS—a board-certified neurologist specializing in headache medicine with expertise in migraine, women’s health, and disability advocacy. Whether you’re managing hormonal migraine, navigating school or workplace accommodations, or seeking long-term relief from chronic headaches, Dr. Begasse de Dhaem is here to help.

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Why Advocacy Matters in Headache Medicine

In the video, Dr. Begasse de Dhaem highlights two key areas of need in headache care: school accommodations and workplace support. These are often overlooked in traditional neurology settings, yet they are critical to helping patients succeed in life while managing a chronic condition. “I feel strongly about helping people get where they want to be—whether that’s finishing a degree or thriving in their job. Headache shouldn’t stand in the way,” she says.

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She explains how she incorporates advocacy into clinical care by helping patients navigate disability paperwork, adjust their routines, and plan strategically for career or academic success.

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Women’s Health and Migraine: Treating the Full Lifecycle

Another area of expertise Dr. Begasse de Dhaem brings to Neura Health is women’s health across the lifespan. From menstrual migraine to pregnancy, postpartum, and perimenopause, women often face unique migraine triggers and treatment needs. Yet many clinicians don’t have the time—or training—to address them thoroughly.

In the video, she discusses how hormonal shifts can affect migraine patterns and how treatment should be adapted to each patient’s specific phase of life. Whether it's managing medication safety during pregnancy or supporting someone through postpartum migraine flares, her approach is proactive, empathetic, and rooted in science.

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Breaking the Stigma: Why Listening Comes First

Many people with chronic migraine feel dismissed or blamed. Dr. Begasse de Dhaem calls out this harmful dynamic and explains why validating the patient’s experience is the first step toward effective care. At Neura Health, her model of shared decision-making encourages patients to reflect on their goals for each visit and come prepared to collaborate. “Patients know their bodies better than anyone. They know what works, what doesn’t, and where they want to go. My job is to help them get there,” she shares.

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Global Advocacy and the Future of Migraine Care

Dr. Begasse de Dhaem also shares her work on the international stage, collaborating with organizations like Clusterbusters and the Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy (AHDA) to push for better education, access, and innovation in headache medicine. From webinars to legislative efforts, she is helping change the conversation around headache from stigma to empowerment.

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Get Started with Dr. Begasse de Dhaem at Neura Health

Ready to take control of your neurological health? Dr. Begasse de Dhaem is available for virtual consultations through Neura Health, making expert headache and migraine care more accessible than ever.

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‍Book a visit today and discover how she can help you manage migraine, navigate hormonal changes, and advocate for your success at school, work, and beyond.

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Video Transcript: 

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 I'm Olivia Begasse de Dhaem, I'm a neurologist and headache specialist for Neura Health.

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What first brought you to medicine?

What first brought me to medicine was many years ago when I was a young child. When my grandpa was actually pretty young, he had a medical complication to what should have been a regular routine surgery, and the doctors ended up having to unplug him. That had such a big effect on me as a child. I felt very powerless and I figured I should do something and try to help others and get involved in the hospital, get to know the system better.

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So I started to volunteer in a hospital and I loved it. I love being with patients and in the hospital and the relationships you develop with people in the medical environment. Things are so surreal, like people just come with their problems and they open up. Then I slowly made my way to neurology and headache medicine.

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What’s your special interest within your specific field?

My sub-specialty is headache medicine and I like to help people with all types of headaches, obviously, I don't like headaches themselves, headache disorders. My two main interests are school and workplace considerations. I feel strongly about trying to be there for people to actually help them get where they want to be and achieve their school, academic, or professional potential.

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I've been involved in workplace advocacy, getting involved in school advocacy, but I believe it's strongly in the clinic to try to address this consideration as much as we can. And I also feel strongly about women's health considerations. The whole spectrum from menses, conception planning, pregnancy, after pregnancy, breastfeeding, and perimenopausal transition.

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What’s your approach to treating patients?

I think everybody is different. So I actually like to start my visits by asking people what are the goals and expectations of the visits, so then I can adapt to what they need. I think it's good to start that way to make sure we spend the most time of the visit on what they actually need. I think it's good for patients to know, too.

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It's good to think in advance like, what do you want to get out of this? So you can come prepared to make your ask to make sure we can address best. I think in general and headache medicine, sadly, there is still so much stigma and so much internalized self-blame, guilt, you name it. It seems basic, but I think a lot of people in general still need to feel that they're being listened to being validated, and someone is trying to support them and be there for them.

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What is your POV on patient-first care?

To me, it seems like we are there for patients, so patients first. Even more back in the day, doctors like William James Mayo were saying "the best interest of the patient is the only interest to be considered" to quote someone who would say it better than I do. But patients know their symptoms best, they know their bodies best, they know best how their body reacts to certain medications, and then they know where they want to go, and what they want to achieve.

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I think we are here to work as a team with shared decision-making to bring some clinical experience but to try to adapt what we know to try to serve the patients best because at the end of the day, we're just there to try too. I mean, I think this makes you feel better or trying to decrease headache attacks.

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Sometimes it's possible for some refractory migraine or other severe chronic headache disorder, right? It's not always possible, but what can we do? Where do you want to go? And what can we do to try to help you reach your goals?

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What advocacy groups do you feel passionately about?

I'm actually vice chair of the Global Patient Advocacy Coalition for Headache. So, that has been dear to my heart. When we do a lot of global patient advocacy work, that's been wonderful to work with different patient advocates and learn the different challenges. And then at the same time, we're all so close to each other in terms of the barriers that we're affected and what people are trying to do to move the needle across the world.

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I'm also co-chair of the American Headache Society Advocacy Committee, so working on education and legislative stuff. I'm on the Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy (AHDA) Lunch & Luncheon Committee. We prepare webinars to educate people about different aspects of headaches. So usually it's on Thursdays, you can look them up too if you want to learn more.

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And then, not that I'm officially a part of, but I've been so inspired by the work of Clusterbusters. It's a wonderful, welcoming community, and I have to say, the medical system has pretty much failed the cluster community in a lot of ways. And despite that, they're so welcoming of doctors and willing to teach us what they know, so welcoming, supportive of each other, like, teaching each other what they've learned and it's a really helpful community that has made a lot of changes in terms of education and trying to push for more access to cluster care.

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