When people come into our office they obviously come wanting something. They may not verbally express it, they may not even realize it themselves but they do have a want, a desire.
1. They may want a specific problem corrected. That is not too difficult to understand and I think that ordinarily that is not asking too much of a doctor’s care. We in chiropractic (OSC) have a unique problem with regard to that practice member’s want. That is simply not our objective and the individual really needs to understand that. However, we also have to realize that this body has a tremendous ability to heal itself, to normalize function and to keep the body working at peak efficiency. I’m not sure we emphasize that point enough in non-therapeutic chiropractic. Still, that is often what people want from us. Naturally they want symptomatic relief, not necessarily a cure, but if they realize that their body can heal itself and do it better without nerve interference…well, that’s what they want.
2. They may want to experience a fuller, healthier, more abundant life. Perhaps they have learned what chiropractic has to offer in the area of enhancing your life experience or reaching your potential in life. Of course, that is the type of chiropractic practice member most of us want.
Those of the first type tend to forget the non-therapeutic aspect of chiropractic, forget that the doctor is not treating their problem but allowing the body to work better and normalize itself. As a result, they tend to come in only when they are in a crisis mode and do not become regular lifetime practice members which is the intent for an objective straight practice.
Do we give this first type of people what they want, a means for their body to heal itself of a medical condition and if we do, is that therapeutic chiropractic? If we do not, are we denying part of our historical foundation. (I am perfectly willing to ignore much of our historical philosophy in order to practice what I consider to be a better form of chiropractic). More important than that is the fact that the innate intelligence of the body does heal the body and it can do that better without nerve interference. In fact, sometimes removing that nerve interference makes all the difference and in so doing it appears that chiropractic got them well rather than their own innate capacity to heal. If we are ignoring or playing down the fact that the body heals itself, are we failing to present a very important aspect of chiropractic and the ADIO philosophy? If we discourage that type of person from getting care in our office are we denying something we know to be true for fear of being considered “therapeutic?”
I think this is a personal decision that each chiropractor has to make and it should be made with a certain understanding and with the proper motivation. First, you must realize that you are not adjusting someone for a condition or for the “cause” of that condition. If you ever ask that person how they feel or whether they are feeling better, you may want to question your motivation. Understand too that you are clearly giving the practice member a mixed signal which is inhibiting their understanding of the “bigger idea” of chiropractic. You can refuse to take care of people with conditions especially if they indicate that they are only coming in long enough for their body to heal itself of that condition. These people clearly have a questionable understanding of chiropractic. They may or may not understand you are not treating that condition, that you are removing interference so the body can work better. What you do know is that they do not want to be a lifetime regular maintenance care practice member. What they are saying to you is, “I can live with nerve interference until I get to the point where I am having so much physical difficulty that I need to address it. One way I am going to address that problem is by having my chiropractor remove nerve interference.” Is that using chiropractic as therapy? Sounds like it to me. Do you want to refuse them care, to dismiss them as a practice member? Well, that as I said, is a personal decision. However, if you choose to take care of them, I believe it is incumbent upon you to keep educating them as you should with every practice member, keep reminding them of the bigger idea in chiropractic. It’s not impossible to change some of them to lifetime practice members. V21n4
Giving People What They Want