Recently a friend of mine wrote an article in a national publication on the value of mentoring. I have great respect for this chiropractor but have some differences of opinion on the merits of mentoring. He says that young chiropractors should seek out a “seasoned, experienced” chiropractor as a mentor, that these “chiropractors are willing to serve as your mentor…” I am sure there are a few of these types of chiropractors out there but if I were a young chiropractor starting out, I would not be counting on a mentor to help me build my practice. I would like to suggest some of the problems of any mentoring program for straight chiropractors. Let me preface these comments by saying that most of the non-therapeutic straight chiropractors that I know are very generous and helpful. Rarely do any of them ever turn down a chiropractor who calls and would like some help.
At the same time, mentoring, as my friend describes, involves holding the new chiropractor “accountable for performing the functions planned.” Most of us have learned to hold ourselves accountable, a pre-requisite to success in any field. I frankly do not have the inclination (nor the time) to hold others accountable for the things they should be doing. Practice management consultants do it but they get paid big bucks to do it and may to some degree create dependent chiropractors in the process. That’s okay with them though because it helps to insure that they will have work in the future. I am happy to give a young chiropractor some advice, some encouragement, answer questions but don’t ask me to hold your hand because that process never ends until and unless the chiropractor decides for himself/herself to take responsibility for his/her professional life.
Another problem with mentoring in the straight community is the time factor. Consultants, for the most part, do not practice. They consult and they get paid for it. A mentoring program, done properly takes time, time that most chiropractors do not have. They are busy taking care of practice members, trying to maintain their own practice or build it to a higher level and also trying to have some semblance of a personal life. To try to meet with a young chiropractor personally or over the phone for an extended period of time on a regular basis is a tremendous task, especially when there are so many young struggling chiropractors and relatively few mentors.
Perhaps the greatest problem lies in the nature of objective straight chiropractic itself. Many of the successful objective straight chiropractors previously practiced a different model of chiropractic. I personally was a traditional chiropractor (getting sick people well by correcting the cause of disease). Most of us who have made the transition are still in the process of figuring out how to communicate that difference. Non-therapeutic straight chiropractic is the greatest, most rewarding, most honest, most enjoyable way to practice. However, it is not necessarily the easiest to communicate to people. Telling a person you are going to correct the cause of all their problems, the subluxation, is a lot easier than telling them you treat or cure nothing but merely enable the innate intelligence of the body to be more fully expressed. The former is not honest but it is easier. I (and I am sure I speak for others who would be considered mentors) am still trying to figure out the best way to get our message across to people in an honest and effective manner. We are still growing and evolving in our ability to convey our message. It may be a little early for any of us to assume the role of a mentor.
So what is the answer? There are answers and the future is not bleak. There is plenty of good information on how to practice non-therapeutic, objective straight chiropractic. It is in the Blue Books and on the internet. Books and the internet will not hold your hand and walk you through the process but they will force you to develop a practice that is uniquely you, designed by you, to fit your personality and personal goals in life. They will force you to build your practice. There are tools out there. The Foundation for the Advancement of Chiropractic Education, the publisher of this newsletter, produces many such items. There are chiropractors, myself included, who will not be your personal, hand-holding, put-the-exact-words-in-your-mouth mentor but will answer your questions, share our experiences, suggest some ideas and give you some encouragement any time you call. Lastly, there are groups of chiropractors who are willing to meet together and share ideas. In other words, mentor each other. New practitioners have an enthusiasm that some of us old timers need. If there is not a sharing group near you, start one. If you are not physically close enough to a group of chiropractors, start one on the internet. If you can take the initiative in doing what is necessary to build a practice, you will build one. v20n4
Dear Fellow OSC’ers,
I am studying the Blue Books and I have some questions? Perhaps a fellow colleague will be able to impart this newbee with anwsers or tools to answer my questions, and I sincerely thank you for doing so.
Q#1: I understand cell ii, tissue ii, organ ii, system ii (perhaps), and Body ii and their missions. Subluxation interferes with the transmission of mental impulses.
Of course, tons of references in Chiropractic Philosophy are made to ii affecting, thru it’s actions
the TISSUE CELL. Anatomically and physiologically (which are physical not metaphysical constructs), nerve tissue and it’s receptors, etc. seem to be located within blood vessels, muscles, free-ending pain receptors??, with the capacity to control vasodilation vs constriction of vascularture or release of organ byproducts, and other physiologies that are not necessarily specific to the cell. I do recognize trophic affects but in general As the philosophy references anatomy, it’s as if in Chiropractic references, each cell had it’s
own nerve to effect it. Anatomy and empiricism doesn’t necessarily support that concept. I am aware of the Mental Impulse and how that differs from nerve impulse and how that might translate into a different process, but I’d like someone here, if they can help me sort out this confusion.
Ok, here’s my theory, tell me if I’m close, overly thinking this, WRONG, or
whatever. Cell ii talks(MI – information) to Tissue ii talks
to Organ ii talks Thru the Nervous System and thus communicates thru the whole body, maybe thru body ii (innate brain).
There is an efferent side and afferent(I understand the debate or situation surrounding afferent pathway >> Thus the concept of Cycles). I know cells exchange information with each other (non-nerve), but not necessarily (maybe I wrong), thru a nervous system. So I’m challenged to understand ii and how or if it uses hierarchies from body to organ to tissue to cell, cell to body, cell to cell, and how this (you can explain it metaphysically if necessary) happens, or am I not making myself clear, etc.
Q#2: This deals with emotions that lend themselves to let’s say distorted reflexed responses, like anxiety, and perhaps other over-reaching body reactions. I understand educated’s influence on innate processes (blinking vs closing eyes, holding breath vs breathing normally), but it would seem that something like anxiety which is a severe physiological reaction, OVER-REACTION, represents in a way Innate ‘Run A Muck’. I know that is
not possible, ii being 100% perfect.
So perhaps as a thought, Educated intertwines with habit, which is reflexive action (not innate), and therefore the physiology of anxiety is really not an Innate process (excess sweating, heart racing, worry-obsessive thinking (chemical), body tremor, muscle tension, etc.). It would seem that there are numerous body physiologies that are excessive, eg. overeating (psychological defense mechanism, or a reflexive habitual behavior in
response to the neural-mechanics of habituation, perceptual distortions, personal sabotaging, etc.)
PSYCHOLOGICAL Responses and its manifestations in peoples behavior would seem to involve alot of
INNATE INTELLIGENCE reactions that are being overrided or distorted with the occurance of habituation or a generation of many systemic reflexes that involve Educated Intelligence.
The subject of how Educated Intelligence combines with WRONG, inaccurate information can lead to tremendous body
failure, and physical problems.
In many ways it’s how ADIO perspectives become disconnected from peoples lives, where an OIBU perspective manifests It manifests as a disconnected organism, the human being, from its perfect internal mechanism functioning, or perhaps a disconnect between the metaphysical and the physical that leads into all of these imperfect manifestations, one of them being Anxiety(as discussed) and for that matter – VERTEBRAL SUBLUXATION.
So those are my questions for now. If someone could help mentor this lone soldier, I’d appreciate it
Thanx Guys