One of the ah-ha’s that I got from my church going adventure was to note the connection between the preparation of the sermon and the readings from the Gospel. The priest would dissect the meaning of the holy words and put it into relevant terms for us to digest.
The “holy” words within chiropractic are probably best found in the Green Books rather than Dynamic Chiropractic. Whether you are in church or in practice you will have to decide which direction you want to focus on and what words and messages you will follow. This all important decision defines the intent and the principles that will guide your actions and communications.
“I’m a chiropractor, who is a doctor, trained to release and adjust the tension that is being held in a person’s spine and nerves. This turns on the power to heal while turning off stress and it’s all done without using drugs or expensive therapies.”
I just came up with this 7 second, elevator statement and it sums up some of the important distinctions that are unique to chiropractic. Embedded in the dialogue are the key words: doctor, release, adjust, spine, nerves, heal, power, stress, drugs and expensive. Regardless of the way we speak or tell the story, the content and context of the words we use are expressing our intent. In this dialogue I didn’t use the words back or neck care; specialist, pain, therapy, relief, muscle, joint, manipulation, strain sprain. These are words that, when put together, represent a form of therapy and a therapeutic outcome. Healing starts with therapeutic benefit and then opens up to potential.
Its so useful to examine our words as they confirm our intent. This is one of the reasons that I have eschewed the use of scripts in practice management. Regurgitating another person’s intent is useless. Learning the content of what is in the scripts and then reframing it to meet your message is valuable. This is on e reason that I have developed templates to insert, in an appropriate order, your own words and your own message. However or whatever we speak, it must be the truth to us. I am driven by the message that resides in full view in our kitchen: “Choose to be kind rather than being right.” It sort of goes along the route of the Golden Rule. What messages deliver kindness? You can be direct and still be kind. You can disagree with a person’s opinion and position and still be kind. You can give a care plan based on the kindness of the truth rather than the righteousness of a practice management dictate.
The root of the word trust is truth. To be at peace in practice and in life, tell the truth as you understand it and the trust will build. It takes courage to be truthful but the words are in you. Choose them wisely and you’ll sleep comfortably.
Docfletch trains doctors and their teams to use powerful and truthful words in practice. His templates and dialogues have changed thousands of practices around the world. Call today for a courtesy consult on how you can deliver the message that is inside of you. Join the Insight Academy and book a Mind the Gap session and get the New Year off on the right foot.
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It is comforting to know that the person you are trusting with your life will always be truthful and honest with you. It is a very fine balancing act, as telling a patient what you think they want to hear will only begin to erode the trust and it won’t be long before that patient figures it out, and is gone. Sometimes the truth hurts, and that is where the kindness aspect becomes more important. I have been to doctors who will tell you the truth of your medical condition in such a manner that leaves you with feelings of blame, incompetence, inadequacy and the lowest of self-esteem. By the same token, I can only admire the chiropractor who can honestly assess a patient and tell them honestly that they can, or even cannot help them. The cannot is important, as it would be only too easy for an unscrupulous doctor to lead a patient along, week after week, month after month, collecting fees, knowing full well the patient’s condition will not improve while the patient waits for the miracle that will never come. I am one of the lucky ones; I have complete faith in my chiropractor’s abilities and integrity. Having personal knowledge of the fact that he will indeed tell a patient if the condition is beyond his abilities to help allows me to trust that the information I am given is the truth, spoken with certainty and kindness. I never worry about referring people to my chiropractor as I know they will always be treated with professionalism, respect and kindness – if anything, I worry about how my referrals will treat my chiropractor!!
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