This was the heading of an email I received last week:

"Are you too Judgemental to Help Heal ?"

Interesting question - the gist of the email was saying that if a Doctor asks you questions and you perceive that you may be "told off" for a response (ie how many units of alcohol do you drink) then the chances are that you would lie.  Likewise if you are expected to answer in a certain way you will try to please (ie Health Practitioner asks - how many glasses of water do you drink)

The world needs more alternative treatment therapists: Where are all the men?

When attending the Annual Association of Systematic Kinesiology (ASK) Conference at the Arora Hotel Crawley earlier this year, I was fascinated by a fellow kinesiologist who spoke about new industry research. The main chord-striker was her observation that there were a distinct lack of male therapists in the audience (which was made up of ASK members like me) – interesting, no?  

Spread the kinesiology wealth

I am sometimes asked “why do you teach kinesiology?” The general assumption is that I would want to keep such a wonderful specialism to myself. Well, no actually. 

One of the things that astonished me once I started working as a Professional Systematic Kinesiologist back in 2008, was that no-one asked me for copies of my hard-earned qualifications or insurance.  I spent 6 months training for my Foundation Certificate and 1 year for my Practitioner Certificate followed by 6 more intensive modules to gain my Diploma.  As part of the course I had to complete 2 case studies at least per week, carry out 2 observed kinesiology sessions on an independent person (ie not another student) and many many hours of practical training.  Additionally I hold Anatomy & Physiology ITEC level 3, Emergency First Aid at Work and a Nutrition Diploma - not to mention hundreds of hours CPD, and Tutor Training - all of which are required to be registered by my Professional Body - the Association of Systematic Kinesiologists.

The onset of ill-health or disease (dis-ease) didn’t happen overnight – it was a process – for some over many years.  Similarly the journey to wellness won’t happen overnight either.

I am an impatient person – I like things measurable and I like to see results.  When I was running customer service training courses one of the elements we included was managing expectations and communicating clearly – one clients’ expectation of a fast response was within the half hour whereas another may well be happy with the following day. 

Communication and the management of clients’ expectations is a hugely important part of the Practitioner/Client affiliation.  Positivity, encouragement and motivation must go hand in hand with setting up a wellness plan together, rather than the client “handing over” responsibility to the Practitioner for “getting them well” as has historically been the case in Doctor/Patient relationships.