There are many obstacles that stand in your way of being able to provide your chiropractic service at an optimal level to your community. Sometimes that task seems so huge that it even seems fruitless to start. The medical machine is so pervasive and it has spread its tentacles into every corner of people’s minds. It is in the battle for people’s minds that success or failure is determined. It’s a big job and yet it can be done and…
From our exciting journey through 2016 it would seem undeniable that we are engulfed in a rapidly changing world. From the global events that shift nations and their leaders to the local changes that shift our profession the world is changing and like it or not we are a part of it. As we begin the wind-down period of the year and get ready to go into the festive season it may be useful to reflect on where you are,…
With the Olympics behind us for another 4 years we are able to reflect on some of the moments of triumph (and defeat) that make the act of high performance such an iconic phenomena. Whilst the games probably don’t add a lot to yours or my life it does give us a welcome focus towards the potential of humans and their attainment of excellence – something sorely lacking in the often mediocre world of public discussion. Typically gyms and sporting…
This past week we have seen the annual ‘Festival of Dangerous Ideas’ feature in Sydney. On reviewing the content of some of the speakers I wondered, where are the chiropractors? If any idea is dangerous to the status quo of society right now it is chiropractic. How dangerous the chiropractic idea is may be evidenced by the vicious attacks, misinformation and attempts to contain the chiropractic profession that have escalated in recent time. The continuous volleys of fire that are…
A real standout of the world games is the sense of camaraderie between athletes. This re-emphasizes the values and design of the modern Olympics. One of the main intents of the Olympics was and is to bring nations together to celebrate their similarities and common values and interests. 100 years ago there were 20 nations represented – now there are over 200 nations joining in this celebration. The hugs and embraces and utterances of complementary respect between opposition competitors after…
David J. Schwartz is quoted as saying “People who reach the higher rungs in business management, selling, engineering, religious work, writing, acting, and in every other pursuit (including athletes and chiropractors) get there by following conscientiously and continuously a plan for self-development and growth.” This observation is exhibited so profoundly with the meeting of athletes that occurs every 4 years at the Olympic games. I, like probably you and countless millions of people around the world have been captivated (through…
I have spent time, energy and focus over the past month harping on the damaging effects that our words are having on both our profession and us as practitioners. Every time you change a word that is part of the chiropractic lexicon and substitute it for a word from the medical lexicon you change yourself, your practice, your profession and your world. Even though we know that words are only 7% of communication, they are never the less important and…
Often the chiropractic lexicon is changed to that of another profession for acceptance or maybe just expedience or convenience. A word that could fall into this category could be ‘manipulation’. This word is commonly used in chiropractic and especially in chiropractic research. I suggest that in this context it comes about as a plea to get certain research published. Manipulation in general usage has connotations of twisting things to get control, whether its controlling a person, situation, tool, spine, mechanism…
As we have alluded to in past articles the most effective way to create confusion within a profession and ultimately lead to its destruction is to eliminate the use of its characteristic language and replace it with language that contradicts the original intent. The saying about “barking up the wrong tree” could be relevant here when it comes to a chiropractor’s focus. Is it on the finite or is it on the infinite? Let me explain. There is a medical…
Our current chiropractic vocabulary is full of baggage that obscures the truth of chiropractic. This has resulted in not only an identity crisis within our profession but I would suggest, less than optimum clinical outcomes, increased iatrogenic incidences and subsequent confusion within the communities we serve. One thing is for sure the more we use the language of another profession instead of ours the more we will create a destiny that is not ours. This will lead to destruction of…
I came across this quote from Moshe Feldenjrais, the developer of Feldenkrais body work. It speaks to the topic that we are visiting currently, that of the appropriateness of many of the words we use within the current chiropractic lexicon. “Traditionally, “authority” creates semantic paralysis to generate and perpetuate societal control. Enculturated narcosis and enforced mediocrity become the lead bottom ballast of the status quo. Our responsibility is to identify and isolate the “paralysis words”, quarantine them in our cerebral…
In this series I am considering some of the many commonly misused words that have diluted chiropractic over the years. It seems that many of the words that chiropractors have adopted are the domain of the medical profession. Whether this is by specific intention to assimilate into medicine and gain social self-esteem by such action or some misguided attempt to be more understood by medicine or the public I leave it to you to judge. All I can say is…
