TEAM, FAMILY, TRIBE...

Have you worked with a healthcare practitioner but felt more alienated, more confused, and more alone afterwards? Did it feel like you were being talked at but not with? Were your concerns met with idle indifference or smugness? These feelings came about because the practitioner and you were not functioning as a team. Working as a team, working together for the highest good, creates a synergy that energizes healing on all levels, inside and out.

Four Quadrants of Healing

Ken Wilber, the American Philosopher, has described the four quadrants as a way to view reality.

This reality is everyone's reality. The four quadrants of an I (the interior of the individual), the It (the exterior of the individual), the We (the interior of the collective), and the Its (the exterior of the collective). If you are sick, then all four quadrants are sick, and you need healing in all four quadrants.

Your relationships are in the "We" quadrant. The relationship between doctor and patient is within this quadrant and in and of itself must be a healthy relationship.

Ingredients of a healthy relationships:

• respect/trust

• communication/honesty

• equality

• support

In working with your healthcare practitioner, these ingredients should be present and there needs to be an open pathway for communication between doctor and patient. You want to be able to ask questions, give ideas, and share feedback leading towards your highest good. Ultimately, you, as the patient, must find a healthcare practitioner who can work with you, grow with you, and heal with you. Search until you find them, for it is worth it.

Martin C. Hart, DC, NASM-CES Chiropractic Physician

For educational purposes only. Not meant to diagnose or treat any conditions.