As naturopathic medicines (osteopathy, acupuncture, mindfulness-meditation, etc) seem more and more to be seeping into the mainstream . . .

Recently discovering this post (by David Wolf -  thanks for this, only included here, so could comment more fully on it) on Facebook, I am struck by how we might be getting quite a different kind of medicine nowadays, or so it would seem. At least it's 'power to the patient' rather than more and more to pharmaceutical multinationals. All food for thought..

However, sadly I suspect such a doctor would never loose all their patients, as not everybody it seems, really wants to be proactive in their own healthcare and well-being. But at least doctors are saying the right things a bit more.  Well, let's hope so anyway. 

At least mainstream healthcare is changing. It always seemed to me that the greatest failure of the medical model is foster a 'culture of dependency'. And even the accountants realize that the implications for this are greater healthcare costs. All developed countries and struggling with higher and higher healthcare costs, as we live longer, but not necessarily any healthier.

All good that Naturopathic and traditional medicine (and here I could include Osteopathy,  Acupuncture, mindfulness-meditation, Qigong,  yoga and Traditional Chinese Medicine) seem to be seeping into the mainstream.  This would seem to be a win-win scenario for all:  especially individual patients, but also for the tax-payer.  OK, potential losers here might to a very limited extent be the pharmaceutical companies and their revenues, but they are such huge players, with so much influence, somehow I don't think most people will worry about this.

Of course,  pharmaceutical medicine has its place - do one would deny that (I hope).  The feedback I get from many of my patients, is not that they are necessarily unhappy with their doctors  - but only that in additions to their script for pharmaceutical drugs, their doctors (in the past, at least) have often offered little else.

So this is why perhaps we could call this 'power to the patient'.  After all,  isn't this a good thing.   With the advent of the internet, almost all educated people will go to their GP with a lot more questions.  Or I would certainly hope so.

For more on this please see my self-care / rehabilitation osteopathy page:
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/selfcare/selfcare.html

and my Naturopathy pages:
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/naturopathy/naturopathy.html


sorry  -  you'll probably have to copy an paste these links into your browser

osteopathy, mindfulness, compassionate non-judgemental awareness, presence and healing

Those who know me as an osteopath, many also by now begin to understand my love of poetry.
Carl Roger's  (the father of Humanistic psychology and 'client-centered' therapy) considered that the most important thing in the therapeutic relationship was simply to be 'fully present' with the client, and to listen fully, compassionately and non-judgementally.

Mindfulness seems to be mainstream, and everyone seems to have heard about it.  Once all the 'qi and blood' and biological energy we invest in our 'narrative mode' of anxieties and restless thinking is spared -  how much more of the body's resources might be available for tissue healing?  Something to reflect on perhaps.

http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/painManagement/painManagement.html
http://www.christchurch-osteopathy-acupuncture.co.nz/selfcare/mindfulnessForHealth.html

Ryokan   (from  Sky Above:  Great Wind  The Life and Poetry of Zen Master Ryokan):

Past has passed away

Future has not arrived

Present does not remain

Nothing is reliable; everything must change.

You hold on to letters and names in vain

forcing yourself to believe in them.

Stop chasing new knowledge

leave old views behind.

Study the essential

and then see through it.

When there is nothing left to see through,

then you will know your mistaken views.

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And, seemingly on a very similar theme from Buddha:

One Who Has Had a Single Excellent Night

Let not a person revive the past

or on the future build his hopes;

For the past has been left behind

And the future has not been reached.

Instead with insight let him see

each presently arisen state.

Let him know that and be sure of it

invincibly, unshakeably.

Today the effort must be made.

Tomorrow death may come, who knows?

No bargain with mortality

can keep him and his hordes away.

But one who dwells thus ardently

relentlessly, by day, by night  -

It is he, the peaceful sage has said

who has had a single excellent night.

Bhaddekaratta Sutta 1211 - 1214  (Pali Cannon)

  

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and one more poem from Ryokan:

Delusion and enlightenment
two sides of a coin
Universal and particular
just parts of one whole

All day I read the wordless scriptures
All night I practice no-practice meditation
On the riverbank, a bush warbler
sings in the weeping willow
In the sleeping village, a dog bays at the moon
Nothing troubles the free flow of my feelings
But how can this mind be passed on?

mentoring for Osteopaths: self-reflective learning journal.

Having attended the Osteopathic Council Mentoring training last last weekend in Auckland  (28/02 to 01/03) I am now able to begin the mentoring process for overseas osteopaths entering NZ, wishing to gain full registration with the Osteopathic Council NZ.

The preceptoring (mentoring) process makes use of a reflective portfolio for osteopaths gaining full registration.  This is the same platform as the self-reflective learning journal that will soon be used for ongoing re-certification for all osteopaths in NZ.  Nurses, occupational therapists and other professions use a similar process.

NZ register of Acupuncture continuing professional development will continue to be based on courses or webinars, according to the number of hours.