In sports, it’s called choking.
When an athlete is under pressure to perform, breakdown occurs when their concentration is eclipsed by a concern over the outcome. In other words, attempting to perform now, but living in the future.
Are you invested in what may or may not happen after adding energy to a patient’s spine at opportune times and places?
What makes this especially unhelpful is that you have little influence in the outcome. Will the patient return to receive enough adjustments to create a momentum for healing? Will the patient make the necessary changes to their lifestyle? Does their body have the capacity and resources to heal? Is the stressor still present?
These and other variables are outside your control. Imagining that you’re responsible for the outcome is not only risky, it reveals that you may not have fully communicated to patients how chiropractic works—that they’re the doctor.
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