Whose the Expert?

A client came into my office recently that had suffered from severe
back pain and sciatica for years. She had back surgery earlier in the
year and had seen multiple professionals including doctors, physical
therapists, chiropractors, a naturopath and even an energetic
medicine practitioner. Since we began working, the changes she’s
made have been profound and she no longer lives in chronic
pain. She made a statement about the work we’ve done that really
resonated with me. She said, in all the years of working with multiple
practitioners, she was never educated regarding “why” she
experienced these pain symptoms or empowered with self-care
tools. She said she is now enjoying being an active participant in her
healing process and that the increase in self-awareness, education
and self-empowerment have been the key to her improved health and
wellness.

For a while now, I have felt compelled to write an article regarding my
thoughts on personal responsibility and healing. Those of you who
have worked with me know that I dabble in a variety of alternative
healing modalities, but there is one thing the methods I use, such as
Egoscue, Foundation Training, & Qigong have in common and that is
SELF-EMPOWERMENT.

I believe, one of the biggest issues in our health care system today is
it tends to be “expert” and “symptom†driven. We go to the foot
doctor, knee doctor, hip doctor, and back doctor so that they can tell
us what is “wrong”. We are taught to focus on the “symptom” and the
“problem”. In my practice, rather than focus on what’s wrong, I
attempt to find what the body “can” do and “is” capable of.

By educating ourselves as to “why” these symptoms occur, and by
becoming an active participant in our healing process, we can begin
to see ourselves less as a victim of our circumstances. We can once
more rely on our inherent healing power.

I guess I could call myself an “expert” in my field, but I do not
consider myself an “expert”. My job is to educate and empower each
person who walks through my door with the tools to heal, but
ultimately it’s up to each of us to heal ourselves. When we truly tune
in, educate ourselves, listen, take action, and become self-aware, we
are able to unlock the healing potential that’s always been there.

Don’t get me wrong, everyone needs support, but there is a
difference between getting assistance and creating dependency. In
one the professional and the client are equals, in the other the client
believes they cannot heal without the professional.

As a client I’ve used all the approaches I teach. One thing I’ve
learned is nobody actually “fixed” me. I’ve been educated and given
tools, but I’ve had to listen carefully along the way in order to use
them wisely. Various professionals helped me to uncover obstacles
that were in my way of healing, but the innate capacity to heal was
always mine.

Looking back, I credit my therapists with “guiding” me in the healing
process, but they did not “fix” me. They helped me to find and
remove the obstacles that were in my way of fully healing, but
ultimately each of the methods and approaches I’ve explored have
empowered me to heal myself. It was eventually my increased self awareness and hard work that allowed me to resume a state living a functional life free of many limitations I previously believed were not possible to surpass.

My words of advice: Stay clear of any healing professional that makes a promise that they can “fix” you. Anyone who’s ever worked with me knows that I will never make that promise. I can only promise to “listen” carefully and do my best to educate you, increase your self-awareness, and provide you with the healing tools I’ve been educated in.

I consider it my job and life purpose to relay this information to people
searching to truly heal, and then get out of the way so they can
access their own true power. Whether I prescribe an Egoscue menu,
a Foundation Training exercise, or a QiGong practice, the goal is to
allow for self-healing and self-empowerment so you can truly begin to
depend on yourself rather than the “experts” or “healers”.

Lisa Decker
www.alignedfit.com