Good Therapy ~ Bad Therapy

 

This is a "note" that I had  originally generated for the OGL Facebook page in December 2012...but given the recent evolution of the Fascia Therapy concept and the message of philosophical inclusivity and open perspectives, I thought it would be a good choice to give this brief rant a post of its own! I hope it resonates and reaches some intrinsic level of common sense.  Cheers! 

Good Therapy ~ Bad Therapy  (Originally posted December 2012) 

  

It has been a couple of months since I have posted a note here, but there are always many things (big and small) running through my head following an extensive session of evaluations and assessments.  I have recently finished a week-long trip to Colombia which not only proved to be successful and encouraging, but presented a unique opportunity to engage in direct discussion and debate with a varied and diverse professional audience.  This was both an informative and enlightening experience.  Although my collegue Richard Paletta was the main speaker (my trip was in Colombia which presented some language barriers), I was able to listen and absorb quite alot of information during the formal presentations and also was able to engage in some informal chats (in broken spanish, of course) afterwards.  The resultant realization was that there are more similarities between the diverse therapies than there are differences.

I have found that the fundamental challenge (or sometimes conflict) comes from relatively mundane sources:

- Pride
- Ego
- Stubborness

These relatively universal traits are present in everyone and therefore have a direct impact on therapeutic strategy and philosophy.  These are coupled with what appears to be an intrinsic resistance to examine, investigate, or rationalize different perspectives.  Even more rare is the idea of questioning one's own philosophy...which I have found to be the most productive method of professional growth.  The discussion therefore leads back to the title of this note:  Which therapies are "good" and which therapies are "bad".  As much as this is a common question (and also an intuitive question), it is a fundamnetally poor question to ask.  If this was a question that could be answered, there would be no real debate on what to do...or when to do it.  During my trip to Colombia, my collegue Richard conveyed a very enlightening and equally accurate statement that essentially encompasses the essential understanding:

There are no bad therapies, just bad therapeutic decisions.

With this fundamental concept in mind, the path towards effective strategies becomes much clearer...and therefore the results are more effective and more efficient.  I think that adopting this perspective ultimately enhances everyone's ability to effect positive change...both within the patient and within the professional themselves.

Cheers!