On the road-trip to health, you are the driver, but I’ll keep you on track (and bring snacks)!

In healthcare, you can often observe the relationship of the “all knowing expert” and the “passive patient”, a powerful dynamic which is often reinforced by factors like:

1. Believing that the medical community has “all the answers” so any input from you is immaterial,
2. Feeling intimidated by your (lack of) health literacy which might create further roadblocks to interpreting what’s happening to your body and/or finding helpful resources,
3. Fearing a repeat of past experiences where your concerns were not taken seriously leaving you feeling frustrated and helpless, and/or
4. Being fatigued or dealing with mental health struggles that distract or disengage you from keeping up with it all

However, I truly believe that my role in healthcare is first, to provide expert advice and treatment to my clients and second, motivate them in their own advocacy. In the hypothetical case of shoulder pain, no one expects you to know how your supraspinatus muscle should be worked on (that’s my job!) but your input should still be considered when you share insights collected from your own experience. By educating my clients on what I am doing, where I am working, and why it matters, my goal is to increase their self-awareness and engagement. I believe it benefits both me and my client when we are on the same page and using the same vocabulary as we navigate the challenges and triumphs in their health.

From your first time at Theralleve, and within every treatment thereafter, I consciously create an open dialogue where it is not uncommon for me to say,

I certainly assess and create treatment that is informed by my examination, training, and experience, but I also value what my clients can contribute. Whether it is during RAPID or massage, I will ask you to notice how you are breathing, what your energy levels are like, where you might be feeling restriction and/or pain versus ease of movement, and in some cases, like those of you who suffer from migraines, I might even ask you to track your symptoms. By becoming more attune with the signals your body is sending, you not only begin to recognize both patterns and changes but also develop the ability to better articulate your evolving needs. When you know your own baseline, you can more easily take in information related to your health because you’re connecting dots rather than starting from scratch. From there, you can ask questions, give opinion, and apply both subjective and objective information to your situation to make more informed decisions with your partners in health.

A recent example of this ‘awareness in action’ was when a client of mine emailed to say that she was starting to piece together why her knees could be hurting and what she might be able to do outside of treatment to help. I literally was grinning from ear to ear as I read her deductive reasoning because I was witnessing my client discover what she needed, check in with me for guided feedback, and take informed action.

With so much “health” information buzzing around these days, including Dr. Google (just don’t), it is prudent to seek out the seasoned opinion of learned healthcare professionals but I encourage aligning yourself with those who want you to “talk back”. At the end of the day, you are the one living in your body and you need to be a part of the conversation!