As a chiropractor, one of the things that breaks my heart is seeing someone in poor health who has been through the “medical mill” without being offered any hope.
I’m sure medical professionals mean well and don’t want to give false hope, but they’re doing their patients a disservice.
They should encourage patients to visualize themselves as healthy. This isn’t just my intuition—researchers have studied this.
What if both the patient and the doctor were actively visualizing?
I posted a video explaining how I visualize my patients as healed and well before I adjust them.
A chiropractic colleague replied on social media:
“I envision you as well. I dont care what you got". Thats a paradigm shift. I tried it and patients cry after their adjustment.
There’s something to it.
Could fear-based approaches be holding your patients back?
I once thought so myself.
Sometime ago, I worked as an associate for a chiropractic group that used a well-known consulting firm. They had scripts for everything.
We memorized a script for the Report of Findings, the day after the X-rays when we asked patients to bring their spouse and checkbook.
We were trained to “ruin” patients when we went over their X-rays, telling them how bad things were while looking somber.
We patted their hands and said, “I’m sorry,” as if they had weeks to live.
Of course, if they signed up for the plan I offered, well, they wouldn’t die.
As you can imagine, I didn’t thrive in that practice. Those sales techniques gave me the “ick.”
Worst of all, my theatrics weren’t helping those patients.
Instead of instilling fear, let’s inspire hope. Visualizing health—for ourselves and our patients—can transform outcomes, as studies and my colleague’s experience show. I’ve learned that authenticity, not scripts or theatrics, fosters healing.
Join me in this shift: try visualizing wellness with your patients and share your stories. Together, we can redefine what it means to help people thrive!