I have recently engaged in the Course Builder Lab training and contained in my introductory course work was an article written by Dr. Lesley Taylor. Contained in her article was something that struck me in being very applicable not only to my training but also to our health.
She states:
“So while you may have lots of people around you to support you, you’ll want to own your own problems because that gives you the space to solve them.
Until you own your challenges you can’t be the one to fix them.”
Relative to our health this helps to clarify the role we have as a patient and as a practitioner. Really the practitioner is here to support the person to help them fix or solve the their own health challenge by giving them tools and understanding of what it will take to address a problem.
There is an increasingly functional medicine approach taking place in the world that is putting the person with the problem as the center of the process rather than looking at the doctor as someone who is going to fix them. Granted when it comes to emergency or acute care the doctor plays more of a part to address the immediate problem. When it comes to addressing a health concern that is less acute the doctor can serve to provide an understanding of what is causing the problem and then provide education to help an individual address the problem themselves.
This is fundamentally done by allowing individuals to see how the choices we make play a central part relative to our health.
Although this awareness may not be new to you or to me I find that Lesley’s words about OWNING OUR CHALLENGES drives it deeper into a realization that we are to own our own health!
