January 2006

Don't put chiropractic's credibility on your shoulders

by Dr. Greg Loman

Recently, I was on a call with a young chiropractor. After her doctor's report, a patient asked her, "Why should I believe you?" At that moment she proceeded to back herself into a corner and defend herself. Would you feel the need to defend yourself from this attack?

Your first response would be to defend and shoot (or maybe shoot first and defend afterward). Any time a person is throwing an accusation of that nature, your first response by nature is to defend. You enter into a defensive mode because you have somehow attached yourself to the statement, as if you founded chiropractic.

I am going to ask you as of today to stop entering into a defense of your integrity. People who approach a conversation of this nature are normally not questioning your integrity or honesty. They are questioning the information.

Learn to disassociate the questioning and step out of the conversation as a third party. Do not answer the question from the position of "me." Answer the question from the perspective of the facts about the information. Almost as if you are surprised that they do not already know the facts about what has been happening in the past 108 years.

The art of recognizing that the patient in front of you could possibly be simply asking a question sometimes takes years to master. While you are learning to master this level of interaction, continue to recognize that chiropractic is not a belief system. Many times in practice we become clouded by all of the daily issues and forget that what we do is scientific and has been proven.

Recently, Dr. Lerner and I wrote a book called "One Minute Wellness" and inside the book we have dozens of documented and scientific articles and facts that validate chiropractic. Take the time to read books and master the facts behind chiropractic so you have ammunition during these moments. Confidence in what you do comes from reading, seeing and experiencing the results of principled chiropractic.

This level of action builds confidence and, ultimately, complete confidence in what you do.

Imagine if you could gather all the chiropractors and patients and move everyone to a small country. What would that look like? It would be an amazing country. Everyone outside of that country would be missing something magnificent. Looking at it from that prospective allows you to educate in a proactive manner, not in a reactive and defensive manner.

One of the greatest mistakes chiropractors can make in the education process is to speak in terms of feeling that they are trying to convince the patient of the information. As a chiropractor, you are reporting the facts.

The facts are the facts, you do not need to defend or convince. Patients' resistance to the information is due to not understanding. Save their lives by getting them to understand.

(Dr. Greg Loman and Dr. Ben Lerner are authors of "One Minute Wellness: The Health and Happiness System That Never Fails," the first book on chiropractic to appear on the New York Times bestseller list, making USA Today and Wall Street Journal lists as well. They are the founders of Teaching the World about Chiropractic, a leading practice management company.)