What is Healing?

The founder Dr. Andrew Taylor Still emphasized in all his books the importance of mind-matter-motion. He identified ¡§mind¡¨ with man¡¦s spiritual being, which can maintain the body in good health only by tuning in to nature¡¦s ¡§mind¡¨. Behind this, for Still, lay the will of God, the Mind of all minds. Motion was central to Still¡¦s thinking because he saw in it the very expression of life.

With this as a starting point, we can say that health is a dynamic process characterized by every aspect of a human being ¡X the thinking, social, physical, and spiritual components that go to make up the whole person. A deep healing cannot take place without the combination of all of these parts in our lives.

The way in which the body and mind are linked in the process of healing may be as follows. Within ourselves, we have a series of built-in, automatic reflexes ranging from physiological homeostatic mechanisms, to those that regulate our behavior patterns. These mechanisms can become locked in a circle of self-repetition that may eventually lead to disease. An example of this may be a person who has been under a great deal of stress; because of this, he develops an increasing level of anxiety and starts to eat compulsively. This in turn may in time lead to diabetes. So a conditioned pattern of behaviour becomes locked in a vicious, self-repeating circle.

Another example could be an elderly woman who breaks her hip. Consequently, she is bedridden for several weeks, becomes depressed, loses interest in food, and eventually dies prematurely.

On the other hand, we also have a natural tendency toward self-improvement, which means that we can function more efficiently both psychologically and physically. Psychologically, this tendency is characterized by the conscious effort we make toward an increasing self-awareness that can break down unbalanced, conditioned behaviour and be our source of continual growth.

Healing spans is an extremely wide range, from getting rid of a common cold, to achieving a well-balanced personality. It is, of course, not necessary to go through a deep inner change in order to cure a cold. On the other hand, to heal from serious illness such as cancer may require ¡X along with the appropriate medication ¡X a total transformation and an awakening. Healing goes hand in hand with a feeling of well-being and the return to a joyous personality.

Treatment and Healing

Healing does not always coincide with treatment. Whether the treatment takes the form of manual manipulation, surgery, drugs, or counselling, healing will not always follow and may come about months or years after clinical treatment. One definition of healing may therefore be that a person is functioning to the best of her potential and is therefore healthy. An example of this is a child who, after a fracture, has one leg slightly shorter than the other. He suffers from low back pain and has a limp; he may also have problems with his digestion and difficulty in sleeping. Osteopathic treatment may help with the back pain, digestive and sleeping problems, but the length of the child¡¦s leg may be irreparable. So we could say that he is healing when he is back to functioning as well as he can, given that circumstance.

Osteopathy and Other Therapies

Chiropractic

Chiropractic and osteopathy both had their origins in the U.S. toward the end of the nineteenth century. Dr. Daniel Palmer, the founder of chiropractic, is believed to have spent some time studying with Dr. Still. Following that study, Dr. Palmer moved to another state and started his own personal healing discipline. Chiropractic means manual treatment ¡X it is formed by two Greek words, chiro, meaning hands, and praktikos, and meaning done by.

There are similarities and differences between the two therapies. Palmer first stressed the role of the nervous system and of the spinal column in health and disease, seeing nerve compression as the basis for all problems. Chiropractors are more likely to use X-rays when diagnosing a patient¡¦s problem. They also concentrate on manipulation of the spine, directly adjusting it with rapid movements.

Physiotherapy

The differences between osteopathy and physiotherapy are mainly found in their underlying philosophies. They do not use drugs, but manual treatment, exercises, and electrotherapies. In the past, physiotherapists did not make diagnoses, but worked with a patient after the doctor¡¦s diagnosis.

Physiotherapists are experts in their field and they work in collaboration with osteopaths in various cases. Over the past hundred years of its life, the profession has changed greatly and it is interesting to see how the attitude and approach of physiotherapists has come to appreciate other methods of treatment. They maintain that they are moving toward a more holistic approach to health and patient management.