The Professional Practitioner Paperwork
Aug 26, 2016
By Sherry Gilbert
Our clients are trusting us with one of the most important aspects of their life... their health! This is something I take pretty seriously. When I am configuring my own health care team, professionalism, quality care and the ability to work together are all at the top of my list. I enjoy walking into a clinic where I feel like a person (not a number) and that they actually know why I am seeking treatment. I have more trust when my specialists and other health care providers are respectful of each other's work and area of expertise. My physicians are aware of BodyTalk and how I have been able to achieve results that are not explainable with western medicine. I have even received some referrals from medical practitioners over the years and when I walk into our local hospital with my BodyTalk bag in hand, I am now greeted with a smile and curiosity of who I am there to see! This has been a process as initially eye brows were raised and there were several "check ins" while I was there doing client's sessions. There was a lot of whispering and even some glares, both shook my confidence as a new practitioner.
I pondered for hours and did some work in MindScape on how I would achieve a good solid working relationship with the western medicine world in this very small town area. What came to me was that I am entering into 'their domain' (western medicine's domain) and that I need to act like a guest while I am there. The client's families are the people inviting me in to someone else's home... the client is also a guest there! If my behaviour was invasive and I became that guest that everyone wishes would just leave, the client may also suffer in how they are cared for. So my behaviour displayed a lot of respect for the jobs that these folks had to do. I always made sure I worked on the side of the bed that didn't have all the machines, I stopped whatever I was doing when they came in the room as I know I can resume later (and that the body is already making the adjustments, time and space don't really exist anyway! The client does all the work, I just observe the miracles!), if they asked questions I answered very openly, not defensive because I thought they were disapproving. I shared some powerful experiences that I was privileged to be a part of and the excitement began to build. Soon enough, people were coming in to check it out because they were noticing shifts on the medical side of things.... Urine output increasing, blood pressures stabilizing, oxygen saturations increasing, electrolytes balancing, organs that were shutting down begin to work! All the technology that is in the western medical side is pretty cool to utilize when we are doing a session! It was at this point that I seen myself as a professional, working with a team of other professionals to observe the potential of a client to heal themselves.
As situations arise, I continue to ask myself, how can my BodyTalk practice become more professional? I have been reminded recently how important it is to give our paperwork professionalism a check up! So often I hear of practitioners not getting consent forms from their clients, no health intake forms documented and no session notes for client files. The excuses I have heard are: "It's too much paper.", "Writing session notes takes me out of the zone.", "My clients just come to relax and that's too business like.", "They can't get anything claimed through health insurance so why bother with all the paperwork.", "I only have a few clients, not really a business."
While teaching BodyTalk Fundamentals last month, I received an email from a lawyer regarding a name that was vaguely familiar. My initial thought when opening the email was "Am I being sued? Good thing I carry insurance and I had better remember to share the importance of insurance with this class!" LOL. Upon reading the email, I realize that my client from 3 years ago is in a court battle from a car accident and they are subpoenaing my treatment file for the client's case. I have never been so thankful to have the long health intake form, a professional consent form that I created and well documented session notes! I hadn't seen this client many times and three years had passed, there is no way I would be able to provide anything reliable from memory. So professionalism with paperwork is really important as this is not the first time I have been called to use it, usually it is for insurance purposes not court cases!
Take the time to get to know your client, fill in some paperwork, just glance at the file before they come in to know what's been going on for them and ask them questions so they don't feel like a number in your clinic. I do jot some notes down about their occupation, family, lifestyle etc. so that I can ask meaningful questions. Your paperwork is an integral part of your professionalism and I encourage all practitioners to develop a system that works efficiently. It is a valuable business building tool!
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I pondered for hours and did some work in MindScape on how I would achieve a good solid working relationship with the western medicine world in this very small town area. What came to me was that I am entering into 'their domain' (western medicine's domain) and that I need to act like a guest while I am there. The client's families are the people inviting me in to someone else's home... the client is also a guest there! If my behaviour was invasive and I became that guest that everyone wishes would just leave, the client may also suffer in how they are cared for. So my behaviour displayed a lot of respect for the jobs that these folks had to do. I always made sure I worked on the side of the bed that didn't have all the machines, I stopped whatever I was doing when they came in the room as I know I can resume later (and that the body is already making the adjustments, time and space don't really exist anyway! The client does all the work, I just observe the miracles!), if they asked questions I answered very openly, not defensive because I thought they were disapproving. I shared some powerful experiences that I was privileged to be a part of and the excitement began to build. Soon enough, people were coming in to check it out because they were noticing shifts on the medical side of things.... Urine output increasing, blood pressures stabilizing, oxygen saturations increasing, electrolytes balancing, organs that were shutting down begin to work! All the technology that is in the western medical side is pretty cool to utilize when we are doing a session! It was at this point that I seen myself as a professional, working with a team of other professionals to observe the potential of a client to heal themselves.
As situations arise, I continue to ask myself, how can my BodyTalk practice become more professional? I have been reminded recently how important it is to give our paperwork professionalism a check up! So often I hear of practitioners not getting consent forms from their clients, no health intake forms documented and no session notes for client files. The excuses I have heard are: "It's too much paper.", "Writing session notes takes me out of the zone.", "My clients just come to relax and that's too business like.", "They can't get anything claimed through health insurance so why bother with all the paperwork.", "I only have a few clients, not really a business."
While teaching BodyTalk Fundamentals last month, I received an email from a lawyer regarding a name that was vaguely familiar. My initial thought when opening the email was "Am I being sued? Good thing I carry insurance and I had better remember to share the importance of insurance with this class!" LOL. Upon reading the email, I realize that my client from 3 years ago is in a court battle from a car accident and they are subpoenaing my treatment file for the client's case. I have never been so thankful to have the long health intake form, a professional consent form that I created and well documented session notes! I hadn't seen this client many times and three years had passed, there is no way I would be able to provide anything reliable from memory. So professionalism with paperwork is really important as this is not the first time I have been called to use it, usually it is for insurance purposes not court cases!
Take the time to get to know your client, fill in some paperwork, just glance at the file before they come in to know what's been going on for them and ask them questions so they don't feel like a number in your clinic. I do jot some notes down about their occupation, family, lifestyle etc. so that I can ask meaningful questions. Your paperwork is an integral part of your professionalism and I encourage all practitioners to develop a system that works efficiently. It is a valuable business building tool!
For the layperson interested in using the BodyTalk techniques, the BodyTalk Access training is easy to understand and learn and will help you assist your family and friends with healthcare in a simple and safe way.
The BodyTalk System training enables you to practice holistic medicine in the truest sense of the word - body, mind, and consciousness.