Shared Decision-Making in the Manual Therapy Setting
Much of the past decade has been spent refining my approach to manual therapy. What began as a myofascial release (MFR) approach, one steeped in mysteries and presented from the position as clinician-as-expert, has evolved considerably. Based on my understandings of how manual therapy impacts the patient, I now see my role as one of therapeutic partner. Within this role comes the need to properly communicate effectively in a way that elevates patient participation. Instead of acting as the expert in all phases of the process, my new role is one of facilitator, maximizing input form my patient. As such I’ve established an evolving set of dialoguing techniques that I teach to clinicians taking part in my live and online courses. Dialoguing is used to determine the relevancy of the manual therapy to the individual needs, values, and expectations of the patient. This differs greatly from the way in which most manual therapy is taught and requires some education to elevate the patient’s role. I’ve made my current dialoguing handout available for download here.
In the videos below you can witness this process in action, be it a short interchange or a longer process.
View this post on Instagram
Questions? Let me know.
Walt Fritz, PT
Foundations in Manual Therapy Seminars
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.