Dooley Noted: 4/7/2015
Last week, I had a patient tell me about the brow beatings she received from her trainer.
I’m the queen of being tough and tender, with more emphasis on the former.
But this example got me thinking: Is the patient being encouraged to succeed?
She noted that during a rolling pattern, her coach pointed out all of her mistakes.
He threw up his hands, telling her she just couldn’t do it correctly.
I was not surprised when I asked the patient to roll, seeing all the flaws to which the coach was referring.
So, I showed her how to do the roll without compensation.
We slowed the roll down to note it’s parts, so she could better understand the movement goals.
I noted all the things she was doing right, and I gave her nudges in the direction away from compensations.
I showed her what it felt like to do it in a functionally superior way, concomitant with our goals for her movement.
She was shocked at how she improved, and she was excited to show her coach the changes at her next session.
It’s hard to initiate change without encouragement on how to get there.
It’s not effective to beat people down.
It’s effective to point out how to supersede movement flaws.
Sometimes we therapists and coaches forget the simplest rule:
Find out what the client can’t do, and then get them to do it successfully.
Don’t be seen cringing at their faulty movements. That helps no one.
Perform more coaching and less cringing.
I like to remember with patient visits that I am responsible to help them become successful.
Instead of cringing and brow beating, we need more celebration of the moments of slow and small progress.
After all, slow progress is still progress.
And slow progress is often sustainable change of the habit that is movement.
I hope you’ll consider holding in the cringing and getting back to the effective coaching.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley