Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/68173
strength. In your book, you validated that experience—talking about the power and absolute necessity of love as part of the healing process. DS: Compassion is a very powerful force. Most people, however, are so involved in their own day-to-day stuff that it's diffi cult for them to look out and see that other people are struggling. We wish other people could automatically fi gure things out and give us what we need, without our having to ask. "If you really loved me, you'd know what I need," that kind of thing. But most people are consumed by their own issues, too fi lled up with their own stuff to think about what someone else needs. So if someone has a chronic illness, I recommend that person take the time to inform people in their lives what exactly would help them. Lay it out explicitly: "These are the things that would really help me get through my day a little easier." Maybe it's just a phone call or a text message. Maybe it's being brought dinner once a week. Perhaps it's getting help fi nding referrals to good physicians. Sometimes it's, "Send me a book that you've read or a video that you think I'd fi nd enjoyable." LK: On the health-care front, where do you feel the conversation needs to go between doctors and patients, between health-care providers and consumers, and among health-care providers within their own circle? DS: One of the reasons that doctors tend to get arrogant about having the authority to make decisions for other people is that in our early training as medical students, a lot of the patients we see are not capable of making their own choices. They are coming in unconscious, with major injuries, or in the midst of requiring major surgeries. So doctors learn really early on that we make decisions for people who have no ability to make their own choices. I think that mind- set begins to extend into the realm of working with people who are fully capable of making their own choices. I think that physicians have to realize the value of forming partnerships with their patients. I love thinking of my patients as my partners. First of all, it doesn't put all of the responsibility on me to cure people. It puts me in the role of teacher-educator. I think this partnership is what connect with your colleagues on massageprofessionals.com 69