On (26 Oct 97) Sue Alexander wrote to Harriet Levy...
 SA> Harriet Levy wrote in a message to All:
HL> What I've started wondering about is maybe that's what's wrong with
HL> Western Medicine.  That there's so much professional detachment,
HL> that there's no  room left for the healing power of love.
 SA>      I have found that there are a couple of factors involved with
 SA> finding a "good" doctor.  The most basic factor is whether or not this
 SA> person seems to care about what happens to you as a person...which can
 SA> be directly related to what you are saying here.  However, there are
 SA> also other factors involved, such as really listening to what is going
 SA> wrong or right, giving the benefit of the doubt when someone says
 SA> "this is wrong" or "this is working" even though it does not follow
 SA> with "the way things should be", and being confident enough to say
 SA> "this does not follow the textbook, but I think it could be _______,
 SA> so I am going to check it out further".
Yes.  I totally agree with you, and this has been my experience with many
MD's, althoug not with the alternative healers I've worked with.  
You're right.  Many doctors don't really listen, and are not willing to
admit when they've either made a mistake or just plain "don't know".
 SA>      The biggest problem I see with new doctors (I work in a hospital)
 SA> is that they rely way too much on numbers and test results when the
 SA> answer could be staring them in the face.  Perhaps it is too much
 SA> detachment, perhaps it is the fact that logic and caring on this level
 SA> cannot be taught to everyone, perhaps it is the teaching process
 SA> itself (which is one thing I strongly suspect).  I don't know.
Then again, it might not be something that can be taught.  
 SA>      Unfortunately, caring too much can be as much of a trap as caring
 SA> too little.  The biggest problem in caring too much is that all care
 SA> eventually comes to a point where nothing more can be done.  If a
 SA> practitioner goes through these kinds of losses every day or every
 SA> week with people they have come to love, the practitioner burns out
 SA> emotionally and can be damaged.  Perhaps a balance point needs to be
 SA> found...
 I think the balance is to not give up caring, but not to be attached to
 the results.  It's in thinking that any human being can know the true 
 path for another, that trouble happens.
 My client/patient, who I talked about might be done with this lifetime.
 She might not.  At this point, she doesn't think so, and we do talk about
 that possibility.  She still wants to live...for a long time.  That may
 change.  My challenge is to stay away from thinking I know what is best
 for her.
... Things that make you go hmmm.......
--- PPoint 2.00
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