Friday, January 14, 2011

Further insights into point selection

Prompted by a comment about point selection on my treatment blog (Treatment 15), I have been thinking more about the principles upon which I base my point selection. Writing about Bl 38 (43) made me remember JR Worsley’s explanation for why he chose it for a patient. This led me on to thinking about how very rare it was, in all my years of observing him with patients, to hear him explain in any depth why he chose a particular point for a patient, or more frequently a particular series of points. We were certainly discouraged from interrupting treatment with such questions, and we just got on with marking up the points he told us to use. Occasionally I would hear a gem fall from his lips, but often in little asides, as if I was only meant to hear it if I was really attentive. One such occasion was with a patient who was incontinent, when he lightly touched his lower abdomen and muttered, “We’d better do something down here for you”, suggesting CV (RM) 2 to me.

I came to see that what we sometimes thought of as his obstinancy in not divulging more about his reasons for choosing certain points was instead a very profound form of teaching between master and pupil. I remember him once saying, “If she has to ask that question, she won’t understand the answer”. Now I understand much more clearly that I was being told that it was up to me to work out the answers, and that only when I had worked things out for myself would my real learning begin.

I have always been very suspicious of books which give lists of the actions of one point after another. I have often said (see my Nov 16 blog “Think element, not points”) that the secret of good treatment lies in understanding the elements, rather than pickn’mixing points, as though we are making a selection at the sweet counter. We always have to maintain the connection of a point with the element which feeds it. When we concentrate on trying to understand the elements at an ever deeper level, this thankfully brings with it quite naturally a deeper understanding of which points to use when.

I repeat, “Think element, not points”, and I would add to this now “and then the points will look after themselves.”

1 comment:

  1. Great to find your kind words on a blog I can read at work and digest their wisdom. You are a sage with great powers.

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