Trust: An Open-minded Evaluation
Trust has very powerful effects, and this is particularly true in a healthcare setting. Ayurvedic texts clearly describe the collaborative relationship between practitioner and client. While love and compassion are essential qualities a physician must embody, trust in a chosen practitioner is the most important quality a patient can offer.
This is delicate in today’s age because not all physicians are necessarily trustworthy. So to be clear, when I talk about trust, I would never mean blindly accepting or following someone else’s lead. (This is the opposite of collaborative healing, which encourages open dialogue between the client and practitioner.) Trust in a physician is an open-minded evaluation of proposed remedies and a willingness to try a different approach without dismissing a treatment simply because it does not fit your assumptions.
Similar to compassion, trust is a multidimensional phenomenon with many facets and effects. One of the main benefits of trust is that it helps to empower the effect of the physician’s prescriptions in the patient.
“Trust in a physician is an open-minded evaluation of proposed remedies and a willingness to try a different approach.”
Let’s say a patient comes to their physician complaining of moderate indigestion. After making some assessments, the physician determines that the root cause of the indigestion is the unresolved relationship dynamics between the patient and their spouse. Figuring the cause was more likely their impulsive and unhealthy late-night eating habits, the patient dismisses the assessment and asks what herbs or dietary protocols might be able to help. The physician notices the patient’s rejection of the assessment and adjusts their prescription, offering herbs and remedies to deal with the indigestion and late-night snacking.
The patient comes back three weeks later, and while they’ve seen improvements with the herbal and dietary supplements, the indigestion has not fully resolved. The physician, from a place of compassion, reasserts that the root cause of the indigestion is relationship dynamics and that this must be addressed to resolve the underlying condition. Now open to hearing other solutions, the patient asks for further clarification. The physician explains that they discovered an emotional imbalance tied to the indigestion and that this emotional imbalance created a disturbance in the rhythms of appetite and hunger leading to unhealthy eating habits.
The physician also explains that the root cause of the emotional disturbance is a relationship dynamic that needs to be addressed through healthy communication about certain unresolved insecurities. From a place of trust, the patient finds themselves benefiting from the medicinal effect of understanding the true cause of their issue. Immediately they feel relief, and the prescription to tend to this relationship dynamic becomes even more effective.
“Trust helps to empower the effect of the physician’s prescriptions in the patient. ”