In her new book, "Eat, Pray, Love," Elizabeth Gilbert describe a point
in her experiences in India where she is frustrated by a part of her
spiritual practice having to do with the Gurugita. For some unknown
reason, chanting this hymn really annoys her. She finds it to be
torturous. She seeks out a monk for guidance, who tells her she
doesn't have to chant the Gurugita, but that it is designed to purify
and burn out all her junk. In fact, he comments that, given how
reactive she is to the Gurugita, maybe she should continue just on
that fact alone. Of course later she has a significant breakthrough
because she does persist. She writes, "[I] bowed flat on my face in
gratitude to my God, to the revolutionary power of love, to myself, to
my Guru and to my nephew – briefly understanding on a molecular level
(not an intellectual level) that there was no difference whatsoever
between any of these words or any of these ideas or any of these
people."

Likewise, I was reactive to this whole issue of doctor vs patient. As
I persisted, I came to see that my struggle with concepts and terms
like "patient", "client", "doctor", and "healer" was more about me
than about what happened in the treatment room. It was a Rorschach
exercise for my ego, a necessary step in my evolution perhaps, but
largely unimportant to the people I worked with. At first, mindful of
the past excesses of allopathic medicine, I used a more
person-centered, Rogerian approach. And it was spectacularly
unsuccessful. It wasn't me, it wasn't how I work, and it didn't honor
my particular resonance when it came to healing.

As I explored deeper, I saw that the real issue centered around
responsibility. Whatever I call my patients or myself paled in
comparison the question of how responsibility was going to be handled
and how to direct therapeutic authority. Notice I didn't say "direct
healing" since that responsibility lies with a larger Source. But
neither the Vis nor the patient are responsible for certain structural
elements that need to be taken care of (making appointments, ordering
lab tests, dispensing supplements, giving homework assignments, etc.).
That is where being a clinician differs perhaps from being a healer.

What provided a breakthrough for me is addressing my own fear and
loathing of authority and power. Once I was able to firmly plant
myself in the place of service, and trusted in what came through
within that space, most of these issues resolved for me. My focus
naturally came to rest on honoring the person rather than getting the
titles correct. When I greet my patients, I introduce myself in a way
that intuitively makes sense at the moment and they are free to call
me whatever makes sense to them. When I think of them, I think of them
in terms of what is required, what I need to do, how best to approach
the situation. In the best of those moments, there is no division or
separation between me and the people I am working with. We are simply
caring… incarnate.