Summary: A 15 minute talk to health professionals at Whanganui Hospital, New Zealand, February 2011 by Chris Cresswell Ka tangi te tui Ka tangi te piwhakawhaka Ka tangi hoki ahau Tei hei mauriora Kia ora kautoa Empowerment I invite you to join me in a conversation about empowerment. It has been an interesting conversation that I’ve been having for about 18 years. Most recently I’ve been having it mainly with 2 people. One is Gilbert Taurua, the Director of Maori Health for the DHB, the other Sarah Mauven, a peer support worker for Balance, a mental health support group in town. The korero goes something like this... If we as health professionals, policy makers, counselors, friends, partners give our patients, people, friends, partners advice, knowledge, even support are we actually disempowering them. By thinking we can help does that mean we think we are more powerful, knowledgeable, clever than them? Even if we don’t think that, does our position relative to them make us more powerful – and therefore them less powerful? Do we, especially doctors, keep patients dependent on us? Some of the best times in our careers are when patients take charge of their lives. They start exercising, they leave the abusive partner, they start caring about and for themselves. But these moments seem fairly rare. Is that because the current medical model keeps them powerless? And if that is so how do we help? Or do we get all New Agey and say the world is OK as it is and just Zen out? That patients should be left to empower themselves. Now most of the time I just carrying on with life and work – but occasionally these questions would pop up and derail me a little in my work with patients or in conversations with family or whoever “Am I being paternalistic?” “But the patient needs a good lecture!” I came to a happier place with this about a year ago with the realisation that we can be powerful, and we can remind others of their own power – with out disempowering them. So it’s not a them or us power thing – but a them and us power thing. Power with, not power over. And with that things became easier. I seemed to be more often in a space where I was comfortable with my relationship with my patient or friend. In a space where the right words flowed out of my mouth that were affirming to patients, where I was freer to let patients be themselves and have their own lives. Simultaneously there was a process of becoming more comfortable in myself and being able to speak my own truth. Through meditation and daily practice at work and home I was becoming better at ignoring the internal mental chatter and focusing on what was in front of me. I was taking charge of my own life instead of being a victim of circumstances. I was empowering myself. As I became more comfortable in my own skin I became less concerned about what other people thought, more sure of myself. As I accepted myself as who I am, with all my faults and failings, it became easier to accept other people with their faults and failings. The need to fix people reduced. And as I stopped trying to fix other people, they started fixing themselves. When I stopped wanting my wife to stop smoking, she stopped smoking. As I stopped wanting my son to be a certain way – I could see how awesome he is in so many other ways. Once I stopped trying to fix patients, I connected with them better, had more fun, and was able to do better medicine because I could think more clearly without “He should stop smoking” “She should leave that guy” crowing in my head. And as I was able to step back and let people be, they started growing into the space I allowed them. The most spectacular of these has Mrs B. I won’t tell too much of her story because I don’t want to steal her thunder – she will be telling her story as part of the La Fiesta – the women’s festival - next month. Mrs B had suffered a horrific event many years ago and was suffering from OCD, fear of being alone or alone in public, depression and palpitations. She had b
