in this state.

Education and awareness raising are essential and basically the only way to ensure that people consider non-traditional options earlier in the process of medical evaluation and treatment. This will not only make our work easier and  more time effective but will also considerably raise the probability of successful healing for our clients.

When you think about it, most medical treatments take time to kick in. Also,  lets not forget that with all due respect, chemicals are no guarantee for full recovery- on the contrary. Most people have no problem accepting that it takes weeks for some medications to take effect or months in the case of chemotherapy for example. So why is it that when people turn to holistic healers they so often expect rapid, sometimes instant results and how is the best way to deal with clients’ impatience?

My experience is that other than personality related impatience, most clients’ impatience is the result of three main aspects: 
1. Ignorance to the nature of holistic processes and what is required to support the body back to health. 
2. Low threshold.
3. Social and cultural conditioning

Ignorance
The obvious answer to ignorance is education. Most clients are not interested in a comprehensive course in your field of expertise, and can get easily overwhelmed with too much information , but it is a good idea to share some of the essentials so they understand the process and can be more prepared in terms of what awaits .
Understanding usually promotes smoother processes; better cooperation, less resistance, less apprehension and easier management of healing crises.

Most important is to explain the fundamental differences between traditional and non-traditional healing in terms of clients’ involvement, responsibility, what that entails and how exactly involvement and responsibility support healing.

Without scaring clients off with grim and grueling descriptions I do my best to portray an accurate, reasonable and balanced estimate of what I think will be required, and how I think the process will unfold, always leaving room for the unpredictable.

Always make sure that the information you give is geared to specific clients’ ability to absorb. To feel confident, some clients require in depth explanations of the process. Others get easily burdened and prefer to stick to the basics. Don’t forget to choose terminology that is appropriate to each client’s background and level of awareness.

I usually explain the basic terminology and stress the difference between healing and cure. Healing addresses one’s life. Cure relates only to one’s physical condition. Big difference!
I always put emphasis on the benefits hoping that these will motivate my clients to deal resourcefully with challenges if and when they arise.

Low Threshold
Given that many clients come to us only after medical protocols have failed they are often at the end of their threshold in terms of their ability to hold any more suffering. They have 0 tolerance and 0 patience for waiting any longer for relief.

Cultural Conditioning
Processes in general, specifically situations that require patience challenge our culturally integrated desire for immediate gratification, our goal verses process orientation and most of all our ability to be in the here and now.

Patience is often interpreted as a state of nothingness. Nothing happening while waiting passively for something to happen or shift. It also takes the focus into the future because essentially one is waiting for something to happen in the future.
For beginners, dealing resourcefully with the above challenges is based on learning to take each day as it comes and finding even just a tiny bit of positivity in each day. Clients are encouraged to keep a daily diary noting at least one positive thing each day. This serves to bring the focus into the present and also to the positive. Affirmations regarding the present state each day are recommended as well.

More advanced clients will benefit from focusing on the benefits of the time gap itself between onset and reaching the goal. Benefits can vary but a few common examples are; time to contemplate, adjust, prepare, acclimate, plan etc. Clients are encouraged to visualize achieving their healing goals, what that will feel like and what other derivative changes need to be accommodated and planned for.
In this case the focus is on the future but in a very positive and health supporting way therefore very beneficial.

Healing from the inside out by nature is a process not an event. Time for processing is a built -in component. Clients’ impatience can be a true obstacle to healing therefore an aspect that practitioners need to know how to handle.