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I spent 12 years in the 90’s developing and implementing many successful award-winning, post-graduate medical education programs in Australia for GP’s and for specialists.
One of the programs I developed during this time was in 1995-1996. It was a major behavioral intervention program, which enrolled 2,000 Australian doctors in a short and very basic communication skills course. I was even warned by some learned academics, prior to starting the program, that Doctors would be offended by the notion that they needed such a course! But it turned out to be a subject that they loved. The Doctors were trained by enthusiastic and friendly teachers, nurses and social workers, at small group tutorials and whilst very basic – listening skills, how to acknowledge, how to handle grief etc. and the whole thing was very well received and popular.
I decided before we started that I wanted to study this intervention and it’s effects, and so, as the principal investigator and with the help of a top-notch biostatistician and a fantastic team at a medical publishing company, we used a simple tool to survey them before and after the intervention. We also surveyed 60,000 of their patients. It was a mountain of data – all good. The Doctors and patients loved being part of the study and were very happy to complete the surveys.
But the bottom line is that my study proved my original hypothesis “Where a doctor’s ability to communicate is improved, his patients show a better understanding of their health and are motivated to make positive lifestyle change. And the original purpose of a doctor to be a doctor can also be rehabilitated.”
After this research I became fascinated with the simplicity and power of the basic purpose, and the value of effective communication in all relationships and the ability of these two things to create happiness, understanding and even good health. Gosh if you have ever been in a miserable marriage, a job you didn’t like or a block of flats you were not happy in you completely understand the simplicity and significance of this. Yet, why is it that people stay in these toxic situations long after they should have taken flight?
Over the last 30 years, I have been researching the effects of our own positive or negative attitude in life and especially when we are sick. I have personally explored hundreds of cases of acute and chronic illness, and the possible fundamental emotional causes of that sickness. In particular I have researched how in particular a person with a toxic personality being in our lives for a long time, or even suddenly appearing in our lives or environment, can actually infect us with a change in attitude and even the loss of our normal good fortune or health. There is a wealth of information out there about the toxic personality and how it can affect us. There is even some very good technology from self-help gurus the world over on how to combat the effects and get your life back to normal. I studied and have used a lot of it. But even armed with education about it and the tools to do it, people fail to get real and change situations that need to be changed.
Well the important thing to know is this – that people who wish you well and make you feel good are the ones to have around and people who seem to not be really on your team, make jokes at your expense or constantly give you bad news about yourself or life, and seem to make you feel bad, are definitely worth deleting from your mobile phone contacts list. You can find yourself in a marriage, a job or even part of a Church or Club that behaves more like the Spanish Inquisition or the Mafia and undermines your confidence and trust in people. Their presence can dull you down and make you unresponsive to good advice. Much like being in love with a vampire – we keep going back for more because of the “spell” they are weaving around us.
I have found in my 30 years of professionally helping people as a coach and consultant, everyone needs somebody to help them along. If you want to be more happy, ask a happy person.
Grateful acknowledgement and thanks are given to all the wonderful philosophers from Aristotle to until today, whose names are too numerous to mention, whose works I have studied over the last 50 years that have contributed to and assisted my work on the understanding of human spirit.