Alternative und integrative Medizin

Talking through your Wrists: Using Nonverbal Cues to Assess Mind-Body Congruence in a Chiropractic Care Setting.

Abstract

Athena du Pre

Based on observation of 30 client visits in a complementary care office, this article describes an innovative way of “talking to the body” to achieve greater health. Ethnomethodological analysis reveals how participants interactively make sense of a treatment modality known as Neuro Emotional Technique. As the same time, this exploration considers how the assumptions of a traditional Chinese medicine model and a contemporary nonverbal model apply to the interactions. Although the medical model and communication model originated more than 3,500 years and 6,000 miles apart, their central tenets are remarkably similar and reflect many of the assumptions displayed by actual participants. From each perspective, nonverbal communication is regarded as a useful way to bridge the gap between mind and body and to reveal emotional issues unrealized by the mind.