Member Question: "How am I supposed to integrate all of the information, new assessments, new techniques, new exercises, etc., into my current training or practice?"

Answer: "Give yourself 5 minutes to suck."

Integrating New Techniques:

We get asked the question above often, especially from colleagues who are new to the profession, new to BrookbushInstitute.com, or have just attended a live workshop.

We do not encourage throwing out all of the techniques that you are comfortable with; even, if you believe the techniques you just learned are better. It will take time to develop proficiency.

Instead, "give yourself 5 minutes to suck" at a new technique in each session. If we assume sessions are 60 minutes, you take just 5 minutes out of each session to try something new, and then go back to your normal routine, would your clients/patients notice? You could assess, try a new technique, and re-assess in 5 minutes, and whether the results are good or bad, go back to your normal routine. Your clients don't even need to know whether the technique worked. The segue, "Great job, on to the next technique", is appropriate; providing you learned something from the experiment. Your goal is to become a better professional for your clients/patients, and the experiment is a short-term sacrifice (that could be a win) for long-term improvement. Note, that you probably already do this with new techniques you want to try; however, we are asking you to think about planning your test ahead of time, basing your decisions on assessment, and making this 5 minutes of experimental time a habit.

Imagine choosing a couple of techniques to test in this "5 minutes to suck", for all of your clients/patients this week (for example, ankle mobilization for any assessed lower extremity sign, thoracic rotation mobilization for any assessed upper body sign). Would you be comfortable with these techniques by the end of the week? What if you used this "5 minutes to suck method" every week, to continue adding new techniques to your repertoire? In just 3 months (12 weeks) you could be comfortable with a whole session's worth (60 minutes) of techniques that you were not comfortable with previously. Multiply that by a year, or years, and you will be improving so fast that your colleagues will have a hard time keeping up.

Although we teach a comprehensive approach, we do not want to make our colleagues uncomfortable; or worse, cost them business because they've lost the confidence that comes from proficiency. We do not promote "all-or-none," thinking, we promote "iterative improvement." We understand how overwhelming education can be, and even how overwhelming the average workday can be. Don't stress, just take a little time to try stuff, learn, and be proud of iterative improvement (it leads to big changes over time).