She writes in her abstract: The overall purpose of this thesis was - - PDF document

The Swedish Guild of Feldenkrais practitioners Presentation at the IFF Assembly, Susegana May 27 - 30, 2010 What we do in the Guild can be compared to preparing a recipe. You add a little of this and a pinch of that, trying to make a really tasty dish that will earn you one of those gold stars that all true chefs aspire to. But no matter what the recipe – if people don’t like what you serve – you are history. So the bottom line is our only reason for being, to be of use to our members. We had better prove

• urselves! That takes a keen ear, a healthy dialogue, as well as an awareness of how our

profession is affected by what goes on in the society around us. And that society still frequently meets us with, “ Felden what?” Individual practitioners have the ability to reach their chosen client groups. For the Guild our website has been our only line of introduction to the general public. But the winds of change are blowing – or we can at least feel a slight breeze. The Swedish Guild has a members group working on information and marketing strategies that will be useful to the Guild as well as to individual members. They have several suggestions on channels and networks outside the Feldenkrais world. But reaching viable client groups is not our only aim. It would open new and interesting avenues, if the medical and scientific community could understand what the Feldenkrais method is all about. We know that what we do works. Proving it to a skeptical medical profession and an even more reluctant scientific community has been a hard nut to crack. But the nut is showing at least a hairline fracture! This spring, Christina Schöön-Ohlsson, Physiotherapist, Master of Science and Feldenkrais Practitioner, successfully defended her doctoral thesis. The title was: Back to Oneself – Sensory Motor Learning- applied in patients with non- specific lower back pain (NSCLBP) * see ISBN below After more than ten years of hard work, she has found a way of proving what the method can achieve, using existing and strictly scientific guidelines.

She writes in her abstract: “The overall purpose of this thesis was to generate knowledge in order to evaluate the Sensory Motor Learning (SML) intervention, when applied in patients with NSCLBP. To achieve the purpose the conceptual framework behind the SML intervention was outlined and the investigation implemented in four separate studies. Based on the result: a hypothesis was generated stating that SML – an embodied, emphatic, therapeutic approach to health behaviour change – enables patients with NSCLBP to increase control over back pain and promotes health, by guiding them – Back to oneself-

Implying that patients learn to rely on themselves and their bodily awareness. The hypothesis was based on the fact that the patients felt able to handle their lower back pain themselves and their subjectively experienced positive physical and pshychological changes coincided with objectively assessed improvements in movement capacity.”

These are studies we, as Christina´s Feldenkrais colleagues, can confidently lean on when promoting and explaining the Feldenkrais Method. To keep our end up, we have a group covering relevant research for the Guild. They report back on a regular basis. The major part of our contacts with members and the general public happens through our

• website. It serves many useful purposes, even if it has been somewhat of a problem child for the
• Guild. The board has become increasingly aware that the website is far too problematic to

continue to modify and revamp, to keep pace with today´s technology. They are equally aware that they cannot cope with web design and innovation on their own, without outside help. To that end a new website is to be launched by the end of 2010. An editorial group has already been appointed to work on the specifications and requirements for the site. They are in essence, throwing the baby out, but in fact keeping some of the bathwater, for instance the document library. The site will prove to be beneficial in many more ways in the future, with marketing assistance, marketing kits, suggestions for web designers, and forthcoming workshops, to name just a few. Our website will, in the real sense of the word, become interactive, with information in real time

• n IFF- and TAB-meetings, blogs, Facebook groups. You name it! We will be trying it out!

For now there are examples of simpler but still useful ways of giving our members good value for money:  Last year, the then treasurer, Eva Marie Back, designed a brochure on the Guild pointing

• ut the advantages of being a Guild member. We need to grow to have the proper

resources to work efficiently. If we cannot sell ourselves to colleagues in training, there is no future for us.  Surveys are a way to more systematically find out what our members consider important. During the autumn of 2009 some of the board members did a series of telephone interviews with the members of the Guild. The questions covered everything from an evaluation of the board and membership value, to work situations, and whether members used the website or not. If in fact they used the website, had it added to their list of clients? The full members were asked if they would consider mentoring some of their newly graduated colleagues, while the student members were asked if they would find it helpful to have a mentor. That particular idea met with great interest. The survey results are being compiled and will be presented at a special meeting in October. That will also give us an opportunity to

consider if the survey may well generate something down-to-earth and practical, with regards to workshops and the like.  For about a year the Guild has had a special contact for students taking part in accredited Feldenkrais training. September 2008 saw the start of such training in Malmö, with around 40 students from seven countries.  Getting sued might not be as much of a risk in Sweden as in many other places, but a significant part of our members find it a good idea to take out an insurance through the Guild.  A survey of the registered trademark has been completed. Guidelines on how it should be used and protection of it have been issued, as well as posted on the website. Legal rights to wordmark as well as logotype have also been secured.  The Competency Profile IFF has developed, most definitely belongs in the Membership

• Toolbox. The Swedish Guild has submitted the document for translation and the end

result will be presented at the special Guild meeting in October. Workshops on the Profile would also be a good idea. The Competence is there. The rest is – as always - a question of time and money. Even in the basic structure of the Guild there is something useful for the members, namely, the Annual Assembly. This Assembly has been the traditional way for members to keep in touch. It is also an opportunity to raise current issues or problems, thoughts on post graduate education, work ethics, you name it. In between those meetings, the very active peer groups around the country serve an important purpose. Efficiency in the board is not to be sneezed at either. To that end a new Operations Manual has been drawn up to give clear structure to organization and working procedures. From member registration, financial issues, follow-up of motions and decision-making, internal audits and the work of the electoral committee, to covering of laws and regulations that affect our work, these are just some of the uses of the manual. The general usefulness of the manual will have to be evaluated going forward. It will be posted

• n the website and will be an integral part of the dialogue between the members. Suggestions are

welcome from one and all. What is on our to-do-list for the future? Questions and steps, large and small. For many years, the Swedish Guild has given full membership status to practitioners who did their training with Yochanan Rywerant. That took changes in certain sections of the regulations. Unfortunately, the wording turned out to be slightly ambiguous and consequently, disputes arose over the

• interpretation. As a result, the board decided to do a complete revision of the regulations. It will

be introduced at the next Annual Meeting. Maybe then long-winded discussions can be avoided in the future. One solution for a small Guild like the Swedish Guild is to have several small ¨Power Groups¨. These would take the form of groups of two practitioners or more who share their resources and brainstorm ideas. The groups I mentioned earlier are examples, marketing, communication and the group who covers scientific research.

Another such group is working on finding ways to describe and explain the Feldenkrais Method in a way that can be understood by clients and the general public alike. They will produce a document that can be accepted and used by Guild members. The intention is not only to use one way of describing what we do though. Dr Feldenkrais said that each practitioner has different “handwriting”. Depending on whom we are talking to will make a difference to which approach a practitioner takes. This will provide ready-made choices

• r a practical “recipe” book.

Post-graduate education is a topic that is frequently discussed among the membership. There is a decision of long-standing in the Guild, that it should not be responsible for education. Since this is the case, what other paths can we choose? Mentorship, already mentioned in the survey might be one viable option. It is fundamentally important for an organization to find common core values, something members can easily recognize, identify with and stand behind. This ethical debate is a lively one in the Swedish Guild. Maybe it is time to formalize it with the formation of an ethics committee? Only time will tell. I have given you a taste of what the Swedish Guild does. We are fully aware that we lack some

• f the spice we would like in our dish, but good cooking takes time and it is a process.

Competency like the Feldenkrais Method is a process – and we are in the process!

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* i ISBN 978-91-628-7959-4 Correspondence to: christina.schon-ohosson@neuro.gu.se