Apparently, research into placebos has shown that surgery is the most powerful. This is where an operation is done, anaesthetic, incision, etc. but no real procedure takes place.
Interesting I thought.
'Suggestion' is an important aspect of all domains in life, including healing (in the broadest sense of the word) and teaching. Bearing in mind that our words have a suggestive effect whether we plan it or not, some study in this area is probably a useful thing for all of us.
As an example, I assist children's reading at a primary school each Thursday morning and I'm very aware of the potential power of my words and how careful I must be. Today when working with a little girl who was struggling a bit and told me that she hated reading, I found myself using an Ericksonian approach and asking her "If you found in a few week's time that you now loved reading, would you be surprised?"
I'm just saying, that's all. I remember contributing to the disappearance of someone's warts using an identical approach. When he came back to me in 2 weeks and told me his warts had gone I was far more surprised than he was.
Bob, if something happened in the next few weeks that led you to have a far more open-minded approach to complimentary medicine, would you be surprised? 