The art of doing almost nothing: how a core Taijiquan principle can help us to understand turning points in therapeutic processes.

Abstract

Health care professionals usually strive to reach turning points in therapeutic processes in order to help patients manage a problem or difficult situation. The professional aligns with the patient's needs through what can be described as "the art of doing almost nothing": listening, noticing, thinking, waiting, witnessing, and preventing harm. This process is similar to the Taijiquan principle of alignment illustrated in the yin-yang symbol taijitu. For both therapeutic process and Taijiquan, mastery is characterized through the phenomenon that the closer one gets to the turning point, the less visible are the practitioner's efforts in terms of observable action.