When they don’t respect your profession

"So, what made you decide to become a chiropractor?" the surgeon asked me.

My cheeks flushed. I began rattling off about how I'm considering going into medicine after I graduate & how I just kind of "fell into" this profession.

He looked confused, and finally said "Um... okay. Well... if you do set up a chiropractic practice when you graduate, let me know. We're always looking to build quality referral relationships."

And in that moment it became obvious that I'd incorrectly assumed that his question was accusatory, and how that had driven my all-too-familiar response to try and avoid the judgements I assumed he was making.

You might have a similar response in these kinds of moments, or for you it might look like anger or defensiveness. And even if you're not a chiropractor, you likely have a version of this in response to the particular judgements that are made about your profession.

And it makes sense; there is likely lots of evidence you can point to from the past of how people have belittled, judged or dismissed what you do for a living.

But here's the thing...

When we take the default stance of defending ourselves against this perceived attack, we miss the opportunity to connect.

We miss the people who genuinely ARE excited about what we do.

We miss the people who WANT to come and see us in our practices.

We miss the friendships and the professional relationships we could have nurtured.

We miss the opportunities for someone to have a positive experience with our profession.

And we start to lose our own spark and belief in what we do.

So while it might seem justified to assume the worst... in order to actually create fulfilling lives and careers, we need to flip this narrative on its head.

What if you respected yourself so deeply that you showed up the same way, no matter who you were talking to?

What if you approached every situation with presence & openness, regardless of the response?

Always showing up as the professional you are, with nothing to defend or apologise for.

What if you didn't need the external world to validate and approve of your work for you to do it with the utmost excellence & with your head held high?

And what if you assumed that everyone loves what you do NOT because you think everyone will, but so that you connect with the people who do.

And finally, what if you saw this as an opportunity to develop the ability to tolerate other people's misconceptions, judgements & disrespect while being steadfast in what you believe in.

This, dear clinician, is one of the main tasks of adult psychological development.

So yes, this is about your particular profession and how it is viewed. And yes, there absolutely is unfairness and prejudice that you can contribute to changing.

But it is also bigger than that.

It's the very work of being a human in this world, and of finding true belonging deep within yourself.

I hope you'll take up the task.