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Everyone Needs a Job Description

Bob Barkley and L.D. Pankey were adamant about the value behind the creation of a Practice Philosophy Statement. And about this key step, Bob used to say, “What you are doing here is writing your own job description.”

A Practice Philosophy Statement effectively creates a psychological practice constitution derived out of clarified values, priorities, and a vision of an optimal preferred future.

But Bob Barkley also had this to say: “Do you know who also needs a philosophy-based job description? Your patients! If they do not have a clear vision of where they want to go and a job description which helps them to get there, how are they supposed to know what they need to be contributing to make our collaboration with them successful?”

Without a “job description” our patients have no clearly understood pathway through which they can develop greater ownership and self-responsibility over their problems. So, a failure to create this type of clarification essentially robs them of the opportunity to receive and perceive positive feedback from others regarding the value of their contribution, which is key to bolstering their sense of self-esteem in this area of their life.

We want to be able to facilitate our patients feeling like THEY are in charge of managing THEIR challenges, and that they are capable of doing it successfully.

Co-discovery creates a forum to establish an agreed upon treatment philosophy which is co-created with each person and helps to define their “job description.” This is key because successful completion of complex coordinated multi-phase tasks, requires everyone be on the same page as well as fully understand why each step is so important. It is also key with regard to who is responsible for what after all active treatment has been completed.

Paul A. Henny DDS