Of all the medicines used in the treatment of dis-ease, Hope is probably the most potent. The idea that there is some form of light at the end of the tunnel allows people to mobilize their reserves to move toward recovery. When there is no hope (once again, an idea), there is nothing to move toward.

If you look at all the modalities of healing throughout the ages you will find slews of therapies, treatments, counseling, medicines and even procedures that, by todays standards, would never work. Yet, so many of them did on so many people regardless of all the facts that we know today. Even in spite of them!

Somewhere within each modality that worked when all outward indications screamed otherwise, was hope. And if you were to trace each incident to its turning point you would find that the person seeking hope found it, in some form, through connection.

Using the metaphor of a key and a lock again, the form that gives hope life is the individuals ability to, in some way, feel in synch, be a part of, or move in alignment with that which is offered; a connection. In essence, the person who can connect with what is offered is most likely to derive benefit from it.

The funny thing is a person may embrace an option offered no matter how outlandish if he or she feels a connection with the person offering the option. Faith healers, clairvoyants, doctors, therapists and snake-oil salesman of all stripes have the power to inspire confidence in the routes they offer to wellness.

Much of that power stems from their own belief in what they have to offer (as in their own connection to it). So often it is the perceived potency of the person doing the offering that turns the trick.

If a practitioner is able to reach the part of the individual that only has the lack of hope standing between herself and wellness, she can then begin to mobilize her defenses. The force we call healing can use anything as a springboard. Sometimes, it will use a charlatan to ignite the fire of hope in someone that will then lead them to a real solution.

This is not meant to encourage deceit; rather it is offered to illustrate the tremendous power that connection holds in the lives of those in need, and its efficacy as a tool for healers. It is of paramount importance that the healer understands this. The implication here is that use of connection to further healing is a sacred trust and deserves the respect of being held in that light.

When you feel you can connect with a therapy, idea, healer, procedure, Higher Power, or whatever, youve taken the most pivotal step toward attaining wholeness. To know that whatever ails you can be accessed and opened by the right (or combination of right) key(s) is the light at the end of the tunnel.

The biggest fear is of the unknown. Its important that you find some way to communicate that you are a real person and that whatever you will be doing from that moment on is a by-product of your connection with the person, the situation at hand, AND your connection with the therapies you can deliver. All it takes is a few words, a gesture, or an action to begin that phase of a healing relationship.

Physical proximity and touch (where accepted) are hugely important tools. Recent studies have shown there is a measurable, energetic connection between human hearts in proximity to each other. When a person in distress is physically close to someone who has come to help, within a few minutes of their contact, you will see something very interesting: If each is hooked up to an EKG (electrocardiogram) machine, which records in wave form the electrical activity of their hearts, a reading of what is called entrainment occurs. This is where both peoples hearts establish a common rhythm.

The important thing here is that the affected does not necessarily adopt the helpers rhythm, though it reaches out to meet the calmness and lack of distress evident therein. Together, they establish a common rhythm.

Connection is all about a joining of forces. Just as certain chemical combinations in a pill will join forces with the chemical combinations in the blood to produce a favorable change in the overall chemistry of the patient, so, too, does the connection between people produce a blending of energies that complement each other, thereby effecting change.

Rather than worrying about whether or not, or how, youre connecting with the person in your charge, keep focusing on the moment with that person, and deal with it honestly. The healing connection will take care of itself.