Bio-Psycho-Social: Generalist vs. Specialist

“The biopsychosocial model is a general model or approach stating that biological, psychological (which entails thoughts, emotions, and behaviors), and social (socio-economical, socio-environmental, and cultural) factors, all play a significant role in human functioning in the context of disease or illness. It posits that, health is best understood in terms of a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors rather than purely in biological terms.”

Thanks Wikipedia.

As coaches we talk about this model. We see this as the future of our profession-- and rightly so. We are only 30 years behind the other sciences in this line of thinking (Dynamic Systems, Cross-disciplinary approaches).

Boiled down, this is a “Generalist Approach”

Us coaches - we are very good at talking. We talk, and talk, and talk. Yet we still cling to our reductionist ways or our specialty, ignoring the value of looking at the bigger picture.

If your speciality is Olympic Lifting - Olympic Lifting will solve all the worlds problems. If you are a speed guru- “Speed Kills”,if you are a nutritionist - its all about the Gut. Sports Psychologists - Writing Goals, Physical Therapist - Correctives... and the list goes on.

I am being a bit shortsighted but you get the point.

There’s great value in specialists, hence why we pride ourselves in finding the best in Austin to include in our network (Physical Therapists, Chiropractors, Doctors, etc.) -- but Ben and I are Generalists -- with common sense.

We realize that humans are complex and to truly be good at what we do there needs to be fluidity in our coaching, seamlessly transitioning in and out of being the Strength Coach, Nutritionist, Psychologist, and Physical Therapist.

Common sense (referring out) comes into play when...

1. Problems arise outside the fundamentals found in each discipline.
2. Incoming movement or joint assessment are outside our scope or time frame
3. When there is need for thorough medical consultation after we have assessed an athlete via Omegawave.

For us a life of specialization lends itself to blindness when comprehending the bigger picture. Much like the parable of “The Blind Men and the Elephant.”

The Generalist mindset is not a common one in our American culture. A good overview is this article about Cognitive Scientist Richard Nesbitt, looking at the differences in East and Western cultures.

“He embarked on a project to probe the thought processes of East Asians and European Americans. His experiment presented subjects with a virtual aquarium on a computer screen.

“The Americans would say, ‘I saw three big fish swimming off to the left. They had pink fins.’ They went for the biggest, brightest moving object and focused on that and on its attributes,”

“The Japanese in that study would start by saying, ‘Well, I saw what looked like a stream. The water was green. There were rocks and shells on the bottom. There were three big fish swimming off to the left.’”

* American = Specialists: Immersed in a single object. Narrow focus.

* Japanese = Generalists: Comprehensive. Interaction of all the elements presented. Broad Focus.

Train Adapt Evolve is always being pushed to specialize. Being a new business, I suppose it comes with the territory. But if ‘health is best understood in terms of a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors rather than purely in biological terms’ we won’t be specializing anytime soon.

Words for Future Generalist

- Find the “essence” in each discipline. Focus on the fundamentals, don’t completely get lost in the complexities.

- Books give you context but spending time with great coaches/therapist will allow access to their successful habits. Find out what the best do well, imitate, then make them your own.

- You will hear more No’s than Yes’s - Be Resilient.

- Ask yourself - is this a Job or a Passion? If it is a passion, learning will be life long. Passion means it is your art and ARTISTS STEAL - from everywhere.

By: Aaron Davis