Based on Dr. Croibier's everyday clinical experience, this book provides critical tools for examining patients in order to determine what the course of treatment should be. Written for manual hands-on therapy students and practitioners that include osteopaths, physical therapists, and chiropractors, the book explores in depth the osteopathic diagnosis process that aims to identify an abnormality and to discover factors that may be causing the dysfunction.

Drawing a comparison between diagnosis in classical medicine and osteopathy, Dr. Croibier explains that the osteopath focuses on restoring the conditions of good health rather than simply addressing the consequences of disease. Enhanced with more than 175 full-color instructional photos and illustrations, the book describes the manual hands-on assessments and general evaluations that lead to a diagnosis. Manual assessments include objective observation, diagnostic touch, palpation of the affected areas of the body, visualization, and "listening" (a hand placed on a specific part of the body to determine tissue functionality). Based on Dr. Croibier's recommendations, the manual therapist also performs a patient intake and interview; general evaluation that analyzes the patient's symptoms and general state; examination of posture and equilibrium; and observation of individual characteristics, such as constitution, temperament, and body type.