Yes, the techniques do give specific steps and, in the beginning, it is helpful to follow those steps as carefully as you can. Once you have experience and insight, you will definitely find yourself guided by your own intuition as well as the crystals that you are working with. This is very much like learning to cook – at first you follow the recipe, but once you understand the methods you will begin to make adaptations and even improvements. In time, you will probably even develop your own healing techniques in the style of Crystal Surgery.