Whether or not you think you have a philosophy, you do. Even choosing to not have a philosophy is a philosophy! Chiropractic philosophy is one of vitalism and deductive reasoning.

The problem is, over the past 114 years we have fallen into the trap of looking to the mechanistic, allopathic model of science to validate what we know to be true. And it doesn’t work. It’s like trying to get insurance companies to pay for wellness care – it’s just not their model. But the funny part is, science and philosophy are not separate. Even scientists have a philosophy! Dr. Eric Russell, professor at Parker Chiropractic College gave a great four-hour lecture at Life Lyceum 2009 on Science vs. Philosophy. And the conclusion is, we need both…but in balance. Not the idea that science reigns supreme over everything else. That philosophy is the starting point of everything, even the god-like institution of science. (Have you ever wondered what a Ph.D stands for? Doctor of Philosophy in whatever the chosen field of expertise!)

So what is your philosophy? How grounded are you in the vitalistic philosophy that formed this profession? Why do you do what you do?

Mechanism vs. Vitalism: What is chiropractic’s philosophy?

Mechanism as a Philosophy, is defined as:

a. the view that all natural processes are explicable in terms of Newtonian mechanics.

b. the view that all biological processes may be described in physicochemical terms.

Vitalism, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary,[1] is

a. the doctrine that the functions of a living organism are due to a vital principle distinct from biochemical reactions

b. the doctrine that the processes of life are not explicable by the laws of physics and chemistry alone and that life is in some part self-determining

The great news is, science is starting to have research that is actually illustrating our vitalistic philosophy! I was so inspired listening to Bruce Liption, Ph.D speak about the vitalistic nature of cells, and their ability to survive even when the nucleous is removed. How is that possible if we are only the sum of our parts and the DNA is the “brain” of a cell? Hmmm, guess there is more to it!

I’ve been honoured to be involved with Tedd Koren and speaking at Koren Specific Technique seminars. KST is one of the great vitalistic techniques out there.  The time is now chiropractors to have a look at your philosophy and get clear on what you are trying to accomplish with your care. If there is any incongruence, it will inevitably lead to destruction.

If you are stuck practicing in a pain-based model, treating the body as if it was a machine instead of recognizing the vitalistic self-healing and self-regulating laws of the body and you want more out of practice… the time is now! People want vitalism and wellness care and it is time that our profession became the recognized leaders of this movement! Who wants to join us?  We are vitalistic chiropractic coaches who can help you THRIVE in a TRUE Wellness Model!

Tags: Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Consultant, Chiropractic Philosophy, Chiropractic Practice Management, Chiropractic Science, Dr. Bruce Lipton, Dr. Eric Russell, Dr. Tedd Koren, Koren Specific Technique, KST, Life Lyceum, mechanism, Pain-based chiropractic, vitalism, Wellness Chiropractic

Why haven’t chiropractors marketed chiropractic as well as ShamWOW has marketed a stupid sponge cloth? That thing is a global phenomenon in a microcentury and chiropractic is 1000x more amazing and has been around for 114 years! (If you don’t know what I’m referring to, click here).

One of my favourite leadership gurus is Robin Sharma who’s coined the term, Merchant of WOW.  And I think it’s time chiropractors started acting like Merchants of WOW.  It means obsessive attention to detail in every aspect of your office, it’s decor, the chiropractor’s healthy image, the “red carpet” service to every person that contacts or comes into the office. It means refining your technical skills, growing your understanding of our philosophy and taking your communication skills and procedures to the next level.

Every step of the way we want people to think and to say, “Wow”.

The trouble is, a lot of practice management companies teach chiropractors to make their patients say, “Wow, I had no idea things were so bad”.  And from our perspective, there is no place for Scare Tactics in a TRUE wellness chiropractic practice.  We feel people should say, “Wow, I had no idea chiropractic could help me in so many ways! Wow, I had no idea you could affect my nerve system and my entire body”!  We want to be motivating them by what they want, as opposed to motivating them with fear and what they don’t want. It’s subtle, but has huge ramifications on the relationship long term. Sure you might be short term compliance with fear, but it doesn’t last and the relationship is tainted.

So how do we do that? We teach them under the radar, planting seeds and asking questions to help stretch their consciousness with every interaction in the office: How the CA answers the phone, your First Visit Forms, the look and feel of your office, your communications and procedures of Visit 1, Visit 2, Daily Interactions, Re-Evaluations and Re-Reports, how you handle difficult questions and situations, and how you manage your team.

It’s time that people start saying ChiropracticWOW! The wellness revolution is upon us and it’s time we step up and lead it.  If you want to know more about our chiropractic coaching and how to THRIVE in a TRUE wellness model, let us know. We’re here to help.

Tags: Chiropractic Coach, chiropractic marketing, Chiropractic Practice Management, Chiropractic Wellness Model, communication, LAASR, Leadership, merchant of WOW, Robin Sharma, scare tactics, Success, Wellness Chiropractic, Wellness Chiropractors, wellness revolution

What do successful chiropractic practices around the world all have in common? Chiropractic technique? Size and shape of the doctor? The politics of the area? Nope, none of those things.  We find, across the board, there are two things that make chiropractors successful and have the practices of their dreams.  What are they?

1. Certainty and Congruent Beliefs

2. Communication Skills

3. Congruent Procedures

I’ll get to the second point in a later post, but let’s start with the foundation of certainty and beliefs!  Recently, I spoke at Dr. Tedd Koren’s KST Seminar on this exact topic and felt like it was one I wanted to share with all of you.

As a chiropractor, you may have unshakeable certainty about who you are and what you do. Or, like many other chiropractors out there, might have some doubt and uncertainty about what you offer. Why?

Don’t you think that after years of education and practice that chiropractors would know who they are and what they offer? That they would be certain about what they deliver? Well across the board, day in and day out, we coach and speak with chiropractors on the phone who are not. And when we survey audiences around the world (with their eyes closed to keep it anonymous) most chiropractors have some uncertainty.

Why?  We believe the original sin in chiropractic is the rah-rah seminar that makes the audience yell out, “Chiropractic can help everything”! And then there is someone in your office who doesn’t get any response to your care. Then what? Either chiropractic failed or you did. So in creeps the doubt and uncertainty!  In our LAASR process, we help you make a promise to truly help people, and to keep your promise!

Here is our Rosen Chiropractic Coaching’s Formula for Certainty:

· Who are you as a chiropractor?

· What do you offer?

· What would you like to deliver?

· What are you certain you deliver?

· How do you monitor what you deliver?

· How do you communicate what you deliver?

· What is your vision and mission?

· Define your persona statement (and become it)!

We suggest sitting down with yourself and your complete honesty and completing the above sentences. Then we suggest that you sit down with your team and do the same. See what truths, insights (good or bad) or “ah-ha’s” that you get from doing this! Once we can get your beliefs congruent, then we install congruent procedures and communications to have the practice of your dreams!

We feel it is healthy to have a difference between what you would like to deliver and what you are certain you deliver. It is always a good thing to be striving to become better at your technique, to grow and evolve your skills as a chiropractor. The truth is, the more you do, the more certain you will be. Only a closed mind is 100% certain, so it is always important to keep growing!

Here are some resources to develop your life purpose, vision and mission.  For those of you who are interested in completing the entire Certainty program, click here.

It’s time to be the best chiropractor you can be, so that chiropractors can become the leaders of true health care!

It’s your choice! It’s either one or the other:

Tags: Beliefs, Certainty, Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Coaching, Chiropractic Practice Management, communication, Health Care, Leadership, Success, Wellness Chiropractic, wellness practice management

September 18th, 2009 is chiropractic’s 114th birthday!  On that day, Daniel David Palmer made the connection between the spine, nervous system and overall health and well-being. And the trusting deaf  cleaner Harvey Lillard allowed DD to adjust him, which resulted in his hearing being restored.

We’ve come a long way since then: chiropractic is a household name, from the original Palmer Chiropractic schools there are now dozens around the world including Australia, New Zealand, U.K and most recently Barcelona Spain! We’ve done a great job getting our name out there.

But where we’ve failed miserably in chiropractic is letting the public know what we do. I dare you to go outside your practice and ask 100 people what chiropractic is. What would they say? Neck pain? Back pain? Check out this video of someone who braved the streets and dared to ask:

What about inside your practice?  If Dr. Rosen and I sat in your reception area and asked the next 100 people who came in, “What are you hear for?  What is chiropractic?” What would they say?  If you don’t like the answers you are hearing, it means they don’t get the whole story.  You might be educating them, but they way you are educating them isn’t working. If they can’t articulate the whole story themselves, we’re in trouble. Our practice and our profession.

We feel there is a communication crisis in that the public does not know what we do. And our profession is stuck at a minimal percentage of the population utilizing our services. And the ones who do don’t really know that we are health and wellness doctors. They think we ‘crack bones’ to help back pain.

So what can you do to celebrate chiropractic’s birthday? How about commit to yourself to clearly define your Certainty as a chiropractor?  How about learning how to communicate the simple chiropractic truths in a way that people ‘get it’ and stay, pay and refer?  It is time for chiropractors to become the leaders of TRUE healthcare.  If you’re interested, we can help!  We are committed to helping the profession grow to lead the wellness revolution and transform the way the public perceives chiropractic care. We want you to THRIVE in a TRUE wellness model!

Tags: chiropractic, Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Coaching, Chiropractic Consultant, Chiropractic Practice Management, chiropractic profession, chiropractor, communication, Leadership, Wellness Chiropractic, wellness re

We hear again and again that our profession has an identity crisis, but from our perspective, we have a communication crisis!

What chiropractors know (no matter if they practice in a pain-based model or a wellness-based model) is that we help people have better lives! We’ve surveyed hundreds and hundreds of chiropractors around the world, and no matter how they practice, they all recognize that we can not only help people with their pain and symptoms, but also with improved function and a better quality of life!

Our problem as a profession is that the message that we’ve communicated and marketed to the public isn’t unified or clear.  Not like the tequila marketing sign above.  The public thinks that we help with neck and back pain and we know we help people get healthy and stay healthy to essentially have a better life!

As a profession, what we’ve been doing for communicating the chiropractic message isn’t working. Otherwise, at this 114th birthday of chiropractic, we’d be seeing more than 8-10% of the population.  If people understood what we do, because our communication and marketing was working, we’d be a lot further along right now.

If you are interested in finding out more about how to communicate in a true wellness model, in a care vs. scare approach, we encourage you to check out our LAASR program and seek out the support of a coach.  Lecturing and telling people until you’re blue in the face isn’t working. We need to figure out what people really want and then show them how to get it.  Let’s find a better way and start to move our profession into the position of leadership in the wellness revolution we deserve.

Tags: chiropractic, chiropractic birthday, Chiropractic Practice Management, Chiropractic Practice Success, chiropractic profession, communication, communication crisis, identity crisis, LAASR, Leadership, Wellness Chiropractors, wellness model, wellness revolution

In the book, Change or Die by Alan Deutschman he studies the 3 keys of change, and what works and doesn’t work.

In a recent blog post, Ask vs. Tell, I explored the power of asking questions to shift consciousness, beliefs and therefore behaviours.   This follow-up post is meant to look at the two types of questions we can ask: Scare Questions or Care Questions. What do I mean?

A good portion of our profession and practice management companies uses scare tactics and fear to manipulate people to do what we want.  Our perspective, at Rosen Chiropractic Coaching is that fear and manipulation have no place in a chiropractic wellness model.  We stand for clean communication with compassion.

In Change or Die, Alan Deutschman explores the three “F” words: Force, Facts and Fear and why they don’t work. When the three “F” words become too much, people go into denial as a protective mechanism. They make irrational decisions that could cost them their life (only 10% of heart attack patients changed their lifestyle despite the fear and threats).  In contrast, Dr. Dean Ornish had 75% of heart attack patients change their lifestyle with the three “R” words: Relate, Reframe, Repeat.

So we need to relate to the people we care for. We need to build rapport, bond, connect, offer hope and relieve their fears.  We need to reframe their consciousness and beliefs about health, and ask questions to shift their current paradigm, to plant seeds and teach under the radar. And we need to repeat these questions in our daily interactions, our Touch-Tell-Ask-Teach and find ways for people to become successful every visit, working towards a new goal. We as their doctor, need to lead them, inspire them and empower them.  And we need to create a culture in our office creates a supportive community.

Because making changes in life can be challenging and these new behaviours need to be reinforced with love and support, not fear and commitment. This is exactly what we do at Rosen Coaching to help you have a thriving wellness practice! We address the 3 R’s in the LAASR Mastery process. If you want a communication system based on the 3 R’s then give us a call!

Tags: Alan Deutschman, Ask vs. Tell, care tactics, Change or Die, Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Coaching, Chiropractic Practice Management, Chiropractic Wellness Model, communication, Denial, Facts, Fear, Fear Tactics, Force, Leadership, Reframe, Relate, Repeat, scare tactics, Scare vs. Care, True Wellness Model, wellness chiropractic practice management

Thank You To Bill Esteb, www.patientmedia.com, for allowing me to share this simple yet powerful post of his with you!

Tags: Bill Esteb, Chiropractic Practice Management, Chiropractic Practice Success, Duality, Law of Opposites, Patient Media, Universal Laws

What Do Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and a long list of other celebrities have in common? Harmless prescription drug and painkiller abuse in volumes and mixtures. These famous celebrities are the ones you hear about in the media.  However, the fact is, many medical errors are not reported, including death by such medicines deemed ‘normal’ to use by society.  Tylenol, Advil, Demerol, Oxycontin, Dialudid, Panadol are just a start. Throw some antidepressants, antianxieties and sedatives into the mix and voila! You have a highly addictive cocktail of deadly drugs. Do we have a global problem? I think so. We just hear about the famous ones…

From the Death by Medicine Report by Drs. Null and Dean in 2003), as few as 6% of adverse drug effects are ever reported.  Sadly, deaths estimated in 2003 due to adverse reactions to prescription drugs is 2.2 million per year. And the leading causes of adverse drug reactions were antibiotics (17%), Cardiovascular (17%), chemotherapy drugs (15%), and anti-inflammatory agents (15%).  Can you imagine what this number is now, six years later, with more and more ‘advancements’ in medicine and big pharma?

As wellness chiropractors, doctors of ’cause’, we want to be addressing the bigger picture in our offices – that health and life come from the inside-out.  If you are not teaching this principle to the people you serve, you are just another modality to them.  Health does not come from taking medicine or cutting things out of the body. It comes from the life force, carried unimpeded over the nerve system reaching to every cell, tissue and organ in the entire body. Do they know this? Do they understand the physiological implications if this nerve impulse is impeded? Do they know that it is your job to remove this interference and allow the fullest expression of life?  If they don’t, they need to.  Or they could end up like Michael Jackson, just not as famous.

How are you using this most recent, tragic death of an icon as an educational opportunity in your office?  We coach our clients to ask thoughtful questions to the people in their offices to illicit a response, rather than just lecture them about the overuse of medicine in our societies.  We need to shift their consciousness and beliefs about health and wellness.  How about the following as a start to get your mind going:

• What do you think killed Michael Jackson?
• Do you know that prescription drugs are just as dangerous as recreational drugs?
• What happens when you give a healthy person medicine they don’t need?
• If drugs can make a healthy person sick, how do they make a sick person well?
• What do you think, can medicine make someone healthier or just take their symptoms away?
• Where does health come from? What causes us to be healthy? What keeps us alive?
• What does the Nerve System control? What part of your body could live without Nerve Impulse?

May I suggest that you look at our LAASR process of communication (Listen, Acknowledge, Ask, Solution, Resolution) when educating, answering difficult questions and in all of your interactions within and outside of your practice.  It will literally transform your level of communication and results!  It is what we teach and how we coach chiropractors to great levels of success! Let’s start to manage your chiropractic practice in a true wellness model.

Tags: Adverse Drug Reactions, Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Consulting, Chiropractic Practice Management, Death by Medicine, Elvis Presley, Health, LAASR, Life Force, Medicine, Michael Jackson, Nerve System, Prescription Drug Abuse, Subluxation, Wellness Care, Wellness Chiropractors, wellness practice management

For many people, their understanding of health, where it comes from and how to stay well is as deeply ingrained as some smoker’s beliefs about smoking.

We are living and practicing chiropractic in a medical world. Although we are in a shift of a wellness revolution, the majority of people who show up in your chiropractic office are bombarded by big pharma advertising and years of thinking that health comes from drugs or surgery.  And it is your job to change their mindset and beliefs about health and healing, where it comes from and how to get it. Good luck!

Most chiropractors I coach and consult, or speak with in the field tell me that they educate the people in their office.  And the usually follow up with, “but they still don’t get IT.”  And if they did get it, our entire profession would already have thriving, true wellness chiropractic practices.  So something’s not working in our approach…

What does educate mean? To most chiropractors, they lecture and talk ‘at’ their people until they are blue in the face and the person is tuned out. There is an important distinction to make, between educating by telling or educating by asking good questions.

Try and convince a smoker that smoking is bad for him.  Tell him all the things he already knows (or doesn’t) that it is killing him. Use fear. Use threats. Use your authority as a doctor. Lecture until you’re blue in the face.  Does anything change for the smoker? Nope, he still doesn’t ‘get it’.  That’s right, his beliefs and mindset haven’t shifted one bit from all of your telling.

And this is what most chiropractors who are not having high retention, thriving wellness practices are doing.  Trying to educate by telling.  I gotta tell you, from my experience, that’s never going to work. Why? Because it’s from the outside-in, it is your idea and not theirs. Because how do human beings do react when someone tells them what to do? Resist. So you get decreased compliance, they like you less and wonder when you’ll use your authority again to get them to do what you want.

Remember a smart guy named Socrates? His philosophy was one of asking questions to have the person think. And since doctor in Latin means ‘teacher’, it’s about time our profession stopped lecturing and started asking better questions to really teach the chiropractic principle of health. Why? Because when a person thinks, processes and answers a question, it comes from the inside-out and they own it.  Since it was their idea, there is no resistance, they feel valued and given a voice. There is increased  compliance and likeability and you don’t use authority, you use leadership. How’s that for congruence with chiropractic philosophy?

But oh wait, there’s one more benefit.  Not only will they ‘get it’, understand health, healing and chiropractic at a deeper level, but do you think that it is easier for them to refer their friends and family if they can articulate their newfound understanding themselves?  And the practice itself grows from the inside out by high retention and high internal referrals.

So the trick is to find out how to ask better questions during every interaction of Visit 1, Visit 2, Daily Interactions, Re-Assessments, Re-Reports and in handling difficult questions. We coach chiropractors this day in and day out.  It will transform your practice, your relationship and your life. And you’ll help shift the consciousness of the world. Let us know if we can help.

Tags: Asking, Authority, Beliefs, Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Consultant, Chiropractic Philosophy, Chiropractic Practice Management, Chiropractic Practice Success, Chiropractic Principle, communication, Convince, Educate, Fear Tactics, Health, High Retention, Inside-Out, Internal Referrals, Lecture, Medicine, Mindset, Outside-In, Questions, Results, scare tactics, Shift Consciousness, Socrates, Telling, True Wellness Practice, wellness revolution

Are you a pessimist, an optimist or a leader?  We need to look at how you deal with challenge and adversity to find out. Most people say they are optimists when asked, but if we look at the proof of their external results we might find out otherwise.  John Maxwell, one of my favourite authors on leadership, says this:

“The pessimist complains about the wind.  The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.”

Sailing without a charted course is like driving without a map or GPS, and like setting goals without an action plan.  It leads to circular action, unintentional sabotage, and rarely reaching your desired destination.

Not only do leaders have a vision and mission, they set long-term and short-term goals with a definitive action plan.  AND they consistently take intentional action, stay on the charted course, adjust the sails and the course as needed.

To manage your chiropractic practice like a leader we need to ensure you are the captain, keeping the big picture about what practice growth you want and what you are trying to achieve.  You need to look at the conditions, the charted course, and take consistent action AND you need to lead your team!  A world cup skipper cannot sail the ship themselves.  They need a solid team with the same vision, desires and willing to work hard and be rewarded for it. As chiropractic coaches and consultants, we help office create and manage a Dream Team and help Get The Team To Grow The Practice!

If you have been being a pessimist or an optimist during the stormy conditions of the past 6 months, it’s time to step up your leadership of yourselves, your practice management and your team!  People in your community need your help. It’s time to lead the chiropractic wellness revolution!

Tags: Action Plan, Charted Course, Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Consultant, Chiropractic Practice Management, Dream Team, Get The Team To Grow The Practice, Goals, Leadership, mission, Optimist, Pessimist, Sailing, Taking Action, vision, wellness revolution