CHIROPRACTIC EXCELLENCE

A recent survey conducted following a Torque Release Technique program has shown that TRT delivers dramatic benefits to those that attend:

1. Chiropractors were able to use the methods taught to effectively determine the primary subluxation and how to best adjust it in 80-90% of their practice immediately upon returning to their office.
2. When asked if TRT had been useful in practice a 9/10 rating was achieved.
3. When asked if TRT had improved their confidence in practice a 8.5/10 rating was achieved.
4. When asked if TRT had increased their belief in chiropractic a 9.1/10 rating was achieved.
5. When asked if TRT had made them a better chiropractor a 8.8/10 rating was achieved.
6. When asked if TRT had improved their clinical skills a 8.8/10 rating was achieved.

This means that what is learnt at the program is immediately useful. We’ve all been to great sounding programs that when the rubber hits the road on Monday morning and you want to offer something better with your new skills, to be honest, they turn out to be too time consuming, or too fiddly, or are only useful for a small percentage of our practice members. It’s nice to know that TRT is easy to implement and relevant to the needs of nearly every practice member.

And don’t underestimate the power of becoming a better clinician and technician when it comes to adjusting. I think sometimes we get sidetracked looking for new ancillary procedures to somehow improve our clinical outcomes - when the real truth is that we can all hone and upgrade our adjusting skills - and as a result become better Chiropractors.

After running seminar programs for 15 years, I have noticed that Chiropractors are more likely to attend a motivational, practice management seminar than they are to attend a technique program - and I believe this is partly due to this perception of spending hours in a technique class to learn something that you will never use. It’s nice to learn that there is a technique program that delivers measurable benefits immediately upon returning to practice. Sounds like a worthwhile investment with great returns to me.

But you are probably sick of hearing this from me so here is what some of the participants had to say:

• “Great Seminar - Taught really well. Since finishing Uni, have lacked in confidence - But this technique has allowed me to be more sure of what I’m doing. Thanks!” Chloe Whiting, Australia
• “This is a great foundation chiropractic technique. It is simple to implement and improves my efficiency at finding and adjusting subluxations. It is an enjoyable seminar.” Penelope Seuren, Australia
• “Amazingly good seminar with excellent research based outcomes. Combines neurology and technique as an excellent presentation. I have been to many seminars but these CPD points are my most valuable!” Matthew Bailey, Australia
• “TRT makes more sense than anything else I’ve learned in chiropractic. I want to learn more!” David Schaller, Australia
• “It’s great. Surprised, Amazed! Thanks Nick for teaching me TRT.” Yi Ping Gu, Australia
• “TRT is a very elegant technique which reflect its origins in the triad of the Art, Science and Philosophy of Chiropractic. I look forward to exploring it further.” Anda McMillan, Australia
• “Thank you for the generosity and knowledge/wisdom. Other courses promise you will be able to confidently apply the technique on Monday morning. Well I beat that and took my table over to family members on Sunday night. Miracles are happening in my practice and I feel as if I am honoring the body’s innate wisdom through the checking system and finally not over-treating. THANK YOU. :-)” Clare McCardel, Australia
• “Thank you so much for the seminar last weekend, it was Awesome!!!! I have a new passion for Chiropractic, Neurology, Outcomes and using Low Force Techniques. This has re-lit my fire within! Your passion & honesty & knowledge was appreciated throughout the seminar & this has a flow on effect.” Matthew Bailey, Australia

The lead researcher and co-developer of Torqe Release Technique, Dr Jay Holder, will be in Australia in August for a rare appearance - don’t miss this amazing opportunity to learn from one of the great minds in Chiropractic. Go to this link to find out more: http://www.torquerelease.com.au/Jay-Holder-Discount.htm

I’ve organised a lot of seminars over quite a few years now (my first was in 1996) and as a result I have had the privilege of meeting every “type” of Chiropractor – and I have found that there is one constant trait that exists across all philosophies, techniques, practice management styles and scopes of practice – and that is a strong desire to provide the best possible therapeutic benefit from each and every “treatment”. Ignoring the very small segment of the profession that is more interested in the bottom line, than the spinal column – I know that each one of us hopes for and even expects that when we adjust someone, something good is going to happen for that person.

And that encounter can look quite different between practitioners. For example, it’s Monday morning and the first patient for the day is waiting, eagerly anticipating that they will be feeling “better” after their adjustment: Here are some possible generic scenarios:

1) The Chiropractor goes through their standard procedure of adjusting both sides of the neck, thrusts on a few thoracics, then rolls the patient onto both sides to loosen up the low Back.

2) The Chiropractor checks their notes from the last progress exam to see which segments had been determined to be needing adjustment for the next course of corrections, and then follows that recipe.

3) The Chiropractor palpates down the spine to find tight and tender points then proceeds to manipulate those symptomatic areas to improve the mechanical function of the spinal joints.

4) The Chiropractor uses some form of orthopaedic or neurological examination which can lead them to adjust anywhere between 6 and 12 subluxations on any given visit.

But there are some inherent weaknesses in the above approaches which must be reconciled if our goal is truly to deliver adjustments with that something extra:

1) If we don’t have a method to prioritise where someone really needs to be adjusted then should we call ourselves practitioners or technicians? One root of burnout is boredom: When every spine starts to look the same and when we start to diminish the value of each adjustment, then our sense of importance and passion also diminishes.

2) If we believe that adjustments initiate change, then shouldn’t the adjustments need to change through time? If a person’s spine and nervous system is healing, adapting and even evolving under our care, then why would today’s adjustment be the same as last month’s adjustment? And if someone’s life circumstances have altered since they started care, wouldn’t the pattern of Subluxation change to reflect this, and last week’s adjustment would now be inappropriate?

3) Chiropractors have long made the claim to be treating the cause. But if we treat based on symptoms, whether pain or tenderness, then don’t we make a mockery of this claim? If we claim to be removing interference from the nervous system, then shouldn’t we have some means of determining where that interference is, and how best to reduce that interference?

4) Most chiropractic techniques have talked about concepts such as primary and secondary subluxations, compensations, referral, distant effects from local interference, reflex projection. In other words not all Subluxations are created equal, and not all Subluxations need to be adjusted on every visit, because adjusting the “primary” subluxation will influence and reduce the connected secondary and compensatory malfunction. If we don’t have a method to differentiate between these types of Subluxations then won’t we be wasting some of our precious time?

Now consider a fifth option: On any given day, at the very moment that you are examining a spine, depending on the most recent physical, chemical and emotional stresses to your practice member’s nervous system, and superimposed over the long term accumulation of tension in their spinal system – there is one predominating subluxation, which if adjusted will produce bigger neurological changes than adjusting any other segment in the spine at that time. You would want to know how to differentially diagnose that segment wouldn’t you?

Watch Short Video Explaining The Concept of Primary Subluxations…

(If you can’t view this video try this link: http://www.screencast.com/t/YjliZjgwN )

This model has been developed during the research method design for a ground breaking, randomised, placebo controlled, prospective scientific project run in conjunction between Holder Research Institute, Turning Point Addiction Recovery facility, and the University of Miami School of Medicine’s famous Biostatistician Bob Duncan. This technique is today called Torque Release Technique and has been published in major journals such as Molecular Psychiatry, the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, and Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research, as well as being featured on the Discovery Health Channel.

Thankfully modern chiropractic can stand on the shoulders of its technique pioneering giants: Palmer, Thompson, DeJarnette, Van Rumpt, Logan, Toftness and more contemporary ground breakers like Epstein; and the development of TRT saw the best of the best being integrated to produce an amazingly streamlined and efficient means of determining which segment of the spine needs to be adjusted, with precise correctional vectors, and to confirm the success of a single adjustment or plot the objective improvement in indicators of subluxation through time.

Another gift from the research project was the Integrator – the first chiropractic instrument to be specifically designed and patented for the correction of Subluxations. What makes the Integrator stand alone is its ability to deliver a three-dimensional correction which includes all of the defining features of a Toggle Recoil adjustment – high speed, recoil, and torque. Plus it offers a feature that takes reproducibility and reliability to new levels – a preloading trigger that means that every adjustment delivers just the right amount of force and frequency.

Because of these breakthroughs TRT developed the reputation for being the twenty first century technique for Chiropractors to shift their practice model away from a mechanical and orthopaedic paradigm, towards a neurological and tonal application of our wonderful vitalistic philosophy.

And the consistent feedback from the hundreds of Chiropractors who have now completed TRT training is that it provides that missing piece in the technique puzzle – how to provide an adjustment which responds to the current physiological needs of the practice members’ nervous system, and how to generate big changes in state of wellbeing on each and every adjustment – physical, chemical and emotional.

2010 sees TRT in its 8th year of training Australian Chiropractors with Dr Nick Hodgson offering training programs in varied locations each year. Nick has organised numerous TRT training programs, has been personally mentored by the developer of TRT, Dr Jay Holder, and is one of Australia’s most experienced practitioners.

Click Here To See Upcoming Dates and Locations…

Are you “fired up” to be in practice? Are you happy to be involved in Chiropractic? Are you excited to be a part of this great profession? Here’s an early morning exercise for you - Take a moment to think about how fired up, happy and excited you are - Now - notify your face!

Isn’t it great how you leave some seminars and you are fired up: ready to challenge and change the world? Then comes Monday morning and you’re back in your practice. Have you ever noticed that some of your patients aren’t as fired up as you are? And by the end of the week you’re not fired up either?

Perhaps some of us are inclined to think: “Well, that seminar obviously didn’t work!” Kind of reminds me of that occasional patient who comes back after one adjustment saying, “I’m not fixed yet!”

You see when you were at that seminar you felt like you were soaring, reaching for the heavens. You could see for miles: Your visual acuity seemed sharper than it had ever been: You were riding high on the adrenaline air currents: You could see things you had never seen before: New horizons: Places you want to travel to on your chiropractic journey. You felt like the king of the health care birds: You were the Chiropractic Eagle!

Monday morning: You soared into the waiting run of Old McDonald’s Chiropractic Farm. And there they were waiting for you: “B-b-b-back, b-b-b-back”! Isn’t it amazing how if you hang around in the Chicken Run long enough; first you start to scratch the ground a bit, then you start pecking at the ground, and before long you even start to look and sound like your patients, and the other health care birds: “B-b-b-back”! And when you’re in the chicken run it becomes hard to see over the fence; so you start to focus on the things nearby: accounts owing, unresponsive patients, difficult staff, patient numbers.

This is where I used to be: On the practice rollercoaster: Ten new patients - I’m up. Three cancellations - I’m down. Patient tells me how wonderful I am - I’m up! Patient confronting me as to why they’re not fixed after five adjustments - I’m down! Record patient week - I’m up! Quiet week - I’m down! New car - I’m really up! CAA membership bill - I’m down - “do I really have to be a member?”! This lead to the search - could it be a new technique? Maybe a new mentor? Another seminar? New potions and lotions? How can I keep that high?

There is a way to stop this regression from happening you know. You see as humans we have a God given ability that even the Eagles don’t possess. That is, the ability to see things not present with our ‘mind’s eye’, the skill of visualisation if you like. Remember, even though you may be working in a chicken run, you are a Chiropractic Eagle! Spend time each day visualising those things you saw while soaring at that seminar - what were those visions? - Clarify them, expand on them, work out the finer details. What are the views you will see and the stops you will make on your chiropractic journey towards those visions?….. Put them on paper! What are your estimated times of arrival at each destination….. write them down.

We don’t physically have wings so what kind of vehicles will you need to get you there? A DG convertible? A Gonstead go-go-mobile? A Diversified dragster? An Activatorcopter? A Hinwood Harrier Jet? A Reikemann rocket? A Mertz Mercedes? A TRT tractor?

How do we use these visualisations? Read them, see them, FEEL them, EMOTIONALISE them: EVERY SINGLE DAY! Can you see all your patients healthy and happy in your mind’s eye? Can you smell the new carpet in your dream practice? Can you hear the laughter of children in your adjusting rooms? Can you taste the satisfaction of watching another miracle unfold in your practice?

How BIG can you visualise? Now I know that I’m the only one who used to think like this: I know you don’t say to yourself: “I just need enough to get by”, “enough for me and my family”. “I’m working towards a new car”. “I’m saving up for my next holiday”. “I want to see X number of patients”….. : THINK BIG!! You should see your practice so full with patients that you have to employ associates to cope, or at least refer them to the struggling DC down the road. You should pray for so much money that you have to give half of it away. Can you see every Australian consulting Chiropractors regularly? The demand for Chiropractic being so great that it takes the Tennis Centre or maybe even the MCG to house the DG Conference?

There is another important point to realise here. Those chickens in the run. Look at them a little closer: You see they too are Eagles! They started as eaglets when they were hatched (Isn’t that just a Chiropractic belief - that we are all born with unlimited potential?). But then they were thrown into the chicken run of control, intervention, and modern sickness care thinking. They have been in the run so long they don’t even know that they are eagles any more. In fact they look at you, standing tall and proud, flexing your enormous wing span and speaking a different language; and to be honest you look strange! You sound different to Dr Turkey….. “Gobble, gobble, gobble”! You look different to Pheasant Physio, who looks so good but does so very little. Is he just a chicken in fine clothes - a clever disguise?

But you have a quest; and I believe this is Chiropractic’s ultimate potential. Your mission, should you choose to accept it. It is up to you to reawaken those Eagles within. No-one else can do it but another Eagle! If I may use Chiropractic terminology for a moment: Teach them about the incredible Universal and Innate powers they are blessed with. Release the universal and innate intelligence with your adjustments. Speak Chiropractic Eagle language. Show them the way by your Chiropractic Eagle example. Those Eagles within them will be inexorably drawn towards you and the life of an Eagle. And here’s the other great news. They will bring all their eagle-apprentice friends along with them!

There is one important ingredient that we mustn’t forget. To give the skill of visualisation POWER we require FAITH. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt over the years, it’s that you have to have faith in something. Maybe for you it is faith in science, perhaps faith in Chiropractic, maybe faith in God, maybe you only have faith in yourself, or perhaps your faith is reliant on the vision of someone else. Let’s face it, there is more unknown in the universe than there is known; and you can only have either faith in your beliefs regarding things unknown, fear of the unknown, or ignorance. The bottom line to me is that you have to decide what YOU have faith in - a conscious decision of what you believe in: To quote a text I often refer to myself: “To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.” Ask yourself: What do you have faith in?

In closing: One warning! Should you choose not to visualise, reach and believe for the life of an Eagle and choose not to plant the visions of better health and a better life as an Eagle to your patients then prepare yourself for a life in the chicken run, with the “b-b-b-backs”, Dr Turkey and Pheasant Physio. Please….. come and soar with the rest of the Chiropractic Eagles!

Click Here To Find Out More About Coaching…