Most people don’t know my full background. They know I have ambition, they know I am committed to others, but many people don’t know I have literally been bred for this my whole life. From my middle and high school band instructors to the numerous tennis coaches, from my superiors at West Point and the values of West Point in general, to the many many many global chiropractic leaders, I have been programmed from a very young age to lead and strive to be the best version of myself.
I said in a post on Instagram recently that achieving the Diplomate in the Academy Council of Chiropractic Pediatrics, or DACCP – distinction that makes our practice 1 out of 67 in the world with the highest level of expertise in caring for pregnant and pediatric patients – means a lot to me.
I am going to expand on that a little bit here because it’s worthy of recognition, but mostly it’s worthy of contemplation.
For those of you reading this, you know chiropractic not only ‘works’, but to me it is the most effective form of care that maximizes the body’s innate ability to heal itself optimally.
There are only about 100,000 chiropractors globally and about 70,000 in the states. This is important because in the USA alone, there are over 1 million medical doctors and 10-15 million globally. We are a tiny profession but we collectively have a massive purpose and void to fill in the world.
A tiny profession with a history of “disadvantages” preventing ‘success’ and impact in the modern healthcare world, but we make a dent in the world – your world.
Did you know we have faced medical discrimination for the majority of our existence?
Did you know many chiropractors were jailed for ‘practicing medicine without a license’?
Did you know the American Medical Association was found guilty for an illegal boycott against chiropractic? That they had a commission on ‘quackery’ whose mission was to contain and eliminate chiropractic?
I have a dream that one day our little profession will come to know what it’s truly capable of. For over 15 years, I’ve done everything I could to learn first what it was like to be a Chiropractic patient, then a student, and now the clinician for 11 years. I can’t say I know it all, but I can say I’ve taken a deep dive into Chiropractic which I consider the most beautiful profession in the world.
As a patient for nearly 2 years before I went to chiropractic school I learned what it felt like to function at an optimal level. I knew intimately–and still do today because healing is a journey–what it feels like for your body to self-heal from severely chronic problems which our modern world inevitably creates in us if we live by default.
As a student, I was told by many of my mentors if I was not in seminars every weekend then I wouldn’t be prepared to meet the needs of my patients upon graduation. While in chiropractic school I navigated to three of the most foundational post graduate programs I could find.
The first program I fully completed what the Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner (CCWP) led by the brilliant Dr. James Chestnut. This course gave me the depth of a philosophically and scientifically valid lens to look through regarding optimal healing. When 99% of the healthcare field myopically sees the world through an allopathic disease-treatment lens, Dr. Chestnut’s teachings provided a lens that did not violate traditional Western Allopathy, but showed me how incomplete it is when the goal is whole person health.
Trying to use conventional medicine to create true health is like trying to see the whole room while looking through a keyhole–and I’ll tell you, sometimes that is infinitely important.
Medicine has saved my life three times!
In the business of saving lives in an emergent state, there’s no system better than western conventional allopathic medicine and we collectively should be so grateful for that. When you’re trying to facilitate self-healing and self-regulation of life itself, it’s not that medicine isn’t smart enough, it isn’t that they aren’t well-intended good people, it’s just simply not possible to heal at the root in our conventional medical model.
Medicine is like the fire department. They use axes and fires hoses (drugs and surgery) to save your house (life).
But who in their right mind would call the fire department to rebuild your home the next day?
The second program I started early on in chiropractic school was through the Carrick Institute. I’m almost board eligible for the Diplomate of the American Chiropractic Neurology Board. Dr. Ted Carrick is the leading authority on functional neurology globally. Admittedly I still have one course to take and I don’t know if I’m gonna take it throughout my career. The rigor of the content is not totally applicable to my style of practice. But what I will tell you is those who have mastered the field of functional neurology, know more about the vast capacity of the human nervous system to heal and self-regulate the body than any other human beings on the planet.
While conventional neurologists and neurosurgeons may know the depths of the figures physical structure, anatomical landscapes of the nervous system, and how to influence those systems through precision-based artist like surgeries and drug therapies, they are outpaced when it comes to function and potential in the human nervous system by docs trained in functional neurology. All it takes is one experience of grand rounds with Dr. Carrick and you witness miracles, without drugs, which heal the most chronic of neurodegenerative conditions.
The Diplomate in the Academy Council of Chiropractic Pediatrics (DACCP) through the ICPA, afforded me one of the highest levels of education in existence that explores the miracle that is the intelligence of life. Life itself is the expression of this infinite intelligence which surrounds us, which breathes life and healing into the depths of our core.
More expectant mothers are looking for chiropractors with the Webster certification to help optimize their birthing experience. Dr. Larry Webster was the pioneer of prenatal and pediatric chiropractic and his technique is a must for all those who are seeking care during pregnancy. What most people don’t know is the Webster certification is the first course of 15 courses for the Certification by the Academy Council of Chiropractic Pediatrics (CACCP) – the certification we qualified for five years ago.
The 15 courses are what I believe to be the base knowledge one needs to truly help families heal at a deeper level. I will be honest, a new graduate with a Webster certification and a zeal for serving mommas will be an awesome doctor for many families. But the 15 courses and the written exam necessary to complete the CACCP is where chiropractors know in the depths of their souls that what they do works. Their recommendations become more about what patients NEED versus what they want and it begins the process of building true cultural authority as a community leader.
When I posted about the diplomate (DACCP), I knew it would have to sit with me for a little before I knew truly what to say. It is very clear to me now where I believe this milestone will take us as a practice and business, a podcast, and soon to be non-profit organization.
The diplomate has built in me a level of conviction for the type of care we provide. The founder of chiropractic, DD Palmer, stated on many occasions the deepest intention and realization of chiropractic was to reconnect “man the physical with man the spiritual”. That may be a little esoteric but the truth is this…
We live in a disconnected world.
We are disconnected from God: the brilliant intelligence of the universe.
We are disconnected from our ancestry, heritage and lineage.
We are disconnected from our countries. (Nowhere is this more visible and tangible than in America where FREEDOM is now viewed as SELFISH.)
We are disconnected from our families.
But most importantly, we are disconnected from ourselves – holistically – our bodies, minds and souls.
And the modern world, including the conventional healthcare system, only promotes this disconnection. The greatest evidence is found in how we’ve been able to be convinced globally to fear healthy people.
So yes, the DACCP includes 400 hours of training to continue the journey of mastery for prenatal and pediatric chiropractic which includes:
- Assessment and Application of Family Practice Knowledge
- Clinical Contribution to Research
- Clinical Results
- Critical Thinking
- Effective Writing Skills
- Patient Education
- Effective Communication Skills
- Clinical Skills
- CPR/First Aid Certification
Yes, we had to participate in building the body of research and science in our field.
Yes, we had to get a case study accepted for publication.
Yes, we had to have our clinical expertise audited.
But more than anything, the EFFECT of all of these requirements is a level of conviction that I don’t think I could have been prepared for.
Do you ever have those moments where you KNOW that you in the right place at the right time doing the right thing? That everything in the whole experience of your life is preparing you for the here and now.
When I received the call from Justin Ohm, son of the great Jeanne Ohm and Executive Director of the ICPA, informing me I had completed my last requirement and I was the newest DACCP, I just about fell to my knees.
I have done some big things in my life… but this one hit me in my soul.
My whole life flashed in front of me: past, present and future.
We decided to stay open from the beginning of the quarantine. A lot of it because YOU all were in need of support for your own family well-being throughout all the chaos, hysteria and uncertainty. We went out on a limb and truly committed to speak out for many of you to guard your mind and heart from the FEAR regardless of what you believed about COVID-19. Our world was and still is so divided in all of this. Polarization ran so deep that Chiropractors were turning in other chiropractors for staying open or even talking about the immune system and chiropractic.
We realized quickly that not only did those of you who have been a part of our community for years need us, but so many new patients were seeking out the exact support we have always been committed to providing. This surprised us realizing our practice could and must grow during a lockdown–not because we planned to, but more so because we asked ourselves the honest question:
Do people need our care MORE or less during a time of chaos, fear and uncertainty?
Is our care MORE or less ESSENTIAL in times of chaos, fear and uncertainty?
The unequivocal answer was MORE in both cases.
We started a podcast, not because we have any time for anything extra, but because so many of our families have moved out of California and I have heard for years that many of you wished we were also in communities where your loved ones are. So with the podcast, we are literally global… we have had listens in over 30 countries! And the feedback has been clear… you all want more life changing content in support of your freedom to make your healthcare choices.
We know it’s time to build our community around the values we (and you) hold dear. The ability to choose for your own family is not just a core tenet of healthcare (Informed Consent), but that right is afforded to us by the Constitution. It is wholly American to make healthcare and all choices for our families. We are honored you choose us and we promise to ensure we stay focused and have our FG flag deeply planted in the sand with conviction in the name of healthcare focused on the optimal expression of life as we know it. We commit to providing excellent care and a healing space focused on optimal neural integrity and function.
We pray humbly that the world finds solace in the face of so much polarization. We appreciate knowing we have been successful in providing that place of true normalcy in our private practice. My intention is to honor those pioneers in chiropractic who saw this trend in healthcare and sought to defend against medical tyranny. They predicted the domination of one medical perspective and many went to jail not to fight against medicine but live, breathe and serve in support of LIFE, health and optimal healing.
I want you to know my level of conviction is at their level and I will live the rest of my life in service of these values. If you are wondering, yes, I will go to jail for your health freedom and dare I say it, I would give my life for a world where I know my child’s life will be free. I will not rest until the world knows what our true potential is, that we aren’t genetically born with chronic illness in our genes and that it is our choices today that most echo into an eternity of health or illness. I want our kids to know a life without pharmaceutical dependency, but more so a life where their inborn potential is only limited by where their imagination can take them.
Our team has said for many years now, we envision a world where natural living (especially pregnancy and birth), self-healing and chiropractic are NORMAL in every household.
I served the American flag in uniform before and you should know our Future Generations flag stands proudly planted to defend your health freedom today.
I love you all. None of this happens without you.
Welcome to the next evolution of Future Generations.