Our Point of Difference!
There are many different types of healthcare, and different ‘ways’ healthcare is offered to us all…
Why are we YOUR health professionals?
What do we differently?
How is the work we do unique?
We help you with a distinct model of healthcare which is different from 'the norm'
We like to think it is unique both in structure and in its aims and the outcomes it creates.
It widens the traditional scope of what you may think is likely, or even possible, regarding health and quality of life.
Our model emerges or arises from within a philosophy of health and a clear paradigm built around wellness and prevention.
The work is about actively pursuing a more VIBRANT LIFE – moving toward better quality of life, better function and toward an ideal or optimal state…
Read more here about paradigm AND our wellness & prevention paradigm.
Read more here about our health centre philosophy.
Consider reading this page in conjunction with the related links, above – there we introduce and discuss more about what philosophy and paradigm are, and how they impact and benefit you.
Our work with you incorporates two inter-related approaches – chiropractic care and health & wellness coaching which both serve to enhance health and wellbeing.
Click this button for a summary of these two elements of your care:
Combining chiropractic care and health & wellness coaching is about so much more than just sore necks and sore backs
(although I do help them too!)
Key ideas and beliefs that make what we do - a different, better approach for you:
Human Health is WAY MORE than just NOT being in PAIN!
Health is better defined in terms of function as opposed to dysfunction or disease.
Just because you ARE NOT SICK, doesn’t mean that you are actually HEALTHY!
Our bodies self-regulate exactly as needed; they can self-heal in incredible ways,
assuming we reduce or remove the things that prevent or interfere with that process.
Under the control of our brain and nervous system of bodies perceive, regulate, coordinate, organise and self-heal.
Our bodies are built to be healthy; we are MEANT to be exceptional
YOU (and your loved ones) are SUPPOSED to be living happy, healthy, vibrant and energised; life is SUPPOSED to be fun, productive, full of laughs and new experiences.
My focus is to help you:
- live a more conscious life,
- develop awareness about the causes of dysfunction and dis-ease (whether subtle or overt!), and
- improve upon whatever state of health and function you are now.
We are DOCTORS who study and assess HEALTHY function, more so than DISEASE!
– Who do think are BEST suited to helping you get WELL and stay WELL for a lifetime?
Health and Healthcare are all about REQUIREMENTS and STRATEGIES:
Having HEALTH is not just random. It doesn't just happen. There are rules.
There are REQUIREMENTS for every human being to express health and wellbeing...
...and the word REQUIREMENT by definition means "ESSENTIAL"
These things are not just “good for us” – many things are good for us! These things are REQUIRED! They are ESSENTIAL. They are a NECESSITY.
And we can be identify what they are.
The PREMISE to these 'RULES' are simple: If we fulfil the REQUIREMENTS of success, then HEALTH (success) will be the natural default STATE! Everything you want is on the verge of happening IF you choose to follow the rules.
Knowing that there are ‘rules’ shows us that being healthy is NOT JUST LUCK – we are in control of that quality and quantity of our lives
(95% of chronic health problems are related to lifestyle-choice)
This formula is a TRULY a panacea, and it works for us all!
- Correct principles (most important part) +
- Consistent Action +
- Time (preferably a lifetime)
= Extraordinary results
Correct PRINCIPLES = Identifying these REQUIREMENTS
Consistent ACTION = Implementing strategies to achieve them!
Then, as we implement these steps, we must always be following up – always checking and correcting…over and over and over.
Imagine if we had consistent check-ins and were successful just 3% of the time
(this is what it took to get astronauts to the moon!)
Health (and moving toward a more vibrant life) is a process not an event!
It is always about progression NOT perfection!
Once we figure out principles that work we then keep repeating them...FOREVER
The bottom line is clear: functioning at YOUR BEST requires many things!
Proactive Healthcare:
The heart of what we do, and what we recommend, is both proactive and preventative.
I want to help you improve your FUNCTION (not only react to the presence of symptoms) and I do my best to help you move toward a state where you are LIVING AT YOUR BEST.
So we address THREE key areas:
- measuring what is working well (and what is not) in one’s life,
(self-assessments, clinical assessments and examination results) - identifying and putting in place strategies so they can work better, and
- eliminating or counteracting what might be compromising a move in this direction of better health and wellbeing.
Our model can only WORK BEST if you set clear goals about where you would like to get to, and get clear on how important it is for you to reach them!
Many people say they believe in the statement 'prevention is better than cure'
I think we can do even better! My re-formulation of the statement reads:
Being PROACTIVE is better than PREVENTION, which is better than CURE"
Understanding what STRESS is and how it IMPACTS us:
Understanding what stress is and how it impacts us is essential.
Most people have only a partial or incomplete understanding of stress – and rarely do we know how ubiquitous it is to both subtle dysfunction and overt disease.
Stress is such an important topic that I have written a whole series of articles outlining different aspects of how stress effects us – please read up on any of the articles below. The first two to read are my Definition of Stress and Human Stress Physiology.
Symptoms, The Healthcare Hierarchy and the Levels of Health Psychology:
What ARE symptoms REALLY?
Symptoms suck! Usually symptoms really impact our quality of life in powerful ways. We’re trained to use symptoms as a measure of how healthy we are – but are they a good measurement?
Sometimes the signals have been there for a long time, but have been more subtle – and we often ignore them as inconvenient or annoying.
Symptoms USUALLY occur very late in any disease/dysfunction process.
Science shows us that they are NOT a great marker for understanding how healthy we are.
And if we delay healthcare until our symptoms are so bad we can’t ignore them any longer – this is NOT a great strategy!
What MOST people call 'symptoms' can be better thought of as "Body Signals"
Symptoms ARE a great signal that our body needs help OR that we’ve exceeded what it can cope with – this much is clear.
I help you understand what causes them and how you can begin to heal them.
We ABSOLUTELY assess and explore symptoms. We definitely want to help you find long-term resolution for them (not stop-gap, short term solutions) – and yet we always approach symptoms from the perspective that they are actually
Intelligent messages FROM your body to YOU that say:
STOP, PAY ATTENTION and CHANGE!
(change behaviours or stress-loads causing body overwhelm)
Symptoms are just ONE piece of the clinical picture we use to help design our best recommendations for you
Proactive and preventative healthcare addresses symptoms when they arise, and identifies ‘niggles’ you may be ignoring as useful messages, but it works best when you have NO SYMPTOMS at all! Many people do first start care with me, with symptoms – but many remain under care once they are ‘apparently healthy’ – seeking support to live even better.
The Healthcare Hierarchy:
And this is a perfect segue to a great, simple metaphor – an illustration of three distinct levels of engagement with healthcare, and where the responsibility for health and being healthy emerges.
This is yet another great idea at develops from our underlying philosophy and paradigm.
Learn more about the Healthcare Hierarchy right here:
There are four levels of Health Psychology:
Depending on where we are in our journey of health, we will operate within one of four structural belief-systems about it – these beliefs also arise out of our personal paradigm or philosophy – either consciously defineed, or not!
The four structural beliefs are:
- A Symptomatic health belief
- A Functional health belief
- A Lifestyle health belief
- A Developmental health belief
Learn more about the Health Psychology right here:
This is why it is so important for us to meet you, learn about your goals and needs and make sure we are offering you the style of care that meets them!
Understanding Toxicity and Deficiency (our EXPANDED definition!):
One interesting idea we share is an expanded definition of the words TOXICITY and DEFICIENCY.
Commonly you most likely think about chemicals, drugs, additives, preservatives or other possible toxins when thinking about toxicity – or maybe nutrients or vitamins or water or oxygen when you think of deficiency.
Let’s break the definition away from referring solely to aspects of chemistry. Read below:
A Toxic Load = your body experiencing too much of something it is not designed to.
A Deficiency State = your body NOT getting enough of something it genetically requires.
Under this framework we can refer to any REQUIREMENT as being something you could be deficient in (something PHYSICAL or CHEMICAL or MENTAL-EMOTIONAL or SOCIAL). Anything that is NOT a requirement for us to express ideal health has the potential to be toxic – and these also come from any of the 4 categories!).
It is our genetic blueprint as ‘homo sapiens’ that determines what our requirements are for purity and sufficiency, and also what represent deficiency or toxicity (they apply in a general, species-wide and species-specific context for ALL members of this same species).
What this means is that a primary factor stopping us expressing our ideal life is:
- Not getting enough the requirements we need ( a deficiency state), OR
- Experiencing some input that is toxic to our needs, or which blocks or Interferes with these normal REQUIREMENTS of life in some way!
One primary REQUIREMENT for ideal health is to understand, identify, avoid, remove (eliminate), reduce, counteract or heal from the effects of toxic loads AND deficiency states which may be current or for which your body may still be trying to process!
- Your innate genetic capacity and the intelligence which drives it, is fixed
- How sufficient and pure your life and lifestyle are relative to the essential requirements of life will determine how close to your full genetic potential you are able to express
- How much deficiency or toxicity you experience will detract from your expression of optimal health and function.
Many people believe in the concept of bio-individuality – where different people need different things for health and wellbeing. There is certainly some truth to this concept however individualised approaches are only relevant above and beyond the ‘species-wide, species-specific’ general requirements that are necessary for everyone.
We must understand that for any living creature to be well, it must be sufficient in the environmental nutrients or raw materials or stimuli that it genetically requires AND ALSO be free from toxicity,
AT THE SAME TIME, FOR A PERIOD OF TIME, before it will express its health potential.
When one provides a human being with the natural ingredients it needs as a self-regulating, self-healing organism and when one removes interferences to these innate abilities - the result is health and healing within the genetic limits of that human being.
"To be truly well, you must do the right things, at the same time, for a period of time, preferably a lifetime!
My Approach
Chiropractic and Health & Wellness coaching are the two inter-related aspects of my care that get such great results for you:
Chiropractic
Chiropractic Care
Health & Wellness Coaching
Health & Wellness Coaching
Spine and nerve-system dysfunction is a prime contributor to body awareness and regulation, and sadly it rarely shows up with overt pain or symptoms.
Identifying and resolving this dysfunction can be powerful – this is what Chiropractic care does!
Health & Wellness Coaching provides advice, strategies and helps you to develop a plan of what you need to change or implement to experience success – and by success, we mean living a better quality of life.
It focuses on finding improvements in areas of life such as Eating, Moving, Thinking, and Social Interaction – making sure we understand validated ideas about what we genetically require in all of these areas.
YOU CONTROL this healthcare experience!
Working toward a more Vibrant Life means different things to different people
It's "Diff'rent Strokes for Diff'rent Folks!"
HEALTH, what it means to be HEALTHY, in addition to WHEN, WHY and HOW OFTEN people seek help from healthcare professionals hold different meaning an importance for different people.
We design our recommendations around YOUR wants and NEEDS!
The great news is YOU get to CHOOSE your journey - what to implement, when and for how long.
From my philosophy and my paradigm, these definitions give you a sense of what they mean to me…
I help people:
- learn AND implement whichever steps that are best for them right now, to go up the ‘next notch’ in living a healthier life
- whatever YOUR meaning of ‘ideal life,’ I tailor what I do to support you most efficiently, finding the best path for you to get the most meaningful results.
- and hopefully over time, I can inspire you toward engaging on a more comprehensive pathway to achieving a more Vibrant Life – your best life…
The combination of Chiropractic and Health & Wellness Coaching that is right for your situation, can (and often will) vary depending on who you are and what your health goals happen to be. And those goals are likely to change over time. You will achieve some, and re-prioritise others – and this is cause for celebration because your needs and wants are a key part of the evidence-informed healthcare I aspire to.
Another key commitment we have in our approach for your health is making sure we are regularly assessing your progress to ensure our care-plan is matching your goals.
We help you to move one step or two steps forward or help you make wholesale change! Your choice. Always!
Click this button to see how different people approach us, for different types of care:
