When patients feel good, things get weird.

John asked a great question in the AP group: after a holiday break, patients came back happy, pain-free, and wanting to stretch out visits. Not because they were disengaging, but because they were doing well.

Which is harder to handle than pain.

Here’s the problem beneath the problem:
Feeling good reinforces Pain logic.
Pain logic says: “If I feel fine, I don’t need care.”

We break the situation down into five ideas:

• Beliefs drive behaviour
“I’ve felt fine” isn’t a statement, it’s a worldview. Pain or early Prevention logic. Totally consistent with their experience.

• Experience beats explanation
People trust what they feel more than what we tell them. Feeling good is persuasive. Lectures about prevention aren’t.

• Holidays lie
Different stress. Lower demand. No deadlines. Physiology behaves. The wobble shows up when normal life returns.

• Testing changes the frame
Progress exams are a better story: function before symptoms. Data before opinion. It shifts the goal from “pain gone” to “everything working.”

• Agree to experiment
If they want to push spacing out, make it a trial: tag-testing, clear checkpoints, shared decision-making. Collaboration instead of drift.

The bigger idea:
Reactivations and spacing aren’t clinical problems, they’re belief problems. If you understand the belief, you don’t have to push, sell, or convince. You just guide

To learn more about Aligned Practice

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/products/communities/aligned-practice

Check out the Retention Recipe https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/retention-recipe-2-0

To learn more about Reactivate to Accelerate

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/reactivate

Learn more about Daily Visit Communication 2.0

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/daily-visit

Email me - [email protected]

What does modern chiropractic education look like when it’s grounded in philosophy, neurology, and real clinical reps from day one?

In this episode of Under the Influence, I’m joined by Alex Whittingham, a final-year chiropractic student at the Barcelona College of Chiropractic and a third-generation chiropractor.

We unpack what makes the Barcelona model different: three full years in clinic, early responsibility, and a curriculum that hasn’t drifted away from manual adjusting, innate intelligence, and the concept of subluxation.

Alex shares how being forced to communicate in Spanish stripped his explanations back to their essentials, and why that’s helped him avoid one of the biggest traps chiropractors fall into: over-explaining.

We explore a brain-based, afferent model of chiropractic care, the idea of the spine as the nervous system’s armour, and why movement matters more than alignment alone.

We also talk about the personal side: resisting the family profession, finding purpose on a mission trip in India, and choosing chiropractic not because it was inherited, but because it works.

This is a thoughtful conversation about clarity, confidence, and learning to influence one patient at a time.

Check out the Retention Recipe https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/retention-recipe-2-0

To learn more about Reactivate to Accelerate

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/reactivate

Learn more about Daily Visit Communication 2.0

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/daily-visit

Email me - [email protected]

Most chiropractors think the answer is “more”: more staff, more hours, more moving parts.

In this episode, Martin sits down with Kirsti Janse Van Vuuren, a UK chiropractor who did the opposite. She stripped her practice back to something rare in 2025: a purely principled, subluxation-focused, no-staff practice that still creates real impact… and leaves her with time and headspace for her kids and her life.

We get into:

• How she moved from a pain-based, mechanistic model to a principled, subluxation-centred one

• Why she deliberately chose a solo, staff-free practice (and how she makes it work)

• “Structure craetes freedom” — the scheduling and systems that protect both her patients and her family time

• The role of mentorship and peer groups in keeping you grounded, growing, and not lonely

• How she handles lifestyle conversations while staying focused on chiropractic’s distinct purpose

• The books, mentors, and frameworks that shaped her thinking

If you’ve ever thought, “There has to be a simpler, more principled way to practice,” this episode will give you a real-world example of what that actually looks like.

Check out the Retention Recipe https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/retention-recipe-2-0

To learn more about Reactivate to Accelerate

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/reactivate

Learn more about Daily Visit Communication 2.0

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/daily-visit

Email me - [email protected]

How Choice Makes People Say Yes Faster

The final episode of The Care Plan Paradox.

Most chiropractors think offering choices makes them look uncertain.
In reality, it makes people commit faster.

In the final episode of The Care Plan Paradox, Martin Harvey breaks down why bounded choice — not authority — is what creates trust, commitment and follow-through in care plans.

You’ll learn:

– why people resist strong recommendations, even when they’re right
– how “forced choice” triggers reactance
– what behavioural science and Galinsky’s research say about giving 2–3 good options
– why autonomy increases adherence
– how to structure care plan options so they all work clinically
– how to offer payment options without feeling salesy
– and the exact phrases that make people feel in control while following your lead

If Episodes 1 and 2 explained why care plans matter, Episode 3 explains how to help people say yes to the plan that will actually help them change.

This wraps up the Care Plan Paradox mini-series — but the ideas here will shape how you communicate recommendations forever.

To learn more about the "Guardrails: How to Keep Patients on Track When Life Gets Busy" Webinar https://www.tickettailor.com/events/scotlandcollegecharitabletrust/1958894

Check out the Retention Recipe https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/retention-recipe-2-0

To learn more about Reactivate to Accelerate

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/reactivate

Learn more about Daily Visit Communication 2.0

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/daily-visit

Email me - [email protected]

Most chiropractors don’t overservice.
They underdose.

In this episode of The Care Plan Paradox, Martin explains why great adjustments can produce average results. Not because the technique was wrong, but because the dose, density, and direction were too weak to create real neurological or soft-tissue change.

You’ll learn:

– Why sporadic care destroys momentum
– How long gaps make patterns snap straight back
– What the Haas studies actually showed about visit frequency
– Why early, dense care isn’t sales… It’s physiology
– And how to explain this without sounding pushy

If you’ve ever wondered why some people take off like rockets, and others crawl for weeks, this episode joins the dots.

To learn more about the "Guardrails: How to Keep Patients on Track When Life Gets Busy" Webinar https://www.tickettailor.com/events/scotlandcollegecharitabletrust/1958894

Check out the Retention Recipe https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/retention-recipe-2-0

To learn more about Reactivate to Accelerate

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/reactivate

Learn more about Daily Visit Communication 2.0

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/daily-visit

Email me - [email protected]

Most chiropractors don’t sabotage people with bad adjustments.
They sabotage them with kindness.

“Let’s just see how you go.”
It sounds supportive.
It feels patient-centred.
But it quietly sets people up to fail.

In the first episode of a podcast series, The Care Plan Paradox, Martin breaks down why this gentle phrase creates:
– false expectations
– early dropout
– misaligned timelines
– and exactly the kind of stop–start care nobody wants

You’ll learn why people naturally underestimate their problem, why “feeling a bit better” tricks them into stopping too soon, and why clarity beats kindness every single time.

If you’ve ever struggled with people disappearing once the pain drops to a “2 out of 10,” this episode will change how you think about care plans, and how you talk to people about their recovery.

Check out the Retention Recipe https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/retention-recipe-2-0

To learn more about Reactivate to Accelerate

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/reactivate

Learn more about Daily Visit Communication 2.0

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/daily-visit

Email me - [email protected]

That “new car” feeling fades fast.
Not because the car changed, but because you did.

It’s called hedonic drift , the brain’s built-in habit of taking good things for granted.
And it’s quietly eroding your patient retention.

In this episode, Martin unpacks how hedonic drift shows up in chiropractic care. When people stop noticing progress and start seeing care as optional.

You’ll learn simple ways to re-ignite appreciation, measure backward, and link care to what patients truly value, so your results feel meaningful again.

Practical, psychology-driven, and ready to use on Monday morning.

Check out the Retention Recipe https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/retention-recipe-2-0

To learn more about Reactivate to Accelerate

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/reactivate

Learn more about Daily Visit Communication 2.0

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/daily-visit

Email me - [email protected]

When Dr Hayden Nadolny lost the ability to move, everything he believed about health was tested.

In this conversation, Martin talks with Hayden, a second-generation chiropractor, about how a sudden battle with Guillain-Barré Syndrome shifted his entire view of practice, leadership, and life.

From three and a half years of fly-in, fly-out work to taking over his father’s practice, Hayden’s story is one of discipline, empathy, and presence.

They explore how recovery taught him to slow down, connect more deeply, and see that real impact often comes from giving one person your full attention.

A grounded, insightful conversation about what happens when paralysis, literally, leads to presence.

Check out the Retention Recipe https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/retention-recipe-2-0

To learn more about Reactivate to Accelerate

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/reactivate

Learn more about Daily Visit Communication 2.0

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/daily-visit

Email me - [email protected]

Some patients test your boundaries.
They talk over you.
They tell you what they “need.”
And suddenly, you feel like the passenger in your own consultation.

In this episode, Martin breaks down how to handle power dynamics in practice, especially with dominant, symptom-focused personalities.

You’ll learn:

• Why these patients push back (and what belief drives it)

• How to keep authority without confrontation

• The subtle communication shifts that turn control battles into connection

If you’ve ever left a consult thinking, “I lost that one,” this episode will help you win back your confidence.

Check out the Retention Recipe https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/retention-recipe-2-0

To learn more about Reactivate to Accelerate

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/reactivate

Learn more about Daily Visit Communication 2.0

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/daily-visit

Email me - [email protected]

“It’s to serve.”
That’s how Dr Paul Bergamo explains why he’s running for the ACA Board—and how he’s lived his career for 30 years.

In this conversation, Paul unpacks the mindset that’s kept him learning, collaborating, and leading. From his father’s post-war immigrant story to his “brains trust” model of professional growth, his life is a masterclass in purpose and perseverance.

In this episode:

• Why he believes the first four years are the most fragile in chiropractic.

• How to build a career through collaboration, not competition.

• What legacy means when your father arrived in Australia with one suitcase.

• Why service is the antidote to burnout.

• The mission trip that’s reigniting his sense of gratitude.

It’s equal parts philosophy, leadership, and love letter to a profession that’s given him everything.

To learn more about Hands on India https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cJOjY1bSLM

To reserve your gala dinner ticket, please make a $50 donation deposit here:

https://hands-on-india-2025-26.raiselysite.com/paul-bergamo

Learn more about Daily Visit Communication 2.0

https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/daily-visit

Check out the Retention Recipe https://insideoutpractices.thinkific.com/courses/retention-recipe-2-0

Email me - [email protected]