http://www.patientcentred.co.uk/

Patient Centred Training, Sevenoaks (2026)

14/04/2026

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧

(“𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵?” 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵… 5, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬?)

So last week’s email certainly got a fair bit of attention… and made a few folks feel some feelings….

(𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵, 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘍𝘠𝘐 - 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳)

After all, folks who are married to their technique system don't usually like it when you question it’s assumptions…

But I did also get some more thoughtful responses, including a few who have been on my list more or less since the beginning.

I’ve been discussing this topic informally for a while now, and every time I do, a sizable fraction of practitioners tell me they really relate to the challenge.

“How do I know what to focus on, when everyone says they’re right?”

But there’s also a common question that tends to come up when I suggest taking a more personalised approach to assessments:

“𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹?”

After all most of my audience don’t have long half-hour plus appointments (and neither do I, in fact).

It’s understandable to equate being “more thorough” to needing more time.

Longer assessments, more testing, more education…

… more things to think about.

And if like me you run a tight ship in terms of appointment length, that sounds like the last thing you need.

Deep down, I think a lot of practitioners carry around this unspoken assumption:

“𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘤 𝘫𝘰𝘣, 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴… 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦”

But whilst I used to think this way myself, I’ve come to realise over time that it’s not actually true.

In fact, sometimes the opposite is the case.

What I’ve learned from working with some truly great, best-in-the-world practitioners, is that the thing that wastes time in practice isn’t being more thorough…

… it’s making poor choices early on, and going down the wrong path for several visits before realising the error.

It’s defaulting to the same familiar patterns with patients, and then having to course-correct later when it doesn’t work.

Or, like I talked about in a recent email, doing the whole eclectic “a bit of this… a bit of that…” approach, and hoping something happens to stick.

That’s what slows you down - it creates uncertainty, both in you and your patient, and leaves you feeling you’re circling the issue rather than solving it.

So yeah, more tests can take a bit more time, and unnecessary complexity 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 does.

But better reasoning… that does the opposite.

And often it can simplify things dramatically.

(Note I didn’t say “made things easier”... if simplifying was easy, we’d all do it)

Because instead of wondering which of the 5 different approaches you could with this patient, you start getting clear on what would move the needle the most, right now.

Both in terms of what’s driving the underlying issue, but also what 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 need your attention right now.

It doesn’t always mean you’ll get that miracle result in the first 30 seconds (though on the occasions it does, it feels great!)

Sometimes it can mean you just get there with less wandering (and less wondering, in fact), and less second-guessing.

I think a lot of what confuses us as clinicians if we’ve been false a false dichotomy, of two unappealing choices:

1. Stick to a technique system, let it do the thinking for you, and hope it works… or
2. Become a deeply thoughtful and painstakingly detailed clinicians, with 2 hour assessments, and 40 minute follow ups.

Now if either of those are your jam, more power to you.

But they aren’t the only options.

As it turns out, there’s a version of practice that is both more thoughtful, AND more efficient.

It allows you to stay curious without being overwhelmed, and offer individualised care that’s also decisive and action-oriented.

And for me, that appeals a whole lot more - because if I’m being completely honest, I don't have a whole lot of interest in changing my practice to something “slower” and more draining.

For me, I needed something clearer, that was adaptive and flexible without becoming chaotic and confused.

Once I realised that I didn’t have to “choose” between those options, my practice not only got better… it got a whole lot more fun too

I’ll be sharing more in the next couple of weeks on this - but for now, if you’re feeling stuck in that binary choice of “fast but incomplete” or “detailed but slow”, rest assured - those 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 the only paths.

Chat to you Thursday.

09/04/2026

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒…

It feels a bit uncomfortable to admit this, but until a few years ago, I wasn’t actually as patient-centred as I thought I was.

I’d started out in practice as a fairly traditional chiro, in a pretty transactional mindset, until I discovered a new and exciting way to practise - a genuine form of patient-centred care, not the transactional “patient-centred lite” version most of us were taught.

That discovery changed a lot for me: the way I communicated with patients and even how I thought about communication.

It was a massive shift in perspective.

Plus, it not only got me better results, but made me fall in love with chiropractic all over again.

The doubts, insecurities, and mental load I’d been subconsciously carrying around for years just melted away.

I started listening better, getting more curious, and practising in a way that felt both more The difference was so big that I knew I had to share it.

That’s where Patient Centred Training came from.

And over the years I’ve had the privilege of teaching those communication skills to others, and seeing the same kind of shift happen for them too.

For a while, I thought I’d solved it…

… but in hindsight, I realised I hadn’t gone far enough.

Because although those communication skills made me more patient-centred in one part of practice, I gradually realised that wasn’t true of all of it.

In particular, my assessment and examination.

And much as it pains me to admit it, that was something I hadn’t really questioned deeply enough.

I’d be having a genuinely open, individual, patient-centred conversation with someone...
..and then I’d put them through an assessment process that looked suspiciously similar to the last 10 patients.

Same exam flow, same line of thinking, same underlying assumptions about what mattered most…

… so whilst I’d changed the conversation, a lot of the clinical reasoning that followed was still being shaped by my models, habits, and preferences.

Rather doctor-centred, if I’m honest.

That’s not to take away from the rest - I was doing a significantly better job than I had been a few years before - and so were the colleagues I’d trained and mentored.

But over time I came to realise that those skills were necessary, but not sufficient.

After all, if the way I examined, interpreted, and prioritised different problems was still being organised by my mental model, then I couldn’t really claim to be truly patient centred.

That realisation, when it finally sunk in, hit me hard.

And I realised it’s one that almost all of us are stuck in - whether we realise it or not.

Because if you get your communication skills down, it’s easy to assume the deeper issues are solved - when in reality, you’ve just kicked the can down the road somewhat.

Sure, the relationship feels a lot better, patients are more enthusiastic and empowered about care, and you feel more aligned with your own values…

… but if the underlying logic guiding treatment is running on these older, inherited models, things can start to feel a bit routine again.

It’s just more subtle this time.

It turns out that being patient centred has more to do with the words you use, or how well you listen and understand - it has to shape how you think clinically as well.

And the truth is, I didn’t figure that out by myself.

I was fortunate enough to stumble across something that solved that problem for me too.

That said, it’s not for everyone.

But if you read these emails and keep finding yourself nodding along, or recognise yourself in any of the topics I’ve discussed in these last couple of weeks, there’s a good chance you’ll understand exactly why this matters.

I’ve been wanting to share this properly for a couple of years now, but I didn’t want to rush it before it was ready.

In a couple of weeks, I’ll be sending you a new free training.

And it’s unlike anything I’ve shared before - not because it’s flashy or “new” in the usual “mutton dressed as lamb” marketing sense ;)

But because I genuinely think it has the potential to change how a lot of quality, thoughtful practitioners experience practice altogether.

More on that soon…

07/04/2026

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭

“𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵?” 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝘗𝘵.3

Thursday’s email went into the first trap most of us fall into when we feel we’re not getting the results we want to:

Getting more “tools for your toolbox”.

So you go to another seminar, find another guru, learn another system… and hope this will be the one to make things “click”.

But after a while, and having been on the “technique rollercoaster” a few times, many folks realise they’re just rereading history.

The result that all too often, they escape the “toolbox trap” only to fall into another, more subtle one:

The “eclectic trap”.

Initially, it seems like a smart move - and the only way off the rollercoaster.

Instead of choosing a technique system to go all in on, you decide to pick and choose parts from various systems.

“𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘖𝘛 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨…

“… 𝘢𝘥𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨…

“… 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 / 𝘈𝘙𝘛 / 𝘎𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨…”

Make your own personal pick’n’mix grab bag of different methods.

In fairness, this is a step forward - definitely better than trying to push all patients through one rigid system.

And by this point you’ve probably realised something important - no single technique system has all the answers.

(This is one of my biggest gripes with systems - they might pay lip service to the idea that “this isn’t perfect for everyone”, but then they teach it as if it’s infallible)

It’s a necessary part of clinical maturation.

However, whilst eclecticism is a step forward from the toolbox trap, it still doesn’t help you make informed clinical decisions - you still don’t know how to choose which approach for the patient in front of you.

You might have more options, but that doesn’t help you make better decisions.

The best you can do is this - make up your own unofficial system.

Except, if you’re honest with yourself, it isn’t so much a system as a collection of preferences…

… based around the things you’re already good at…

… that happened to work in the past…

… and don’t conflict with what you’ve been telling patients all this time.

(I feel that last one personally - it held me back for a long time!)

So whilst it allows you to feel more open-minded and less dogmatic, you’re still following an approach that has more to do with your own preferences than any clear logic.

And the problems don’t end there either, because each technique comes with its own assumptions about how the body works - its own built-in map, explanations for why symptoms occur, and ideas of what the “real” cause of their issues is.

For SOT that’s cranio-pelvic balance and CSF flow.

For ART it’s adhesions in the tissues.

For DNS it’s faulty movement patterns from childhood.

When you start mixing these belief systems together, you aren’t really escaping that issue.

And sometimes you end up working with several conflicting maps at once.

And just like many of us do with our “toolboxes”, you probably start doing one of two things:

Either you fit the patient into whichever model appeals to you the most (like picking your favourite tool)...

… or bounce between different models haphazardly.

It’s a level up from the toolbox trap, but still doesn’t feel all that great.

Because deep down, you still know you’re guessing - and don’t fully trust your own reasoning.

You’re still facing the problem of “how do I know where to start?”

So yes, being eclectic is better than being dogmatic, but don’t mistake flexibility for clarity.

Without a reliable framework for how to make these decisions - and to decide what to prioritise for each individual patient - many experienced practitioners still end up unsure of how best to help their patients.

I think this is where a lot of decent DC’s end up - outgrowing the idea of systems, but unsure of how to best navigate beyond them.

Again, if this feels familiar, I’m talking from personal experience here as well.

Part of the issue is that even when you move beyond one technique system, it can leave a kind of “mental residue”

You may have abandoned its one-size-fits-all ideas consciously… but parts of those models are often still shaping your perspective.

And not just what you notice in patients, but what you choose to ignore, and what you think a patient “really” needs.

That’s what I want to unpack next week.

02/04/2026

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬…”

𝘛𝘩𝘦 “𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵?” 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝘗𝘵.2

Last week I talked about a rarely discussed risk factor for practitioner burnout: losing your curiosity.

Not only can it leave you feeling like you’re stuck in a rut, or have lost their spark - it also prevents you from showing up as your best self for patients.

Which is a shame, as it’s obviously not what most of us set out to become when we started our careers.

Today, I want to share a big reason why - one that we almost all fall prey to…

One of the hardest things about being a chiropractor - or any clinician, really - is the inevitable uncertainty of clinical practice.

You never really know how each patient will respond.

This in itself can be quite stressful at times.

But the deeper issue is how we usually try to solve the problem.

When we’re struggling with a case, or a treatment seems inconsistent, or we’re just not getting the results we want, it’s natural to assume it’s because we’re missing something.

So we do what comes naturally here - we go and learn something new.

Maybe it’s some new adjustments.

Or a cool new tool.

Or a new technique system.

(And what complicates things further is that every new technique system comes with its own built-in way of interpreting the patient in front of you)

I’ve done this in both my chiropractic career, and my amateur-barista career too.

In the coffee world, they often talk about “Gear Acquisition Syndrome:

You start with a small hand grinder and an AeroPress, but before you know it, you’ve got a shelf full of various brewers, you’re testing the mineral content of your water, and complaining that your newer fancy grinder doesn’t produce the right particle size distribution for the light-roast pour over brews you’re now into…

(I wish I was exaggerating…)

And although you’d think all that new gear would make your coffee better than ever, for a lot of people it doesn’t.

If anything, the results become less predictable, because now there are even more variables in play.

Things end up looking very similar in chiropractic too - you collect techniques, go on seminars, pick up new gadgets, adding various “tools to your toolbox”.

Each time, you hope you’ve finally got the answer - found the solution to creating consistent results.

Then a few months later, you realise you’re still in much the same place.

Yes, you probably took something useful from it.

But you still don’t feel like you have a reliable way to decide what to use, when to use it, or why.

After a few rounds, most practitioners resort to “playing the hits”

They use what they’re most comfortable with…

…what’s worked before…

…and when that doesn’t work, they try something else - usually whatever that most recent seminar taught.

Or worse, you just start throwing random tools at the problem.

And if you’re being honest, whilst you might want to dress it up as “multi-modal care”, deep down it feels like you’re just throwing everything at it to see what sticks.

You’re still just guessing, and making it up as you go.

It’s why I’ve ranted before about the “tools for your toolbox” metaphor, and how it leads so many of us down this path.

But if you’re feeling called out here, that’s not my point.

This isn’t your fault.

It’s just the natural outcome of being shown a bunch of different ways to help people… but not being shown a reliable way to choose between them.

So you’re not just collecting tools, you’re also collecting different lenses.

And although each one starts to feel like the answer for a while, after the shine wears off you realise they all seem to conflict.

Interestingly, once practitioners realise that simply collecting more tools isn’t solving the problem, most of them make a second move that seems smart on the surface... but still doesn’t really fix it.

But you’ll have to check out next week’s email for that ;)

31/03/2026

“𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐮𝐲’𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬…”

“𝘍^^𝘬! 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦… 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 2 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴!!!!

That’s what a colleague sent to me this weekend, after discussing a recent case of his…

We’d been talking about treatment plans, and in particular how to know when to space visits out.

I asked what he was thinning in this case, and his response was a fairly common one:

“Probably twice a week for 2 weeks, then once a week for another 3-4…”
“Okay,” I replied, “𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 - 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 4 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 8?”

Now, I’m not sharing this to get into how much treatment is appropriate, or how often we should be reviewing our patients - that depends on both the case and the clinician.

My point was to highlight a rule we have had in our clinic for many years:

“𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰.”

Imagine if a GP prescribed a patient blood pressure medication, and then changed the dose halfway before rechecking the pressure a month later.

They’d have no way of knowing how effective the earlier dose was.

That goes just as much for changing the dose of your treatments
Were they dosing too high at the start? Too low now? Did the dose change even matter?

You’ve no idea.

Yet for some reason, this is still the way a lot of chiropractors practice too.
We start with a thorough exam, looking for objective data, running functional tests, etc - and quite rightly refuse to make a plan without doing that.

But then, once care starts… suddenly we treat those same findings as optional - making decisions solely on how a patient feels that day.

And then we complain when patients stop as soon as their symptoms ease - ignoring the fact that we 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 them to do just that!

After all, if your decision making is based purely on symptoms, why wouldn’t theirs be??

When I explained that to my colleague, he sent me that text back.

And when I told him it’s a surprisingly common mistake, he came back with:

“𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴…𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 ‘𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘢𝘮’”

There’s some real truth there…

But also, there’s another layer to this - let’s say you recommend spacing their visits out, and then they regress.

If you did that after a proper review, it at least looks like a reasoned clinical judgement that didn’t work out.

But if you did it on the fly… now it just looks like you’re making things up as you go.

That's why we’ve had that rule in our clinic for years.

“But Chris, what if they don’t need that many visits?”

Simple - bring the review forward instead.

That way you’re not reacting to a single “good day” that turned out to be an outlier…

… you’re still making decisions mashed on data, not guessing…

… and your patient can clearly see the logic in each step.

Because yes, whilst outcomes do matter, so does trust - and that’s a lot harder to rebuild than just calming down a flare-up.

So whatever frequency you recommend - don’t change it until you’ve reviewed them first.

It’ll save you (and your patients) a lot of unnecessary problems down the line…

P.S. Tonight is the final chance to get an early-bird seat at my Patient Experience Masterclass in June please see comment for more information.

20/03/2026

𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞

Just a quick one today - I recently joined Kevin Christie on his Modern Chiropractic Mastery podcast for a great conversation.

I always enjoy our conversations, and this was probably my favourite to date - delivering a first class patient experience in the age of AI.

As many of you know, I’ve been exploring this a lot the last couple of years, and have so far made a couple of predictions that turned out to be band on the money:

ChatGPT-written posts being increasingly obvious and a massive turn off for many…

Rookie coaches using fake images and lazy AI-generated ideas to fake credibility
This episode discusses a couple more, including one that will affect all of us - regardless of whether you’re using AI or not.

Check it out at one of the below links in the comments and find out why, and what you need to do to 𝐧𝐨𝐰 to avoid getting caught out.

And if you want some help, Kevin and I are teaming up for a one-day deep dive on this exact topic.

Whether you’re 20 years in, just started your own practice, or are planning to do so in the next year or two, this is for you.

Early bird discount expired at the end of the month, so get yours now for the best possible price, link in the comments.

But whether you choose to join us or not, check out that podcast episode to make sure you’re not left behind.

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢’𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨…

17/03/2026

𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜

“𝘐𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵” 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧…

It’s September 2025, and I’m in the middle of a 4 day trip up to Edinburgh to attend the Lost Evenings music festival.

It had been put together by Frank Turner, a former punk & hardcore musician who became part of the north London Folk scene in the early 2000’s.

Teenage Chris was a massive Frank fan, and you could say that whole rebellious, anti-establishment subculture shaped a lot of my views and attitudes at the time.

To me, the festival itself felt like going back 20 years in a time machine, finding myself surrounded by punks & rockers (both young and not-so-young)...

… Doc Martins, Black Flag T-shirts, more piercings than you could shake a stick

at…

But as much fun as it was, something had clearly changed - me.

First of all, the prospect of spending 4 nights in a row on my feet was a lot more daunting for my middle-aged spine.

(I’d booked myself a sports massage and visited a local colleague on the way up!)

And far from crashing on a friend's sofa like I’d used to, I’d booked myself a room in a lovely little hotel - whose reviews had specifically mentioned how comfortable the beds were.

And lastly, instead of grabbing food from the tortilla & burger vans outside the venue, here I was enjoying the tasting menu at one of the city’s top fine-dining restaurants.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a picky eater, and no stranger to street food.

From time to time though, I do like to treat myself.

And one of the reasons I enjoy visiting places like this one isn’t just the food - it’s because I’m fascinated by all the ways they enhance the experience.

Because it’s not just about the food - yes, for the prices they charge, the food had better be impeccable… but that’s not enough.

Good food is just “table stakes” - they need to go above and beyond in order to earn the reputation they have.

And this place knew exactly what they were doing there.

One example in particular stood out to me, and it surprised me for the exact reason that’ll make you think I’m joking:

Their gluten free bread.

Now, in most restaurants of this calibre, you expect some fresh-baked bread whilst you wait for your meal.

And whilst you’d expect them to cater to dietary options like this, truth be told most gluten-free bread is a pretty poor approximation of the real thing.

Not here though - honestly, that bread was hands-down the best I’ve ever tasted - crazy as it might sound, I was blown away by how delicious it was!

I mentioned this to the waiter and she told me “Oh yes, we’re known for it here - the chef developed his own recipe in fact - he wanted it to be up to the same standard as the rest of the food.”

(She then brought me another roll… I regret nothing!)

The thing that grabbed me about this though is that it’s not really about having high standards - it sends their customers a subtle but powerful message:

“If we put this much care into the bread, just think how good the rest of the meal will be…”

It’s a great example of foreshadowing and creating anticipation, which then makes the next course taste even better as a result.

All from paying a lot of attention to one of the first experiences their customers have with them.

Now if, on the other hand, they’d have brought out the usual dry & tasteless GF bread that most restaurants do, I wouldn’t have been annoyed… but I wouldn’t have been wowed either.

And chances are I’d have been subconsciously starting to mentally group them with other “regular restaurants”, and ending up less satisfied as a result.

And of course, as you’ve probably now guessed, this isn’t just applicable to fine-dining restaurants - it is just as true for your practice as well.

It’s tempting to think that patients come to see you for your clinical skills, and your ability to help them.

That matters, but like good food… that’s just table stakes.

It doesn’t build a reputation for excellence, or lasting loyalty.

That comes from consciously designing an excellent customer experience - and this starts from way before they’ve even met you, and can be impacted by exactly the things most DC’s tend to overlook.

If you want to learn a ton of proven ways of achieving this, and take your patient experience to the next level, make sure you don’t miss my next Masterclass with Kevin Christie on June 20th.

Kevin is one of the few US coaches I genuinely trust - he’s evidence-informed, patient centred, and incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to designing a practice that works for both you and your patients.

The Early Bird pricing runs out in a couple of weeks, you can find all the details in the comments.

But whether you choose to join us or not, remember this - excellence is about more than just great clinical skills.

And sometimes the smallest changes can make the biggest difference.

13/03/2026

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐩

(𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 - 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦)

If you either own a practice or think you might one day, there’s a trap in the middle of that journey that very few people warn you about.

Recently I saw some interesting data from a survey of UK private practice clinic owners that highlighted this exact issue.

Initially it looked pretty typical - as clinics grow, the owner’s income generally rises the way you’d expect.

Sounds good, but it’s not the full story…
… and perhaps more importantly, owner satisfaction doesn’t follow the same trajectory.

It clearly highlighted that even though 2 specific practice models are pretty fulfilling for owners, the most common type by far actually carries 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐭.

Today's video breaks down:
- The types of practice this happens to
- The two very different directions your practice can evolve,
- The one thing that matters early on if you ever want the business to grow without relying entirely on you.

If you’re building a clinic, or thinking about it one day, this is worth understanding before you get there.

PS. If you’re serious about building a practice you actually enjoy running, Kevin Christie and I are running a one-day 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 in London on June 20th.

It’s focused on the systems and patient experience that allow clinics to grow without everything sitting on the owner’s shoulders.

Early bird tickets are available until the end of the month. Check out the comments for full details.

05/03/2026

𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐯𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐫

Earlier this week, I had an associate of mine come down to observe for the day.

Rather than just passively watching (a recipe for boredom, FYI), I gave her a task for the day: note what I do that she doesn't, and what she does that I don't.

At the end of the day, I asked what she’d noticed.

She told me that the most obvious difference was this - I joke around with my patients constantly.

"That's just not really me," she then said.

It makes sense, and for a relatively recent grad I can understand it feeling outside their comfort zone.

However, the folks who 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 use humour in the treatment room (like this associate) often assume it's just a personality thing - you either have it or you don't.

And those who do generally fall into one of two camps: they're either doing it out of habit, or out of insecurity.

Very few are doing it deliberately and strategically.

That's what I get into in today's video.

04/03/2026

𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫

Just had a great conversation with Kevin Christie for an upcoming podcast - he highlighted the importance of the word "even" when talking about wanting to do "even better".

"I want to be better" = I'm not doing enough, fixed mindset language

"I want to be even better" = I'm already enough but would love more, growth mindset language

That one little word separates the truly excellent from the "pretty good" - but also the ones who truly love what they do, from those who just get by.

I enjoy helping pretty much anyone to improve their skills, but what I really love is working with folks who bring that growth mindset to their clinic - who are about the journey, not just the destination.

It's why I'm so excited about this next event - because I know we're going to have a room full of those kinds of DC's, all with the energy to match.

Join us both on June 20th to take your practice from better to even better ;)

https://healthfit.lpages.co/london-2026-masterclass/

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