Irma Leon Palmer, DC, says that she is able to push people outside of their comfort zones and help them to change. Palmer notes a recent example of a patient who she describes as uptight. To help the patient—who has a high-stress job—to loosen up and enjoy life, Palmer told him to just go for a drive and for 10 minutes have the windows down and his music as loud as he wanted, forgetting all of the cares he had built up. The patient did so—for 7 minutes—and realized he could loosen up and feel better. “It was a simple solution, yet it made an impact in his life,” said Palmer, whose practice, Chiropractic Today, is based in Birmingham, Ala. “So many people forget to have fun in the process of living,” she says.

Palmer practices what she calls “wellness chiropractic.” And for all the emphasis on fun, she demands quite a bit from her patients and their loved ones.

Wellness Workshops
One of the most important things that she has done for her patients and her practice is run a regular series of wellness workshops, and, with the help of the practice- and personal-growth coaching firm The Masters Circle, has honed her message into one that is making her more successful in every aspect of her practice—and her life.

Palmer has been running wellness workshops in her practice for years. Within 2 weeks of beginning treatment, patients are required to attend the workshop—and are reminded at regular intervals to do so. These workshops are a key element to the patient’s road to wellness. “It’s extremely important for patients to understand the importance of wellness,” Palmer says.

And this is not the typical, passive workshop where Palmer lectures to patients. It is much more active, including a homework assignment detailing the patient’s goals and agenda for treatment. It helps Palmer assess where the patient is in his life and how he wants to change it. “My purpose is to help you attain your goal,” she says. Among the tools that Palmer uses with her patients are two posters created by a member of The Masters Circle—the health “continuum poster” shows the two directions a patient’s health can go: toward wellness or toward illness. The poster has three points. On the far left in red is illness. In the middle in yellow is false wellness, and on the far right in green is wellness. She also gives the patients two handouts; one from Patient Media is a wellness wheel that details the seven areas of one’s life—including physical health—that are needed to have a well-balanced, health-filled life. The areas of health included on the wellness wheel are: physical health, financial health, family health, social health, career health, spiritual health, and mental health.

The 45-minute workshop includes discussions of spinal health, the nervous system, eating habits, exercise, and the importance of good posture. Internal workshops average about eight to 10 new patients. Workshops for her Spanish-speaking patients typically attract at least 15 patients. Since January, Palmer has been presenting wellness workshops outside of her practice to the Birmingham community. The audiences for these community workshops range from 15 to 75 people.

The practice’s four adjusting rooms are all equipped with x-ray light boxes, and these are prepared for individual review and consultation after the initial presentation. Patients who are married are encouraged to bring their spouses. Palmer says that the patients are so well-educated after the workshop that they can usually—in a general way—identify on their x-ray that their spine is in distress. “I think it is imperative that the patient understand their x-ray and their health,” she says.

The spouse is included during this individual report of findings. Involving the spouse serves a dual purpose. First, it educates the spouse as to the health status of their husband or wife, making the spouse an at-home source of support and motivation. Second, it also acts as a way to build rapport with another potential patient. “The spouse may or may not choose to begin chiropractic care, but, later, if they want it, they will always choose us,”  Palmer says. She adds that, if the spouse does elect to become a patient, he or she must also go through a wellness workshop—with the fellow patient-spouse in tow. She delights in seeing the more experienced of the two “reading” the other’s x-ray, pointing to the areas that need correction—another sign of success.

During the course of the workshop, patients learn that wellness is more than simply a question of having an aligned spine. Palmer goes over a number of areas with the patients: healthy spine and nervous system, healthy eating habits, regular exercise, and proper posture, among others. “My purpose with the workshops isn’t just educating them [the patients],” she says. “It’s about exposing them to the possibilities of what their life can be like with better health.”

The wellness workshop focuses on physical health and how it is an integral part of the wellness wheel. “Your quality of life is only as good as the physical health you are currently experiencing,” Palmer explains.

Palmer has broken physical health down into five key parts and created a 1 to 10 survey—her second handout—as part of her workshop homework she gives patients. These areas are: healthy spine and nervous system, healthy eating habits, regular exercise, proper posture in all areas of life, and positive mental attitude. She teaches patients that “one’s physical health impacts how successful they can be in all the other areas of their life.” During the workshop, she addresses each of these five components.

Palmer discusses eating habits, including how to measure food. She gives numerous examples and options for patients, including Weight Watchers^® concepts and the more intuitive hand-measurement system (a serving of protein should equal the size of your hand).

In terms of exercise, Palmer is an avid runner, racking up to 25 miles per week and also including weight lifting in her own regimen. She discusses a range of options with patients, from her own experience running to other physical activities such as yoga and Pilates. Her goal is to encourage regular exercise and physical activity—again, part of the recipe for good health. “I believe it is important to practice what I preach,” she says.

Finally, she discusses posture, covering every aspect of proper standing, sitting, and even sleeping. Around the holidays, she covers activities such as Christmas shopping in terms of posture—distributing the weight of packages—and exercise—sprinting (when safe) to one’s car as an impromptu activity.

Even though she gives important information, Palmer tries to keep the tone light. Palmer sees herself simply as a guide to help patients meet their own goals and to have their own internal “music” or “song” come out. To that end, the patients become an active part of their own care.

Children are encouraged to accompany their parents, though they do not have to attend the formal part of the workshop. Instead, under the watchful eye of Palmer’s staff, the children are relegated to a separate part of the office where they can play, eat fruit and popcorn, and watch their favorite DVD (as long as it is not violent). “The kids have a ball,” she says.

Palmer also treats children, and says that she loves to meet with them one-on-one without their parents. Like the adults, she tries to put her finger on what these younger patients’ goals are. Recently, she met with a 12-year-old boy who lived in the shadow of his academically gifted sibling. After talking with him, Palmer discovered that he was a talented athlete and encouraged the boy to be proud of this and relish his athletic talents.

Setting the Stage
Palmer, who describes herself as a “female Tony Robbins,” says that the key to successfully presenting a workshop is to “be authentic and very natural. If you follow your heart, you’ll be OK.”

Palmer has never taken part in a Toastmasters program, but she sees that as a way to help give inexperienced public speakers training and confidence. She also recommends practicing one’s presentation in front of staff or peers.

In her internal presentations, Palmer sets up an intimate space. In these small groups, patients typically interact with both her and one another. Larger presentations do not always allow for this type of intimacy, and, depending on the setting, participants are organized in vastly different ways, including around tables of varying sizes.

Palmer has used technology to her advantage. She has developed about two dozen PowerPoint presentations. In her internal workshops, her staff sets up the projector and screen, allowing her to focus on the presentation instead of the technical aspect of it.

Providing fun, educational workshops is not the only thing that sets Palmer apart from her peers in Birmingham. She is one of the few chiropractors in the area who is bilingual in Spanish.

Bilingual Chiropractic
Palmer and three of her four staff speak Spanish. About 40% of her patient population is Hispanic. In Palmer’s experience, many employers are willing to send their Spanish-speaking patients to her for chiropractic care.

Palmer has parlayed her heritage and her abilities as a presenter and writer into a presence in Birmingham’s Hispanic community. In addition to presenting Spanish versions of the wellness workshop—complete with Spanish versions of her brochures—Palmer is the health editor of a local Spanish-language newspaper, and writes a health column two times per month. She has appeared on her own radio program, and she has produced more than 125 health and wellness commercials.

With the seemingly broad range of activities Palmer engages in, she is still first and foremost a chiropractor.

Practicing Success
The most common complaints Palmer treats are headaches, neck pain, and back pain. She has four hi-lo tables that she uses to adjust the full spine.

She is the only chiropractor in the practice, and she sees about 300 patients per week. Many of her referrals come from her patients, and about an eighth of her patients pay for her services through their insurance carrier.

The Chiropractic Today office is about 1,800 square feet and includes four adjusting rooms, an open therapy area, and an open front desk, which allows her staff to provide service and manage patient flow. 

Palmer employs the clipping service available from The Masters Circle that gathers quarterly articles from popular press promoting the health and wellness lifestyle. “It is important to keep the patients up to date on wellness topics,” Palmer says.

C.A. Wolski is a contributing writer for Chiropractic Products. Contact him at CPEditor@ascendmedia.com