September 17, 2024 • 10 mins
What happens when an aspiring mental health counselor discovers a new passion at the front desk of a chiropractic office? Join us for an eye-opening conversation with Dr. Sara Griffin, a seasoned chiropractor who shares her transformative journey from a mental health background to leading a successful chiropractic practice. Dr. Griffin dives deep into the importance of individualized treatment plans, comprehensive examinations, and the indispensable role of a supportive team in managing a bustling practice. If you've ever wondered how to attract new patients through exceptional care and build a strong social media presence, this episode is packed with actionable insights.
In addition to her practical strategies, Dr. Griffin gives us a sneak peek into her upcoming book idea, which captures lessons learned from individual patients' stories. Picture this: an idea born on a napkin during a casual restaurant visit, now evolving into a potential resource for both chiropractors and other medical professionals. Listen as Dr. Griffin discusses her collaborative approach to patient care, integrating a network of wellness professionals to offer a holistic treatment experience. From balancing professional and personal life to her experiences at Parker, where she was pulled from her speaking engagement to join us, this episode promises to be both inspiring and informative.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hello, I'm Dr Arlen Foer, the chairman and
co-founder of Activator Methods,and also we have a podcast
today called Activate yourPractice.
And today we have with us DrSarah Griffith, and she is a
10-year veteran now and Iconsider that just a beginner,
but she has a very nice practiceand we're going to quiz her
(00:26):
today about how did you getwhere you got to be?
And so, sarah, welcome to thepodcast and tell me, how did you
get into chiropractic to startwith?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, thank you for having me.
So I actually was going to be amental health counselor when I
graduated from undergrad and Iwas looking for a job and it
just so happened that achiropractic office fit the bill
.
So I started working at thefront desk of a chiropractic
office.
I was going to school at nightand within about a year of being
in practice an activator doctor, him and his wife said you know
(00:58):
, you would be a really good fitas a chiropractor.
And so I kind of shifted gears,went to chiropractic school,
ended up graduating and startingto work for him and I was there
for about a year and a halfwhen he moved and I actually
took over his chiropracticoffice.
Where did you go to school?
I went to undergrad in GroveCity psychology major, and then
(01:19):
I went to what is now theNortheast Colleges of Health
Sciences, nycc, for chiropracticschool.
You were up in the Northeast?
Yes, I was.
Well, I'm from Buffalo.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Oh, you're from Buffalo, okay, and how do you
get new patients?
That's always what every doctorasks how do you get new
patients?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Right.
Well, I really believe intaking good care of the patient
in front of you.
I think the best marketing ishow well you can take care of
each patient that comes in thedoor.
In my office, I would say aprimary patient is a middle-aged
, well-educated female, becauseshe goes and she tells her
friends about me, she goes andshe tells her coworkers about me
(01:59):
, she drags her husband in, shebrings her kids and you know.
So I just take really good careof the patient in front of me
and they do my marketing for me.
I mean, obviously you need asocial media presence, but they
do the heavy lifting.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Well, how do you structure your self-treatment
plans then?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
So I try to make sure that nothing is cookie cutter.
So I'm not knocking the threetimes a week for six weeks and
two times a week for six weeks,but I really believe that we
believe in patient-centriccommunication in my office.
We believe in a collaborativeeffort, coming up with something
that fits each individualpatient and I think that serves
both them and practice growthwell.
(02:36):
So we sit down and we come upwith something individual to the
patient and then we talk aboutit as a care plan rather than
selling a treatment plan.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
When you take a new patient and you don't just do an
activator analysis, you doother exams correct, correct,
correct.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
You'd be surprised at how many patients I hear that
say I'm the second or thirdchiropractor they've seen and
I'm the first one to do an exam.
That kind of makes me cringe.
So don't be that chiropractor.
But we do full range of motionorthopedic, neurologic and then
of course the activator exam,but very thorough.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Now you told me before you were seeing about 350
people a week and that's a nicepractice.
How do you manage that byyourself?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Well, it's a lot, but I have a great team.
So I think first and foremost,if you are going to have a high
volume practice, you have tosurround yourself with great
team members, and everyone in myoffice has a role.
They have a title and they havea role, and those roles come
with unique responsibilities.
There is a lot of overlap inresponsibilities so that if
(03:39):
someone is doing a lot in theirparticular role that day,
someone else can pick up theslack in the other
responsibilities.
But my team is a well-oiledmachine.
We have a morning huddle, wehave an afternoon huddle where
we kind of go through our day,see where any potential pitfalls
may be and how we can correctahead of time for those pitfalls
to keep things running smoothly.
So they keep me on track.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
You sound like you have systems.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Ah yes, systems.
We talk a lot about systems inour office, but at this point I
mean, it's just become part ofthe machinery and, like I said,
I just really have a great team.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
But how do you maintain being an expert in all
the different things that aregoing on?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
I really try and be an expert in the chiropractic
adjustment in the activatortechnique and protocol and then
I leave expertise in otherfields to other people.
So I've tried to create anetwork of people, both wellness
practitioners and medicalprofessionals, that I can refer
my patients to.
So if I'm seeing there's apatient with a ton of soft
(04:40):
tissue issues, I have a massagetherapist who works right in my
office and that was a big thingI did as I transitioned.
Taking over that practice is Ikind of moved it from just a
chiropractic office into more ofa wellness center and that
wellness center allowed me tobring in other experts.
So I have a personal trainerwho can do one-on-one training
with people who need more workwith movement or balance.
(05:02):
I have a massage therapist whocan do more work with people who
need soft tissue work.
So I try and be the expert inadjusting and then just surround
myself with other great peoplewho are experts in their field.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
How do you manage time like time for yourself,
time for your husband, time foryou?
Know, how do you with a bigpractice?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
I mean, I've been there, done that and it's a job-
yeah, Well, I don't I woulddare say I don't always do it
well.
I'm pretty consumed by work Ilove.
I love my office, I love mypatients.
I love my practice.
I have a very understandinghusband and family.
I actually work with a lot ofmy family and that's a blessing.
(05:43):
I love it.
But I would say it's all aboutthere is no balance.
It's about intentionalimbalance.
I read that somewhere recentlyand I have been working a lot
with the idea of kind ofchunking my priorities.
So if I want to take on abigger priority right now which,
for example, I want to do somemore with speaking and writing
(06:05):
I'm focusing that in shortperiods of time when I'm very
high energy and I'm going tokeep it very focused, and then
in my downtime I don't thinkabout it, I put it away and I
can enjoy what I'm doing infront of me at that time.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Why did you decide to call your clinic a wellness
center?
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Because I believe in the chiropractic adjustment and
its power.
But I believe there is more towellness than just a
chiropractic adjustment.
I believe nutrition comes intoit, I believe movement comes
into it.
There's other therapies we canuse to enhance the chiropractic
adjustment, and I really wanteda space where patients could
walk in and that was all underone roof.
Um, they didn't have to, youknow, go looking for someone or
(06:45):
do the heavy lifting, theresearch on their own.
I just wanted everything underone roof, that they could turn
and have multiple modalities andpractitioners at their
fingertips.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
What would you do if you weren't a chiropractor?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Well, obviously not become a mental health counselor
, because I traded that one in.
But when I was a kid I alwaysthought I would be a detective.
I actually had business cardsmade at one point and my family
made up little mysteries for meto solve.
But now I kind of like to thinkof myself as a detective of the
human body.
You know, when I sit down withthat patient in front of me, I
said we're going to figure thisout together.
You know, I know you've been toX, y, z, but now we're going to
(07:22):
put all those puzzle piecestogether and we're going to
figure out what's going on andhow we can fix it.
And so you know I make it acollaborative effort, but I kind
of like to think of it as beinga little CSI, a little
detective.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Well, you know, patients like to have somebody
take control of their health,and I think that's what you're
doing is you're finding out theroot problem and then you're
taking control of it.
And that's the detective partin you is you find out where the
problems are, then you decidewhat am I going to do to fix it?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Now activator analysis is a big part of your
practice.
Correct, and I've told peoplefor 50-some years now.
You have to have three things.
You have to know where toadjust, when to adjust, and when
to quit.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Do you find that's true?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
in practice I do, especially the first time If
you're an activator practitioner, the first adjustment, or two
if someone's coming from perhaps, a manual practitioner practice
, and oftentimes they'll say,don't you want to do, you want
to do a little more.
And you have to know, you haveto trust the technique, you have
to trust the research behindthe technique and your expertise
in that and tell the patientthis is what we're going to do
(08:34):
today.
Trust me, it's a process andwe're going to take it step by
step.
So I think that's a wise saying.
Did you hear what you said?
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Trust me, See practitioners.
The patients that trust thepractitioners are the ones that
send people, and you were rightwhen you said you get your
satisfied patients.
They're doing your sending.
That's called cross-pollination, and that's what they do.
In 10 years, you will havecross-pollination.
You'll have all these differentpeople talking to different
(09:03):
people Once that starts.
That's what makes a solid base.
Yeah, so I think you're righton the track.
What would you like to write abook on?
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Well, I have a little napkin started.
I was at a restaurant once withmy office manager and I said we
could take some of myindividual patients and the
lessons I've learned from thosepatients, because you know, as a
practitioner you learn fromyour patients too and you could
kind of have a chapter abouteach patient and the lesson
(09:34):
you've learned and that would bea book really marketed to
chiropractors.
But I would love to, you know,talk to other medical
professionals and hear some ofthe lessons they've learned and
kind of make it a broader scope.
So it's still in the napkinphases but we're working on it.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
That's where it starts Exactly.
There's several napkins.
I didn't keep that.
I wish I would have.
Well, thank you for comingtoday and doing a podcast.
We're at Parker and we had theopportunity because Dr Griffin
was here speaking and so we justpulled her out of the speaking
arena into the podcast arena,and so thank you very much,
thank you.
Thank you very much.
Hello, I'm Dr Arlen Foer, the chairman and
co-founder of Activator Methods,and also we have a podcast
today called Activate yourPractice.
And today we have with us DrSarah Griffith, and she is a
10-year veteran now and Iconsider that just a beginner,
but she has a very nice practiceand we're going to quiz her
(00:26):
today about how did you getwhere you got to be?
And so, sarah, welcome to thepodcast and tell me, how did you
get into chiropractic to startwith?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, thank you for having me.
So I actually was going to be amental health counselor when I
graduated from undergrad and Iwas looking for a job and it
just so happened that achiropractic office fit the bill
.
So I started working at thefront desk of a chiropractic
office.
I was going to school at nightand within about a year of being
in practice an activator doctor, him and his wife said you know
(00:58):
, you would be a really good fitas a chiropractor.
And so I kind of shifted gears,went to chiropractic school,
ended up graduating and startingto work for him and I was there
for about a year and a halfwhen he moved and I actually
took over his chiropracticoffice.
Where did you go to school?
I went to undergrad in GroveCity psychology major, and then
(01:19):
I went to what is now theNortheast Colleges of Health
Sciences, nycc, for chiropracticschool.
You were up in the Northeast?
Yes, I was.
Well, I'm from Buffalo.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Oh, you're from Buffalo, okay, and how do you
get new patients?
That's always what every doctorasks how do you get new
patients?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Right.
Well, I really believe intaking good care of the patient
in front of you.
I think the best marketing ishow well you can take care of
each patient that comes in thedoor.
In my office, I would say aprimary patient is a middle-aged
, well-educated female, becauseshe goes and she tells her
friends about me, she goes andshe tells her coworkers about me
(01:59):
, she drags her husband in, shebrings her kids and you know.
So I just take really good careof the patient in front of me
and they do my marketing for me.
I mean, obviously you need asocial media presence, but they
do the heavy lifting.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Well, how do you structure your self-treatment
plans then?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
So I try to make sure that nothing is cookie cutter.
So I'm not knocking the threetimes a week for six weeks and
two times a week for six weeks,but I really believe that we
believe in patient-centriccommunication in my office.
We believe in a collaborativeeffort, coming up with something
that fits each individualpatient and I think that serves
both them and practice growthwell.
(02:36):
So we sit down and we come upwith something individual to the
patient and then we talk aboutit as a care plan rather than
selling a treatment plan.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
When you take a new patient and you don't just do an
activator analysis, you doother exams correct, correct,
correct.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
You'd be surprised at how many patients I hear that
say I'm the second or thirdchiropractor they've seen and
I'm the first one to do an exam.
That kind of makes me cringe.
So don't be that chiropractor.
But we do full range of motionorthopedic, neurologic and then
of course the activator exam,but very thorough.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Now you told me before you were seeing about 350
people a week and that's a nicepractice.
How do you manage that byyourself?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Well, it's a lot, but I have a great team.
So I think first and foremost,if you are going to have a high
volume practice, you have tosurround yourself with great
team members, and everyone in myoffice has a role.
They have a title and they havea role, and those roles come
with unique responsibilities.
There is a lot of overlap inresponsibilities so that if
(03:39):
someone is doing a lot in theirparticular role that day,
someone else can pick up theslack in the other
responsibilities.
But my team is a well-oiledmachine.
We have a morning huddle, wehave an afternoon huddle where
we kind of go through our day,see where any potential pitfalls
may be and how we can correctahead of time for those pitfalls
to keep things running smoothly.
So they keep me on track.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
You sound like you have systems.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Ah yes, systems.
We talk a lot about systems inour office, but at this point I
mean, it's just become part ofthe machinery and, like I said,
I just really have a great team.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
But how do you maintain being an expert in all
the different things that aregoing on?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
I really try and be an expert in the chiropractic
adjustment in the activatortechnique and protocol and then
I leave expertise in otherfields to other people.
So I've tried to create anetwork of people, both wellness
practitioners and medicalprofessionals, that I can refer
my patients to.
So if I'm seeing there's apatient with a ton of soft
(04:40):
tissue issues, I have a massagetherapist who works right in my
office and that was a big thingI did as I transitioned.
Taking over that practice is Ikind of moved it from just a
chiropractic office into more ofa wellness center and that
wellness center allowed me tobring in other experts.
So I have a personal trainerwho can do one-on-one training
with people who need more workwith movement or balance.
(05:02):
I have a massage therapist whocan do more work with people who
need soft tissue work.
So I try and be the expert inadjusting and then just surround
myself with other great peoplewho are experts in their field.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
How do you manage time like time for yourself,
time for your husband, time foryou?
Know, how do you with a bigpractice?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
I mean, I've been there, done that and it's a job-
yeah, Well, I don't I woulddare say I don't always do it
well.
I'm pretty consumed by work Ilove.
I love my office, I love mypatients.
I love my practice.
I have a very understandinghusband and family.
I actually work with a lot ofmy family and that's a blessing.
(05:43):
I love it.
But I would say it's all aboutthere is no balance.
It's about intentionalimbalance.
I read that somewhere recentlyand I have been working a lot
with the idea of kind ofchunking my priorities.
So if I want to take on abigger priority right now which,
for example, I want to do somemore with speaking and writing
(06:05):
I'm focusing that in shortperiods of time when I'm very
high energy and I'm going tokeep it very focused, and then
in my downtime I don't thinkabout it, I put it away and I
can enjoy what I'm doing infront of me at that time.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Why did you decide to call your clinic a wellness
center?
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Because I believe in the chiropractic adjustment and
its power.
But I believe there is more towellness than just a
chiropractic adjustment.
I believe nutrition comes intoit, I believe movement comes
into it.
There's other therapies we canuse to enhance the chiropractic
adjustment, and I really wanteda space where patients could
walk in and that was all underone roof.
Um, they didn't have to, youknow, go looking for someone or
(06:45):
do the heavy lifting, theresearch on their own.
I just wanted everything underone roof, that they could turn
and have multiple modalities andpractitioners at their
fingertips.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
What would you do if you weren't a chiropractor?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Well, obviously not become a mental health counselor
, because I traded that one in.
But when I was a kid I alwaysthought I would be a detective.
I actually had business cardsmade at one point and my family
made up little mysteries for meto solve.
But now I kind of like to thinkof myself as a detective of the
human body.
You know, when I sit down withthat patient in front of me, I
said we're going to figure thisout together.
You know, I know you've been toX, y, z, but now we're going to
(07:22):
put all those puzzle piecestogether and we're going to
figure out what's going on andhow we can fix it.
And so you know I make it acollaborative effort, but I kind
of like to think of it as beinga little CSI, a little
detective.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Well, you know, patients like to have somebody
take control of their health,and I think that's what you're
doing is you're finding out theroot problem and then you're
taking control of it.
And that's the detective partin you is you find out where the
problems are, then you decidewhat am I going to do to fix it?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Now activator analysis is a big part of your
practice.
Correct, and I've told peoplefor 50-some years now.
You have to have three things.
You have to know where toadjust, when to adjust, and when
to quit.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Do you find that's true?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
in practice I do, especially the first time If
you're an activator practitioner, the first adjustment, or two
if someone's coming from perhaps, a manual practitioner practice
, and oftentimes they'll say,don't you want to do, you want
to do a little more.
And you have to know, you haveto trust the technique, you have
to trust the research behindthe technique and your expertise
in that and tell the patientthis is what we're going to do
(08:34):
today.
Trust me, it's a process andwe're going to take it step by
step.
So I think that's a wise saying.
Did you hear what you said?
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Trust me, See practitioners.
The patients that trust thepractitioners are the ones that
send people, and you were rightwhen you said you get your
satisfied patients.
They're doing your sending.
That's called cross-pollination, and that's what they do.
In 10 years, you will havecross-pollination.
You'll have all these differentpeople talking to different
(09:03):
people Once that starts.
That's what makes a solid base.
Yeah, so I think you're righton the track.
What would you like to write abook on?
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Well, I have a little napkin started.
I was at a restaurant once withmy office manager and I said we
could take some of myindividual patients and the
lessons I've learned from thosepatients, because you know, as a
practitioner you learn fromyour patients too and you could
kind of have a chapter abouteach patient and the lesson
(09:34):
you've learned and that would bea book really marketed to
chiropractors.
But I would love to, you know,talk to other medical
professionals and hear some ofthe lessons they've learned and
kind of make it a broader scope.
So it's still in the napkinphases but we're working on it.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
That's where it starts Exactly.
There's several napkins.
I didn't keep that.
I wish I would have.
Well, thank you for comingtoday and doing a podcast.
We're at Parker and we had theopportunity because Dr Griffin
was here speaking and so we justpulled her out of the speaking
arena into the podcast arena,and so thank you very much,
thank you.
Thank you very much.
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