Since September 11th, there has been a tremendous shift in values. No longer does everyone seem so driven to succeed but instead, there is a new motivation and desire to spend time with family and loved ones to pursue a higher quality of life. This value shift has been a long time in coming and is the result of what seems like years of lifestyle choices that have compromised people's physical, mental and emotional health as well as that of their family members.

As Stephen Covey put it so eloquently in "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," it's easy to climb a ladder and rise to the top, but are we sure that's where we really want to be when we get there? You can look at your practice and ask yourself the same question. Is your practice positioned and operating in the way you really want or intended it to be?

Think about how you are practicing chiropractic today. Is your office functioning as simply a pain-based center or are you teaching your patients about the quality of life issues that chiropractic can help them achieve? Are you telling them how important and vital chiropractic can be in helping them achieve optimum health and happiness?

With young children and especially infants, chiropractic can offer a chance for children to experience health naturally, without the need for drugs. It can also support proper posture and a healthy spine and nervous system by removing any sort of "nerve compromise" that can create health problems and disease down the road.

It's a fact that as people age, the amount of stress in their lives increases. Without proper avenues for release, stress can accumulate and compromise the healthy functioning of the psyche and body. The nerve system is the natural adaptation mechanism for health and survival. Even the simplest of organisms like an amoeba can feel heat through its primitive nerve system and will move away for protection. Our highly evolved human nervous system allows us to respond to our environment on a sophisticated level so we can adapt in an appropriate way.

What makes chiropractic so important is that it gives the body the ability to continue to harmoniously function despite the rigorous demands of our high stress society.

The nervous system can become compromised when it is unable to adapt to stress in a positive way damaging the protective system itself and resulting in all sorts of sickness and "dis-ease".

Have you ever noticed or heard people comment on how the health of an older person seemed to go "downhill" really fast? This is what can happen to a nerve and spinal system that is constantly "under attack" from free-radicals, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and environmental toxins. One of your greatest opportunities as a chiropractor will be to help maintain the health balance of all individuals, the young and old alike, despite their exposure to these elements.

It's important that you adapt the model of your practice (with the science and philosophy of chiropractic) in a way that supports these strengthening family values.

People who visit your office with their families are coming to you not only for the obvious health benefits, but because of the "togetherness" and quality of time they will share with their children or parents while they are there. Model your practice to support this burgeoning family environment, and not only will it benefit your patients, but it will build your confidence that you are contributing to this new value system and making the maximum difference in people's lives.

If you look in the newspaper, you will see headlines that are shouting a return to family values, spiritual revival and natural healing. Have your staff start clipping out these articles so that you can talk about and use them in your health talks.

Our chiropractors are finding that just by embracing and teaching these concepts in their communities, their new patient enrollment has shifted from individual sign ups of one patient at a time to group and family enrollments. The shift is confirmation that societal values have indeed evolved as chiropractic care and holistic health care models are embraced by families everywhere. You too can participate in creating these kinds of models in your community.

(Dr. Eric Plasker is a chiropractor and founder of The Family Practice, where chiropractors are uniting to lead family health care. Nationally recognized as a speaker and educator, he is best known for rallying chiropractors around the Lifetime Care For Everyone [LCFE] and Family Practice visions in the chiropractic profession. For seminar, coaching, training, or product information, call toll-free 866/LEAD-DCS [532-3327], ext. 105. Or connect online at www.thefamilypractice.net to find out how you can unite to help lead family health care.)