If they say that doctors make the worst patients, do patients make the best doctors?

My personal journey to chiropractic began as just that, a patient. A skiing accident in my youth left me with some nasty scars and an altered walking pattern that forced my body out of alignment. Though the lingering pain was my main complaint, I began to notice other things slipping away as well. My focus, my wit, my energy; I no longer felt like myself. I became distant and lost motivation to do the things that brought me joy. I felt stuck.

Finally, I was recommended to a chiropractor. As promised, I quickly noticed changes in my pain and posture. What I did not expect, however, was the change I noticed internally. I felt energized, focused, driven. No longer disengaged, I began to feel like myself again. It was then that I realized the power of chiropractic, and the benefit of having a nervous system free of interference. It was then that I realized chiropractic is what I want to spend my life doing.

Wishing I had known then what I know now, it became a passion of mine to work closely with children. I strive to create relationships that kids see as friendly and welcoming—a place where a kid can come and be a kid. I want kids to learn about their bodies, without making them feel different, without making them feel as though they have no control, without making them feel stuck.

We were all born to be healthy, and I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to help people regain that which belongs to them.

I grew up the son of a chiropractor in Ohio and my dad was my hero.  I always knew I wanted to help people in the amazing and natural way he did.  After years of reading “Outside” magazine and being drawn in by the pictures and stories of mountains and evergreens, I knew the beautiful Pacific Northwest was where I would make my home and go about changing the world in the best way I knew how. So after graduating from Palmer College of Chiropractic I came to Seattle and studied postural correction through Chiropractic Biophysics. I opened a practice in Burien at the end of my 3-year associateship and married my wife, Erin.  We bought a home here and proceeded to fill it with three beautiful children, all very energetic little boys.

This is where my chiropractic perspective started to shift. One of our little boys became ill and suffered some neurological damage. We praise God that it was mild and our sweet, spunky little boy is still with us.  But we saw firsthand the pain parents suffer when their little one is ill.  And we saw the miracle of a tiny, young nervous system rebuilding itself bit by bit.  We know that our youngest patients are the quickest healers and have seen chiropractic adjustments “turn on the lights” in our own little guy and we want to bring hope and health to other families.  We know that starting children out healthy and keeping nervous system interference to a minimum is easier than fixing illness later in life.

So my why changed.  We turned our office into a child-friendly, family-centered environment.  My training in Chiropractic Biophysics is why I know that postural correction is the most amazing course of care for impacted adults.  But I also know that starting children out on the path to wellness early will keep them strong and negate the need for more complex intervention later. And isn’t that what preventative care is all about?  Kids deserve the best, healthiest life we can give them. My own children and the children in my community are my why.

I found chiropractic after about 18 years of dealing with symptoms I had accepted as my fate for the rest of my life. Anxiety, stomach aches, headaches, intense back pain are a few of the things I never thought I’d have an escape from. As a patient, my eyes were opened to the idea that I was never born to live this way. I was born to be healthy! I had never even considered that I’d be able to live a normal, healthy life before being a patient here. Along with realizing that I could someday be healthy, my back pain went away along with a myriad of other symptoms I had no idea were related to my spine! I fell in love with falling in love with my body and its amazing functions.

My journey with Collins Chiropractic began in 2012, when severe back pain after the birth of my child pushed me to look seriously into chiropractic care for the first time in my life. My time as a patient healed me in more ways than one: my pain evaporated over the course of my care, but more importantly, the isolation and anxiety I felt as a new mother disappeared through the love, patience, and understanding shown by every member of the Collins team. I would have never thought of taking my infant daughter to a chiropractor—weren’t chiropractors for neck and back pain?—but after seeing the care other children received in the office, I decided to give it a try. Within a single visit, the normal state of colicky, sleepless, and irritable disappeared and suddenly I had a contented and alert baby whose body could finally function in the way it was designed.

Finding support and wellness through the care I received for myself and my daughter—and eventually two more children—opened a door for wellness of body, mind, and soul to become a passion for myself and my family. Since then, I have made it a priority to become an advocate and an educator for childbirth and wellness options for children and families in order to give everyone their best chance for their biggest and best life. I love seeing the bright and brilliant faces of the well-adjusted and healthy kids we are able to care for in our office, and it brings me joy to see how chiropractic care can change the trajectory of a woman’s pregnancy. All of us have been born to be healthy, and through the opportunity to work with our patients here at Collins Chiropractic, I am able to put my passion to work supporting families in getting back to their normal state of health so that they can enjoy their fullest, richest life.

Before I started at Collins Chiropractic I was planning on becoming a nurse, with the intent of helping people. I had heard so many stories of how incredible it is to be with someone at the end of their life. While I still agree that’s true, is it not more meaningful to help someone heal and live a longer, healthy life? It wasn’t until a few months had passed working as a Certified Nursing Assistant, when I realized that I was consistently surrounded by sickness and death. The patients that I cared for were simply being sustained by their medications, no one was being healed. I was in a place where it was considered “normal” for people to need help eating, brushing their teeth, and getting dressed, simply because they were getting old.

I refused to believe that was inevitable, and the life we were all heading towards. This realization left me with a deeper hunger to help people before they got to the end of their life. Collins Chiropractic has satisfied that hunger. I feel so blessed to be a part of a vibrant, life-giving community. The positive environment and common focus on healing is so refreshing and contrary to what I’ve experienced in the past. I’m passionate about chiropractic because I’ve seen what it allows people to do—it doesn’t tell your body it’s lacking something. Instead, it removes any interference within your nervous system so you can be functioning at your optimum level. We were made to be healthy and joyful and I’m so excited to be a part of a team that is spreading that news to so many people.

When I was growing up, love was always in my family’s home. Being born the youngest of three, my parents had already established a thriving, loving home for me to grow up in. From a young age, I’ve realized there is no power greater in this world than love. Love can inspire us to live fearlessly, guide us to be selfless, encourage us to be ourselves, and find greatness in the people around us.

At the age of seventeen, I was sat down by a gastroenterologist who told me I have a chronic condition called Ulcerative Colitis. Living with Ulcerative Colitis hasn’t been easy and has come with many hurdles in my life. For the first sixteen years of my life I was active, healthy and beaming with confidence. Although U.C. can be a physically tolling obstacle, it hasn’t once defined who I am. It has however shaped me into a stronger man who now finds joys in the little things in life. I now stand even more confident in my abilities and believe my body is even more capable of amazing feats. I believe health is a state of overall being, not just physical facet of our consciousness.

I believe we have all been designed to be healthy, and I believe we were all made to love as well! Each person has amazing gifts, attributes and abilities. I’m happy to be at Collins Chiropractic because I get to work with people who are also fueled by love; each team member cares about the well being of their neighbors in Burien. I believe my purpose in life is to reveal amazing qualities found in people, what better place to do that than at Collins Chiropractic?!

Before I worked at Burien Wellness, I was a patient. After experiencing an extremely challenging birth that resulted in a C-section with my first child, my goal was to have a successful VBAC with my second. My doula told me that chiropractic care could help, so I went to get adjusted every week for the last four months of my pregnancy. Getting adjusted not only helped me get through the third trimester, but I achieved my goal! My daughter was born via successful VBAC!  After experiencing that miracle, I learned chiropractic care was for so much more than back pain! I was so inspired by my care that I wanted to be a part of the team. I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to witness the miracles that happen here, and to help people reach their wellness goals.

I believe connection, kindness, grace, and joy are vitals pieces of the wellness that our bodies are each capable of. I am a helper by nature, rooted in wellness and nourished by opportunities to love people. My passion for wellness began with my own health challenges related to gymnastics injuries, food allergies, and multiple autoimmune disorders but wildly bloomed into what is my purpose: to love people, to help them love their wellness, even in the face of inevitable challenge.

I am inspired by the beauty I see in the world around me. I get excited about revealing it in and to people who might not see it yet. My vision for people is to celebrate each other’s humanity, to dive into the incredible spaces of creativity, wellness, and life that we often forget to have gratitude for both in ourselves and others. I want every human being to feel fully, the wonderful things that make them individually beautiful.

If you found me outside of work, I would likely be doing gymnastics, getting creative in the kitchen, digging in the garden, creating art or making hand-made cards that celebrate the little things in life.

Your mind and body are so capable of wellness; have grace for yourself and listen when your body speaks.