I have worked with other coaches and other practice management companies, consultants, the works, and for me, this is without a doubt what coaching should be like. During our weekly half hour sessions together we break down the aspects of the practice and look at it and it’s truly patient care versus patient scare, the scare tactics that are used in some chiropractic offices is just not me, but for me Dr. Rosen’s style of coaching, communicating and teaching works like no other coaching has worked before. I’ve been in practice for seven years, and I do believe, that every single person should have a coach.
One of the things Dr. Rosen has really able to help us with is our headspace. Wherever your headspace is, it needs to be cleared out so that you can most effectively help the patient, help the public. If the headspace is crowded, which I feel that for the vast majority of chiropractors it is, then you’re not going to come across as effectively as you need to come across and I feel that if we lose even one patient to ineffective communication then we’ve done them and chiropractic a great disservice. So for me, it is truly clearing up the headspace and that is something that I felt over the last two months that has been the awakening of my practice. It was simply to clear out my headspace.
One of the things I am very aware of is the success of my practice comes down to one thing, me! The whole thing revolves around me. And even though the practice was successful, the headspace wasn’t correct. My practice procedures were very fragmented, they weren’t consistent and what we’ve been able to do in coaching in a very short period of time, is to systemize, be more organized, be more consistent and it adds up to a greater overall practice, which allows us to bring people in, to educate them better. Dr. Rosens LAASR method of teaching is something that we utilized to some degree over my seven years in practice but using the LAASR concept has helped us to systematically use that concept with people to help them arrive at their own truths and to be able to get the most out of what we have to offer.
I think it’s Dr. Gentempo that said, the degree of your incongruency will determine how much you succumb to failure, and there were what I perceive to be incongruencies in several aspects of the practice. For me there were the incongruencies in our system of cash paying patients versus insurance paying patients and in clearing that up, actually for the first time in practice, made me feel completely comfortable in my practice that I could look people in the eye and tell them this is what our fee is and this is why our fee is this amount. And I was able to do that with consistency and in congruence with everything else in my practice. So for me that was probably the biggest incongruency and I think that is true in most chiropractic offices that they’re not selling them that bill of goods and as soon as Dr. Rosen helped me clear that up it made all the difference in our practice.
The fact of the matter is I had done a lot of work cleaning up the incogruencies in my life and just finding one or two issues has made such an incredible difference in my practice.
The laser course was awesome. It was not only awesome for me; it was awesome for my staff as well. Including my staff in the laser course was probably the smartest thing that I’ve done because it allowed the whole team to be on the same page as opposed to the doctor just saying okay, this is what I learned and this is what you should study. For all of them to be interactive and for them to have to make a sacrifice of having to be on the phone until sometimes 11:30 p.m. on the east coast, it was very surprising and it really made a difference to me in looking at them, they were willing to make that sacrifice because they felt it was that important. And then to watch them apply what they learned from the LAASR Course in practice has been really fulfilling for me. So it tells me that it is absolutely worthwhile, that six week course really helped to transform our practice. The six weeks of the LAASR Course from the first, initial contact with the person all the way through to the hard questions that they asked. The price of the LAASR Course is paid for in one question that we asked, that we proposed to each patient once they ask us a question, and that is, "That’s a great question, why do you ask?" That alone paid for the entire course because it let them know, just as LAASR says, that we were listening and now we acknowledge and we ask, and then it allows them to talk and for us to give them the solution and the resolution, it’s a beautiful concept.
Before we started coaching, before we started the class, I thought of myself as a great listener. I was somebody who could sit with my patients and show empathy but it was never in an organized, systematic approach to practice. There wasn’t the training that I need in order to succeed in practice. So LAASR allows you to do that. What I found that I did once I was able to actually tape myself and listen was that it was a monologue, it was not a dialogue. Once you get into a dialogue with the patient, that’s when we’re able to best help them. So for me, LAASR allowed me to be the best doctor that I could be, actually engage in a dialogue and to allow this person to arrive at their own truths by their own – but not by me saying it but by them saying it.
Again, being in practice for seven years, having a fairly successful practice, it hits home because it’s something that I never did before. Now when a patient brings up their concerns or their symtomatology the first thing I do is let them know that I am concerned about them and what they are concerned about. I acknowledge them and their concerns, I let them know I listened and I care and then I ask appropriate questions to help them see a bigger picture. And then when I use touch tell ask and teach when I tell them what is really going on with them, well it’s hard to put in words how effective that is. It is educating the patient and bringing them to present time consciousness as well as myself. It allows me to, instead of rambling on, it allows for a dialogue which allows for the healing process to move forward. Because most of these folks have come into the office and you’re the only one that is actually listening to them and that, a lot of times, unfortunately, includes their spouse.
I truly love doing what I do. I think that’s part of what has made me so successful. I would do it for nothing. You wouldn’t have to pay me. The fact that I’m actually paid money to do this is – it’s the greatest thing in the whole world. It’s remarkable and I love the fact that what I do helps this world be a better place. And if I can do that more effectively, then I’ve truly fulfilled my life’s mission and I feel blessed that I chose a career that allows me to do that. And I don’t think you could say anything better about that. And so when I do that more effectively, when I do that as I do all the time from my heart, there are no drawbacks to that. You always think, "Wow, I could have said this or I could have done that," but when you’re present in time and you’re allowing them to arrive at their own truth as opposed to us spewing our chiropractic wisdom to them in three days, it’s awesome because they actually get it – you can see them in their face, you can see them get it and I owe that all to coaching with Dr. Rosen.
Go to your web site. That’s what I tell everybody, go to your web site. Go to Dr. Rosen’s web site, read it over, it’s one of the most extensive web sites in chiropractic that I’ve had the opportunity to peruse and everyone, even the greatest athletes have coaches, the greatest philosophers have mentors and teachers, and everyone should have a coach and they couldn’t possibly have a better coach than Dr. Rosen and I believe the reason for that, not only is his personality, but it’s due to his formatting of coaching, that he’s actually spending a half hour of time with that person and that allows for growth.”
~ Michael Acanfora, D.C.
Bayonne, NJ
