I met Doctor Chris Grams, DC, at a point in which I was convinced that Counterstrain was the one and only modality that I—and everybody else—would ever need for the rest of our lives. And it’s not that I hadn’t even tried chiropractic medicine in the past—all the contrary!

It was chiropractic medicine what delivered me from months of pain after a debilitating back injury in late 2002 failed to respond to conventional treatments. As I started visiting the chiropractor more often for preventive treatment, I also started trying other forms of manual therapy with great results. Whenever my injuries piled up and conventional medicine failed me, manual therapy came to the rescue, thus sparking my interest in its mastery.

Of the manual therapy modalities I studied, Counterstrain made such a difference in terms of results and approach that it mesmerized me. It was so vast, effective, and evolving that I was convinced I had finally found the Holy Grail of manual therapy medicine. My meeting with Dr. Chris Grams not only showed me how I was getting blinded by my enthusiasm, but also proved fortuitous as she was the only healer who helped me resolve a case of vertigo that I experienced a few months after our meeting, and that wouldn’t respond to other modalities. Ever since, I dubbed this sporadic condition as the Dr. Grams’ Vertigo.

I have nothing but gratitude and great things to say about Dr. Chris Grams. We have been both learning about our respective modalities in depth, not with the objective to actually perform it, but rather, to explore how complementary they are to each other for the benefit of our patients.

And complementary they are! At least the way Dr. Chris Grams delivers the work. Her sessions are different from what we normally experience in a chiropractic session. She actually starts with a gentle form of soft-tissue manipulation before adjusting. If her patient won’t respond to the soft-tissue work, she won’t adjust and will send them to my practice for Counterstrain. At the same time, I recognize when trauma and other conditions get anatomical structures stuck, and while such patients experience relief from Counterstrain, I know the work is not complete and they’re still vulnerable until those structures get adjusted by Dr. Chris.

I’m grateful for our cooperative work. Some of the most satisfying cases in my career so far, are the result of working in tandem with Dr. Chris and her unique skills. Some of the factors that make her stand out are her background in craniosacral manipulation and her background as a medical nurse. But deep inside she shares the same passion and mission that all of us in the healing field have, a passion and mission that were initially fueled and guided by the modalities that delivered us from pain and made a difference in our lives.

What a treat it was to have this conversation with her. I know you’ll enjoy her wit and stories as much as I did.

Stay tuned for other segments and until next time, I wish you a joyous, fit, and pain-free life.