We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dr. Lisel Lewis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dr. Lisel below.
Dr. Lisel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?
I started playing tennis when I was 4 years old. My parents were very forceful in the role of tennis coach and I never actually enjoyed tennis. Tennis was more of a duty and a job, but at age 10. My parents are also from the Philippines, and raised me to be very anxious and fearful of the next time I was going to get hit or punished for something simple. Needless to say, I went away to college, and had manifested this childhood fear into adult anxiety.
After my sophomore year in college, where I had a full scholarship to play division 1 tennis, I had anxiety and depression and didn’t know what that even meant. I went to the student health clinic, where I was prescribed an antidepressant on the spot. After a few hours of taking 1 antidepressant, I had a grand mal seizure in math class. Clearly, that medication was not good for me. The student health clinic’s reaction to this news was to prescribe me a different antidepressant and add an anti anxiety medication, which I was on for the next 4 years.
These medications made me feel like I was flatlining the whole day. I had no extreme highs and no extreme lows, just emotionless. I hated being on medication, and didn’t feel myself. Finally, after I graduated from college, I went to a chiropractor for some general aches and pains. He was the first person to introduce to me that my anxiety and depression may have been coming from an over stimulation of my autonomic nervous system, and medications were just masking the symptoms. He told me that chiropractic adjustments could help to relieve this tension. This concept that my brain, spinal cord and the nerves that travel outward from the spinal cord could be under tension and contributed to mental health issues was brand new to me. Chiropractic could help my mental health. I finally had hope that I could live a healthy life and without the need for antidepressant or anxiety medication.
After conscious effort, and regulating my autonomic nervous system with consistent chiropractic care, I am medication free and truly feel my anxiety and depression are gone for good. This is the reason I decided to go to chiropractic school. It is my duty to share this message with people and give them hope of living a medication free life.
Dr. Lisel, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
There are thousands of chiropractors throughout the city of San Diego. I drive past a hundred chiropractic offices to get to work in the morning. The reason I stand out as a chiropractor is because chiropractic care worked for me in a way that anatomically makes sense, but has a stigma that only talk therapy or medication can help to ease symptoms. It is well known that speaking with a therapist can help mental health symptoms, but what else can be done? Is there something physical happening to the spine that is causing this dysregulation of serotonin and cortisol through the body? Yes. Chiropractic can address the root of the cause of symptoms. When your head, neck, upper back and low back bones are misaligned and pulling your posture forward, the weight of your head and your bones can put pressure on your spinal cord, nerves and discs between your bones. This makes your body activate the fight or flight response, the sympathetic nervous system. Your body thinks there is a threat and you need to be prepared for battle, but really, you’re just sitting at the computer or laying in bed and your sympathetic nervous system is triggered. Chiropractic adjustments help realign the bones so that the nerves that travel between them have space, and your rest and digest, parasympathetic nervous system, can turn on and function properly.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
People want to know about you. They want to hear your why. Even if your story is not the same as their’s, they can connect the dots between what is happening to them and what you have experienced. This is why social media is so mesmerizing… people want to know about you. Tell them your story. Keep it short, but tell your people of your success story, and they’ll feel your authenticity and passion.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
Practice what you preach. Some chiropractors don’t even adjust their patients, and those chiropractors don’t get adjusted. I say… get out of the profession if you don’t buy into the benefits.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://drlisellewis.com
- Instagram: dr_lisel
