In this episode of Subluxation Squad, Steve and Pacha sit down with Dr. David Fletcher, longtime chiropractor and owner/CEO of Chiropractic Leadership Alliance (CLA), to talk about where chiropractic is really at and what’s holding it back.

Dr. Fletcher shares how he went from a busy practice to leading CLA. With tens of thousands of offices using CLA technology and millions of scans flowing through their systems, he has a unique vantage point on what’s working in chiropractic and where the cracks are showing.

He and Steve dig into what Fletcher sees as the profession’s biggest subluxations:

A confused brand: mixed messages about what chiropractic actually is.

A culture of fear: fear of using the word “subluxation,” fear around the cervical spine, fear of being “too chiropractic.”

A crisis of self-worth and small thinking inside many chiropractors themselves.

From there, they talk about how modern scanning and big data support the Big Idea showing changes in adaptability, coherence, and neuroplasticity over time and why exams and scans are the start of the journey, not the end. Fletcher lays out what separates thriving offices from struggling ones, why so many chiropractors underestimate how big they can actually be, and how often the real subluxation is in the doctor’s own mindset, not in the marketplace.

Dr. Jack Bourla joins Steve and Pacha to tackle a blunt question: how did chiropractic drift so far from the thing it was created to be? This conversation cuts straight to purpose, clarity, and the definition too many chiropractors were never actually taught. If you’ve ever wondered where the profession lost the plot and what it would take to bring it back, this is the episode to start with.

Steve and Pacha take on a question that always stirs the profession: what’s the best chiropractic technique? Instead of choosing sides, they use the debate to explore something deeper: what is the actual objective of an adjustment, and how do you know you achieved it?

They break down the major technique models, talk about how approaches evolve, and examine the real tension between tradition, innovation, and clinical outcomes. The conversation shifts to analysis and decision-making, the part many chiropractors were never fully taught: when to adjust, when not to, and how to verify change.

They close by looking ahead to future episodes with technique leaders across the profession and the bigger question they all need to answer: how do you know it’s working?

Steve and Pacha reveal a major behind-the-scenes project: The Chiropractic Manifesto. It’s an attempt to give the profession a clear narrative it can finally stand on. They discuss why most practices have values on paper but no unified message in the real world and why the public stays confused as a result.

They wrestle with the central question: what exactly should the profession be promoting? The word chiropractic, the act of correcting vertebral subluxation, or the promise of better human potential?

The episode ends with an invitation to help refine the manifesto and define a shared purpose that principled chiropractors can genuinely agree on.

Steve and Pacha dig into the “subluxations” inside the profession that hold chiropractors back: unclear philosophy, weak communication, inconsistent systems, and marketing that undersells the power of chiropractic. They talk openly about why the profession feels fragmented and why so many doctors struggle to explain what they do in ways the public actually understands.

Together they reframe chiropractic’s promise and connect it to business. If your systems, leadership, or money mindset are out of alignment, your practice can’t reach its potential either.
This episode ends with a challenge: which business subluxations should the Squad tackle next?

In the first episode of Subluxation Squad, Steve and Pacha finally hit record on a conversation that’s been 16 years in the making. Pacha shares how, as a patient in Steve’s practice, the “Big Idea” of chiropractic completely changed how she saw health and why she still can’t believe most people have never heard it put that way. Steve lays out the core problem: chiropractic has incredible potential and sky-high satisfaction, yet only a small percentage of the public ever experiences it. Together they unpack how confusion, mixed messages, and weak communication inside the profession have kept chiropractic stuck in a tiny box instead of being understood as a powerful, life-changing approach to health and human potential.

They also introduce what listeners can expect from Subluxation Squad going forward: candid “table talks,” news and topic breakdowns, live Q&A, hot-seat case studies where they help doctors find “the subluxation” in their practice and business, and a recurring segment called “The Adjustment” where each episode ends with one practical action step doctors can implement right away.