Episode 035 — New Beginnings Board Member, Dr. Jay Handt

---

SHOW NOTES

Title: New Beginnings Board Member, Dr. Jay Handt

Episode Number: 035

Host: Dr. Thomas Lamar

Show Date: 12/17/2010

Run Time: 17:19

Description: For the past 20 years a chiropractic movement has been afoot in the Northeast — a movement that aims to stay true to  preserving, protecting, and perpetuating philosophically based, principled Chiropractic… without compromise.  That movement is know as New Beginnings Chiropractic Weekend.  Join Dr. Lamar as he interviews New Beginnings Board Member, Dr. Jay Handt, On Location at their Fall 2010 gathering in Long Branch, New Jersey.

Share with others

---

Links:

SpinalColumnRadio

ON LOCATION in New Jersey

-20th Anniversary-

An Interview with Board Member, Jay Handt, DC

New Beginnings Chiropractic Weekends

Fall 2010

• Learn more about Dr. Handt

• Learn more about New Beginnings Chiropractic Weekends

– Website: NewBeginningsChiro.com

– Face Book Chiropractic Philosophy Fan Page

– Face Book Chiropractic History Fan Page

---

Check out the New Beginnings Interview Archives! (plus see who’s still the cue for release)

---

“What’s a Podcast???” page!

Visit our iTunes listing and leave us a review!

________________________________________________________________________________

Does your podcast listening schedule need a little backbone? If so, it’s time to schedule an appointment with your podcast chiropractor, Dr. Thomas Lamar.

---

Transcript:

—————-

[Dr. Jeanne Ohm: Hi! This is Dr. Jeanne Ohm, Executive Director of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association and you’re listening to SpinalColumnRadio.com].

Spinal Column Radio, episode number 35

Coming up next on Spinal Column Radio, An Interview with New Beginnings Board Member, Dr. Jay Handt

[Dr. Jay Handt: You know, when you are 97 do you want to be driving a wheelchair or a Ferrari? My goal is to get you to be in the Ferrari, not the wheelchair. And the way you do that is maintaining your health over a lifetime. It’s a process, not just trying to fix it every time you break down].

—————-

[intro theme music]

And welcome back to another exciting and information packed episode of Spinal Column Radio. My name is Dr. Thomas Lamar, chiropractor and Dad of 6. And this is the podcast that gets you to think. To think about your health in a whole new way. We’re the podcast for your backbone… the podcast with backbone. Who knew that spinal education could be this much fun?

We’d like to invite you to visit our podcast website at SpinalColumnRadio.com where you can learn more about us, check out our world-renowned “What’s a Podcast?” page, and can access the show notes for this episode. Also, we encourage you to leave comments and ask questions through our website, or, if you prefer, you can email me using DrLamar AT SpinalColumnRadio DOT com.

—————-

[transitional sound effect]

Well, today on SpinalColumnRadio we’re jumping back into our steady stream of interviews from our Fall 2010  New Beginnings Chiropractic Weekends collection… this one from Dr. Jay Handt, an extraordinary chiropractor from New York City who is also serves as a dedicated board member under the leadership of the Outlaw, Dr. James Dubel, of New Beginnings.

—————-

[transitional sound effect]

Well, joining us on the program today is Dr. Jay Handt. Dr. Handt is a 1978 graduate of New York Chiropractic College and  practices along side his son Josh and daughter Morgan at their New York Chiropractic Life Center in New York City. In addition, he serves on the Board of Life Chiropractic College and is part of their continuing education faculty, along with both Palmer and Sherman Chiropractic Colleges.  And, if that weren’t enough, he also sits on the Board here at New Beginnings Chiropractic Weekends, and we’re glad to have him on our program.

Dr. Lamar: Dr. Handt, welcome to Spinal Column Radio.

Dr. Handt: Thank you… a joy being here.

Dr. L.: Well, one of the things that intrigued me when I saw your website was that you practice with your son Josh and, I just learned, with your daughter Morgan now and I just think that’s so great!  Let’s start with Josh real quick. Was that something that Josh wanted to do early on or was that something that came later?

Dr. H.: Came much later. It was actually in his last semester of college. He was trying to figure out whether he was going to go for his NBA or go into a business. And one day he came home and said. “ You know, I finally decided what direction I’m going to go in.” And I said, “Which one?” He goes, “I’m going to a chiropractic college.” And I go, “What?!” And he goes, “Well, after being in the real world and doing some internships and meeting a lot of people that make a lot of money, put in a lot of hours. They all hate their job. Every chiropractor I know loves what they do, works the hours they want, and feels appreciated.” And goes, “I think that’s what I want.” And he went back, took his pre-reqs, which he never took during college because he wasn’t going to be a chiropractor and got into Palmer, Florida following Dr. Riekman and did great.

Dr. L.: So, when he made that announcement… Logan made a similar announcement to me about a year ago. He said, “Dad, I want to be a chiropractor.” Now, obviously, quite a different story but for me there was something that really resonates when your son says “I want to do what you do, Dad.” Did you feel that?

Dr. H.: Oh yeah! I was, you know, so proud because we never forced our kids to thinking that they had to be chiropractors. We always brought them up thinking that you want to be the best at whatever you choose to do and as long as you can have fun and it, you know, makes your life great we don’t care what you become. And having them choose on their own to become chiropractors was really rewarding.

Dr. L.: And plus, just what a neat a… just legacy to kind of pass down. Tell me about your daughter Morgan. How did that come about?

Dr. H.: Now Morgan was going to NYU and she was majoring in Sports and Entertainment Marketing and Management. She graduated and she got a job right away working for Sony and Columbia Records in managing one of their departments. I think she was 22 at  the time. She worked there for 2 years, came home one day and goes, “I just gave them my notice. Get me into chiropractic school.” And it was a sort of the same thing… I said, “Why?” She goes, “I’ve been working my butt off, basically. I love what I do, but nobody appreciates me. Anytime I’ve worked in your office growing up as a kid… You love what you do and people/patients love you. They appreciate what you do. They are thankful. They say it and you’re not in a cubicle… That’s the life I want so get me into chiropractic college.” That, I think, was in like June and she started in the fall semester at Life.

Dr. L.: Isn’t that interesting? So for both of your children, they grew up with Dad being a chiropractor. They saw how life was for you and how patients appreciated you. And in a sense they probably just kind of thought, “Oh! That’s how it is with every job.”

Dr. H.: Right.

Dr. L.: And then they both went out into the real world, saw what it’s like, and they’re like, “Boy, Dad has it really good! There is something about chiropractic that is… they are very distinct and unique.”

Dr. H.: Yeah, they loved it. But, I also have a third child, my son Ryan and he chose not to become a chiropractor. He is a professional photographer and he’s an artist. He goes, “I’ll take pictures of chiropractors.” He sends patients to us all of the time. He goes, “I’m leaving the chiropractic stuff to my brother and sister. I’m on my own band.” You know, he follows his own path. Which is great!

Dr. L.: But still, he can still play a part in your practice.

Dr. H.: Oh, he plays a very big part…

Dr. L.: … by taking photos and helping you with the… with marketing materials…

Dr. H.: Right!

Dr. L.: … and things like that.

Dr. H.: And once he started working in a company he made sure that the heads of the company became patients.

Dr. L.: I love it. Fantastic!

Dr. H.: … That way they wouldn’t be so stressed out. They’d be under chiropractic care…

Dr. L.: That’s right.

Dr. H.: … make his life easier.

Dr. L.: So, he is part of the practice.

Dr. H.: Definitely.

Dr. L.: You know, before the microphones went hot here we were just chatting about the fact that you practice in New York City, and I asked you what happened on 911. Take us back to that day.

Dr. H.: Well, it was a really interesting day. It was a beautiful morning. It was… I’m pretty sure it was a Tuesday morning and I get a call from my office manager because I’m not in the city on Tuesdays. She goes, “Listen, one of the doormen just came in and said that the World Trade Center, one of the buildings, was collapsing.” And she goes, “He’s always pulling my leg. He’s always telling me stories. Is anything going on?” My wife and I got up, turned on the news, and it really was going on. The important thing, or the scary thing about that… our daughter Morgan, that was her first week starting at NYU. Her dorm room, when you look out of the window what she saw were the Twin Towers. So, she was actually there, for the first time away from home, watching the Twin Towers going… coming down.

Dr. L.: Oh my!

Dr. H.: All the phones went down and it was interesting… Before she went to school she goes, “Mom, why don’t you put on Instant Messenger on the computer?” And neither of us ever used it so she goes, “All right. Whatever you want.” And we couldn’t get in touch with her. All of a sudden, the computer starts blinking and she was able to get an internet call out, an instant messenger out. And she said, “We are ok. We’re doing this. We are going to see if we can come home. Is it all right if I can get out of the city, bring my roommate with us?” And it was great, but for that couple of hours when we couldn’t get in touch my wife went a little bit crazy. She wanted to run into the city. We couldn’t get in. The bridges were closed. Everything was closed and Morgan managed to come home, but I mean it was a pretty spooky thing. And then the following day, we went down to, you know, see what was going on and all the pictures that everybody else saw around the country could not do justice to what it was like standing at Ground Zero on day 2 and day 3. I mean, it was so eerie and so spooky and you know, you see piles of rubble on a picture it’s not bad but when you go there and you see a pile of rubble that’s, you know, 200 feet tall and still smoking and the smell and the dust… It was definitely an eerie thing.

Dr. L.: Absolutely. I can tell you, in Kingston, WA, which is on the complete opposite side of the country, I remember that was… we didn’t even practice that day. I mean, we were supposed to. We went into the office, and we both just kind of stared at each other. I think we might have saw maybe 2 or 3 people, but everyone was canceling. And we just said, “You know, I think we should go home.”

Dr. H.: Yeah.

Dr. L.: We just shut down. I imagine you guys shut down too.

Dr. H.: Yeah. We had basically shut down for a few days because of the traffic patterns. They weren’t letting people in the city. They weren’t letting people out of the city. So, you know, we just basically stayed home. We had some connection so we could get in to help and see what was going on, but it served no purpose to practice because nobody was moving in the city.

Dr. L.: No. Well, that was just not planned at all but I’m really glad that you shared that with us and I’d like to shift gears here…

Dr. H.: Sure.

Dr. L.: … and kind of get into the meat of what I wanted to ask you about. On your website… right on the home page, you make it very clear that “Its not about your back… Its about your LIfe!”

“But chiropractors are back doctors.” … the person listening at home might be thinking… “What is it that you are saying?”

Dr. H.: Well, basically, the way our kids were brought up in chiropractic most people in the… I’m just going to say the general world out there think of chiropractic as neck pain/back pain doctors. As a chiropractor, we think of it more as a lifestyle. We talk about rest, exercise, nutrition, mental attitude, and nervous system free of interference. My kids were all born naturally. They’ve never had a vaccination. They’ve never had a drug. You know, my oldest is 31. He has never had an aspirin. So, it becomes a lifestyle in living naturally and trying to live up to your optimum levels of health, wellness, and performance. So, when we take care of patients they may come in starting with a back and neck problem and our main job is to get them to see the other side of the coin. That it’s not about sickness and disease, it’s about health and wellness. And if we can get them to understand health and wellness, they become lifetime patients. And then that’s our job. We feel when they come in that way, they are coming in healthy. They enjoy staying healthy and probably one of the biggest compliments we get in the office is patients love coming in. They feel it’s like a family. They like to come in. They get adjusted. They sit down in the waiting room. They have some cookies, a little coffee, a cup of tea, and they just hang out.

Dr. L.: So, it’s the difference between taking chiropractic and saying, “You know, spinal manipulation is really good for helping aches and pains of your musculoskeletal system” … and flipping the coin and saying, “It does a really good job at that, but ultimately where chiropractic shines is it helps your body to express its life to its fullest potential.”

Dr. H.: Definitely and you know, we sort of, like, played down the aches and pains… “Yeah I know you are starting here because you’re coming in with a low back… but the real important thing is how well do you want your body to work?” Now one of my favorite lines… I said, “Our job here, if we do it right or when we do it right… You know, when you are 97 do you want to be driving a wheelchair or a Ferrari? My goal is to get you to be in the Ferrari, not the wheelchair. And the way you do that is maintaining your health over a lifetime. It’s a process, not just trying to fix it every time you break down.”

Dr. L.: Tell us about how you were recruited to sit on the Board here at New Beginnings?

Dr. H.: It was by accident… No! I was actually at one of their first or second meetings and I was actually with Dr. Chuck Ribley. We were doing a fire walk down here and…

Dr. L.: What’s a… hold on, what’s a fire walk?

Dr. H.: A fire walk is where we get a whole bunch of people to decide to walk barefoot across 1800 degree coals… a little different program…

Dr. L.: That sounds lovely. We should talk about that later.

Dr. H.: We’ll talk about that… After that meeting I got to meet Dubel and we were just talking and he goes, “You know, we really want to make this thing big. Most of the guys that are involved with New Beginnings now are Jersey guys that are coming in. It would be great to have a New York voice.” So, he goes, “How would you like to come down and you know, hang out with us?” And I grew up in chiropractic from school on that whenever a really great chiropractor invites me to something… its an opportunity and I take it. And so I said, “Sure!” And then I never went away. So, you know, I just made my…

Dr. L.: He’s here…

Dr. H.: I found it and I stuck with it, you know?

Dr. L.: Dubel, he’s here to stay!

Dr. H.: Yep!

Dr. L.: Ok.

Dr. H.: That’s 20 years now and you know, still can’t get rid of me.

Dr. L.: Here at New Beginnings, what sort of diversity do the attendees have when they are coming in as far as, you know thoughts or practice? What… just tell me what you think.

Dr. H.: Well, one of the greatest things about New Beginnings is we’re apolitical. We don’t take sides with anything. Our job is mainly to present chiropractic pure, simple philosophy… pure and simple. I don’t care if you practice with therapy, you practice with nutrition. It doesn’t make a difference. Where our concern is… is that you understand and appreciate the foundation from which chiropractic is built and that is the philosophy. Even all of our motivation comes from a foundation… a chiropractic foundation of philosophy. And so we have a very broad spectrum of chiropractors that come in and hang out with us. And I think what they find is first they come in and they are a little standoffish because… oh! They are more straight. They’re more… whatever it is and they go, “Wow!” We just accept everybody with open arms and in doing that we’re getting chiropractic to a lot more people.

Dr. L.: Who is not here that should be?

Dr. H.: I think that everybody who should be here is here. One of my beliefs in life is you are always in the right place at the right time with the right people for the right reasons and those people that need to be here are here. You know, it would be great to say that the rest of the profession should be here and slowly they’re coming, but to me whoever is in the audience needs to be there and they become a part of our family.

Dr. L.: I’m going to give you 30 seconds to give me just kind of a final word if you have something you want to share.

Dr. H.: Well, I think the most important thing about chiropractic… like I was with one of the other board members from Sherman last night, and I’m on the board of Life, and in the past you would think that we would but heads and all we did was brainstorm about how to get chiropractic to more students and more people and get our profession… or have our profession remain stable and balanced and exciting and not, you know, be overtaken by medicine and all this other stuff. So, working together with Sherman and Life and New Beginnings, we have the opportunity to direct, or sort of like nudge, people and students into chiropractic and let them know you can be great being a chiropractor. You know? You can have a great lifestyle. You can have a great family. You can have great friends and you don’t have to, you know, sell out. You don’t have to do all this other stuff and getting it at… I look at students as the seeds and getting to a student when they are just being put into the ground, you get to determine how they grow, how fast they grow, what direction they grow. And so, one of my passions is you know, being involved with the young chiropractors and the chiropractic students.

Dr. L.: Dr. Jay Handt, thank you so much for taking your time out today to be with us. It’s been a pleasure.

Dr. H.: Thank you, loved being here.

—————–

[outro theme music]

Dr. Jay Handt… a Chiropractic Ferrari Driver for New Beginnings Chiropractic Weekend. For more information on New Beginnings, Check them out at NewBeginningsChiro.com, as well as their FaceBook Fan pages…. we have links in this episode’s show notes to help you out.

Spinal Column Radio would like to remind you that true health comes from the inside out — not outside in.  As such, the content of this podcast, along with the show notes and related links, is not intended to cure, diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease.  But, instead, is meant to inform and inspire you in asking better questions regarding your health.  Since the circumstances surrounding your particular situation are unique, you are encouraged to consult with a Doctor of Chiropractic — or other health care practitioner of your choosing.

Next time on Spinal Column Radio, it’s Christmas Eve, and we’re sitting down with another New York City chiropractor — but for him, his office in New York is just an address, because his heart and passion is healing the world by taking chiropractors and chiropracTIC to the far corners of planet earth. That’s next week. So, until then, for my son Logan, tweaking the knobs on the mixer board, this is Dr. Thomas Lamar, your podcast chiropractor.

—————-

Spinal Column Radio is a production of Spinal Column Communications in conjunction with AnchorChiropractic.net. Copyright 2010.

—————-

Download a PDF version of these Show Notes

Leave a Comment so far
Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.