The launch of the new book “Adjusted Reality: Supercharge Your Whole-Being for Optimal Living and Longevity” marks a significant milestone in the movement toward proactive, whole-being health.
Written by Sherry McAllister, DC, CCSP, President of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, the book reframes chiropractic care as a vital force for adaptability, resilience and lifelong wellness. Through accessible storytelling and practical frameworks like the Visionary Six and Foundational Seven, “Adjusted Reality” empowers readers to move beyond symptom relief and embrace a holistic approach to health. McAllister intended for the book to be a resource for patients and practitioners, but also envisions it as a catalyst for a broader conversation about the future of healthcare.
In this exclusive interview, McAllister joins Gloria Hall, editor-in-chief of Chiropractic Economics magazine, to discuss the inspiration behind “Adjusted Reality” and her ongoing work with the F4CP. As a leader, author and enthusiastic advocate for chiropractic care, McAllister shares her vision for advancing the profession and building a global community focused on whole-being wellness.
Gloria Hall: Hello. I’m Gloria Hall, Editor-in-Chief of Chiropractic Economics. I am so excited to be here today with Dr. Sherry McAllister, president of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, and author of “Adjusted Reality.” Dr. Sherry, welcome.
Sherry McAllister: Thank you so much for having me.
GH: Of course. And congratulations on the success of your book. We’re going to dive right in. So, in the book, you touch on the Visionary Six and the Foundational Seven. Can you elaborate a little bit on those two concepts for readers?
SM: Happy to. As a chiropractor for almost 30 years, the Visionary Six is, what are we striving for? And the Foundational Seven are what we already have built as 130 years of strong commitment to healing patients. And I want to look at the Visionary Six first, because I think if we have a great vision, we can take where we are now to a place that just skyrockets us to a place where we’ll be. We’ve been more successful in treating the majority of patients out there.
So, the Visionary Six really is a framework where it positions chiropractic as an organizing force for whole-being balance. And we all know, as we sit in our offices and we treat patients, conventional medicine really kind of enters the conversation once symptoms appear. And that’s where I think chiropractic is so special and so monumental in today’s healthcare fragmented system, is chiropractic enters much earlier.
If we can start focusing the integrity of the nervous system and get patients to actually understand the alignment of the body so those seven pillars become so functional in their daily lifestyle, it really changes everything. In those Visionary Six, I like to really focus on the new operating system, if you will, for the healthcare system, because it’s really about not treating more disease, but about helping a patient cultivate their balance and their capacity to handle more. And where we look at the Visionary Six, it’s kind of reframing that care that we’ve always been given, we just haven’t really pinpointed how to help the majority of people understand our proactive model.
And many people will say, well, you know, how do I know I’m fitting in the Visionary Six? it’s so simple. You know, you come down to those six. The six are really whole-being, that’s healthcare moving beyond fragmented specialties in the silos, focusing really on the neurological, emotional, social and environmental factors that we’ve always focused on. And then self-healing. The body, we know, is not a passive organism. It’s clearly in that inherently intelligent stage. Functioning is the third pillar. That’s the symptoms that are signals. That’s kind of the function, is the story that people really need to understand, is how well are the systems in our body communicating, adapting and performing? And then educating.
The reason I’m a chiropractor is because someone educated me for the first time after my accident, so we need to translate complexity into really understanding, and that’s where a lot of patients walk away and they’re disappointed. They don’t understand what’s wrong with them. And we’ve done such a great job in those Visionary Six. That empowering patients really to recognize what are early signals, not pain signals, but early signals of dysfunction, that’s where prevention, which is the fifth one, comes into play, where it’s about dysfunction, not disease, and we address lifestyle and all the things that go with it. And the last one in the Visionary Six is the best one. I mean, there isn’t a chiropractor out there that’s not going to agree with this. It’s adjusting. But what does that really mean to the general population? Because adjusting and the adjustment is really a principle of restoring alignment and communication to the body.
When we get them to understand the fine-tuning system, rather than overriding it, which is our pharmaceutical perspective, then helping the body reconnect to its optimal state is really what we’ve always done, and that’s the impact that the Visionary Six will have on the future of healthcare.
GH: How can DCs leverage “Adjusted Reality” to educate patients and communities about shifting from symptom-chasing to proactive whole-being wellness?
SM: I sincerely love that question, because this is the foundation’s book, this is our opportunity to work with Forbes as a publisher, and it also really helps us reflect on how do we get the message to the masses so that we, as a profession, can showcase the why see a chiropractor? So that’s a big part of this.
This book is not to tell you how to practice. You already know how to do that. The book is, why should a patient actually see a chiropractor? That’s the fundamental moment where you can say, I want every patient to have “Adjusted Reality” in their life. Why? Because when they come into my office, things are going to change.
“Adjusted Reality” actually gives chiropractors [a] powerful storytelling tool. Instead of trying to explain neuroplasticity, alignment, proprioception in the clinical language, the book actually puts together a relatable metaphor. It’s a simple framework, and that, I think, is where whole-being strategies really help people finally see their health differently. And I think as chiropractors, one of the best ways that I have already seen chiropractors using it is they’re hosting events. And that book now, whether it’s a book club or something of a community event, that book becomes a talking point where you get to leverage and impact them. You can give them to new patients as a welcome gift and set expectations for proactive care right away, like, right out of the gate. We also have a toolkit that goes with it, an impact toolkit that goes with your book, so you have infographics, social media, posters, all those things that can come. So you can build yourself a workshop about what’s going on in “Adjusted Reality,” because it’s all the abstracts, so you get the Cliff’s Notes, so if you don’t want to read the book, totally okay. Just get the Cliff’s Notes and start picking up where your practice is going to be really showcasing.
In the end, Gloria, I think the book becomes a bridge. It’s helped patients realize that chiropractic is not about chasing symptoms, which we already knew, but it’s about building that infrastructure for the adaptability and longevity that so many of us are searching for, and can’t quite understand why they’re not getting the results that they desire.
GH: As patients, varying socioeconomic issues can impact the sustainability of their health habits, how does whole-being health reach those individuals and populations who face these barriers?
SM: Well, it is really about a lifestyle check wherever you are in your life, and I think that’s becoming one of the most critical pieces, is functionally, you look at the healthcare system, and it is very hard for someone to navigate, because they can actually lose themselves in a treatment that may not be effective, or may not be the right choice for them. And so, healthcare costs go up when you get fragmentation of care.
And the number one thing I think that chiropractor’s office offers them is that oftentimes when you start with a chiropractor, you end with a chiropractor, and that’s been seen in the research, and patients talk about it all the time, because they say something really special: I love my chiropractor. That word, love, is a very intense word, I think. And it’s because it’s not only a physical identification that they helped the patient move forward, but it’s also an emotional component that they understand how much that chiropractor cares about them.
So, for someone who is in a socioeconomic hardship, I believe one of the very best ways to have a global perspective on their health and get down the right path at the right time is to be able to see what the chiropractor can do for them in a reasonable and economically feasible way. Those are, like, daily rituals we can give our patients to do, like spinal hygiene routines, talking about their sleep, their posture reset, breathing exercises for those that are fully functionally out there, and a lot of people are suffering with anxiety. So I think it is monumental if we start to talk about whole-being care. As the chiropractors we’ve always been for 130 years, and we stand tall, we stand strong, and we stand courageous with the patient, because we’re a proactive choice, and we’re not a reactive response.
GH: How does “Adjusted Reality” reflect your own evolution as a spouse, mother and DC on the path to leading the foundation, and in what ways did writing the book help you integrate those roles into your vision for whole-being health?
SM: This was a massive journey for me, and I didn’t take it lightly, because I have spoke[n] to chiropractors all around the world for the last… it’s now 10 years. This month is my 10-year anniversary. And I feel very fortunate to be able to have had this role for 10 years. I want to consider myself a humble servant, so my job is to really listen and adapt to the language that people need to hear so that my brethren, my colleagues, can be the most outstanding healthcare providers they can be.
When I went on this journey, I started to think about how to effectively help patients. And the metaphor of those two brothers hiking actually came from the years of watching patients, 30 years of treating, also myself. I’m trying to navigate life’s trains with, you know, very different levels of awareness and resilience, and it wasn’t but a year ago, this time, in December, that I was fortunately and unfortunately faced with the cancer diagnosis, and I recognized myself, how do I get the help I need? And who’s going to be in my court when I need that lift up? And I was very fortunate because it’s a benign cancer, but what if it wasn’t?
And I also thought about my family. How does your family have the advocacy of someone you can trust, and I really wanted people to understand we’re with them on the journey. And, one of the brothers chooses the path of preparation, alignment and steady pace. We all know those people. They’re ready for something no matter what. And then there’s the other brother, who rushes forward, he dismisses the early signs of imbalance, and I thought, you know, these are parallel pieces in life. This journey represents the choices that every human makes daily to either listen to their body or to override it.
And so, that’s kind of the mirror and the principle of where I wanted to take whole-being health, and as a mother, and I see my sons in very tumultuous times with social media, they don’t know who to believe and when to believe it, but their nervous system was really being attacked in that level of human, basically, demoralization, that constant 10-second dopamine trap. So, I like to say we’re gonna align our future, we’re gonna “aware” them, create an awareness with a compass, which is the chiropractor. When one brother succeeds and the other brother struggles, we get to witness in the book, and I’m not giving the plot away, everyone, the body has to be supported in what happens together, and the beauty of where chiropractic fits into every single chapter.
GH: In your ideal world, what would a DC actually do differently on the Monday morning after reading “Adjusted Reality”?
SM: That Monday morning is a reflection for them. I think as we as a group start to look at ourselves and what we’re doing, are we aligning our own lifestyle checklist? I would say you have to start with yourself, because when you have your body, your mind and your spiritual health to consider, you have to have contentment. And one thing I did notice, and I love all of you out there listening, but I did notice something that sometimes you give too much, and you don’t take for yourself, and that can be a really difficult place for you to be honest with yourself. When was the last time you got an adjustment? And I really take this very seriously, because I’m on the road a lot, and I’m lifting, bending, twisting, pushing, pulling, and those suitcases get heavy. And I recognized, over the course of my time, I needed to stop. I was going into fight-or-flight mode, because I was always on the run, literally. You know, oh, your airplane is leaving in five minutes, and it’s already boarded. So, I’m in the fight-or-flight. I recognized that I needed to stop. I need to ask for help.
So, I was going into conventions, finding one of my friends out there, and ask[ing], can you help me realign? Because chiropractors help patients re-enter that zone through alignment. You have to be in that zone of alignment. So, when you read “Adjusted Reality,” I want you to take it as your lift up, your call to action for yourself, because at the end of the day, it’s not how we live our lives that matters, it’s how many times in our life that we reflect on the strategy and the success we put in place to build not only our lives, but the lives around us. And we can very quickly lose ourselves in the care of other people.
GH: What’s one narrative you believe the profession needs to embrace in the next five to 10 years?
SM: This, I think, is going to be a place where we are significantly strong in our word choices because we have been damaged by the choices that were used for us. And what I mean by that is, I go and hear the word quack probably more than the average chiropractor, because I’m out in the wild, talking to people that really know nothing about chiropractic. And they’re not trying to be, at this point in my life, I really think they’re really trying to figure us out. And so the choices of words we use matter the most now.
So our future depends on our ability to really create an awareness, a balance of that Visionary Six that I talked about, so that we can have a future impact that is designed not around intervention, but around integration in how we speak. And how we can start showing that we’re measuring vitality, we’re measuring adaptability and resilience. We’re not just in pathology, and I think the world is going to wake up to this inherently intelligent system that we’ve been talking about for 130 years.
So, the beauty of “Adjusted Reality” is it was a collaboration of so many really wise individuals inside and outside the profession to really help people understand. And I think we can have a reflection that the words we use collectively will help the public understand what we do. An adjusted reality is really the first step in so many perspectives. So that, I think, will be the key to the future.
GH: Thank you. Dr. Sherry, is there anything else you want to share with readers?
SM: I would absolutely love three things. Number one, you enjoy your holidays, and you think about what can you do to give the gift of health to someone? Those 10 people could talk to 10 people. And then, all of a sudden, the world changes. The impact and the footprint relief before the end of 2025 is immeasurable.
I’m hitting movie theaters now across America. We have a trailer that comes in that educates them about alignment and chiropractic, and it’s so exciting to see them come out, because we’re out there, we’re sharing the book with them, and in the response that we got, I mean, being number one on Amazon in four categories, and number one on Barnes & Noble in two categories, and one of them is medicine and nursing; we’re number two in that category, but that’s a category that I would never have thought “Adjusted Reality” would have walked into.
So if I could implore each chiropractor, if you truly love your clinic, if you love being a chiropractor, help me get the message out. Help the foundation help you to get everything you need through that Impact Toolkit. $149 can change the world.
But also, if you’re going in the airport in your holiday travels, I just found my book in San Francisco as I was running to another event, and I grabbed the book; the lady behind the cash register smiled, and she goes, “your book is selling really well,” and I smiled, and I was deeply touched, because she didn’t have to say that. I told her I was the author, and she took pictures of it, but I think we found out through Forbes that we were the number one, highest-selling book in airport bookstores.
So, if I could ask my family and friends, I call my chiropractic family a deep part of my life. If I could ask them to think about what could they do to change the world in 2026, it’s, #Imadjusted. I want everyone to know that it’s #imadjusted, #adjustedreality. Let’s get this big and bold and brave. It’s the biggest thing that’s ever been done in chiropractic to date, in terms of getting a global impact. We’re in 21 countries. We’re sold in Barnes & Noble and Target and Walmart. I mean, I don’t think chiropractic has ever been sold in Walmart before, so let’s have some fun with it! You know you love your profession; now it’s time to step up and step into this beautiful world where people recognize who we are and what we do.
GH: Dr. Sherry, thank you for your time today, and thank you for everything you’re doing for the chiropractic profession.
SM: Thank you.
