In this monologue Chris Chippendale introduces "Quadrant Analysis" (QA), a thought‑framework he says has transformed his chiropractic practice. He first clarifies what QA is not – it is not a technique system, a step‑by‑step protocol, a replacement for existing tools, nor a one‑size‑fits‑all or time‑consuming method. Instead, QA is presented as a flexible way of thinking that helps clinicians decide what matters most in a patient’s assessment and which issues to address first, while allowing the use of any existing techniques. Chris recounts his early‑career frustration with conflicting technique systems, his resulting nihilism, and how mentorship from Rob Pape over a decade helped him develop QA as a structured yet patient‑centered approach. He describes how QA lets practitioners prioritize problems, detect early whether a case is on track, and keep practice enjoyable. The framework is positioned as the most patient‑centered method he has encountered, fitting around the patient rather than forcing the patient into a system. Chris explains that QA is intended for chiropractors who want to become problem‑solvers, not for those satisfied with traditional, less analytical practice. He announces an upcoming, low‑cost, short‑duration intake program launching in 2‑3 weeks, positioned as a more accessible alternative to his larger "Happy Patient" project. He invites listeners to watch forthcoming emails and videos to learn more, assess fit, and sign up.
Chapters
So over the last few weeks, I've been writing a lot about this, this collection of problems that we face as chiropractors when it comes to deciding what do we actually do with our patient. Not what type of adjustment do we do, not where do we adjust, but how do we decide what matters most in our assessment with patients, and how do we know how to prioritize which areas to start with, which types of models that we could use. And I've said that these emails and these posts have been building somewhere. Today I want to show you where that somewhere is, and where that is is an approach that has completely changed my practice, more than anything else I've come across pretty much ever. I think it's called quadrant analysis. Now, those of you who've been following me for a while will know I've talked about quadrant analysis before. I've been referring to it for a while. And, you know, it's, it's something that I've been looking forward to sharing for a long, long time. I've had to wait for the right time. I'll explain today why that time is now and why I'm really looking forward to sharing this. But first of all, I need to clarify not just what quadrant analysis is, but what it isn't. Because when I share something like that and it's got a name and it's a chiropractic approach, people tend to put a lot of assumptions on that. Quadrant Analysis is not a technique system. It is not a system in terms of SOT or Gonstead or CBP. It's not like a formulaic framework of do this, do that. It's not a complete, you know, this will tell you everything to do with all of your patients. It's not that. It's not going to tell you exactly what to do step by step. And it's also not about replacing the tools that you already use, whether that's pure adjusting, whether that's using instrument-assisted, whether that's using, you know, taping or needling or things like that. It doesn't make you learn anything. It doesn't say you can't do anything there. And it's not about trying to create a one-size-fits-all approach. It's not trying to be a completely comprehensive, you plug the patient in here and the flowcharts will tell you exactly what to do. So it's not trying to treat every single patient the same. It really respects the individuality of each patient and each case that comes to see you. And it's also not designed to make practice slower or more complicated or more challenging. And to go, oh, I'm now going to have longer appointments and do way, way more work. It's not that at all. What quadrant analysis is, is it's not a system. It's It's a thought framework. It's a way of thinking about the body. It's a way of thinking about the cases who come to see you more clearly to help you identify which particular things we should start with in this patient and what are the, you know, patient-specific things that I'm going to be focusing on now using the techniques that you already know and then identifying where to go next. So in simple terms, it helps you decide what matters most right now. Where should I begin with this patient? What part of the issue should I really start with? And what can probably wait? What maybe I don't need to worry about so much right now? Because we all know that we could take any person off the street without any pain and we could find, you know, each of us 30 or 40 different imbalances or slight dysfunctions, slight problems, whether that's just looking at posture, whether that's looking at range of motion, are they symmetric in every single joint, um, whether that's looking at diet and nutrition. I've yet to meet anyone who's perfect with that, but that doesn't mean it's a starting point for everybody. Whether they need rehab, whether they benefit from acupuncture, whether they need a little bit of treatment, a lot of treatment, You know, we, we differ on all these kind of things, and it's really, really hard as practitioners to navigate that when all we have are systems telling us this is the best way to do it, or sometimes telling us this isn't the only way to do it, but it's actually the best way. You know, they tend to sort of fall into that trap as well. Quadrant Analysis doesn't do that at all. It really, really helped me because I was struggling with this for a good part of my early career, and essentially I'd got to this point where I thought all these technique systems are out there, they all, they all contradict each other, they all say they're the best. I'd kind of become a little bit jaded and a little bit nihilistic, and my practice was, was starting to become— I dread to say cookie cutter, it wasn't quite that, but I was kind of falling into habits of doing the same things again. Well, if it works, great, and if it doesn't, it doesn't. And I'd lost faith in any kind of system that would allow me to think, you know, in a more complex way than, well, if the low back hurts, I should probably adjust the low back, and maybe I'll have a look at the hips, and I'll have a look at the thoracics because I'm used to treating full spine. But I kind of fell into this approach, and all the other stuff, I go, ah, people can do that, but it's not really for me, and it probably doesn't make that And I was really, really fortunate in that when I was in that slump, that's when I met Rob Pape. Rob has been a mentor of mine for about a decade. I consider him a very, very close friend, and he's also somebody that I've learned far more from than any other coach, any other mentor I've come across. In all honesty, and this sounds a little bit arrogant to say, but it is true, every other coach or mentor I've generally worked with, after about a year, sometimes 18 months, I'd learn what I needed to learn and I moved on. I either kind of outgrew them 'Alright, I only really need this part. The rest of that isn't for me.' Rob's someone I'm still learning from a decade later, and it really helped me not just see how to approach this really, really complex challenge we have as chiropractors in a thoughtful way, in a way that made me go, 'Okay, I feel like I have a framework, some things to try, some places to begin, and I know how to tell earlier on if I'm on the right track or if this is going to be a more challenging case that I need to think a little differently.' It helped with all of that, but it made practice so much more fun. I mean, I had a student shadow me literally yesterday and we were having lunch afterwards at the end, and he went, you have so much fun, like, you clearly love what you do. You, I could see you were enjoying every moment. This is great. And I could say to him, hand on heart, I enjoy practice more now than I ever have at any moment in my career. And those of you who know me know that I love chiropractic. It's not like I was really depressed at the start, but I enjoy it so much more because Quadrant Analysis has given me a way to navigate through these kind of complex systems there. And it solves something that all the work I did around communication, that I'm still very passionate about and I still love teaching, that couldn't really solve it. Learning other techniques and these tools for your toolbox approach didn't really do it. Trying to make up my own approach and muddle my own way through it didn't really do that. Quadrant Analysis is the only approach that I've seen in terms of assessment and treatment that really honored a genuinely patient-centered way to think about things. It's a framework that you adapt to your patients. So rather than, like most technique systems, you have the system and the boxes and you try to fit your patient into those boxes, you try to push them through the system whether they fit or not. It's inherently not very patient-centered. Quadrant Analysis fits around your patient. You look at what's unique about this person and you apply the concepts that work for you and also work for them. So it's very, very different. So what that student noticed is I treated patients very differently on that morning, even if some of them had very similar complaints, very similar areas that needed attention there as well. So it's a— it's the most patient-centered approach I've ever come across by a long way, and it really feels like the natural next step in terms of getting the communication right but then offering care that is truly centered around our patients as well. So, you know, like I said, technique systems fit your patient into them. QA fits around your patient. And I've wanted to share this for a couple years. I've been hinting about it and talking about it for a long, long time, and I'm really excited to finally be doing it. I didn't want to rush it or put something that was half-baked out there into the world. You know, I've waited for the right time for this because I wanted to make sure not just that I had the time to do it justice, but also that I was in a point where I felt I can genuinely teach this knowing it really well. I'm working with Rob on still, you know, I'm never going to stop learning from that guy. But I wanted to get to a point where I knew that this isn't something that I could do, this is something that I could readily do in a really, really effective way. So that's why I'm opening this up now. That's why I've been hinting at this and teasing it for a little while. It's taken longer than I'd hoped, um, at the beginning, but now we're here. I'm really excited to be sharing that. So over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be sharing more about the kind of thinking behind it, the things that make, uh, QA and quadrant analysis particularly unique. I'm going to share with you more of how it works and also who it's really for, because in all honesty, QA is not for every practitioner. Um, I've introduced people to it before who've come across it and after a bit gone, you know what, that's not for me. QA is really for the people who want to become problem-solving chiropractors, who want to take each interaction with a patient, find the problem, and work on how to solve that. And in all honesty, it's okay if that isn't for you. Um, some people want to just offer traditional chiropractic and do the thing they've been doing, and they're happy enough with that. That's absolutely fine. But what I want to do is share with you some of these things about it, some of the concepts, some of the things that you can use and learn now so that you can see if this really is for you. And then I'll be opening up the first intake in about 2-3 weeks' time. There'll be more info coming then. Um, it's not a great big long course. It's certainly not as comprehensive and as big as my, my flagship Happy Patient project. I'm really doing something that you can take and run with quickly, and it's not going to be, um, I'm pricing it as low as I possibly can so that it's accessible for everybody, but equally so that people still take it seriously and actually do the work. So it's be a significantly less investment than most of my previous programs because I'm really passionate about getting this out there. So that first intake will open up in a few weeks' time. But in the meantime, I'm going to share this stuff with you. Have a look. If this resonates with you, let me know as well. If this feels like, as we're sharing it, this is something that's been missing for me, let me know, because I love hearing that from people. I love hearing about the challenges they face and how this is starting to help them make sense of it as well. And yeah, if this problem felt familiar to you, this, this idea of how do we really navigate the inherent complexities of working with a complex system like the human body. Keep an eye on your inbox, keep an eye on this page, because I think the next few emails and videos are going to start to make a lot of sense and really connect some dots for you. So keep an eye out for them, and I'll see you very soon.
