Two educators are helping chiropractors connect precise adjusting with safer, clearer communication.
— The question did not arrive suddenly for Dr. Don MacDonald. It followed him through decades of practice in Edmonton, through thousands of clinical conversations, and through the quiet moments after an adjustment when a chiropractor wonders what else a person’s body may be communicating. After nearly 30 years in practice, he was still asking how chiropractors could become more precise with their hands and more useful with their words. That question became the foundation for The Informed Chiropractor, where Dr. Don and Brandi MacDonald teach Polyvagal-Informed Chiropractic to experienced practitioners who sense that another level of skill, confidence, and connection is possible.
Polyvagal-Informed Chiropractic With Dr. Don MacDonald
Dr. Don MacDonald’s path began with a traditional chiropractic education and a long clinical apprenticeship. A graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic, he has practiced since 1997 and continues to see patients at South Side Chiropractic in Edmonton. He also served as president of the Edmonton Chiropractic Society, a role that placed him close to the professional questions chiropractors often carry: how to keep improving, how to explain care with integrity, and how to stay engaged in work that demands both technical skill and human presence.
Over time, his focus sharpened around one practical inquiry. What if chiropractors could become more skilled at noticing how a person may respond to cues of safety and stress, then use that awareness to guide assessment, adjustment, and conversation? Dr. Don does not present polyvagal theory as a universal explanation for every patient response. Instead, he teaches it as a useful clinical lens, one that can help chiropractors observe with more nuance and communicate with more care.
That lens became central to the MacDonald Safety Corridor Protocol, Dr. Don’s framework for assessing and adjusting through a polyvagal-informed chiropractic perspective. The protocol considers interconnected regions of the body, including the upper cervical spine, ribs, diaphragm, pelvis, pelvic floor, and cranial structures. Rather than isolating technique from the person receiving care, it invites chiropractors to pay attention to what the body may be signaling before, during, and after touch.
The result is not a script or a promise. It is a way of thinking. Dr. Don’s teaching asks chiropractors to become more precise in what they notice, more deliberate in how they adjust, and more grounded in how they explain what they are doing. For experienced practitioners, that shift can be powerful because it respects what they already know while opening a path toward refinement.
A Teaching Partnership Built On Two Perspectives
The Informed Chiropractor is also the product of a teaching partnership with his wife, Brandi MacDonald, whose background in social work and expertise in interoception and communication bring a second essential dimension to the room. Where Dr. Don teaches the clinical and hands-on side, Brandi helps chiropractors consider how language, pacing, presence, and patient perception shape the experience of care.
Together, they teach chiropractors to ask better questions of the moment. What is the person in front of me noticing? How might I explain this in a way that creates clarity rather than confusion? What can I observe in the body that may inform not only my hands, but also my next sentence? In their seminars, those questions are part of the work itself.
That integration is what makes their approach distinctive. Dr. Don and Brandi do not teach adjusting, communication, and nervous system awareness as separate subjects. They teach them together. In a learning environment, that means chiropractors can see how an assessment finding may influence an adjustment, and how a patient’s response may influence the way a chiropractor speaks, pauses, or reframes the conversation.
Their shared work has reached chiropractors in Canada and internationally. They have presented at chiropractic events, including Life West’s The Wave and Parker Seminars, and have spoken to chiropractors in more than 12 countries. Yet the tone of their teaching remains practical. The goal is not to overwhelm practitioners with theory. It is to help them bring polyvagal-informed chiropractic into the everyday realities of practice, where time is limited, trust matters, and each interaction asks for judgment.
Dr. Don’s book, “The Underdog Curse,” also reflects this interest in stress, growth, and the patterns people carry into their lives and work. While the book speaks to a broader audience, its themes echo the questions behind The Informed Chiropractor Collective: how people respond under pressure, how they seek safety, and how awareness can create room for change.
The MacDonald Safety Corridor Protocol In Practice
The MacDonald Safety Corridor Protocol provides chiropractors with a structured framework for assessing interconnected areas of the body, including the pelvic floor, while considering movement, tension, body awareness, and nervous system responses. Dr. Don MacDonald presents the pelvic floor protocol as part of a broader educational approach rather than a stand-alone treatment or replacement for medical assessment.
Through The Informed Chiropractor Collective, Dr. Don and Brandi MacDonald help experienced chiropractors refine their adjusting techniques, strengthen patient communication, and develop greater clinical awareness. The program offers ongoing mentorship, monthly education, hands-on seminars, technique-focused guidance, and access to a professional learning community.
Their approach integrates precision adjusting with polyvagal-informed principles and thoughtful communication, encouraging chiropractors to make informed clinical decisions without overstating treatment outcomes. Through continued education and practical training, The Informed Chiropractor supports professional growth and a more integrated approach to chiropractic care.
The Pelvic Floor Protocol
One distinctive part of Dr. Don’s hands-on teaching is his pelvic floor protocol. It is an area often overlooked in conversations about movement, tension, and body awareness, yet it sits squarely within the Safety Corridor. Because the pelvic floor connects to the diaphragm, the pelvis, and the broader vagal network, Dr. Don treats it not as an isolated region but as part of the larger system that responds to safety and stress.
He teaches this protocol in hands-on seminars for chiropractors rather than through written instruction, because the work depends on touch, timing, and response. The goal is not to promise results for specific conditions. The goal is to expand what a chiropractor can perceive and address, so that an area long left out of the conversation becomes part of thoughtful, whole-body care.
The Informed Chiropractor Collective: Mentorship and Professional Renewal
The Informed Chiropractor Collective supports experienced chiropractors who feel they have hit a ceiling and want to refine their adjusting, communicate with greater confidence, and rediscover their enthusiasm for practice. Through ongoing mentorship, monthly teaching, technique guidance, live seminars, an educational portal, and a practitioner community, members can continue learning and exchanging ideas with peers.
For Dr. Don and Brandi, the goal is to connect technical skill with thoughtful communication and professional growth. They also offer free resources, including a mini-course on applying polyvagal principles to adjusting and patient experience, helping chiropractors explore their approach before pursuing further study.
Discover More With The Informed Chiropractor
Gain valuable insights, practical strategies, and fresh perspectives to support a more informed chiropractic practice. Explore resources at The Informed Chiropractor, tune in to the podcast, and stay connected through YouTube and Instagram. For more insights and updates, follow Brandi MacDonald and Dr. Don MacDonald on Facebook.
Contact Info:
Name: Don MacDonald
Email: Send Email
Organization: The Informed Chiropractor
Website: https://www.theinformedchiropractor.com/
Release ID: 89207282
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