A few weeks ago, we shared a short assessment clip demonstrating a simple upper rib evaluation.
What happened next was unexpected.
The video reached more than 500,000 views, but what caught my attention wasn’t the number of views. It was the difference in the questions people were asking.
Many clinicians immediately wanted to know:
“If the first rib is involved, what’s the technique?”
Meanwhile, many patients asked something completely different:
“Where can I have an assessment like this?”
“I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“Is this chiropractic?”
Neither group was wrong.
They were simply looking at the same moment through different lenses.
That observation inspired a conversation with PRRT Master Instructors Ben Pero and Carl Christie.
The Question Before the Technique
One of the things Ben said early in our discussion has stayed with me.
He pointed out that many of us were trained to chase symptoms. We naturally want to know what technique will reduce the pain we’re seeing.
PRRT encourages us to pause before asking that question.
Instead of asking, “How do I treat the first rib?”, we begin by asking:
Why is the nervous system bringing our attention here?
Is the first rib the problem?
Or is it simply part of a larger protective pattern?
That subtle shift changes the entire clinical conversation.
The Assessment Is More Than a Checklist
It’s easy to think of the One Minute Exam as a list of structures to evaluate.
It isn’t.
The findings are there to help formulate a hypothesis, not to create a protocol.
Throughout the discussion, Ben and Carl shared examples where treating the obvious finding wasn’t enough because something else in the system continued reinforcing the pattern. Only after reassessing and looking more broadly did the pieces begin to fit together.
The exam isn’t trying to tell you what to treat.
It’s helping you determine what deserves your attention first.
Techniques Become Questions
One of my favorite moments from the discussion centered around reassessment.
In PRRT, techniques aren’t simply interventions.
They’re questions.
When you apply a technique, you’re asking the nervous system:
Does this change the presentation?
If the answer is yes, you’ve learned something.
If the answer is no, you’ve learned something just as valuable.
Either way, the body’s response helps guide the next decision.
That idea completely changes the role of treatment.
Instead of trying to force a result, you’re allowing the nervous system to become part of the clinical conversation.
Looking Upstream
Toward the end of our discussion, we talked about a book I’ve been reading called Upstream.
The central idea is simple.
Rather than continually reacting to problems after they arise, ask what is creating them in the first place.
That analogy resonated with all of us because it mirrors one of the biggest shifts many PRRT clinicians describe.
Rather than beginning with the symptom, they begin by asking what the nervous system may be protecting.
Sometimes the painful area is the priority.
Sometimes it isn’t.
The assessment helps you distinguish between the two.
Continue the Conversation
If these ideas resonate with you, I hope you’ll take the time to watch the full discussion above.
If you’d like to experience this approach firsthand, we’d love to have you join us at one of our upcoming PRRT trainings.
Not ready to travel? Essentials is the online introduction to the assessment process, core concepts, and foundational techniques. It’s designed to prepare you for live training while giving you practical tools you can begin exploring immediately.
Thanks for watching! If you made it this far, I’d love to hear from you. What was your biggest takeaway, or what question would you like us to discuss in a future Clinical Insights article or roundtable?